something LATIN

How Explicit Was the Idolatrous Indoctrination of Children in Nazi Germany?

2012-02-04T10:40:00.000-08:00

A youth rally song they were taught:

We are the happy Hitler Youth;
We have no need for Christian virtue;
For Adolf Hitler is our intercessor
And our redeemer.
No priest, no evil one
Can keep us
From feeling like Hitler’s children.
No Christ do we follow, but Horst Wessel!
Away with incense and holy water pots.

From Justin Taylor

(Nazis and Hitler as Savior)

Chesterton Quote

2012-01-07T06:52:00.001-08:00

"Everywhere there is speed, noise and confusion; but nowhere deep happiness and quiet hearts."

-- apparently G.K. Chesterton, source unknown

J.I. Packer Quote on the True Priority for Every Human Being

2012-01-05T07:34:00.001-08:00

From the last page of J.I. Packer's 1973 classic, Knowing God:

We have been brought to the point where we both can and must get our life's priorities straight. From current Christian publications you might think that the most vital issue for any real or would-be Christian in the world today is church union, or social witness, or dialogue with other Christians and other faiths, or refuting this or that -ism, or developing a Christian philosophy and culture, or what have you. But our line of study makes the present day concentration on these things look like a gigantic conspiracy of misdirection. Of course, it is not that; the issues themselves are real and must be dealt with in their place. But it is tragic that, in paying attention to them, so many in our day seem to have been distracted from what was, and is, and always will be, the true priority for every human being. That is, learning to know God in Christ.

Good quote on Conflict

2012-01-04T06:47:00.001-08:00

I don't know the source of the following quote, but it's god:

Conflict is what it is... an opportunity that shows who you are and what you believe.... it is painful and purposeful...

A good definition of Pornography

2011-10-20T07:59:00.001-07:00

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

2354: Pornography consists in removing real or simulated sexual acts from the intimacy of the partners, in order to display them deliberately to third parties. It offends against chastity because it perverts the conjugal act, the intimate giving of spouses to each other. It does grave injury to the dignity of its participants (actors, vendors, the public), since each one becomes an object of base pleasure and illicit profit for others. It immerses all who are involved in the illusion of a fantasy world. It is a grave offense. Civil authorities should prevent the production and distribution of pornographic materials.

http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2011/10/a-good-working-definition.php

The Fraud of Alex Haley's "Roots"

2011-10-20T07:38:00.001-07:00

I recently watched the miniseries "Roots" and "Roots: The Next Generations" for the first time and found both to be excellent productions that were extremely moving. However, it turns out that they might be more fiction than fact:

"[T]he story of just what Haley brought off is an example of how history and tragic fact can be pillaged by an individual willing to exploit whatever the naive might consider sacred."

From http://articles.nydailynews.com/1998-04-12/news/18069737_1_hoax-philip-nobile-african-ancestry

Your heart is not the compass Christ saileth by (Samuel Rutherford)

2011-09-20T08:51:00.001-07:00

"Your heart is not the compass Christ saileth by. He will give you leave to sing as you please, but he will not dance to your tune. It is not referred to you and your thoughts, what Christ will do with the charters betwixt you and him. Your own misbelief hath torn them, but he hath the principle in heaven with himself. Your thoughts are no parts of the new covenant; dreams change not Christ."

---Samuel Rutherford, Letter to Earlston, Younger, June 16, 1637 (Puritan Paperback, p. 87)

Online Bible Study Tools

2011-08-18T07:42:00.001-07:00

I'm copying and pasting someone else's post here so I'll be able to keep all of the very helpful links that he listed
From http://bibliahebraica.blogspot.com/2011/08/online-bible-study-tools.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BibliaHebraica+%28Biblia+Hebraica%29

Online Bible Study Tools

via Biblia Hebraica et Graeca by Douglas Mangum on 8/14/11

Over the past few years, I've found myself increasingly reading my Bible and working on Bible studies without a physical Bible in hand. Websites, smartphone apps, and Bible software programs have made it less and less necessary for me to open a book. There are pros and cons to this, but there is no denying that our relationship with the written word is changing rapidly.

I was asked recently how I do Bible study and what digital tools were out there, so in this post, I want to list some of the online Bibles and Bible study tools that I've come across. I also use a number of Bible study apps for iPhone and have tried every single one I could find, so I may discuss those in the future. I've also used a number of good Bible software programs. (Go here for a good post comparing available Bible software programs. He's tried out more than I have.)

For plain, old access to the Bible text, I most often go to the online ESV. If I want access to a number of versions to compare or a different version than ESV, I useÂ BibleGateway.com. It has many versions to choose from and is easy to use. They've started adding additonal resources like commentaries and dictionaries. Since I have print versions of both the ESV Study Bible and the NLT Study Bible, I also get online access to their content. This is nice because study Bibles are big and heavy. I also use Biblia.com because it will sync with the resources in my Logos 4 library, but even without that feature, it provides access to many study tools and Bible versions. If you register for an account with the site, you get access to an additional 31 resources. I'm not sure if Biblia.com is meant to replace it eventually, but for now, Bible versions are also accessible atÂ http://bible.logos.com/.

There are many websites now that provide access to Bible versions and classic Bible reference works that are in public domain. I've known about StudyLight.org for a while, but not used it much. I recently discovered BibleStudyTools.com that claims to have the Web's largest library of online Bible study resources. I haven't tested the claim, but there was a lot of available content. I will probably use it more in the future. I used to use the NET Bible but hadn't visited their site for a while. It has a clean fresh look and easy to use interface, so I recommend it if you want to use that version for reading or study. They also have a lot of free articles available at Bible.org. Some are by known Bible scholars, teachers, and pastors.

I like Biblos.com and Blue Letter Bible because they have Bible versions in Hebrew and Greek. They also have Bible dictionaries, maps, and encyclopedia articles. The Unbound Bible also has many versions including Hebrew and Greek and some public domain study tools, but their web interface is very basic.Â I also discovered that Lifeway has an online Bible libraryÂ which also looks like mainly public domain Bible reference works and translations, but I haven't spent much time using it.

The bottom line is that all the Bible study resources offered for free are essentially the same set of public domain works. Bible.org is the exception and the text notes alone for the NET Bible are very helpful. I spend most of my time at the online ESV Study Bible but I just might start using Bible.org as a close second. My goal is to direct you to some websites that might help you with your Bible study, but remember there are limits to what you'll be able to get for free and sometimes the old classics from 100 years ago aren't exactly up to date on their interpretations. If you're serious about having access to some of the best digital tools available for Bible study and research, you might just want to check out a Bible software program like Logos 4.

Quote: Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged

2011-08-16T07:16:00.001-07:00

"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs."

Real Theology is not complicated; it helps us grasp how simple the faith really is

2011-06-22T18:45:00.001-07:00

Now that's what I call real theology! Isn't this exactly why we need theological specialists: not to make the faith more complicated and obscure, but to help us grasp how simple it really is?

http://faith-theology.blogspot.com/2011/04/rowan-williams-letter-to-six-year-old.html

"First they came..."

2011-06-02T07:48:00.001-07:00

Martin Niemoller (1892–1984)

First They Came

First they came for the Communists,
- but I was not a communist so I did not speak out.
Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists,
- but I was neither, so I did not speak out.
Then they came for the Jews,
- but I was not a Jew so I did not speak out.
And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.

http://www.journeywithjesus.net/PoemsAndPrayers/Martin_Niemoller_First_They_Came.shtml

The Onion on being "shocked" by events that have happened millions of times

2011-02-19T07:25:00.001-08:00

Nation Somehow Shocked By Human Nature Again

'How Could Someone Do Such A Thing?' Populace Wonders Of Event That Has Transpired Literally Millions Of Times

http://www.theonion.com/articles/nation-somehow-shocked-by-human-nature-again,19170/?utm_source=recentnews

Aristotle's Seven Basic Plot Definitions

2011-02-05T08:40:00.001-08:00

Aristotle's Seven Basic Plot Definitions

See Article http://www.suite101.com/content/the-seven-basic-plots-a58402

The Quest

The Lord of the Rings,

Quest Voyage & Return

The Wizard of Oz.

Rebirth

Beauty and the Beast.

Comedy

All's Well That Ends Well

Tragedy

Hamlet.

Overcoming the Monster

Dracula

Rags to Riches

Cinderella

Websites for free E-books

2011-02-04T12:25:00.001-08:00

Manybooks.net. This has become my favorite with thousands of free titles in a wide variety of trouble-free formats.

GetFreeeBooks.com. Just what it says. A huge selection.

Project Gutenberg - Their mission statement: to encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks. Too many titles to count…

Google Books. A huge selection of free eBooks in the Internet search giant's eBook store.

Smashwords offers a long list of free eBook titles in formats to suit your new eBook reader.

G. Wells Taylor has free and/or affordable titles that are receiving great reviews at GWellsTaylor.com, SkinEaters.com and via his blog. Multiple formats available.

Jennifer L. Armstrong hosts Free Online Novels where she's posted an impressive list of free online novels along with her own. Various formats. Huge Selection!

Author Susan Crealock has several hundred FREE eBooks available at her blog: Online Novels. We're talking about some 500 titles in a wide selection of genres written by both traditionally published and Indie authors. Check it out.

Good Storytelling / Myth quote

2011-02-04T12:10:00.001-08:00

The oral narration would start like this - I am going to tell you a story that never was, but always is… – and then end the story like so – I am not sure that that is the way the story happened, but I know that the story is true.

--- From Black Elk Speaks

How to Save on E-Books for Kindle, Nook and Other E-Readers

2011-01-08T12:40:00.001-08:00

From http://www.walletpop.com/2011/01/06/how-to-save-on-e-books-for-kindle-nook-and-other-e-readers/

How to Save on E-Books for Kindle, Nook and Other E-Readers

If you're among the millions of people who got an e-reader for Christmas and are reading more books than ever before, you'll soon notice on your credit card statement that those $9.99 books add up fast.

But other than reading free public domain classics, how can e-book readers save money without getting a monthly credit card bill in the double digits for the many more books they expect to read with their new toy? There are quite a few ways, as I discovered after some research, with some e-readers offering more ways than others to get free or discounted books.

I'm already into my third book on the Kindle I got for Christmas, and I can't see ever buying another hardcover book to lug around, no matter if it's discounted by 50% or more, when an e-book is typically $5 less than the discounted hardcover.

Amazon reported that in the fist 73 days of the holiday quarter, it sold millions of its newest Kindle -- more than it did during all of 2009. Retailers had high expectations for holiday sales of e-readers, with 10.3 million expected to be in circulation by the end of the year.

So if you're among that group -- or thinking of joining -- here are some ways to save money on e-books:

Blogs, Discussion Boards
Amazon's discussion boards are a good start to finding new books or best-selling authors or new authors who offer their books for free for up to a day as a way to drive up sales on Amazon's ratings, said Elaine Bloom, an e-book expert.

"There's a lot of stuff out there that's free other than the public domain books," Bloom told WalletPop in a telephone interview.

Sometimes the books are only free for a few hours, so checking the discussions often can land you a free bestseller, said Bloom, who recently saw the latest James Patterson book offered for free for a few hours. "You have to keep looking," she said.

Eldon Sarte runs a great blog on free e-books, and also lists dirt cheap books for 89 cents or so that are interesting.

Free Lists
Websites such as ireaderreview.com have daily lists of free e-books, and Amazon has its own list of free bestsellers. The Sony Reader also has lists of free or bargain books.

For the Nook, Michelle Ciarlo-Hayes says that entering the term "0.00" in the search box while in the marketplace will lead to more than 150,000 free titles, which will take some sorting through, but she adds that she has found "some incredible gems among the titles."

Free Classics
If you didn't get to these in high school or college, they can be read on an e-reader, laptop computer or smartphone with the correct application installed. Claire Diaz Ortiz, creator of the blog SavingMoneyPlan.com and a 2010 Savings.com "DealPro," recommended these sites for free classics: Project Gutenberg, Google e-bookstore, Open Library, and LibriVox, which has free audio books that can be read on a Kindle with its voice reader.

The Library
Checking out books is free at the library, and so are e-books if your local lending library has the free software. Nook owner Ciarlo-Hayes says that her library uses Adobe Digital Editions software, offering her more than 100,000 titles for the same three-week time frame as traditional books. If your local library has current fiction and non-fiction books in e-book form, they're free and you won't have to pay $10 or so from your e-reader.

Amazon, however, locks Kindle customers into its books, and doesn't allow downloaded e-books from such services as NetLibrary, Overdrive or similar services, said Paula Laurita, a library science editor at BellaOnline.com. They're available on the Nook, iPad and other devices, but not the Kindle.

Borrowing/Lending
The Kindle and the Nook allow e-books to be lent once, for a two-week period, after which the owner will not be able to access the loaned title. Kindle owner and PopMatters writer Peta Jinnath Andersen points out that at the end of the two weeks the book reappears in the e-library, undamaged and pristine, which is not often the case with physical books that are loaned.

Newspaper Subscriptions
While not free, monthly newspaper subscriptions can be a lot cheaper on e-readers. Terence Burke changed his New York Times subscription from five days to seven days per week by going from printed format to his Nook, an e-Reader from Barnes & Noble. Seven-days of a print subscription would have cost him $769.56 for a year, and is $239.40 per year on the Nook at $19.95 per month.

Skip the E-reader
If you want to read on your Android phone, iPad, laptop or desktop computer, you can download programs such as Blio and buy or read free books that are stored in the cloud. You'll save money by not buying an e-reader such as the Kindle, but can still buy books on Amazon and read them elsewhere. The Kindle, and most other e-readers, provide free apps so that a book can be read seamlessly from one device to the next. You can read a few pages on your desktop computer at work, pick up at the same page on your iPhone on the subway home, and then continue reading where you left off on your iPad at home.

Experimental Features
These items on the Kindle won't save you much money, if any, when buying e-books, but they could save users money in other ways, Kindle owner Reine Thibeault points out. The Kindle has some features under its "Experimental" tab. One opens a web browser, and since there is no monthly web connection fee, you could check a Yahoo or Gmail account for free, although navigation is clunky.

Another feature is being able to load MP3s from a computer to the Kindle. It has a text-to-speech feature that could also save you money if you sometimes bought books in both a hard and audio format.

Loeb Classical Library books online

2010-12-11T08:32:00.001-08:00

http://www.edonnelly.com/loebs.html

Great Quote from "The Princess Bride"

2010-09-17T22:40:00.000-07:00

Vizzini
: HE DIDN'T FALL? INCONCEIVABLE.
Inigo Montoya
: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

Great Quote from "Roots"

2010-08-23T08:34:00.001-07:00

"There's gonna be another day... you hear me? There's gonna be another day!"

-- Fiddler to Kunta Kinte, after Kunta Kinte has been whipped to the point of breaking and forced to confess his slave name "Toby". From the 1977 TV miniseries based on the book by Alex Haley.

Chart of various Reformed denominations

2010-05-21T18:19:00.001-07:00

http://www.tateville.com/churches.html

P. T. Forsyth: The Worst Sin is Prayerlessness

2010-05-18T19:16:00.001-07:00

The worst sin is prayerlessness. Overt sin, or crime, or the glaring inconsistencies which often surprise us in Christian people are the effect of this, or its punishment. We are left by God for lack of seeking Him. The history of the saints shows often that their lapses were the fruit and nemesis of slackness or neglect in prayer. Their life, at seasons, also tended to become inhuman by their spiritual solitude. They left men, and were left by men, because they did not in their contemplation find God; they found but the thought or the atmosphere of God. Only living prayer keeps loneliness humane. It is the great producer of sympathy. Trusting the God of Christ, and transacting with Him, we come into tune with men. Our egoism retires before the coming of God, and into the clearance there comes with our Father our brother. . . .

Not to want to pray, then, is the sin behind sin. And it ends in not being able to pray. That is its punishment — spiritual dumbness, or at least aphasia, and starvation. We do not take our spiritual food, and so we falter, dwindle, and die. "In the sweat of your brow ye shall eat your bread."("The Soul of Prayer," in A Sense of the Holy, p. 137)

HT: http://richardlfloyd.blogspot.com/2010/03/pt-forsyth-on-sin-of-prayerlessness.html

Thought-Provoking P.T. Forsyth quote on hell / eternal punishment

2010-05-17T14:36:00.000-07:00

From http://cruciality.wordpress.com/2010/04/26/who-said-it-4/

Who said it?

26 April, 2010 Jason Goroncy Leave a comment Go to comments

It's been around six weeks since our last 'Who said it?' competition, so probably time for another round (not that we need an excuse or anything). Here's one from the archives:

'Can it be just that God should bring beings into the world unprotected by an infinite armour of foresight against the infinite chances and temptations to wrong, and yet hold them liable to infinite punishment when they had gone wrong? … Punish a man for his sin, that is just; punish him for ages (if in that other world you can reckon time), that may be just; but make no end of punishing him for that sin, reduce him from a man to a devil and keep him there, let him become for ever vile, mainly because he was ignorant to start with, that is not just … Preach the eternal, unappeasable wrath of God upon lost souls and you offer men a devil to worship'.

So, who said it?

30 April, 2010 at 9:51 pm | #5

Quote

The answer is PT Forsyth.

Trinity Hymnal Links

2010-05-07T19:45:00.001-07:00

Old Trinity Hymnal

http://www.opc.org/hymnal.html

New Trinity Hymnal

http://trinityhymnalindex.wordpress.com/

Psalm Singing / Psalter links

2010-05-04T23:09:00.001-07:00

1650 Scottish Psalter

http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualNLs/Psalter0.htm

http://www.merrysoul.com/index.html

http://precentorincharlotte.blogspot.com/

Tunes for Trinity Psalter

http://www.oldchristianmusic.com/mproductpages/scottish-festival-singers--psalms-of-the-trinity-psalter2.html

http://www.lifefebc.com/resources/midipsalter.htm

http://cyberpsalter.tripo.com/

Psalms in Trinity Hymnal

http://swanson.kepler.covenant.edu/psalm/

Tunes & Divisions

http://www.pilgrimcovenant.com/online/ScottishPsalterTunes/recommended_tunes.php

CDs, recordings & samples

http://psalms4u.com/

http://genevanpsalter.com/music-a-lyrics/2-complete-collections/182-mp3-collections

http://www.shallwesingasongforyou.co.uk/?cat=17

http://presbyterianreformed.org/psalmcds.php

http://www.presbyterianreformed.org/psalmcds.php

The Psalms for Singing: A 21st Century Edition

http://www.crownandcovenant.com/International_Psalters_s/37.htm

Misc

http://thekingdomcome.com/psalmplayer

Psalter.org

http://genevanpsalter.com/

John Brown of Haddington's Notes on 1650 Psalter

http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualNLs/Psalter0.htm

Anglo-Genevan Psalter

http://www.telusplanet.net/public/inhpubl/webip/prod29.htm

LINK Hebrew English bible online

2010-05-01T21:55:00.001-07:00

http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0.htm

Six Million Dollar Man opening

2010-04-22T17:22:00.001-07:00

"Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world's first bionic man. Steve Austin will be that man. We can make him better than he was before. Better, stronger, faster."

Carl Trueman on bad sermons or bad listening

2010-03-12T19:39:00.001-08:00

How many of us, I wonder, when we hear what we think is a bad sermon first ask ourselves if the problem is with how we listened rather than with the man who spoke?

-- Carl Trueman, http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2010/03/slouching-to-bethlehem.php

Open source aids for Classical Greek & Latin

2010-03-08T14:40:00.001-08:00

The Alpheios Project has released the first beta version of a set of free reading aids and learning tools for Classical Greek and Latin. The source code is also freely available to developers. The tools are intended to provide unusually convenient lexicographical and grammatical support for anyone wishing to read HTML versions of original Greek and Latin texts, whether online or on a local computer. Pedagogical modules are currently being added for those who wish to learn the language. We are also making available prototypes of several related tools, including a graphical interface for treebank editing that can easily be adapted to different annotation schemes. The reading tools and the initial pedagogical modules can be downloaded from http://alpheios.net The other resources and prototypes currently in development can be accessed at http://alpheios.net/content/resources-under-development It is hoped that these tools can facilitate consultation of original texts by scholars in other fields, provide customized options for students who wish to learn the language through the study of specific texts, and generally promote appreciation of the unique legacy of the classical world. An important feature of the tools is that their architecture was designed to facilitate the rapid addition of other resources, such as lexicons, grammars, and reference materials, and even other languages, especially highly inflected ones where the value of such tools seems especially compelling. To illustrate this flexibility we are also making modules available for Arabic and Chinese; but our design goal was to create an infrastructure that would make the creation of similar tools for any language as easy as possible. We would greatly appreciate comments, suggestions and criticism because the tools are still in active development Yours very truly, The Alpheios Team

Great quote: "Lord of the Rings" and "Atlas Shrugged"

2010-03-04T17:47:00.001-08:00

I don't know the source of this quote, but it's great:

"The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged: one is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs."

Great JMS quotes

2010-02-23T23:41:00.001-08:00

From http://www.newsarama.com/film/JMS-Week-Movies-TV-100220.html

At conventions and elsewhere, I've always said that if there's anything at all to be learned from me -- and I'm not entirely sure there is, but let's make that assumption now just for the hell of it -- it's that if you hold onto your dreams, if you follow your passions, it doesn't matter where you come from, or what school you went to, or how old you are, you can do it. It's possible. That's the lesson. Not that you will, but that it's possible. Which is all most of us ever really need to know, to strive for what we want, what we believe in.

Example: a friend of mine from college spent 25 years of her life working in a cubicle for a faceless master on a distant mountaintop. There was very little of her in the work, and she called one day to say what am I doing it for? I've never done anything I wanted to do and it's too late now. Nonsense, I told her. What do you want to do, what are you passionate about? She didn't know. I asked what she likes doing. I like my cat, all pets, she said, and I like taking photos, but I'm not a pro.

"So combine what you enjoy. Start taking pictures of pets. For free to start, then for money. Point is, follow what gives you joy."

She did. And now she works three days for the faceless master, and two days a week doing what she enjoys, and making a living at it. Within the next year, if she keeps it up, she'll be working full time at what she loves.

Follow your passion. The rest will attend to itself.

If I can do it, anybody can do it.

It's possible.

And it's your turn.

So go for it. It's never too late to become what you always wanted to be in the first place.

Karl Barth's Clarity

2010-01-26T21:30:00.001-08:00

Excellent quote about Karl Barth from Joseph Mangina, in Karl Barth: Theologian of Christian Witness, , p. 22-23. From http://dogmatics.wordpress.com/2009/11/22/barths-clarity/.

While acquaintance with the structure of the Dogmatics is useful, it does not prepare one for the actual experience of reading the text. A main reason is that Barth does not adopt the familiar persona of the impartial academic. He writes not impartially, but as a partisan; he writes as one who is passionately engaged in the very subject matter under discussion. Barth seeks to foster this kind of engagement in the reader as well. He draws the reader into a movement of reflection, examining a theological puzzle from different angles, at times leading him or her down false roads (only so will we understand why they are false), always pressing us forward to some resolution of the problem at hand. Barth will never say in the manner of textbooks: 'Here are two ways of looking at the topic, take your choice.' The nature of what the church proclaims demands clarity. If anything frustrates him in modern theology, it is the tendency one sometimes sees to celebrate doubt and ambiguity for their own sake. Barth believes the Word of God to be an ultimate mystery, but he does not see it as opaque. Because God has spoken clearly in Jesus Christ, we can actually arrive at answers to theological questions. To be sure, our answers — being human — are always contestable; but the best way to see where we have gone wrong is to express our thinking as clearly as possible. This is a key reason why Barth wants to embrace the modern term wissenschaftlich, 'scientific', for Christian theology. All this makes for the curious blend of passion and objectivity one finds in his writing. As Hans Urs von Balthasar writes, Barth is 'passionately enthusiastic about the subject matter of theology, but he is impartial in the way he approaches so volatile a subject. Impartiality means being plunged into the object … And Barth's object is God, as he has revealed himself in Jesus Christ, to which revelation Scripture bears witness' (The Theology of Karl Barth, Ignatius, p. 25).

Kevin DeYoung's "IDEA" on Preaching

2010-01-24T21:40:00.001-08:00

From http://blog.9marks.org/2010/01/one-thing-i-remember-from-preaching-class.html by Rev. Kevin DeYoung

When you come to a passage there are four things you can do: illustrate, defend, explain, apply. I rearranged the order from seminary class so the four points make a convenient acronym: IDEA. Most young preachers, and probably most preachers in general, gravitate toward "explain." We do best at studying the text and communicating what we learned to others. If the passage is especially obscure or controversial, it makes sense to land heavy on the E. But sometimes the passage is relatively simple. In this case, don't spin your wheels on endless word studies that basically repeat with synonyms what everyone can see immediately in the text.

Lou Holtz on Talent, Motivation, Attitude

2010-01-22T15:01:00.001-08:00

"Your talent determines what you can do. Your motivation determines how much you're willing to do. Your attitude determines how well you do it."

- Lou Holtz

QUOTE: Don Carson on The Pastor as Scholar, the Scholar as Pastor

2010-01-19T16:58:00.001-08:00

A Full, Quick, Exact Man

From Pure Church by Thabiti Anyabwile by Thabiti Anyabwile on 1/15/10

Don Carson quoting Francis Bacon in last April's address at "The Pastor as Scholar, the Scholar as Pastor."

"Reading maketh a full man; speaking maketh a quick man; writing maketh an exact man."

The Pastor As A Scholar – Don Carson from The Gospel Coalition on Vimeo.

Quote: "Church pews should come with crash helmets and seatbelts"

2010-01-19T15:11:00.001-08:00

From http://twentytwowords.com/2010/01/10/as-annie-dillard-says-church-pews-should-come-with-crash-helmets-and-seatbelts/

Why does a Christian radio station bill itself as "safe for the whole family"? Whatever else Christianity is, it certainly isn't that. As Annie Dillard says, church pews should come with crash helmets and seatbelts.

LINKS: Classical Greek & Latin Grammars, Texts, etc.

2010-01-14T19:31:00.001-08:00

Classical Greek: http://www.textkit.com/greek_grammar.php

Latin: http://www.textkit.com/latin_grammar.php

Excellent advice for moving from NT Greek to Classical (Amazon List)

2010-01-14T09:14:00.001-08:00

Link: http://amzn.com/sy/HLURRO039Q1V

So you'd like to... read ancient Greek outside the New Testament
A guide by S. Blackwelder "fountain pen daily user"	Share with Friends

Products sampled from this guide:


Who Killed Homer?: The Demise of Classical Education and the Recovery of Greek Wisdom	Homeric Greek: A Book for Beginners	Homeric Vocabularies: Greek and English Word List for the Study of Homer

› See all 17 products mentioned in this guide below

Starting Greek in the New Testament is useful, fairly quick and healthy for both paid and unpaid Christian church leaders. If you've never learned to do a "declension" before, choose your teacher carefully.

The Greek of the Septuagint (LXX) is then readable with a lexicon like the excellent new one by J. Lust, E. Eynikel and K. Hauspie in two volumes (ISBN 3438051257 and 3438051267; one, not both, stocked at Amazon as of 02/27/2002).

However, you may already have discovered that if you want to read ancient authors in Greek outside the Bible, whether Jewish, pagan, Christian or philosopical, basic NT/LXX Greek is far from enough. For motivation to read in Greek and teach others to do so, read Hanson and Heath, Who Killed Homer?: The Demise of Classical Education and the Recovery of Greek Wisdom.

Go back to where the ancients started in Greek literature:
Homer! The Iliad and Odyssey will enjoyably help you better understand almost everything written later in Greek. You've already learned the basics. Homer's language is almost as easy as the New Testament's; the Athenian Golden Age literature is the hardest place to start. What's more, Homer was to Greek and Roman literature as Shakespeare and the King James Bible are to English literature.

Once you're confident in NT Greek, start right into Pharr and Wright's Homeric Greek: A Book for Beginners for a quick, thorough introduction to Homer's Greek. Caution: get used to Homer's "ho, he, to" not being the definite article!

› See products from this section at the bottom of the page

Enjoy reading the Iliad and Odyssey.
Yes, I said to enjoy the Iliad and Odyssey before going on. They're interesting! Most if not all Greek-language authors have assumed that their audiences knew these stories well.

Build your vocabulary using Owen and Goodspeed et al, Homeric Vocabularies: Greek and English Word List for the Study of Homer, to ease reading. The quickest dictionary to use is Autenreith et al, Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges. The most authoritative Homeric lexicon in English is Cunliffe, Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, which is inexpensive and complete, but a bit hard on the eyes.

The Iliad is rather long; for the best 4900 lines, lots of language help and summaries of the other lines in English, use Benner's Selections from Homer's Iliad.

The Loeb editions of the Iliad and the Odyssey in Greek are

The Iliad: Volume I, Books 1-12 (Loeb Classical Library No. 170),
The Iliad: Volume II, Books 13-24 (Loeb Classical Library No. 171),
The Odyssey: Books 1-12 (The Loeb Classical Library, No 104)
and The Odyssey: Books 13-24 (Loeb Classical Library, No 105).

› See products from this section at the bottom of the page

Step forward through ancient Greek literature.
Next, read selections from the Homeric Hymns and all of Hesiod, together in Hesiod: The Homeric Hymns and Homerica (Loeb Classical Library #57). These are also in the Epic dialect. Read the Homeric Hymns selections first; you already have the vocabulary. Read Hesiod's "Works and Days" before his "Theogony."

To help you read any author after Homer and outside the New Testament, get Morwood's quick-reference grammar, Oxford Grammar of Classical Greek. (Smyth et al, Greek Grammar, is still the "gold standard" in English; even Morwood says so). Also, get a general dictionary or lexicon for classical Greek. The best pocket-sized one is Pocket Oxford Classical Greek Dictionary. For more authority and detail, you'll need to spend more money, either on the mid-sized, older Liddel-Scott An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon: Founded upon the Seventh Edition of Liddell and Scott's Greek-English Lexicon or on the huge, newer Liddel-Scott-Jones A Greek-English Lexicon, Ninth Edition with a Revised Supplement.

Now you can move forward in Greek. The following list is based on comments by Hanson and Heath, and on Smyth's history of dialects and authors.

Herodotus' entertaining Ionic-dialect prose is now an easy step. Use Barbour's anthology, Selections from Herodotus, which has special language helps for students who started Greek in Homer.

After Herodotus, read selections from the earlier Ionic poet Archilochus before going on to the Athenians. Archilochus was a vile curmudgeon, so guard your heart, but pay attention to his insights into Greek culture.

Skip the lyric poets for now. You can come back to them later.

Attic, the dialect of classical Athenian literature, was a separate branch of Ionic. Skip Aeschylus for now; your easiest slide into Attic is through the poet-playwright Euripides. Read his "Bacchae" and "Suppliants."

After him, read his colleague Sophocles'"Ajax" (a.k.a. "Aias" or "Ajas") and "Antigone," in that order.

Then, read lots of Plato. His writing style was between "earlier" (harder) and "later" (easier).

After Plato, step back to some more challenging passages by Thucydides.

With all that background, you can get the jokes by the later-style comic poet-playwright Aristophanes. Also, read the orator Demosthenes' "First Philippic."

After him, read selections from Xenophon's "Anabasis." He's easy to read, but don't read him until now! Otherwise, you can't understand his attitude and nonstandard style as well as you need to.

After Xenophon, read some Aristotle.

Aristotle's student Alexander "the Great" led the multi-dialect army that conquered the empire that produced the Koine dialect by necessity. Koine soon replaced almost all other Greek dialects, in formal literature too.

Here are some Koine authors. Read selections from several:

Theophrastus,
Polybius,
Apollodorus (or was that Pseudo-A.?),
Dionysius of Halicarnassus,
Strabo,
Diodorus Siculus,
Diogenes Laertius,
Plutarch,
Philo,
Epictetus (Arrian's summaries of lectures & discussions)
Josephus,
Arrian,
Lucian
and Cassius Dio.

Now that you've read some New Testament and this list, all non-modern Greek is yours!

Great Erich Fromm quote: "Man... transcends himself and leaves the prison of absolute egocentricity"

2010-01-08T23:17:00.001-08:00

From http://spurgeon.wordpress.com/2010/01/06/why-humans-need-a-worldview-and-why-dogs-dont/

Erich Fromm in The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness [(New York City: Henry Holt, 1973) p. 26], writes:

"…[man] needs a goal that tells him where to go. The animal has no such problems. Its instincts provide it with a map as well as with goals. But man, lacking instinctive determination and having a brain that permits him to think of many directions in which he could go, needs an object of total devotion; he needs an object of total devotion to be the focus point of all his strivings and the basis for all his effective—and not only proclaimed—values. He needs such an object of devotion for a number of reasons. The object integrates his energies in one direction. It elevates him beyond his isolated existence, with all its doubts and insecurities, and gives meaning to life. In being devoted to a goal beyond his isolated ego, he transcends himself and leaves the prison of absolute egocentricity."

Study: Effects of Pornography

2009-12-29T22:40:00.001-08:00

From http://blogs.lifeway.com/blog/edstetzer/2009/12/the-effects-of-pornography.html

Pornography is addictive, and neuroscientists are beginning to map the biological substrate of this addiction.
Users tend to become desensitized to the type of pornorgraphy they use, become bored with it, and then seek more perverse forms of pornography.
Married men who are involved in pornography feel less satisfied with their conjugal relations and less emotionally attached to their wives. Wives notice and are upset by the difference.
Pornography use is a pathway to infidelity and divorce, and is frequently a major factor in these family disasters.
Among couples affected by one spouse's addiction, two-thirds experience a loss of interest in sexual intercourse.
Many adolescents who view pornography initially feel shame, diminished self-confidence, and sexual uncertainty, but these feelings quickly shift to unadulterated enjoyment with regular viewing.
The main defenses against pornography are close family life, a good marriage and good relations between parents and children, coupled with deliberate parental monitoring of Internet use. Traditionally, government has kept a tight lid on sexual traffic and businesses, but in matters of pornography that has waned almost completely, except where child pornography is concerned. Given the massive, deleterious individual, marital, family, and social effects of pornography, it is time for citizens, communities, and government to reconsider their laissez-faire approach.

"Sharing Christ over Christmas" (link)

2009-12-20T21:09:00.001-08:00

A helpful link about the meaning of sharing: http://www.chris-tocentric.com/?p=574.

Good quote:

"Evangelism is the activity in which the entire Church prayerfully and intentionally relies on God in sharing gospel love and truth, in order to bring people one step closer to Jesus Christ."

Top 11 religiously themed films of the decade (link)

2009-12-20T20:58:00.001-08:00

http://dunedinschool.wordpress.com/2009/12/05/top-10-religiously-themed-films-of-the-decade/

Hubble Advent Calendar

2009-12-20T20:50:00.001-08:00

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/12/hubble_space_telescope_advent_1.html

Brian Kelly on Attention to Details and Winning

2009-12-14T18:42:00.001-08:00

http://www.und.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/121109aai.html

Q. Welcome to Notre Dame. You have stated or you have been quoted in the past to say that you can't start winning until you stop losing. Can you explain exactly what that phrase -- all that that phrase entails?

BRIAN KELLY: Eating at Burger King at 3:00 in the morning is not going to make you the best for your 8:00 workouts. Not being on time, not paying attention to detail, not being purposeful in what you do on a day to day basis. Attention to detail is absolutely crucial in this process of winning, and so when I talk about working on winning, I mean you do that from the first day you step on this campus if you want to win. You don't win on Saturdays with Xs and Os. You win on Saturdays because you've been working on it all week, and so it's that attention to detail. It's morale, it's camaraderie, it's one voice.

Those things are what I refer to as working on winning. They then show themselves on game day.

Geek Alert: Fictional Starship Comparison chart

2009-12-07T23:17:00.001-08:00

http://www.st-minutiae.com/misc/comparison/comparison_medium.png

Note: the Enterprise and Kelvin pictures at the bottom from the 2009 Star Trek film are not correct.

Tim Keller's Advice for Young Ministers.... the Country Parson

2009-12-05T09:34:00.001-08:00

From http://rcpc.com/blog/view.jsp?Blog_param=78

The Country Parson
By Tim Keller

Young pastors or seminarians often ask me for advice on what kind of early ministry experience to seek in order to best grow in skill and wisdom as a pastor. They often are surprised when I tell them to consider being a 'country parson' -- namely, the solo pastor of a small church, many or most of which are in non-urban settings. Let me quickly emphasize the word 'consider.' I would never insist that everyone must follow this path. Nevertheless, it is worth thinking about. It was great for me.

Many young leaders perceive that the ideal first ministry position would be a position on the staff of a large church with an older, mature pastor to mentor them. The limits of this model are several. You can't teach a younger pastor much about things they aren't actually doing. And in a large church they aren't a) bearing the burden of being the main leader, b) leading a board of elders, c) fund-raising and bearing the final responsibility of having enough money to do ministry, d) and doing the gamut of counseling, shepherding, teaching, preaching. In a smaller church as a solo pastor you and only you visit the elderly, do all the weddings and funerals, sit by the bedside of every dying parishioner, do all the marriage counseling, suspend and excommunicate, work with musicians, craft and lead worship, speak at every men's retreat, women's retreat, and youth retreat, write all the Bible studies and often Sunday School curriculum, train all the small group leaders, speak at the nursing home, work with your diaconate as they try to help families out of poverty, evangelize and welcome new visitors to the church, train volunteers to do some (but not all) of all of the above tasks, and deal with the once-a-month relational or financial crisis in the church. No amount of mentoring can teach you what you learn from doing all those things.

Some will be surprised to hear me say this, since they know my emphasis on ministry in the city. Yes, I believe firmly that the evangelical church has neglected the city. It still is difficult to get Christians and Christian leaders to make the sacrifices necessary to live their lives out in cities. However, the disdain many people have for urban areas is no worse than the condescending attitudes many have toward small towns and small churches.

Young pastors should not turn up their noses at such places, where they may learn the full spectrum of ministry tasks and skills as they will not in a large church. Nor should they go to small communities looking at them merely as stepping stones in a career. Why not? Your early ministry experience will only prepare you for 'bigger things,' if you don't aspire for anything bigger than investment in the lives of the people around you. Wherever you serve, put your roots down, become a member of the community and do your ministry with all your heart and might. If God opens the door to go somewhere else, fine and good. But don't go to such places looking at them only as training grounds for 'real ministry.'

My own pathway of personal development began with nine years of being the pastor of a small church in a small town. This equipped me well for church planting in New York City, because, when you start a church, you must be a generalist, not the specialist that large churches create. I repeat -- I am not proposing that everyone follow the same course. Being a 'country parson' is not the right move for everyone. But for some it is.

E-reader links

2009-12-01T15:57:00.001-08:00

http://www.ereaderuniverse.com/

http://www.the-ebook-reader.com/

Astronomy photo: The Milky Way over Devil's Mountain

2009-12-01T10:31:00.001-08:00

Absolutely Incredible!!!

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090729.html

Quote from Heilein's "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress"

2009-11-30T19:35:00.001-08:00

"I sighed. Where do you start explaining when a man's words show there isn't anything he understands about subject, instead is loaded with preceptions that don't fit facts and doesn't even know he has?"

-- Robert A. Heinlein, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (Orb edition, 1997; originally printed in 1966), 163. Note: Quote is accurate and seeming typos portray a "Lunar dialect" Heinlein created for the novel.

Workbench links

2009-11-25T21:01:00.001-08:00

http://www.hammerzone.com/archives/workshop/bench/below20xl.html

http://www.woodcraft.com/Articles/Articles.aspx?articleid=352

http://www.cornerhardware.com/howto/ht082.html

http://www.shopnotes.com/issues/075/extras/making-a-longer-plank-top-workbench/

http://www.shopnotes.com/issues/089/extras/heavy-duty-workbench/

Films to see

2009-11-25T19:36:00.001-08:00

9.1 - The Shawshank Redemption (1994) 447,277

9.1 - The Godfather (1972) 366,681

9.0 - The Godfather: Part II (1974) 214,651

8.6 - Sunset Blvd. (1950) 47,514

8.4 - Chinatown (1974) 69,377

8.4 - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) 192,025

8.4 - Singin' in the Rain (1952) 49,295

8.4 - Some Like It Hot (1959) 59,706

8.3 - Metropolis (1927) 34,262

8.3 - The Elephant Man (1980) 50,733

8.3 - The Sting (1973) 58,621

8.3 - On the Waterfront (1954) 36,492

8.2 - Witness for the Prosecution (1957) 15,542

8.2 - Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) 12,119

8.0 - A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) 29,598

8.0 - Changeling (2008) 47,218

Scholarly Bibles website

2009-11-18T16:23:00.001-08:00

http://www.scholarly-bibles.com/

Links to Great Astronomy pictures

2009-11-18T16:17:00.001-08:00

The Heavens Declare the Glory of God!!! (Psalm 19:1)

NASA Astronomy picture of the day: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/

Archive for NASA Astronomy picture of the day: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html

Hubble Telescope site: http://hubblesite.org

Great image from Hubble:

http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/1996/01/image/a/format/large_web/

"Tiers of Glory" book on Church Architecture

2009-11-16T17:57:00.001-08:00

In Tiers of Glory: The Organic Development of Catholic Church Architecture Through the Ages

by Michael S. Rose

In Stock

Price: $29.95

17 used & new from $19.99

How to Read a Church: A Guide to Symbols and Images in Churches and Cathedrals
by Richard Taylor

Architecture in Communion: Implementing the Second Vatican Council Through Liturgy and Architecture
by Steven J. Schloeder

No Place for God: The Denial of Transcendence in Modern Church Architecture
by Moyra Doorly

http://www.amazon.com

Screwtape's advice to Wormwood from "The Screwtape Letters" by C. S. Lewis

2009-11-16T17:51:00.001-08:00

A summary of Screwtape's advice to Wormwood from "The Screwtape Letters" by C. S. Lewis:

Make him preoccupied with ordinary, "real" life—not arguments or science.
Make him disillusioned with the church by highlighting people he self-righteously thinks are strange or hypocritical.
Annoy him with "daily pinpricks" from his mother.
Keep him from seriously intending to pray at all, and if that fails, subtly misdirect his focus to himself or an object rather than a Person.
Don't hope for too much from a war [in this case, World War II ] because the Enemy often lets our patients suffer to fortify them and tantalize us.
Capitalize on his uncertainty, divert his attention from the Enemy to himself, and redirect his malice to his everyday neighbors and his benevolence to people he does not know.
Keep him ignorant of your existence, and make him either an extreme patriot or an extreme pacifist who regards his cause as the most important part of Christianity.
Make good use of your patient's series of troughs and peaks (i.e., "the law of undulation"), and beware that the Enemy relies on the troughs more than the peaks.
Capitalize on trough periods by tempting him with sensual pleasures (especially sex), making him content with his moderated religion, and directly attacking his faith as merely a "phase."
Convince him to blend in with his new worldly acquaintances.
Understand the four causes of laughter (joy, fun, the joke proper, and flippancy), and shrewdly use jokes and flippancy.
Don't underestimate the power of "very small sins" because "the safest road to Hell is the gradual one."
Don't allow him to experience real pleasures because they are a touchstone of reality.
Make him proud of his humility. Use both vainglory and false modesty to keep him from humility's true end.
Make him live in the future rather than the present.
Encourage church-hopping.
Encourage gluttony through delicacy rather than excess.
Convince him that the only respectable ground for marriage is "being in love."
Understand that the Enemy does not genuinely love humans. (But we don't know what his real motive is.)
Don't give up if your direct attacks on his chastity fail. Try to arrange a desirable marriage.
Convince him to use the pronoun "my" in the fully possessive sense of ownership (e.g., "my time," "my boots," "my wife," and "my God").
Understand that the Enemy has filled His world full of pleasures and that you must twist them before you can use them.
Encourage him to embrace a "historical Jesus" and to treat Christianity as merely a means to a political end such as social justice.
Confuse him with spiritual pride for being part of an elite set.
Replace "mere Christianity" with "Christianity And" by increasing his horror of "the same old thing" and thus increasing his desire for novelty.
Sow seeds of "unselfishness" during his courtship.
Twist his prayers.
Guard his life so that he grows old because real worldliness takes time.
Defeat his courage, and make him a coward.
Capitalize on his fatigue, and manipulate his emotions with the word "real."
His end is inexplicable, but we must win in the end.

St. Thomas Aquinas meets Pope Innocent IV: Silver & gold

2009-11-13T07:50:00.001-08:00

The story is famous of the discourse between Pope Innocent IV and Thomas Aquinas. When that great scholar came to Rome, and looked somewhat amazedly upon the mass of plate and treasure which he saw, Lo, said the Pope, you see Thomas, we cannot say as St Peter did of old, silver and gold have we none. No, said Aquinas, neither can you command, as he did, the lame man to arise and walk. — Bishop Hall

Two Key "Battlestar Galactica" quotes

2009-11-10T14:54:00.001-08:00

Gaius Baltar: ...Now I may be mad, but that doesn't mean that I am not right. Because there is another force at work here. There's always has been. It's undeniable. We've all experienced it. Everyone in this room has witnessed events that they can't fathom, let alone explain away by rational means. Puzzles, deciphered in prophecy. Dreams given to a chosen few. Our loved ones dead ... risen. Whether we want to call that God, or Gods, or some sublime inspiration, or a divine force that we can't know or understand, it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. It's here, it exists, and our two destinies are entwined in its force.

----------------------------

Lee Adama: ...If there's on thing we should have learned, it's that, you know, our brains have always outraced our hearts; our science charges ahead, our souls lag behind.

----------------------------

From the Episode "Daybreak", written by Ronald D. Moore and directed by Michael Rymer. Baltar portrayed by James Callis, Adama by Jamie Bamber. Rights owned by Syfy Channel.

The Essence of Time Management

2009-11-04T14:05:00.001-08:00

Fromn http://www.whatsbestnext.com/2009/10/the-essence-of-time-management-in-one-paragraph/

THE ESSENCE OF TIME MANAGEMENT IN ONE PARAGRAPH

Stephen Covey pulls together the essence of time management into four sentences:

The essence of time management is to set priorities and then to organize and execute around them. Setting priorities requires us to think carefully and clearly about values, about ultimate concerns. These then have to be translated into long- and short- term goals and plans translated once more into schedules or time slots. Then, unless something more important — not something more urgent — comes along, we must discipline ourselves to do as we planned. (From Principle Centered Leadership, p 138.)

October 30, 2009

Three questions to ask in a job interview

2009-11-04T14:04:00.001-08:00

From http://www.whatsbestnext.com/2009/10/questions-to-ask-in-a-job-interview/

In this down economy, a lot of people are looking for jobs. Part of the interviewing process is asking good questions of the interviewer.

Marcus Buckingham lists three questions you should always ask, and I think he's right:

(1) What are the three top priorities for the person in this position during the next ninety days?

(2) What are the key strengths you're looking for in the person you select for this position? How do these strengths relate to what this position is responsible for?

(3) How would you describe the company culture? Would you give me some examples of the culture in action?

First, you ask about top priorities so you can know what's expected, especially at the start, and so you can identify if the employer has sufficiently thought through the position. If they don't know what to expect, you won't know what to expect. (And one of the three priorities they list will hopefully be: learn the position well.)

Second, you ask about strengths because the purpose of any organization is to make strength productive and because you will be at your best when you are in a role that calls upon your strengths. If the organization does not have this mindset, it's a yellow flag and it may not serve you to work there. So you want to know if they think in terms of maximizing strengths. Also, you want to know if the position matches your strengths and thus if you truly are a good fit.

Third, you ask about the culture because this is fundamental to knowing your "fit" and because you want to work for organizations with a healthy culture. One of the best answers a potential employer could give to this question is: "Trust."

And one last thing: Present your true self. First, this is right. Second, the interview will go better. Third, it won't serve you or the company if you get the job on the basis of an inaccurate understanding of your fit for the position.

October 23, 2009

Windows 7 help

2009-11-04T14:00:00.001-08:00

http://lifehacker.com/5386953/lifehackers-complete-guide-to-windows-7

Books for Boys

2009-11-04T13:59:00.000-08:00

From Virginia is for Huguenots :

Books for Boys

via Virginia is for Huguenots by noreply@blogger.com (VirginiaHuguenot) on 10/23/09

Standing tall among the likes of Jules Verne, Joseph Conrad, James Fenimore Cooper, Jack London, Rudyard Kipling, Alexandre Dumas, Frederick Marryat, are distinctly Christian or Christian-influenced adventure writers, such as, to name a few:

Daniel Defoe -- Presbyterian dissenter who chronicled the history of the Scottish Presbyterian Church.
Johann David Wyss -- Rector of the Reformed Protestant Cathedral in Bern, Switzerland.
Robert Michael Ballantyne -- Ballantyne travelled to the places that he wrote about, and he stated, Personal Reminiscences in Book-Making: "...in all my writings I have always tried — how far successfully I know not — to advance the cause of Truth and Right and to induce my readers to put their trust in the love of God our Saviour, for this life as well as the life to come." Elsewhere, he wrote: "In writing these volumes, the author has earnestly endeavoured to keep in view the glory of God and the good of man." See this website.
Robert Louis Stevenson -- Presbyterian, although he tended away from the beliefs of his church, wrote of Covenanters and Camisards, and coined the phrase "Ballantyne the Brave".
William Henry Giles Kingston -- Devout Christian, missionary supporter and translator of the works of Jules Verne from French into English.
George Alfred Henty -- Henty once said in an interview: "To be a true hero you must be a true Christian. To sum up, then, heroism is largely based upon two qualities-truthfulness and unselfishness, a readiness to put one's own pleasure aside for that of others, helpful to your parents, even if that helpfulness demands some slight sacrifice of your own pleasure. You must remember that these two qualities are true signs of Christian heroism. If one is to be a true Christian, one must be a Christian hero. True heroism is inseparable from true Christianity, and as a step towards the former I would urge most strongly and urgently the practice of the latter."

A common theme running through many of these adventure stories is named after Daniel Defoe's greatest novel, Robinson Crusoe. Sometimes called the "Robinsonade," the story of castaways stranded on desert islands may be found not only in Jules Verne's The Mysterious Island, but in Wyss's The Swiss Family Robinson, Ballantyne's The Island Queen and The Lonely Island, Kingston's The Coral Island and Henty's For Name and Fame. Stevenson's Treasure Island does not involve castaways, but he spent time in the south Pacific later and is one of the great nineteenth century travel writers. Swiss Family Robinson and Robinson Crusoe both strongly reflect the Reformed world view of their authors. I am partial to these having had my own experience on a desert island (Gun Cay, Jamaica).

It is the historical novels focusing on religion that are of particular interest to this blogger, who is himself slowly writing a work of historical fiction. I will highlight a few which I think are worth having in the family library.

William H.G. Kingston, Exiled For the Faith: A Tale of Huguenot Persecution (also titled Villegagnon: A Tale of Huguenot Persecution). -- A story concerning the French Huguenot colony of France Antarctique, located at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in the mid-1500's. The leader of the colony, Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon, is known as the "Cain of America," having turned from Protestantism to Catholicism, and executing the first Protestant martyrs in the Western hemisphere.

William H.G. Kingston, In the Wilds of Florida -- This story takes place in the 19th century but mentions the 16th century French Huguenot settlement in Florida.

R.M. Ballantyne, Hunted and Harried -- A story of the 17th century Scottish Covenanters.

G.A. Henty, St. Bartholomew's Eve -- A story about the 1572 St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre of French Huguenots.

G.A. Henty, Won By the Sword -- A story about the Thirty Years' War.

G.A. Henty, Lion of the North: A Tale of the Times of Gustavus Adolphus and the Wars of Religion.

G.A. Henty, By Pike and Dyke: A Tale of the Rise of the Dutch Republic.

G.A. Henty, By England's Aid: or, The Freeing of the Netherlands (1585-1604).

G.A. Henty, Orange and Green: A Tale of the Boyne and Limerick.

G.A. Henty, For the Temple: A Tale of the Fall of Jerusalem.

Planned Parenthood: Let's Make Profit from Abortion

2009-11-03T21:11:00.001-08:00

More from http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6700777.html

“Definitely the most lucrative part of their business was abortions. One of the things that kept coming up was how family planning services were really dragging down the budget, and family planning services include education about contraceptives. It was a drain on the budget, but abortion services were really running up the budget and that was keeping the center afloat.”

From Rod Dreher at http://blog.beliefnet.com/crunchycon/2009/11/abby-johnson-ex-abortionist.html

Reason to give thanks down in Bryan-College Station, Texas. From a local news report:

Planned Parenthood has been a part of Abby Johnson's life for the past eight years; that is until last month, when Abby resigned. Johnson said she realized she wanted to leave, after watching an ultrasound of an abortion procedure.
"I just thought I can't do this anymore, and it was just like a flash that hit me and I thought that's it," said Jonhson.

She handed in her resignation October 6. Johnson worked as the Bryan Planned Parenthood Director for two years.

According to Johnson, the non-profit was struggling under the weight of a tough economy, and changing it's business model from one that pushed prevention, to one that focused on abortion.

"It seemed like maybe that's not what a lot of people were believing any more because that's not where the money was. The money wasn't in family planning, the money wasn't in prevention, the money was in abortion and so I had a problem with that," said Johnson.

Johnson said she was told to bring in more women who wanted abortions, something the Episcopalian church goer recently became convicted about.

"I feel so pure in heart (since leaving). I don't have this guilt, I don't have this burden on me anymore that's how I know this conversion was a spiritual conversion."

Michael Horton reviews N.T. Wright's book on Justification

2009-10-28T20:04:00.001-07:00

From http://euangelizomai.blogspot.com/2009/10/michael-horton-reviews-nt-wright-on.html

Michael Horton's series of reviews on N.T. Wright's book on Justification.

A (the?) key quote from the film "The Prestige"

2009-10-06T19:52:00.001-07:00

You never understood… why we did this. The audience knows the truth. The world is simple, miserable, solid all the way through. But if you can fool them, even for a second… then you can make them wonder. And you get to see something very special. … You really don't know. … It was the look on their faces.

-- Robert Angier (played by Hugh Jackman; screenplay by Jonathan Nolan & Christopher Nolan; directed by Christopher Nolan; based on the novel by Christopher Priest)

Cotton Mather's Household Rules

2009-10-02T22:04:00.001-07:00

http://virginiahuguenot.blogspot.com/2009/09/cotton-mathers-household-rules.html

Diary of Cotton Mather, 1681-1724, Vol. 1 (1681-1709), pp. 534-537:

Some Special Points, Relating To The Education Of My Children.

I. I pour out continual Prayers and Cries to the God of all Grace for them, that He will be a Father to my Children, and bestow His Christ and His Grace upon them, and guide them with His Councils, and bring them to His Glory.

And in this Action, I mention them distinctly, every one by Name unto the Lord.

II. I begin betimes to entertain them with delightful Stories, especially scriptural ones. And still conclude with some Lesson of Piety; bidding them to learn that Lesson from the Story.

And thus, every Day at the Table, I have used myself to tell a Story before I rise; and make the Story useful to the Olive Plants about the Table.

III. When the Children at any time accidentally come in my way, it is my custome to lett fall some Sentence or other, that may be monitory and profitable to them.

This Matter proves to me, a Matter of some Study, and Labour, and Contrivance. But who can tell, what may be the Effect of a continual Dropping?

IV. I essay betimes, to engage the Children, in Exercises of Piety; and especially secret Prayer, for which I give them very plain and brief Directions, and suggest unto them the Petitions, which I would have them to make before the Lord, and which I therefore explain to their Apprehension and Capacity. And I often call upon them; Child, Don't you forgett every Day, to go alone, and pray as I have directed you I

V. Betimes I try to form in the Children a Temper of Benignity. I putt them upon doing of Services and Kindnesses for one another, and for other Children. I applaud them, when I see them Delight in it; I upbraid all Aversion to it. I caution them exquisitely against all Revenges of Injuries. I instruct them, to return good Offices for evil Ones. I show them, how they will by this Goodness become like to the Good GOD, and His Glorious CHRIST. I lett them discern, that I am not satisfied, except when they have a Sweetness of Temper shining in them.

VI. As soon as tis possible, I make the Children learn to write. And when they can write, I employ them in Writing out the most agreeable and profitable Things, that I can invent for them. In this way, I propose to fraight their minds with excellent Things, and have a deep Impression made upon their Minds by such Things.

VII. I mightily endeavour it, that the Children may betimes, be acted by Principles of Reason and Honour.

I first begett in them an high Opinion of their Father's Love to them, and of his being best able to judge, what shall be good for them.

Then I make them sensible, tis a Folly for them to pretend unto any Witt and Will of their own; they must resign all to me, who will be sure to do what is best; my word must be their Law.

I cause them to understand, that it is an hurtful and a shameful thing to do amiss. I aggravate this, on all Occasions; and lett them see how amiable they will render themselves by well doing.

The first Chastisement, which I inflict for an ordinary Fault, is, to lett the Child see and hear me in an Astonishment, and hardly able to beleeve that the Child could do so base a Thing, but beleeving that they will never do it again.

I would never come, to give a child a Blow; except in Case of Obstinacy: or some gross Enormity.

To be chased for a while out of my Presence, I would make to be look'd upon, as the sorest Punishment in the Family.

I would by all possible Insinuations gain this Point upon them, that for them to learn all the brave Things in the world, is the bravest Thing in the world. I am not fond of proposing Play to them, as a Reward of any diligent Application to learn what is good; lest they should think Diversion to be a better and a nobler Thing than Diligence.

I would have them come to propound and expect, at this rate, / have done well, and now / will go to my Father; He will teach me some curious Thing for it. I must have them count it a Priviledge, to be taught; and I sometimes manage the Matter so, that my Refusing to teach them Something, is their Punishment.

The slavish way of Education, carried on with raving and kicking and scourging (in Schools as well as Families,) tis abominable; and a dreadful Judgment of God upon the World.

VIII. Tho' I find it a marvellous Advantage to have the Children strongly biased by Principles of Reason and Honour, (which, I find, Children will feel sooner than is commonly thought for:) yett I would neglect no Endeavours, to have higher Principles infused into them.

I therefore betimes awe them with the Eye of God upon them.

I show them, how they must love JESUS CHRIST; and show it, by doing what their Parents require of them.

I often tell them of the good Angels, who love them, and help them, and guard them; and who take Notice of them: and therefore must not be disobliged.

Heaven and Hell, I sett before them, as the Consequences of their Behaviour here.

IX. When the Children are capable of it, I take them alone, one by one; and after my Charges unto them, to fear God, and serve Christ, and shun Sin, / pray with them in my Study and make them the Witnesses of the Agonies, with which I address the Throne of Grace on their behalf.

X. I find much Benefit, by a particular Method, as of Cotechising the Children, so of carrying the Repetition of the public Sermons unto them.

The Answers of the Catechism I still explain with abundance of brief Quaestions, which make them to take in the Meaning of it, and I see, that they do so.

And when the Sermons are to be Repeated, I chuse to putt every Truth, into a Question, to be answered still, with, Yes, or, No. In this way I awaken their Attention, as well as enlighten their Understanding. And in this way I have an Opportunity, to ask, Do you desire such, or such a Grace of God? and the like. Yea, I have an Opportunity to demand, and perhaps, to obtain their Consent unto the glorious Articles of the New Covenant. The Spirit of Grace may fall upon them in this Action; and they may be siez'd by Him, and Held as His Temples, thro' eternal Ages.

Productivity, Concentration, & more from "What's Best Next"

2009-09-30T20:21:00.001-07:00

Great Thoughts from Matt Perman's "What's Best Next" blog (links at bottom of this post):

Doing One Thing at a Time is the Way to Get More Done, Not Less

From Drucker's The Effective Executive:

Concentration is necessary precisely because the executive faces so many tasks clamoring to be done. For doing one thing at a time means doing it fast. The more one can concentrate time, effort, and resources, the greater the number and diversity of tasks one can actually perform.

The Secret of those Who Do So Many Things

From The Effective Executive:

This is the "secret" of those people who "do so many things" and apparently so many difficult things. They do only one at a time. As a result, they need much less time in the end than the rest of us.

That last sentence is critical: "as a result, they need much less time in the end than the rest of us."

Stop Interrupting Yourself

Interruptions are not necessarily things other people do to you. The biggest type of interruption is what you do to yourself by constantly switching gears from one unrelated task to another.

Chunk your time by focusing on important tasks in large segments, and grouping similar tasks together, to prevent this.

On Concentration and Effectiveness

From The Effective Executive:

If there is any one "secret" of effectiveness, it is concentration. Effective executives do first things first and they do one thing at a time.

The need to concentrate is grounded both in the nature of the executive job and in the nature of man. …

The more an executive focuses on upward contribution, the more will he require fairly big continuous chunks of time. The more he switches from being busy to achieving results, the more will he shift to sustained efforts — efforts which require a fairly big quantum of time to bear fruit. Yet to get even that half-day or those two weeks of really productive time requires self-discipline and an iron determination to say "No." …

But concentration is dictated by the fact that most of us find it hard enough to do well even one thing at a time, let alone two. Mankind is indeed capable of doing an amazingly wide diversity of things; humanity is a "multipurpose tool." But the way to apply productively mankind's great range is to bring to bear a large number of individual capabilities on one task. …

Concentration is necessary precisely because the executive faces so many tasks clamoring to be done. For doing one thing at a time means doing it fast. The more one can concentrate time, effort, and resources, the greater the number and diversity of tasks one can actually perform.

http://www.whatsbestnext.com/2009/09/doing-one-thing-at-a-time-is-the-way-to-get-more-done-not-less/

http://www.whatsbestnext.com/2009/09/the-secret-of-those-who-do-so-many-things/

http://www.whatsbestnext.com/2008/12/stop-interrupting-yourself/

http://www.whatsbestnext.com/2009/09/on-concentration-and-effectiveness/

Links on Augustine in the 21st Century

2009-09-24T22:39:00.001-07:00

From http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2009/09/24/augustine-for-the-21st-century/

Augustine for the 21st Century

Bruce Ashford (Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary) has a helpful series of posts on Augustine, The City of God, and their relevance for today:

DARE MIGHTY THINGS, despite failures... good advice from Teddy Roosevelt

2009-09-23T13:58:00.001-07:00

From http://www.whatsbestnext.com/2009/09/avoid-the-gray-twilight/

Far better to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory, not defeat.

Handy Biblical Studies reference website

2009-09-19T09:20:00.001-07:00

http://biblerefshelf.sudalyph.org/

Recommended Productivity Tools: An Introduction

2009-09-10T22:46:00.001-07:00

From http://www.whatsbestnext.com/

Recommended Productivity Tools: An Introduction

Post 1 in the series: Recommended Productivity Tools

Posts in This Series

Recommended Productivity Tools: An Introduction
The Tools You Need to Have (And Where to Keep Them)
Recommended In Boxes
Recommended Capture Journals
Recommended Pens
Recommended Pencils and Paper Pads
Recommended Staplers, Staple Removers, and Tape
Recommended Scissors, Letter Openers, and Post-Its
Recommended Paper Clips and Super Glue
Not Recommended: Desktop Organizer Things
Recommended Chairs and Waste Baskets
Recommended Labelers and File Folders
Recommended File Cabinets and Bookshelves

Fascinating Quote on Motherhood

2009-09-03T22:32:00.001-07:00

(Thanks to http://www.revkevindeyoung.com/2009/09/where-do-genuises-come-from.html)

"Exceptions exist, but, as a rule, the experience of pregnancy and birth appears to be a more profoundly life-altering experience for women than becoming a father is for men. So closely is giving birth linked to the fundamental human goal of giving meaning to one's life that is had been argued that, ultimately, it is not so much that motherhood keeps women from doing great things outside the home as it is men's inability to give birth that forces them to look for substitutes."

—Charles Murray, Human Accomplishment: The Pursuit of Excellence in the Arts and Sciences, 800 B.C. to 1950 (HarperCollins, 2003) p. 287.

How to Read Thomas Goodwin, by Joel Beeke

2009-09-03T19:41:00.001-07:00

From http://gospelcenteredmusings.com/2008/12/15/how-to-read-thomas-goodwin/

How to Read Thomas Goodwin

(Posted by Joel Beeke)

If I could have $5 for every time someone has asked me the question, "Who is your favourite Puritan to read?," I suppose I'd be a wealthy man by now. Though I would probably answer that question today by saying, "Anthony Burgess—and he's also one of the most neglected!," for nearly two decades I would have said, "Thomas Goodwin." I may be an oddball, but—dare I say it—I've usually gotten more out of reading Goodwin than reading John Owen.

The first collection of Goodwin's works was published in five folio volumes in London from 1681 to 1704, under the editorship of Thankful Owen, Thomas Baron, and Thomas Goodwin Jr. An abridged version of those works was later printed in four volumes (London, 1847–50). This reprinted twelve-volume edition was printed by James Nichol (Edinburgh, 1861–66) in the Nichol's Series of Standard Divines. It is far superior to the original five folio volumes.

Goodwin's exegesis is massive; he leaves no stone unturned. His first editors (1681) said of his work: "He had a genius to dive into the bottom of points, to 'study them down,' as he used to express it, not contenting himself with superficial knowledge, without wading into the depths of things." Edmund Calamy put it this way: "It is evident from his writings, he studied not words, but things. His style is plain and familiar; but very diffuse, homely and tedious." One does need patience to read Goodwin; however, along with depth and prolixity, he offers a wonderful sense of warmth and experience. A reader's patience will be amply rewarded.

How should a beginner proceed in reading Goodwin's works? Here is a suggested plan. (Note: Books marked by * have been printed at least once since the 1950s.)

1. Begin by reading some of the shorter, more practical writings of Goodwin, such as Patience and Its Perfect Work,* which includes four sermons on James 1:1–5. This was written after much of Goodwin's personal library was destroyed by fire (2:429–467). It contains much practical instruction on enhancing a spirit of submission.

2. Read Certain Select Cases Resolved, which offers three experimental treatises. They reveal Goodwin's pastoral heart for afflicted Christians. Each addresses specific struggles in the believer's soul: (a) "A Child of Light Walking in Darkness" is a classic work of encouragement for the spiritually depressed based on Isaiah 50:10–11 (3:241–350). The subtitle summarizes its contents: "A Treatise shewing The Causes by which, The Cases wherein, and the Ends for which, God leaves His Children to Distress of Conscience, Together with Directions How to Walk so as to Come Forth of Such a Condition." (b) "The Return of Prayers,"* based on Psalm 85:8, is a uniquely practical work. It offers help in ascertaining "God's answers to our prayers" (3:353–429). (c) "The Trial of a Christian's Growth" (3:433–506), based on John 15:1–2, is a masterpiece on sanctification. It focuses on mortification and vivification. For a mini-classic on spiritual growth, this gem remains unsurpassed.

You might also read The Vanity of Thoughts,* based on Jeremiah 4:14 (3:509–528). This work, often republished in paperback, stresses the need for bringing every thought captive to Christ. It also describes ways to foster that obedience.

3. Read some of Goodwin's great sermons. Inevitably, they are strong, biblical, Christological, and experimental (2:359–425; 4:151–224; 5:439–548; 7:473–576; 9:499–514; 12:1–127).

4. Delve into Goodwin's works that explain major doctrines, such as:

· An Unregenerate Man's Guiltiness Before God in Respect of Sin and Punishment* (10:1–567). This is a weighty treatise on human guilt, corruption, and the imputation and punishment of sin. In exposing the total depravity of the natural man's heart, this book is unparalleled. Its aim is to produce a heartfelt need for saving faith in Christ rather than offer the quick fix of superficial Christendom.

· The Object and Acts of Justifying Faith (8:1–593).* This is a frequently reprinted classic on faith. Part 1, on the objects of faith, focuses on God's nature, Christ, and the free grace of God revealed in His absolute promises. Part 2 deals with the acts of faith—what it means to believe in Christ, to obtain assurance, to find joy in the Holy Ghost, and to make use of God's electing love. One section beautifully explains the "actings of faith in prayer." Part 3 addresses the properties of faith—its excellence in giving all honor to God and Christ; its difficulty in reaching beyond the natural abilities of man; its necessity in requiring us to believe in the strength of God. The conclusion provides "directions to guide us in our endeavours to believe."

· Christ the Mediator* (2 Cor. 5:18–19), Christ Set Forth (Rom. 8:34), and The Heart of Christ in Heaven Towards Sinners on Earth are great works on Christology (5:1–438; 4:1–92; 4:93–150). Christ the Mediator sets forth Jesus in His substitutionary work of humiliation. It rightly deserves to be called a classic. Christ Set Forth proclaims Christ in His exaltation, and The Heart of Christ explores the tenderness of Christ's glorified human nature shown to His people on earth. Goodwin is more mystical in this work than anywhere else in his writings, but as Paul Cook has ably shown, his mysticism is kept within the boundaries of Scripture. Cook says Goodwin is unparalleled "in his combination of intellectual and theological power with evangelical and homiletical comfort."

· Gospel Holiness in Heart and Life (7:129–336) is a convicting masterpiece, based on Philippians 1:9–11. It explains the doctrine of sanctification in every sphere of life.

· The Knowledge of God the Father, and His Son Jesus Christ (4:347–569), combined with The Work of the Holy Spirit* (6:1–522), explore the profound work in the believer's soul of each of the three divine persons. The Work of the Spirit is particularly helpful for understanding the doctrines of regeneration and conversion. It carefully distinguishes the work of "the natural conscience" from the Spirit's saving work.

· The Glory of the Gospel (4:227–346) consists of two sermons and a treatise based on Colossians 1:26–27. It should be read along with The Blessed State of Glory Which the Saints Possess After Death (7:339–472), based on Revelation 14:13.

· A Discourse of Election* (9:1-498) delves deeply into issues such as the supralapsarian-infralapsarian debate, which wrestles with the moral or rational order of God's decrees. It also deals with the fruits of election (e.g., see Book IV on 1 Peter 5:10 and Book V on how God fulfils His covenant of grace in the generations of believers).

· The Creatures and the Condition of Their State by Creation (7:1–128). Goodwin is more philosophical in this work than in others.

5. Prayerfully and slowly digest Goodwin's 900-plus page exposition of Ephesians 1:1 to 2:11* (1:1–564; 2:1–355). Alexander Whyte wrote of this work, "Not even Luther on the Galatians is such an expositor of Paul's mind and heart as is Goodwin on the Ephesians."

6. Save for last Goodwin's exposition of Revelation* (3:1–226) and his only polemical work, The Constitution, Right Order, and Government of the Churches of Christ (11:1–546). Independents would highly value this polemic, while Presbyterians probably wouldn't, saying Goodwin is trustworthy on every subject except church government. Goodwin's work does not degrade Presbyterians, however. One of his contemporaries who argued against Goodwin's view on church government confessed that Goodwin conveyed "a truly great and noble spirit" throughout the work.

Lloyd-Jones: Focusing on What Really Matters

2009-08-31T18:00:00.001-07:00

From http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BetweenTwoWorlds/~3/ImQHHnLLKcA/lloyd-jones-focusing-on-what-really.html

Lloyd-Jones: Focusing on What Really Matters

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, commenting on Phil. 1:10 ("that you may approve what is excellent," or "that you may have a sense of what is vital"):

The difficulty in life is to know on what we ought to concentrate. The whole art of life, I sometimes think, is the art of knowing what to leave out, what to ignore, what to put on one side. How prone we are to dissipate our energies and to waste our time by forgetting what is vital and giving ourselves to second and third rate issues. Now, says Paul, here you are in the Christian life, you are concerned about difficulties, about oppositions and about the contradictions of life. What you need is just this: the power to concentrate on that which is vital, to leave out everything else, and to keep steadily to the one thing that matters.

The Life of Joy: Philippians, vol. 1, pp. 54-55.

Great Bonar quote about Faith

2009-08-31T17:58:00.001-07:00

From http://reformedreader.wordpress.com/2009/08/29/a-fresh-definition-of-faith/

Faith may seem a slight thing to some; and they may wonder how salvation can flow from [simply] believing. Hence they try to magnify it, to adore it, to add to it, in order that it may appear some great thing, something worthy of having salvation as its reward. In doing so, they are actually transforming faith into a work, and introducing salvation by works under the name of faith. They show that they understand neither the nature nor the office of faith."

"Faith saves, simply by handing us over to the Savior. It saves, not on account of the good works which flow from it; not on account of the love which kindles it; not on account of the repentance which it produces; but solely because it connects us with the Saving One. Its saving efficacy does not lie in its connection with [our] righteousness and holiness, but entirely in its connection with the Righteous and Holy One."

Quotes from Horatius Bonar, The Blood of the Cross (New Ipswich: Pietan Publications, 1997), 59.

Keith Mathison, Charles Hodge vs. John Williamson Nevin on the Lord's Supper

2009-08-31T17:56:00.001-07:00

From http://www.ligonier.org/blog/2009/08/charles-hodge-vs-john-williamson-nevin-on-the-lords-supper.html

In 2002, I published a book entitled Given For You: Reclaiming Calvin's Doctrine of the Lord's Supper. On page 136, I made the following statement:

One of the most fascinating theological debates to occur in nineteenth-century antebellum America was the eucharistic debate between John Williamson Nevin and Charles Hodge that resulted from the publication of Nevin's book, The Mystical Presence.

Nevin's book was published in 1846. In April 1848, Hodge responded in a review published in the Biblical Repertory and Princeton Review. In September 1850, Nevin published a 128 page response to Hodge in the Mercersburg Review.

Since all of these documents are now available for free online, I thought it might be helpful to those interested in the debate to provide the links in one location. In order to read this important debate, just click on the links below:

Nevin - The Mystical Presence

Hodge - 1848 Book Review

Nevin - 1850 Response to Hodge Review

It may also be helpful to those interested in the subject to note a similar discussion that took place in the Southern Presbyterian Church. In 1876, the Southern Presbyterian theologian John Adger published an article titled "Calvin Defended Against Drs. Cunningham and Hodge" in the Southern Presbyterian Review. That article is also now available online. The links to Adger's article and to the relevant essays by Cunningham and Hodge to which he is responding are listed below.

Cunningham - 1862 Essay

Hodge - 1871 - 73 Reformed Doctrine of the Lord's Supper (Systematic Theology, Vol. 3)

Adger - 1876 Article [Adger's article is the sixth article in the list]

For a good introduction to Calvin's view in his own words, see his Short Treatise on the Lord's Supper.

C.S. Lewis, "An ever increasing craving for an ever diminishing pleasure is the formula"

2009-08-28T22:53:00.001-07:00

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BetweenTwoWorlds/~3/FO9aE2QjXII/ever-increasing-craving-for-ever.html

From C. S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters (p. 44)--remember that it's told from a devil's point of view, so "the Enemy" is God and "Our Father" is Satan.

Never forget that when we are dealing with any pleasure in its healthy and normal and satisfying form, we are, in a sense, on the Enemy's ground. I know we have won many a soul through pleasure. All the same, it is His invention, not ours. He made the pleasures: all our research so far has not enabled us to produce one. All we can do is to encourage the humans to take the pleasures which our Enemy [God] has produced, at at times, or in ways, or in degrees, which He has forbidden. . . . An ever increasing craving for an ever diminishing pleasure is the formula. . . . To get a man's soul and give him nothing in return--that's what really gladdens Our Father's [Satain's] heart.

WHI on Faith, Tested to be Purified, and the "Theology of the Cross"

2009-08-28T22:52:00.001-07:00

http://www.whitehorseinn.org/component/option,com_wordpress/Itemid,39/p,84

One of the most difficult things about Christianity is that it completely contradicts the natural order of things. Consider, for instance, what we think about winning, success, and life: they all go together in our minds! Sadly, too many "talks" masquerading as Christian sermons in even Reformation-minded churches confirm us in our innate desire for what Luther termed, "a theology of glory." But true gospel-centered, "theology of the cross"-focused Christianity says that life comes after death, that glory comes through suffering, that losing our lives is the only means of finding them, and that God is most active when he seemed most remote.

This is bread and butter for White Horse Inn and Modern Reformation (often to the consternation of our critics who want us to talk about life-change and progress). Reading this week in Ed Clowney's The Message of First Peter (published by IVP in 1988), I was reminded of the pastoral comfort that this message (not the one focused on success and betterment) gives:

Peter has reminded us that the testings do not destroy our faith, but purify it. Since the peculiar nature of faith is its looking, not to oneself, but to the Lord, it is most strongly grounded when it is most dependent. 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' So the Lord said to Paul, and Paul could therefore say: 'For when I am weak, then I am strong.' In order to resist the devil we draw near to God. (216, emphasis mine)

Our prayer is that you would find yourself in churches and surrounded by communities of faith this Sunday that emphasize this great truth and encourage you by pointing you to the strength of the Lord, the God of all grace

Yoder on Christians & Pacifism

2009-08-20T17:36:00.001-07:00

...we must proclaim to every Christian that pacifism is not the prophetic vocation of a few individuals, but that every member of the body of Christ is called to absolute non resistance in discipleship and to abandonment of all loyalties which counter that obedience, including the desire to be effective immediately or to make oneself responsible for civil justice. (John Howard Yoder, The Original Revolution, 72)

From http://www.inhabitatiodei.com/2009/08/13/yoder-on-just-war-4/

Thomas Brooks, "Lord, do not give me up to the ways of my own heart!"

2009-08-20T16:27:00.001-07:00

"Oh Lord, this mercy I humbly beg: that whatever you give me up to, do not give me up to the ways of my own heart. If you will give me up to be afflicted, tempted, or reproached, I will patiently sit down and say, 'It is the Lord; let him do with me what seems good in his own eyes.' Do anything with me, Lord, lay what burden you will upon me, but please, do not give me up to the ways of my own heart."

Thomas Brooks, "Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices", Banner of Truth, 1997, page 50.

Top 100 Sci Fi books list

2009-08-17T16:38:00.001-07:00

From http://home.austarnet.com.au/petersykes/topscifi/lists_books_rank1.html

Rank	Author/Editor	Title	Year
1	~~Orson Scott Card~~	~~Ender's Game [S1]~~	~~1985~~
2	~~Frank Herbert~~	~~Dune [S1]~~	~~1965~~
3	~~Isaac Asimov~~	~~Foundation [S1-3]~~	~~1951~~
4	Douglas Adams	Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy [S1]	1979
5	~~George Orwell~~	~~1984~~	~~1949~~
6	Robert A Heinlein	Stranger in a Strange Land	1961
7	Ray Bradbury	Fahrenheit 451	1954
8	Arthur C Clarke	2001: A Space Odyssey	1968
9	~~Isaac Asimov~~	~~[C] I, Robot~~	~~1950~~
10	William Gibson	Neuromancer	1984
11	Philip K Dick	Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?	1968
12	Robert A Heinlein	Starship Troopers	1959
13	Larry Niven	Ringworld	1970
14	~~Arthur C Clarke~~	~~Rendezvous With Rama~~	~~1973~~
15	Aldous Huxley	Brave New World	1932
16	H G Wells	The Time Machine	1895
17	~~Dan Simmons~~	~~Hyperion [S1]~~	~~1989~~
18	~~Arthur C Clarke~~	~~Childhood's End~~	~~1954~~
19	Robert A Heinlein	The Moon is a Harsh Mistress	1966
20	H G Wells	The War of the Worlds	1898
21	Ray Bradbury	[C] The Martian Chronicles	1950
22	Joe Haldeman	The Forever War	1974
23	~~Kurt Vonnegut~~	~~Slaughterhouse Five~~	~~1969~~
24	Neal Stephenson	Snow Crash	1992
25	Niven & Pournelle	The Mote in God's Eye	1975
26	Ursula K Le Guin	The Left Hand of Darkness	1969
27	Orson Scott Card	Speaker for the Dead [S2]	1986
28	Philip K Dick	The Man in the High Castle	1962
29	Michael Crichton	Jurassic Park	1990
30	Alfred Bester	The Stars My Destination	1956
31	~~Isaac Asimov~~	~~The Caves of Steel~~	~~1954~~
32	Frederik Pohl	Gateway	1977
33	Roger Zelazny	Lord of Light	1967
34	Madeleine L'Engle	A Wrinkle In Time	1962
35	Jules Verne	20,000 Leagues Under the Sea	1870
36	Stanislaw Lem	Solaris	1961
37	Kurt Vonnegut	Cat's Cradle	1963
38	Michael Crichton	The Andromeda Strain	1969
39	Carl Sagan	Contact	1985
40	Isaac Asimov	The Gods Themselves	1972
41	John Wyndham	The Day of the Triffids	1951
42	Neal Stephenson	Cryptonomicon	1999
43	Anthony Burgess	A Clockwork Orange	1962
44	Robert A Heinlein	Time Enough For Love	1973
45	Philip K Dick	UBIK	1969
46	Vernor Vinge	A Fire Upon the Deep	1991
47	~~Daniel Keyes~~	~~Flowers for Algernon~~	~~1966~~
48	Kim Stanley Robinson	Red Mars [S1]	1992
49	Walter M Miller	A Canticle for Leibowitz	1959
50	Isaac Asimov	The End Of Eternity	1955
51	Mary Shelley	Frankenstein	1818
52	Kurt Vonnegut	The Sirens of Titan	1959
53	Neal Stephenson	The Diamond Age	1995
54	Iain M Banks	Player Of Games [S2]	1988
55	Jules Verne	Journey to the Center of the Earth	1864
56	L Ron Hubbard	Battlefield Earth	1982
57	Ursula K Le Guin	The Dispossessed	1974
58	David Brin	Startide Rising [S2]	1983
59	Orson Scott Card	Ender's Shadow [S1]	1999
60	Peter F Hamilton	The Reality Dysfunction [S1]	1996
61	Greg Bear	Eon	1985
62	Philip Jose Farmer	To Your Scattered Bodies Go	1971
63	Niven & Pournelle	Lucifer's Hammer	1977
64	Margaret Atwood	The Handmaid's Tale	1985
65	Philip K Dick	A Scanner Darkly	1977
66	Alfred Bester	The Demolished Man	1953
67	Gene Wolfe	The Shadow of the Torturer [S1]	1980
68	Harry Harrison	The Stainless Steel Rat [S1]	1961
69	Arthur C Clarke	The City and the Stars	1956
70	Philip K Dick	The Three Stigmata Of Palmer Eldritch	1964
71	Robert A Heinlein	The Door Into Summer	1956
72	Connie Willis	Doomsday Book	1992
73	Michael Crichton	Sphere	1987
74	Robert A Heinlein	Citizen Of the Galaxy	1957
75	C S Lewis	Out of the Silent Planet [S1]	1938
76	Dan Simmons	Ilium	2003
77	Robert A Heinlein	Have Space-Suit - Will Travel	1958
78	Robert A Heinlein	The Puppet Masters	1951
79	H G Wells	The Invisible Man	1897
80	Clifford Simak	Way Station	1963
81	Edgar Rice Burroughs	A Princess of Mars [S1]	1912
82	Ursula K Le Guin	The Lathe of Heaven	1971
83	Alastair Reynolds	Revelation Space [S1]	2000
84	John Wyndham	The Chrysalids	1955
85	Iain M Banks	Use of Weapons [S3]	1990
86	Julian May	The Many-Colored Land [S1]	1981
87	E E 'Doc' Smith	Grey Lensman [S4]	1951
88	Richard Morgan	Altered Carbon [S1]	2002
89	Arkady & Boris Strugatsky	Roadside Picnic	1972
90	Edwin A Abbott	Flatland	1884
91	David Brin	The Postman	1985
92	Clifford Simak	[C] City	1952
93	Greg Bear	Blood Music	1985
94	Audrey Niffenegger	The Time Traveler's Wife	2003
95	John Brunner	Stand on Zanzibar	1969
96	Arthur C Clarke	The Fountains of Paradise	1979
97	Stanislaw Lem	[C] The Cyberiad	1974
98	Theodore Sturgeon	More Than Human	1953
99	Philip K Dick	VALIS	1981
100	William Gibson	[C] Burning Chrome	1986

something LATIN

How Explicit Was the Idolatrous Indoctrination of Children in Nazi Germany?

Chesterton Quote

J.I. Packer Quote on the True Priority for Every Human Being

Good quote on Conflict

A good definition of Pornography

The Fraud of Alex Haley's "Roots"

Your heart is not the compass Christ saileth by (Samuel Rutherford)

Online Bible Study Tools

Online Bible Study Tools

Quote: Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged

Real Theology is not complicated; it helps us grasp how simple the faith really is

"First they came..."

The Onion on being "shocked" by events that have happened millions of times

Nation Somehow Shocked By Human Nature Again

'How Could Someone Do Such A Thing?' Populace Wonders Of Event That Has Transpired Literally Millions Of Times

Aristotle's Seven Basic Plot Definitions

Aristotle's Seven Basic Plot Definitions

The Quest

Quest Voyage & Return

Rebirth

Comedy

Tragedy

Overcoming the Monster

Rags to Riches

Websites for free E-books

Good Storytelling / Myth quote

How to Save on E-Books for Kindle, Nook and Other E-Readers

How to Save on E-Books for Kindle, Nook and Other E-Readers

Loeb Classical Library books online

Great Quote from "The Princess Bride"

Great Quote from "Roots"

Chart of various Reformed denominations

More Latin links: Vulgate PDF download & "Modern" Latin

P. T. Forsyth: The Worst Sin is Prayerlessness

Thought-Provoking P.T. Forsyth quote on hell / eternal punishment

From http://cruciality.wordpress.com/2010/04/26/who-said-it-4/

Who said it?

Trinity Hymnal Links

Psalm Singing / Psalter links

LINK Hebrew English bible online

Six Million Dollar Man opening

Carl Trueman on bad sermons or bad listening

Open source aids for Classical Greek & Latin

Great quote: "Lord of the Rings" and "Atlas Shrugged"

Great JMS quotes

Karl Barth's Clarity

Kevin DeYoung's "IDEA" on Preaching

Lou Holtz on Talent, Motivation, Attitude

QUOTE: Don Carson on The Pastor as Scholar, the Scholar as Pastor

A Full, Quick, Exact Man

Quote: "Church pews should come with crash helmets and seatbelts"

LINKS: Classical Greek & Latin Grammars, Texts, etc.

Excellent advice for moving from NT Greek to Classical (Amazon List)

read ancient Greek outside the New Testament

Great Erich Fromm quote: "Man... transcends himself and leaves the prison of absolute egocentricity"

Study: Effects of Pornography

"Sharing Christ over Christmas" (link)

Top 11 religiously themed films of the decade (link)

Hubble Advent Calendar

Brian Kelly on Attention to Details and Winning

Geek Alert: Fictional Starship Comparison chart

Tim Keller's Advice for Young Ministers.... the Country Parson

E-reader links

Astronomy photo: The Milky Way over Devil's Mountain

Quote from Heilein's "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress"

Workbench links

Films to see

Scholarly Bibles website

Links to Great Astronomy pictures

"Tiers of Glory" book on Church Architecture

Screwtape's advice to Wormwood from "The Screwtape Letters" by C. S. Lewis

St. Thomas Aquinas meets Pope Innocent IV: Silver & gold

Two Key "Battlestar Galactica" quotes

The Essence of Time Management

Three questions to ask in a job interview

Windows 7 help

Books for Boys

Books for Boys

Planned Parenthood: Let's Make Profit from Abortion