Still Reforming

Hymn for the Day - I Sing the Mighty Power of God

2012-02-12T14:51:00.000-06:00

We are just getting started in Romans at church, and as we’ve come to Romans 1:18-23, we read that God’s invisible attributes—his eternal power and divine nature—are clearly perceived since the beginning through the creation itself. This was one of the hymns we sang today, and our pastor reminded us that we should be inspired to praise God even just by looking at what we see around us.

I Sing the Mighty Power of God
by Isaac Watts

I sing the mighty power of God, that made the mountains rise,
That spread the flowing seas abroad, and built the lofty skies.
I sing the wisdom that ordained the sun to rule the day;
The moon shines full at God’s command, and all the stars obey.

I sing the goodness of the Lord, who filled the earth with food,
Who formed the creatures through the Word, and then pronounced them good.
Lord, how Thy wonders are displayed, where’er I turn my eye,
If I survey the ground I tread, or gaze upon the sky.

There’s not a plant or flower below, but makes Thy glories known,
And clouds arise, and tempests blow, by order from Thy throne;
While all that borrows life from Thee is ever in Thy care;
And everywhere that we can be, Thou, God art present there.

The Character of God's Law

2012-02-08T07:00:00.000-06:00

"There can be nothing... in the demands of the law, and the severity of the law, and the condemnation of the law, and the death of the law, and the curse of the law, which is not a reflection (in part) of the perfections of God. Whatever is due to the law is due to the law because it is the law of God, and is due therefore to God himself."

Nathaniel Dimock, Doctrine of the Death of Christ, p. 32, quoted in The Cross of Christ, by John Stott, p. 118 (IVP, 2006).

Hymn for the Day - Isaac Watts on Psalm 90

2012-02-05T23:32:00.000-06:00

Isaac Watts was not merely prolific in his hymn writing, in terms of quantity; even a brief glance at a hymnal reveals that lasting impact he has had on the faith. Here is one of his adaptations of Psalm 90.

Psalm 90 (v. 1-5)

Our God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home.

Under the shadow of thy throne
Thy saints have dwelt secure;
Sufficient is thine arm alone,
And our defence is sure.

Before the hills in order stood,
Or earth received her frame,
From everlasting thou art God,
To endless years the same.

Thy word commands our flesh to dust,
"Return, ye sons of men:"
All nations rose from earth at first,
And turn to earth again.

A thousand ages in thy sight
Are like an evening gone;
Short as the watch that ends the night
Before the rising sun.

[The busy tribes of flesh and blood,
With all their lives and cares,
Are carried downwards by the flood,
And lost in following years.

Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
They fly, forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the op'ning day.

Like flowery fields the nations stand
Pleased with the morning light;
The flowers beneath the mower's hand
Lie with'ring ere 'tis night.]

Our God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Be thou our guard while troubles last,
And our eternal home.

(Taken from Psalms and Hymns of Isaac Watts, located at the the Christian Classics Ethereal Library. This work is in the public domain.)

No More Death to Die

2012-02-01T07:00:00.000-06:00

We sang Crown Him With Many Crowns a couple of weeks ago at church. I remember it well, because it was just after my grandmother's funeral, and the following stanza struck a particular chord and stuck with me.

Crown him the Lord of life,
who triumphed o'er the grave,
and rose victorious in the strife
for those he came to save.
His glories now we sing,
who died, and rose on high,
who died, eternal life to bring,
and lives that death may die.

At Grandma's memorial service, we were given the opportunity to say something. I decided to try to find something from or about a Scripture passage on death, and after doing some research, I found what I wanted in a sermon from Charles Spurgeon, quoted in the book We Shall See God: Charles Spurgeon's Classic Devotional Thoughts on Heaven, by Randy Alcorn. (If that book sounds familiar, you may have previously read this review.)

Preaching on 1 Cor. 15:3-6, Spurgeon said this:

In the heathen part of the catacombs of Rome, the inscriptions over the place where their dead were buried are full of grief and despair. Indeed, the writers of those inscriptions do not appear to have been able to find words in which they could express their great distress, their agony of heart, at the loss of child or husband or friend. They pile the mournful words together, trying to describe their grief. Sometimes they declare that the light has gone from their sky now that their dear ones are taken from them.
"Alas! Alas!" says the record. "Dear Caius has gone, and with him all joy is quenched forever, for I shall see him no more." But when you come into that part of the catacombs which was devoted to Christian burial vaults, everything is different. There you may constantly read these consoling words: "He sleeps in peace." There is nothing dreadful or despairing in the inscriptions there; they are submissive, they are cheerful, they are even thankful. Frequently they are victorious, and the most common emblem is not the quenched torch, as it is on the heathen side, where the light is supposed to have gone out forever, but the palm branch, to signify that the victory remains eternally with the departed one. It is the glory of the Christian religion to have let light into the grave, to have taken away the sting from death, and in fact, to have made it no more death to die.

Our dearly departed loved ones who have died in Christ now have no more death to die, and it is all thanks to the Lord of life.

Hymn for Sunday - Crown Him With Many Crowns

2012-01-29T20:33:00.001-06:00

Crown Him with Many Crowns

Text: Matthew Bridges, 1800-1894, and Godfrey Thring, 1823-1903
Music: George J. Elvey, 1816-1893
Tune: DIADEMATA, Meter: SMD

Crown him with many crowns,
the Lamb upon his throne,
Hark! how the heavenly anthem drowns
all music but its own.
Awake, my soul, and sing
of him who died for thee,
and hail him as thy matchless King
through all eternity.

Crown him the Lord of peace,
whose power a scepter sways
from pole to pole, that wars may cease,
and all be prayer and praise.
His reign shall know no end,
and round his pierced feet
fair flowers of paradise extend
their fragrance ever sweet.

Crown him the Lord of love;
behold his hands and side,
those wounds, yet visible above,
in beauty glorified.
All hail, Redeemer, hail!
For thou hast died for me;
thy praise and glory shall not fail
throughout eternity.

Lyrics obtained from Hymnsite.com

Trying To Be More Trinitarian

2012-01-25T09:51:00.000-06:00

One thing that I have been challenged on recently is my overall lack of Trinitarianism.

It's Carl Trueman's fault. The guy is an absolute menace to a comfortable pew-sitter like me. I was listening to his lectures on medieval church theology (which are worth listening to, despite the audio problems, which I think are due to a less-than-successful transfer from cassette), and he mentioned on several occasions that a pet peeve of his is the functional unitarianism of the evangelical church.

And doggonit if he isn't right. I mean, when was the last time you included all three members of the Trinity in your prayers?

I think prayer is where the whole thing intersected for me, because I was already feeling the weight of not praying as I should, and then to have this added to it, was really the tipping point for me.

There's more that could be said--more that I could go into--but now isn't the time. Instead, I'll just say that I'm working on all of those things, and a part of my inspiration is by looking at published historical prayers.

The Book Of Common Prayer is one of the most obvious, but not the only one by any means. But there are other things as well, like this book on Presbyterian Liturgy (I'm currently reading through Calvin's prayers), and this book of prayers and meditations by Anselm (that last was recommended by Trueman in his lectures, BTW).

The point is this: I'm trying to make progress in thinking Trinitarian, so that I will pray more Trinitarian.

What about you?

Prayer for Afflicted Persons

2012-01-22T07:00:00.000-06:00

This comes from John Calvin's Liturgy of the Church of Geneva.

God of all comfort! We commend to you those whom you are pleased to visit and chasten with any cross or tribulation; the nations whom you do afflict with pestilence, war, or famine; all persons oppressed with poverty, imprisonment, sickness, banishment, or any other distress of body or sorrow of mind: That it may please you to show them your fatherly chastening them for their profit; to the end that in their hearts they may turn to you, and being converted, may receive perfect consolation, and deliverance from all their woes.

(Taken from Eutaxia, or the Presbyterian Liturgies: Historical Sketches by Charles Washington Baird, which is in the public domain. Spelling is slightly modernized.)

A Prayer for Today

2012-01-15T21:53:00.001-06:00

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Your Spirit, may shine with the radiance of Christ's glory, that he may be known, worshiped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever.

Amen

Adapted from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer, which is in the public domain.

Listen Through the Bible in 2012

2012-01-02T11:02:00.001-06:00

The read-through-the-Bible reading plans at ESV.org are available as free daily audio podcasts. Search "ESV" on iTunes, & make it thru the Bible this year.

Considering Copyrights

2012-01-01T14:15:00.000-06:00

While I was mulling over copyrights today (for an update of my blog copyright statement), I was also considering adding a Creative Commons license.

Anyone used that, or decided not to? And does anyone know what happens if I lawfully quote from a copyrighted source (like a Bible), can I legally license others to lawfully use the work that I lawfully used?

Calvin for Christmas

2011-12-25T12:26:00.002-06:00

For Christmas, I'm posting this excerpt from John Calvin…

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
(Luke 2:8-11 ESV)

It would have been to no purpose that Christ was born in Bethlehem, if it had not been made known to the world. But the method of doing so, which is described by Luke, appears to the view of men very unsuitable. First, Christ is revealed but to a few witnesses, and that too amidst the darkness of night. Again, though God had, at his command, many honorable and distinguished witnesses, he passed by them, and chose shepherds, persons of humble rank, and of no account among men. Here the reason and wisdom of the flesh must prove to be foolishness; and we must acknowledge, that “the foolishness of God” (1 Corinthians 1:25) excels all the wisdom that exists, or appears to exist, in the world. But this too was a part of the “emptying of himself,” (Philippians 2:6:) not that any part of Christ’s glory should be taken away by it, but that it should lie in concealment for a time. Again, as Paul reminds us, that the gospel is mean according to the flesh, “that our faith should stand” in the power of the Spirit, not in the “lofty n words of human wisdom,” or in any worldly splendor, (1 Corinthians 2:4,5) so this inestimable “treasure” has been deposited by God, from the beginning, “in earthen vessels,” (2 Corinthians 4:7) that he might more fully try the obedience of our faith. If then we desire to come to Christ, let us not be ashamed to follow those whom the Lord, in order to cast down the pride of the world, has taken, from among the dung of cattle, to be our instructors.

Results of NaNoWriMo 2011

2011-11-30T22:17:00.001-06:00

So, the official final count for this year was 22,610. And even though "we're all winners," in someone's book, in my book I'm bummed that I couldn't do it.

Still, I attacked an interesting idea, and got a little traction, and that was something. I figured out that I'll never finish 50,000 if I worry about spelling and spacing, and that was something. And one of the kids hit her word goal this year, so that was something, too.

Almost a real post...

2011-10-31T22:38:00.000-05:00

Well, I was hoping to get something done for this month, but this will have to suffice. Too many things going on…among them NaNoWriMo.

More about that soon, I hope.

Quoting myself

2011-08-27T09:11:00.001-05:00

Here's something I said awhile back (more than 5 years ago), but I still like it...

If God's work is to save sinners;
And if all who He elects will come to faith;
And if faith in Jesus is the means by which He accomplishes this salvation;
Then all who are elect will hear about Jesus, so that they can be saved.

Token May Post

2011-05-31T13:47:00.004-05:00

Since I've been too busy to blog, I'll have to settle for this.

Sorry, Dad.

Projecting Canadian Air Power Worldwide

2011-03-22T15:16:00.001-05:00

Still Reforming was starting to hunger for content, so I thought I'd provide you with a sneak peak of the HMCS No Guff, the latest aircraft carrier to join the Royal Canadian Navy.

Hell for Today

2011-03-04T22:18:00.000-06:00

There are a lot of posts flying around the blogosphere concerning the various views of Hell, so I'm gonna devote some space to it, as time permits. Starting with this.

Back in 2006, there was a blogpost which excerpted Jonathan Edwards and asked why contemporary pastors don't preach about the reality of Hell anymore.

Somewhere down in the comment section, I posted this excerpt from a biographical talk John Piper gave on Jonathan Edwards.

And for many text books, Edwards is no more than a gloomy troubler of the churches in those days of Awakening fervor. So what we get as a sample of latter-day Puritanism is an excerpt from his sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God."…

And so the kids are given the impression that Edwards was a gloomy, sullen, morose, perhaps pathological misanthrope who fell into grotesque religious speech the way some people fall into obscenity.

But no high school kid is ever asked to wrestle with what Edwards was wrestling with as a pastor. When you read "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" (which you can do in the Banner of Truth two-volume collection of his works), you see quickly that Edwards was not falling into this kind of language by accident. He was laboring as a pastor to communicate a reality that he saw in Scripture and that he believed was infinitely important to his people.

And before any of us, especially us pastors, sniffs at Edwards' imagery, we had better think long and hard what our own method is for helping our people feel the weight of the reality of Revelation 19:15. Edwards stands before this text with awe. He virtually gapes at what he sees here. John writes in this verse, "He [Christ] will tread the wine press of the fierceness of the wrath of God the Almighty."

Listen to Edwards' comment in this sermon,

The words are exceeding terrible. If it had only been said, "the wrath of God," the words would have implied that which is infinitely dreadful: but it is "the fierceness and wrath of God! The fierceness of Jehovah! O how dreadful must that be! Who can utter or conceive what such expressions carry in them?

What high school student is ever asked to come to grips with what really is at issue here? If the Bible is true, and if it says that someday Christ will tread his enemies like a winepress with anger that is fierce and almighty, and if you are a pastor charged with applying Biblical truth to your people so that they will flee the wrath to come, then what would your language be? What would you say to make people feel the reality of texts like these?

Edwards labored over language and over images and metaphors because he was so stunned and awed at the realities he saw in the Bible. Did you hear that one line in the quote I just read: "Who can utter or conceive what such expressions carry in them?" Edwards believed that it was impossible to exaggerate the horror of the reality of hell.

High school teachers would do well to ask their students the really probing question, "Why is it that Jonathan Edwards struggled to find images for wrath and hell that shock and frighten, while contemporary preachers try to find abstractions and circumlocutions that move away from concrete, touchable Biblical pictures of unquenchable fire and undying worms and gnashing of teeth?" If our students were posed with this simple, historical question, my guess is that some of the brighter ones would answer: "Because Jonathan Edwards really believed in hell, but most preachers today don't."

Piper's complete dicussion is here.

What was true five years ago is even more so today. The reality of Hell, and the need to convey it as Edwards did, in vivid, picturesque language (because that reality is far worse than the picture), may never be more needed as it is right now. It is needed in the Church, to reinforce for us the necessity and urgency of evangelism, and it is needed in the world, to help people understand the sinfulness of sin, and the sacrifice of the Savior.

More of me, elsewhere

2011-02-28T23:01:00.001-06:00

So while this blog languishes, I thought I would let you know of two other ways you can read my musings more often.

First, you can find me on Facebook & Twitter. Yeah, I know—I didn't want to be a social media lemming either, but there is a lot more opportunity for interaction. Kinda reminds me of the early blogging days (c. 2005-6).

Second, I am one of the contributors at the revamped Calvinist Gadfly blog. Although the group hasn't been at it very long, it has already been both edifying and enjoyable. We hope you'll find it that way as well.

The Difference Between Justification and Sanctification

2011-02-21T10:02:00.000-06:00

This explanation of the difference between justification and sanctification is from the Westminster Larger Catechism.

Q. 77. Wherein do justification and sanctification differ?

A. Although sanctification be inseparably joined with justification, yet they differ, in that God in justification imputeth the righteousness of Christ; in sanctification his Spirit infuseth grace, and enableth to the exercise thereof; in the former, sin is pardoned; in the other, it is subdued: the one doth equally free all believers from the revenging wrath of God, and that perfectly in this life, that they never fall into condemnation; the other is neither equal in all, nor in this life perfect in any, but growing up to perfection.

Tackling Leviathan

2011-02-03T18:15:00.000-06:00

Our pastor just started preaching through the book of Job, and I thought I'd throw out some comments and observations as we go through it. Here's my initial pass.

First off, Job is considered a literary masterpiece. I have an older version of the Norton Anthology of World Literature, and Job merits an appearance there.

Second, it is a tough book to cover expositionally. It is one of the few books John Calvin didn't write a commentary for (although it appears that he preached at a least a few sermons on it). A quick look around the internet showed one well-known pastor had no sermons on it; another one had one article and five devotionals; a third had preached eight sermons, one of which covered from Chapter 2 all the way through Chapter 31.

Pastor Rob told us this past week that he had looked for sermons on Chapter 3, couldn't find much. I did a quick Google search later on in the afternoon and came up with this on the page 1 results:

When you add to what's already been said the fact that Job is primarily poetry—Hebrew poetry—and you have something which on the face of it, seems to be more suited for being handled in the literature class than it does from the pulpit, and that the typical tact of tackling the book in broad-brush style seems there for good reason.

And yet, during his first two sermons, Pastor Rob has indicated that there are many lessons we can draw from Job, including not just the obvious (how to suffer well), but also how to give advice, how theology drives advice-giving, and several other things, not to mention what I consider one of the most important things, which is seeking to understand the book in its proper literary context and it's proper biblical context. It's an invitation that many others have declined, and so I commend him for doing his part to fill up what is lacking in this area, so to speak.

I'm looking forward to this sermon series.

Timely Advice for Dealing With Theological Opponents

2011-01-31T22:10:00.001-06:00

Really intended to do more blogging this month, but just couldn't find the time.

Saw this today, and thought it was worth highlighting. Tabletalk Magazine tweeted a link to John Newton's advice on dealing with theological opponents. Excellent and very timely advice, particularly in the age of social media.

Read it here.

End of year

2010-12-31T23:52:00.000-06:00

Goodbye XXM. Looking forward to a new year.

Repost - Thank Who

2010-11-24T07:00:00.001-06:00

Two years ago, I wrote a post about thanksgiving, and the idea that being thankful is not a general thanksgiving, but actually being thankful to someone. Moving into my fourth year of self-employment, I have found myself being even more thankful, to God and to others for their help.

Have you ever stopped to consider that the phrase "thank you" is directed at someone? By implication, when we celebrate Thanksgiving, we are giving thanks to someone.

Certainly this creates a dilemma for the atheist. Who is he thanking, himself? Blind, stupid luck? Perhaps atheists are never thankful for the circumstances they find themselves in. Or, perhaps they just have that feeling of generic thankfulness which is never directed anywhere or to anyone. Whatever the case, they are not able to be thankful in the proper way.

Those of other religions are not better off. Since God commands us to worship Him in spirit and in truth, someone who doesn't worship Him in that way has created his own God, and committed idolatry. His thankfulness only brings more judgment on himself.

For the Christian, this should be no problem. Yet often times I find myself slipping into that same type of "thankfulness" that is directed at no one in particular.

This year, spend some time considering not only what you are thankful for, but also to whom you are thankful - God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Book Blurb

2010-10-27T19:04:00.001-05:00

John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine, Doxology, is out for the Kindle, and was available for free on Monday. Here's my brief take on it, including why it's worth getting.

Imagine that someone went to every Reformed conference in the past year and gave this assignment: "Write about what you think is one of the most significant and overlooked contributions of John Calvin. You have 30 minutes."

Yeah, it's like that. The paper copy was put out last year by Ligonier, during the celebration of the 500th anniversary of Calvin's birth. The list of contributors to the book is who's who of Reformed pastors and academics.

So far I've just had time to skim the Iain Murray introduction and read the chapter by Phil Johnson on Calvin as a writer, but it has already prompted me to take advantage of the sale at Olive Tree on Calvin's commentaries ($20.99 for electronic vs. $120 for the paper version @ CBD), and I've been out on the Banner of Truth website looking at their Calvin offerings (Phil's suggestion is The Letters of John Calvin.

If all you know about Calvin is the stereotype of rigid theologian, you owe it to yourself to get this book and find out a bit more about the man who, probably more than any other, has influenced Protestant thought and theology.

When “Our Side” Misses the Point

2010-10-15T10:41:00.002-05:00

Here's a One News Now article telling pastors they don't have to worry about losing their tax exemption for speaking out on politics because as a church they are they are constitutionally exempt.

I think this really misses the point, though. The pastor's pulpit should be used to preach the Word, and so political discussion should be in this context. On the other hand, even if the IRS is allowed to punish a church, shouldn't the church fear God and not men?

There's a related poll, which is what prompted this post in the first place.

What would most likely result if more pastors fearlessly spoke of political candidates and issues from the pulpit?
1) More Christians would vote
2) More Christians would run for office
3) America would truly become a Christian nation

I'm gonna say "none of the above." What I hope that pastor is doing is fearlessly proclaiming the Word of God, bringing it to bear on all aspects of life (yes, including politics), and that if God is glorified, that is the correct result. Even if more Christians don't vote or run for office, and even if America never becomes a "Christian nation."

Weekly Family Question

2010-10-12T09:13:00.001-05:00

Our church has discussion questions which are published each week in conjunction with the sermon. We also get questions for the family. I'm gonna try to throw out one each week which will hopefully be helpful in your family worship.

Spend some time coming up with 4-5 groups of choices you will ask your family to make. Find pictures of each item to display. These should be groups of 3 (possibly 2) items that include one item that is not desirable (i.e. a horse, a beautiful dog, and a very mangy cat; a fancy new car, a big new pick-up truck, and a wagon without wheels; a gallon of ice cream, a picnic spread, and a pile of rotten lettuce). Tell everyone they need to make a choice in each group of the item they would like most. When they finish, ask which ones they chose, and ask why no one chose the "yucky" items. Then Read Deut. 7:6-8 and Eph. 1:3-6 and teach your family about God's calling of His people and that He called no one because of what they looked like, or because they were so good, but so that His calling would be to the praise of the glory of His grace.

An Alternative to Writemonkey

2010-10-08T07:17:00.001-05:00

One thing I forgot to mention about NaNoWriMo this year is that I might try one alternative to Writemonkey — Scrivener.

Scrivener has been available on Mac for about for 5 years now, I think. Based on the original website, it seems to have a bunch of nice writing features.

They are just now coming out with a Windows version, which is done by a different programmer. Although the public version won't be available until early 2011, a beta version will be made available for NaNo sometime in February.

They are still field testing, hoping to get some bug reports, so it may not be a good choice for everyone. But I've read lots of good things about the program, and the final version will be available for purchase during NaNoWriMo at half price.

That makes it something I've at least gotta try.

Matt

Preparing for NanoWriMo 2010

2010-10-05T11:06:00.002-05:00

It's October, so it's time to start thinking about NaNoWriMo.

I managed to complete the task in 2008, using primarily old DOS wordprocessors. In 2009, I wasn't able to participate.

Now comes 2010. The new web badges are out. Time to dust off my copy of No Plot, No Problem (and I've gotten a copy to give to a friend). And now I'm setting about trying to figure out what I'm going to write with.

This year, I wanted to use software that could integrate a bit better with newer computers. But I wanted to keep some of the useful things from the last time. Some of those things were a word count, full screen to work with, a program that makes backups, but also not be tied to any proprietary format.

I've found that and more in WriteMonkey. It has quite a few features. Some of my favorites are the multiple backups, the ability to customize colors and fonts, save profiles, and a text repository, which allows you save all your cuttings.

It also saves in plain text. I used plain text when I wrote last time. Using Markdown allows the usefulness of text to be extended, but it remains completely portable.

With all that said, I think this will be my 2010 badge.

In Praise of MarkdownMail

2010-09-29T21:25:00.000-05:00

I'm experimenting with cloud access to my documents across 3 computers and the iPhone. As part of this grand experiment, I've cobbled together a complicated network of tools which include Dropbox, Simplenote, and Resophnotes. I'll have more to say about these apps in the future.

(Quick note: the Dropbox link is a referral link. It gets you and me an extra 250MB of storage space. But if you don't want that, use this link instead.)

I've also discovered Markdown, a lightweight markup language intended to help specifically with making writing HTML easier. In conjunction with my network experiment, I decided to start using Markdown in the hopes of increasing the efficiency, portability, and usefulness of many of my documents.

What I didn't have was an easy way to convert Markdown to HTML on my iPhone.

Enter MarkdownMail.

MarkdownMail allows you to use Markdown syntax and then converts it to HTML, which can then be e-mailed. It also includes a built-in web link to the syntax page on the Web (note: just checked, & the pseudo-browser works for previewing web links in your text as well!).

For $1.99, I would have been happy just to use it as a portable Markdown viewer. In fact, that was my intent; I didn't plan on even using the e-mail feature. But I just realized that using the remote blogging feature of Blogger, I could use it for blogging as well, saving the steps of converting the text to HTML, logging on to my Blogger account, creating a new post, and so on.

The word on the street is that MarkdownMail2 is coming, and the price will be going up to $3.99. However, according to the Second Gear Twitter Feed, it will be a free upgrade for existing users.

The app is limited to one message at a time, and you can't save drafts in it. But you could always use a different app to compose, or you could save drafts in your e-mail program.

Even with these limitations, if you use Markdown at all, you will probably find this app useful. In conjunction with a cloud app or as a blogging tool, it's value will be much greater.

Testing Markdownmail

2010-09-29T14:38:00.000-05:00

This post written completely in Markdownmail.

If this works, I will be a very happy camper.

Frank Turk on the Local Church

2010-09-28T22:27:00.001-05:00

In keeping with my vain attempt to keep a semi-regular posting schedule, I'm putting this out there.

Here's a link to a post from Frank Turk on Saturday. You might have (dis)missed it, given that it was posted on the weekend, talked about the SBC, and was surprisingly TIWIARN in nature.

Except it wasn't. Oh, it had all those elements; but at it's core, there is something else. The main thrust was how the local church needs to be the local church, something that Frank has written about in the past, and is very passionate about.

Read it, and then, if you haven't had a chance yet, check out his video from The Nines. I'll be back (hopefully soon) with more to say about that.

Who's Bad?

2010-09-23T07:00:00.005-05:00

From Pastor Rob Davis's sermon this past Sunday in Colossians 3:1-4...(full sermon available from our church audio page or at Sermon Audio.

This is important now. Movies are not bad--in and of themselves. Music, is not bad it's a gift from God. Food--not bad. Work, jobs, cars, houses, beaches, not bad. All of those things are good--they're gifts from God.

Can I tell you what's bad? Put your hand up. You're bad! I'm bad! We are sinful. We take good gifts from God and we make them sinful because we make them our god.

...If what you do with God's gifts cause[es] you to sin, then it's not by faith, is it. So what is it? Sin. So you get rid of it. You cut off your hand, you pluck out your eye. That's what we have to do.

But it's not because they're bad it's because you're bad, and if we don't get that, what we'll do is we'll go out of this place, and we'll start living and walking and we'll start doing certain things and think we're good, instead of doing what we're supposed to do and realizing we're bad, and God is good in us through Christ.

P.S. Bonus! The John Piper "Bad" video.

"10 Tips on How to Write Less Badly" Article

2010-09-21T07:00:00.003-05:00

Al Mohler tweeted this article on how to write less badly. His favorite line was #5, "Everyone's unwritten work is brilliant."

My favorite was #2, "Set goals based on output, not input." No matter how long it took me to write this post - 10 minutes or 10 hours, the results are the same: my result is one post.

The genius of this simple statement is easily applied to a wide variety of tasks, writing-related and otherwise. Definable goals based on output make a big difference.

I'm sure I'll be revisiting this, oh, about November 1st.

"Ye Are Complete In Him" - A Hymn for Sunday

2010-09-12T17:04:00.001-05:00

Rebecca has a wonderful tradition of highlighting hymns on Sundays. I came across this one in a public domain hymnbook from Google, searching for "prophet, priest, and king." No idea what the tune is, but it can be sung to O For A Thousand Tongues...

Loved the words, so I thought I'd post it here.

Ye are complete in Him

I've found the pearl of greatest price;
My heart doth sing for joy;
And sing I must for Christ is mine--
Christ shall my song employ.

Christ is my Prophet, Priest, and King:
My Prophet full of light;
My great High Priest before the throne;
My King of heavenly might.

For he indeed is Lord of lords,
And he the King of kings;
He is the Sun of Righteousness,
With healing in his wings.

Christ is my Peace: he died for me,
For me he gave his blood;
And, as my wondrous sacrifice,
Offered himself to God.

Christ Jesus is my All in All,
My comfort and my love;
My life below, and he shall be
My joy and crown above.

Why Buddhism isn't the answer for Tiger Woods

2010-09-09T07:00:00.001-05:00

Here’s a snippet of what the Bible says about trying to reform yourself by practicing self-denial.

If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations- "Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch" (referring to things that all perish as they are used)-according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. (Colossians 2:20-23, ESV)

These verses speak plainly about man’s ability to reform himself. It doesn’t matter what label these efforts wear - Buddhism, moralism, or legalism, the result is the same. Aceticism looks good—it looks like holiness—but it doesn’t deal with the root issue, the sinful desires which come from the heart. Only God can do that.

Yes, I mentioned Tiger Woods. But whether I’m talking about him, myself, or anyone else, it doesn’t really matter. Human efforts to reform ourselves fall short of perfection, and perfection is not just a goal, it is the standard of righteousness required for entrance into heaven.

Brit Hume got it right - Tiger Woods needs Christianity. So does everyone else.

Again, Mobile Blogging

2010-09-01T13:49:00.001-05:00

Think I've finally got it. This is one more time around.

If it works, I will be standing up to do the hot dog dance. Too bad you can't be here to see it.

One more thing about mobile blogging

2010-08-31T22:26:00.001-05:00

Downloaded a cheapie app to try one more time.

In the meantime, I'm celebrating a perfect record - 100% failure rate for posting via e-mail.

Oh, well.

Not yet

2010-08-31T21:24:00.000-05:00

Tried to post something from my iPhone, but doesn't seem to be working. :(

Pitiful

2010-07-31T22:00:00.002-05:00

Yeah, not only am I posting on the last day of the month, I'm retroactively posting after the last day of the month just so I don't have another gap.

When did life get so busy?

Is Firefox the New Bloatware?

2010-06-18T07:00:00.000-05:00

Is it just me, or is Firefox running slower than ever lately? Maybe it's the extensions I have installed, maybe that I've got an old computer, or maybe it's just that I've gotten spoiled by Chrome, but man, is Firefox slow. On my older home computer, if I leave it open overnight, it starts growing in memory usage, until it takes up 100% of CPU power.

Anyone else had this issue? If so, any suggestions?

New Pastor

2010-05-24T07:00:00.000-05:00

Thrilled to announce that after many months of searching, our pastor search is complete. We have called a new pastor, and he has accepted. We are so blessed, and praise God for His hand during this whole process.

Or, as our new pastor put it, "We give God great praise for all that he has done through this process, and it has been obvious at every turn that He has orchestrated every detail to bring Himself glory and to provide good for all of us! We also praise Him for all of the confirmations He has provided along the way to the search committee, our family, and the elders. What a joy to serve a sovereign God who works His will into the lives of His people!"

Thankful

2010-04-30T09:38:00.002-05:00

I'm unavoidably frustrated at the fact that I've found so little time to blog these days. Yet I find myself quite thankful at the circumstances.

There are two circumstances I'd like to highlight. The first is work. To say that I'm too busy working is an excuse, not a reason, yet I find myself thankful to have as much work as I do, in the current economic environment. I know of others who are struggling, and I'm thankful to God for how He has provided for us through my job.

The second circumstance that I wanted to highlight is our church's ongoing search for a new pastor. For reasons only He knows, God put me on the pastoral search committee. It has been a lot of work, but our work appears to be nearing an end, as we have extended an offer, and we are going through the congregational affirmation process beginning this week.

And about #2, I would just say that even though only God knows His reasons, we have seen His sovereign hand throughout the search, including several things about our final candidate, and we are trusting Him to bring our search to fulfillment.

So although I've not had time for much blogging, I'm thankful for God's work and His provision in my life.

Freebies from the 2010 Shepherd's Conference

2010-03-19T07:00:00.000-05:00

The 2010 Shepherd's Conference was at the beginning of this month, and it looks like the audio has been made available on the website for free. 38 different downloads at last count. You can also download the speaker notes to go with it. (There is video, too, for those of you who have more bandwidth and disk space than I do.)

As if that wasn't enough, you can also go back in time (so to speak), and download audio from Shepherd's Conferences all the way back to 2001.

You can also get a bunch of sermons from the Grace Community Church Sunday School classes.

Should be something there for almost everyone.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2010-03-17T07:00:00.002-05:00

Here is the beginner's class from O'Donovan School of Irish Dance, dancing for the 2010 parade. My little Gummball is on about 2:20.

Congrats to Team Canada

2010-02-28T20:47:00.001-06:00

And congratulations to all my Canadian friends who are hockey fans out there. What a great game!

There was a great final shot as the flags went up, where the Canadian flag was just over the scoreboard. If anyone sees a picture of it, throw me a link in the comment box.

Cheap Christian Ebooks - until the end of the week

2009-12-10T22:52:00.004-06:00

I was blessed to receive an e-book reader for my birthday (and Christmas, etc.). It's really great. And I have a tendency toward fantastic fiction (lately it's been David Weber), but I try to temper that with some reading that's good for me, and not just junk food.

I found out Crossway was offering the ESV Study Bible in EPUB format for $15, and decided to get that. The nice thing about the electronic version is that if you choose to ignore the footnotes, you've got a regular Bible for reading, something you absolutely can't do with the print version of the thing.

Better yet, it turns out that my favorite ebookstore for fiction also carries a whole bunch of Crossway books. Who knew?

Fictionwise has 130 titles available from Crossway. They are distributed in multiple formats (abbreviated multiformat on the site), which basically means that any reader you have you can download a version of the book for it. You can download in one format, or several. Not only that, but through the end of this week, all of those books are 40%-60% off. So instead of paying $10.00 for Mark Dever's "The Message of the New Testament: Promises Kept," I paid $4.00.

In fact, I think most of the Crossway books are $4.00. Here's the link to a list of Crossway books on the site.

I don't know whether their week ends on Saturday or Sunday, so you'll have to act quickly.

P.S. They've also got Tim Challies book there. Don't know if I'll be getting it this time around, but it's nice to know it's available electronically.

John Piper on Hell (and more)

2009-11-01T23:36:00.000-06:00

John Piper wrote a brief piece last week addressing how willingly people go to Hell. It was a good piece - a reminder that Hell isn't just a not-nice place - it is worse than the worst thing we could imagine, and no one will want to be there.

Here are a couple of excerpts:

...when a person chooses against God and, therefore, de facto chooses hell—or when he jokes about preferring hell with his friends over heaven with boring religious people—he does not know what he is doing. What he rejects is not the real heaven (nobody will be boring in heaven), and what he “wants” is not the real hell, but the tolerable hell of his imagination.

...What sinners want is not hell but sin. That hell is the inevitable consequence of unforgiven sin does not make the consequence desirable. It is not what people want—certainly not what they “most want.” Wanting sin is no more equal to wanting hell than wanting chocolate is equal to wanting obesity. Or wanting cigarettes is equal to wanting cancer.

Helpful reminder for believers of the absolute necessity and urgency of preaching the Gospel to those who are perishing. Those who, Jesus said, are condemned already (John 3:18).

Also in the John Piper vein, the audiobook for Desiring God is available at Christian Audio for free this month. Several of his other audiobooks are on sale for $5 each through Nov. 21. Here's the link for all this good stuff.

What is NaNoWriMo?

2009-10-06T21:21:00.002-05:00

What is NaNoWriMo?

A) A glorious and exultant writing experience.
B) One of the most hideous tortures invented by human beings.
C) A month-long contest in November wherein the challenge is to write a 50,000 word story.
D) All of the above.

This post is for Neil Shay, mostly, in answer to his question.

NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month. It is the brainchild of one Chris Baty, and happens every November. It's one of the craziest things you might undertake in your life which doesn't involve physical bodily injury.

The goal is to write 50,000 words of fiction, between midnight November 1st and midnight November 30th. That's it in its simplest form.

Your writing style changes when you write to a deadline like this. You forget about spelling every word correctly, grammar goes out the window, and (for many people) even those blind alleys you take when you're doing the creative thing end up staying in.

It's rather hard to describe. Baty has written a book, and even that really doesn't begin to cover it. At the end of the day (and I know it's cliche), you really do have to experience it for yourself.

2008 was my first real experience with it (I conked out in 2007 after a couple thousand words). It was, as I said in the opening, both a glorious, exultant experience and at the same time hideous torture.

And even if I thought I could psych myself up again for it, I just don't know where I would find the time. It's possible, but unlikely. But I will still probably sign up, and still root for others, if I know they are participating.

For more info on NaNoWriMo, you can visit NaNoWriMo.org.

Obligatory Blog Post - September 2009

2009-09-23T20:48:00.002-05:00

I had a post halfway written, but unfortunately, it was killed because it was in an unsaved buffer (ah, the joys of learning a new software program), so instead I'm settling for notifying everyone that I've added a countdown timer to the right-hand column of the blog which gives the time until NaNoWriMo 2009 starts.

I doubt I'll be doing NaNo this year--too busy--but I think one of the kids is going to do it. And I'll be happy to root for anyone who does try it.

P.S. Here's a link to the suggested word counts for students doing the Youth Writing Program.

Assigning Drive Letters in XP

2009-07-27T22:50:00.000-05:00

I had previously assigned a drive letter to my thumbdrive in XP to help facilitate syncing files. That letter somehow got reassigned.

This page let me fix it. Now my files are synced again.

Special on John Calvin audiobooks @ Christianaudio.com

2009-07-09T21:29:00.002-05:00

To celebrate the 500th anniversary of John Calvin's birthday, Christianaudio.com has put three of their Calvin titles on sale for $2.98 each for downloads. (The fourth title from this search is a free John Piper sermon on John Calvin.)

I picked up Calvin for Armchair Theologians, and have listened to about an hour of it. The narration is excellent - very easy to follow. In fact, I may review it later in more depth, but for know, I'll settle for saying that because the fellow reading the book has an English accent, it adds a bit of gravitas to the work that I don't think is in the original.

Act quickly if you're interested. The sale only runs through July 11th.

In Honor of Michael Jackson's Funeral

2009-07-07T13:45:00.003-05:00

I'm posting a link to "Don't Wanna Waste My Life" by Lecrae.

Rearrange Windows Taskbar Buttons

2009-07-06T07:00:00.000-05:00

I have been wanting something like this for a long time now. It's a small utility that lets you rearrange the buttons on your taskbar. Very handy, small, and standalone.

From Elias Fotinis.

Facebook

2009-07-05T17:14:00.001-05:00

Ok, so I finally caved, and I'm on Facebook. So far, my impression of Facebook is that it's great for people who like the social interactions of blogs but without all the time-consuming reading and writing required.

Which, given the fact that I'm now averaging about two posts a month, prolly makes it perfect for me.

Death of a Non-celebrity

2009-07-04T23:35:00.003-05:00

In the midst of the "notable" deaths that occurred last week, there was one which will not receive much attention. A small plane crashed. The lone passenger, the pilot, was killed--burned beyond recognition.

Authorities identify pilot in Southern Utah crash
Published: Thursday, July 2, 2009 9:55 p.m. MDT

The Washington County Sheriff's Office identified the man who died Tuesday in a small plane crash as Gary Logan, 54, of Las Vegas.

Logan was flying from North Las Vegas Airport to Cedar City when his single engine plane went down and crashed at Utah Hill, near the Utah-Arizona border.

He was supposed to arrive at his destination by 11 a.m. Tuesday. The Cedar City airport alerted the sheriff's office that a plane might have gone down in their area when he still hadn't arrived by 2 p.m. The Civil Air Patrol located the crash site a half hour later, said Chief Deputy Rob Tersigni.

There were no other passengers on the plane. The National Transportation Safety Board began its investigation of the accident Wednesday.

— Michael R. McFall

Gary Logan was a long-time friend of our family. He loved to golf, and was one of Gramps's favorite golfing buddies. He came all the way to Phoenix to see Grandma and Grandpa when they were both recovering from illnesses a year ago.

His family have our sympathy at their loss.

Jesus asked a crowd once, "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul?" (Mark 8:36-37, ESV). We would all do well to dwell on that question while we are alive, because death will come for each of us. Fame, money, and looks desert us, even in this life; they are certainly of no value in the life to come. I don't know if any of the celebrity triumvirate which passed on last week knew Jesus as Savior; some have hopes, but I have my doubts.

In contrast, Gary knew Jesus as his savior, and he came to know him in part as a result of my grandpa's witness. Grandpa preceded him in death by just a few months. I'm thankful that we can rejoice that they are truly in a better place, and we will have the opportunity to see them again. That is real hope - a hope that comes out of a personal relationship with the savior, Jesus Christ.

Under the Wire

2009-06-30T22:57:00.002-05:00

Ok, so my blog stats have hit an all-time low this past week, and I'm in danger of having nearly missed another month of blogging. So in order to stem the tide, I'll at least throw something out there before July 1st.

The blog has had to take 2nd fiddle to several things, not the least of which was work. I took and passed my test for my certified general appraiser's license, which means that, beginning tomorrow, I am officially licensed to work as an appraiser (previously I was a trainee).

I was quite concerned about passing the test, and I give God at least as much credit as myself for getting me to this point, because He has intervened at several points along the road to achieving this milestone.

More later.

55 Fiction Contest - ends today at 5pm PT

2009-06-08T12:06:00.001-05:00

I'm gonna try to get a story in by then. Here's a link to the rules, and the submission info is below (note that you can e-mail your story). Make sure to include your name and location (city & state).

It’s time for our annual 55-word short story contest. Send us as many stories as you’d like by June 8 at 5 p.m. We’ll choose the winners and publish them in our July 2 issue. Send your entries to 55 Fiction, 1010 Marsh Street San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 or email to 55fiction@newtimesslo.com

Update: I got my story written and submitted, but the autoreply from the Arts Editor at The New Times said this: "I am currently on vacation in Morocco and will return Thursday, July 2." Looks like my submission won't be considered until next year. Oh, well.

Just got home from seeing the new Star Trek

2009-05-07T23:53:00.000-05:00

Absolutely brilliant.

It's been a long time since a movie lived up to the hype. This one did.

J. J. Abrams & Company have rescued the franchise.

All My Good Works Are Crap!

2009-04-27T08:00:00.000-05:00

More than that, I now regard all things as liabilities compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things – indeed, I regard them as dung! – that I may gain Christ, and be found in him, not because I have my own righteousness derived from the law, but because I have the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness – a righteousness from God that is in fact based on Christ’s faithfulness. (Philippians 3:8-9, NET)

Last year, Al Mohler had a radio program entitled Bad Language in the Pulpit? In it, he discussed linguistics, and whether there are bad sounds (letters) vs. bad words. Lots of helpful discussion here. He affirmed something many Christians might have a problem with: that it is OK to use strong language where the Bible uses strong language. The example he cited was when Paul says that all of his good works are "dung," it is acceptable for us to do the same.

Dr. Mohler's exact wording is: "I will say that if the Apostle Paul is our model here, then we can talk about our efforts at self-righteousness in some of the strongest, most scatalogical terms." He goes on to say that the Apostle Paul doesn't use that kind of language "casually, carelessly, or strategically just to shock, or about, for instance, other human beings."

The Greek word referenced, σκύβαλον, is defined by BDAG, the standard reference work for Koine Greek, as "useless or undesirable material that is subject to disposal, refuse, garbage (in var. senses,'excrement, manure, garbage, kitchen scraps')" (emphasis in the original). Toward the bottom of the entry is a note that says "to convey the crudity of the Greek...: 'It's all crap'," presumably referring to the Scripture passage I referenced above.

The NET Bible, which I quoted, translates the word "dung," and the footnote reads: The word here translated "dung" was often used in Greek as a vulgar term for fecal matter. As such it would most likely have had a certain shock value for the readers. This may well be Paul’s meaning here, especially since the context is about what the flesh produces. (An extended argument from Dan Wallace about why "dung" or its like is a better translation of σκύβαλον that "rubbish" or "garbage" is available here.)

I agree with both Mohler and Wallace, though not out of any desire to exercise a perverse potty-mouth; quite the opposite. I agree with them because when I look at my own life that's what I see.

The good works that I bring to Christ aren't just garbage. They aren't only a "loss," or a writeoff. To God, they are offensive. They are like that smell I remember when it was my turn to pick up dog stuff in the back yard on a 100+ degree summer day in Phoenix - a wretched stench so overpowering that it induces the gag reflex almost immediately. That's what my good works were before I became a follower of Jesus.

The bad part about all this is that, years down the road, many of my works still seem like this. I lead family worship because it's the right thing to do, and not because of my overwhelming love for God and desire to see my family become fully devoted followers of Him; I find my Bible where I left it the previous Sunday because I haven't looked at it the entire week; all too often I find myself arrogant when I'm in the right, and defensive when I'm in the wrong. It feels like so much of what I do even as a believer is still just dirty rags and smelly garbage.

God doesn't describe our works after Christ in that way. Instead He gives us a picture of gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or stubble. Some of it endures, and some of it burns up. But manure burns, too...and it stinks.

So I find myself looking once again at "the great exchange" - where Christ is made sin for me, and his true, pure righteousness is credited to me, and I'm humbled once again to rely on him to do anything that is worthy of his name.

Which I guess is OK, since Paul himself doesn't stop at simply acknowledging that all his works were dung. Instead, he goes on and affirms that this was "in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, based on law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith."

Praise God for that.

Scripture quoted by permission. Scripture quotation was taken from the NET Bible®, and footnote was taken from the NET Bible® footnotes, both copyright ©1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved. The NET Bible® is freely available at www.bible.org/ .

"Windows - R" - The Magic Windows shortcut I don't know how I lived without

2009-04-15T07:00:00.002-05:00

Don't know how I managed to miss this before. You can drop shortcuts into your C:/Windows file, and then run them from the "run" box, using the Windows - R combination. You're only limited by your imagination.

I had been using QTray for this sort of thing, but it is limited on the number of shortcuts, and some shortcuts are mnemonically similar. The bigger problem is that it starts the programs in the QTray folder group in the Programs file, which renders some programs, including some text editors, virtually worthless. I also recently discovered that it is no longer available as a free download (unless you do a ton of searching on Internet Archive). It has re-emerged with other freeware programs from the same author as a set of shareware power tools. I'll probably keep the free version, but slowly transition my shortcuts to Win-R.

Less mouse = oh, happy day!

Behold, The Lamb That Was Slain

2009-04-10T07:00:00.007-05:00

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29)

But in the sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. ...Now every priest stands day after day ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this man, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God. He is now waiting until His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are sanctified. (Heb. 10:3-4, 11-14)

Today is Good Friday. Last year at this time, Todd Bolen from the BiblePlaces.com blog wrote a post about a video of any animal sacrifice in Jerusalem. He also posted a link to it. It is graphic - the real deal. But the reasoning behind posting it was good.

We read about sacrifice in the Bible but we don't really understand what that means. We read passages that talk about the "life being in the blood," but those are just words that we don't really consider. We "know" that the wages of sin are high, but we don't get the life lesson that the ancient Israelites received every year.

The point of sacrifice was simply this: you deserve to die because of your sin. This animal is dying in your place. Watching the priest slice his throat and watching the blood drain out drove the point home much better than reading a chapter of Leviticus.

Today New Testament believers know that the blood of bulls and goats is not enough to take away sin. But I think that we can often just take for granted Jesus' death in our place. We don't think about his innocent blood draining away because we can't conceptualize it. We don't always appropriate the idea of substitute because we've never seen a living object die in our place. But our loss can be this: sin is easy because forgiveness (we think) is cheap.

Christ's blood, not the blood of bulls and goats, took away our sin. Perhaps this little reminder will help all of us, myself included, count the cost...of discipleship, and of sin.

Todd's final warning is a good one: Don't watch this video while eating, and if you're thinking about showing your children, watch it yourself first.

Update: I wasn't the only one who thought of linking to the video today. Justin Taylor linked to it, and Dan Phillips from Pyromaniacs links to Justin and makes some observations of his own.

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible® Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.

In Honor of April Fool's Day

2009-04-01T11:11:00.000-05:00

For spiritual fools

For those who say in their heart that there is no God, and those who reach out to them, here's a link to a series Fred Butler did last year entitled 20 Ways to Answer a Fool. It's a series answering 20 of the most common questions from atheists, and definitely worth a read.

For the rest of us fools

April Fool's Day has always had a special place in our heart because each year my grandfather, when he was alive, would call us and try to put one over on us. The word is that this started with my aunt and something about a pony. I'll have to verify the details and put them down one day.

I'm committing to the public record that my mother is taking up Grandpa's mantle of April Foolery, and got us rather well this morning.

Limited Atonement Debate on Debate Blog

2009-03-31T19:00:00.001-05:00

Frank Turk is debating a Lutheran Pastor on whether one's view of the extent of the atonement changes the Gospel.

Phil Johnson gave a message on the nature of the Atonement at The Shepherd's Conference a bouple of years back. Here is the link to the audio, and here is the outline.

I also appreciated Rebecca Stark's post from a few years ago. I liked her analogy to some people's "transactional approach" to the atonement. Her post also provides a few links to other blogs which have dealt with the issue.

The question that I'd like the answer to from anyone who rejects a view that the atonement is limited is this: if all the sin in the world is atoned for, then on what basis does God condemn sinners?

The Scandal of the Gospel

2009-03-29T08:22:00.002-05:00

In these days of almost perpetually recurring scandals, it's good to remember that the biggest scandal of all is the scandal of the Gospel, which punishes God for man's sin, and sets sinners free. The Gospel changes men, and it is the only way that men can truly change.

That's what this post reminded me of. Thanks, Carla.

Here's a Little Job Hunting Tip

2009-03-26T16:16:00.000-05:00

A public service announcement from this blog...

If you're going to go to the trouble of signing up for Jobs.com to get new job listings, you should make sure you use the right e-mail address, and not one belonging to someone else. Otherwise, your job listings will go to them instead of you, making me them mad and you still unemployed.

Dr. Who Prop 10 & 20 Pound notes

2009-03-24T07:00:00.000-05:00

Very clever stuff. I'm pretty sure our government would never allow such shenanigans.

My Thoughts on "The Cult of Done"

2009-03-23T07:00:00.000-05:00

Charlie mentioned The Cult of Done Manifesto recently, and his post does a good job of framing that philosophy as it applies to his work and life. As I've thought about how it might apply to me, I've come to the conclusion that there are places where it would work well, and places where it probably shouldn't be used.

I think that the approach would work well in areas where there is more than one right way of accomplishing a task. Writing comes to mind immediately - things like blogging & writing stories. NaNoWriMo was an extreme exercise in "getting it done." For me, an approach like this would lessen or eliminate those posts which seem to be in perpetual edit mode.

But I can't imagine a medical doctor pretending to know what he or she is doing, because "pretending to know what you're doing is almost the same as knowing what you are doing. Nor would I anticipate very many successful medical practitioners adopting the approach that "failure counts...so do mistakes." Similarly, for the work I do - appraising a property, arriving at an opinion of value, and then reporting that value in a proper manner - this approach probably wouldn't work well.

That said, there are times when I've used elements of that approach within my job. The notion of setting aside the idea that there will be a finished product and just getting things down, for example, has come in handy several times when I've hit a certain point where I am stuck.

Like so many things in life, it seems there are two extremes. The two extremes to avoid here are working so hard to achieve perfection that you never accomplish your goal, and cutting so many corners to get finished that your final product is worthless. Each of us will tend to one extreme or the other, depending on our personality and what we're doing. Avoiding these two things will allow us to be both more productive and more pleased with the outcome of our labors.

Battling With Unbelief

2009-03-22T21:06:00.000-05:00

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (2 Peter 3:9, ESV)

"Question everything" seems to be the keystone of the modern manifesto. You see the attitude (if not the actual phraseology) all around us. This is the era of the "noble skeptic," where the one who doubts is exalted above the one who believes.

There is probably room for a discussion of the interplay between doubt and unbelief, but I'm going to limit the current discussion to unbelief. It occurred to me recently that many of the problems people face with God can be boiled down to this simple premise of unbelief. "Did God really say..." was good enough for the snake in the Garden, and it has been dogging the human race ever since.

The companion to this is the negative side of the notion alluded to in the Bible quotation above. God hasn't punished me yet, therefore He is either a) incapable of doing so; b) indifferent to doing so, or c) unwilling to do so.

Part of our Scripture passage today was the parable in Luke 20:9-18. It centers around tenants who will not acknowledge the owner's authority over them - a message from Jesus to the Pharisees and Scribes. The lunacy of their thinking is made clear by verse 14, where after they see the landowner's son they say to themselves "This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours." They are completely deceived, both about their own standing, and about the landowner's future reaction. "...What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others" (vs. 15-16). They didn't believe the landowner capable of taking the actions he did.

Whether people reject God's judgment of them based on the idea that "He doesn't exist, therefore I have nothing to fear," or "a loving God would never do this," the outcome is the same: they are wrong, and they will pay a heavy price for it.

That type of unbelief leads to greater sin, and the idea that "if God hasn't done anything to me yet, He never will." We talked about this briefly in Sunday School today, and one comment I thought particularly insightful was that although a person say this outright, it is still in their hearts, and by their actions it is evident that this is exactly what they think. I would surmise, although I haven't read it yet, that this was what Stephen Charnock was referring to in his treatise on "practical atheism."

For our own part as believers, if we believe that God will judge, we must act on that belief, and do everything we can to save others from their judgment.

And for those who question God in unbelief, consider the message of Scripture over and over: the wrath of God has not yet arrived, not because He is lacking in ability, but because He is kind and patient, and wanting everyone who will to repent. Even now, despite your blaspheming, your utter rejection of Him, He provides you with daily needs - air to breath, your heart beating, and all the rest. Even now, He still invites you to come. Consider what the punishment will be for the complete refusal to even acknowledge His goodness in providing everything down to the very basic needs.

Paul's call to the men of Athens still applies today: The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead. (Acts 17:30-31, ESV)

Repent of unbelief, before it is too late.

Frank Turk

2009-03-18T19:00:00.000-05:00

For those who don't know Frank Turk, or haven't had the opportunity to meet him in person, I'll just tell you that you're missing out. As much as you get from the web and his blogs, you just don't know the half of it.

We had lunch on Friday, and it was such a treat. It is a privilege to call him a friend.

The Counterfeiter's Tale - BBC Radio 4

2009-03-18T07:00:00.000-05:00

Story about a Nazi plan to counterfeit British Sterling - as much as a third of the currency in circulation at the time. The British responded by fazing out everything above a 5 Pound note, a policy which continued until the 1960s.

Audio available on BBC's iPlayer until Friday, March 20th, 11:32am GMT.

Library at Alexandria - BBC Radio 4

2009-03-17T19:00:00.003-05:00

Three scholars are interviewed about the Library in Alexandria. According to them, literary criticism, textual criticism, and the organization of knowledge into different topics were just some of the things which came out of the Library. Like most scholars, it sounded like there was more than a little conjecture included. Worth a listen nevertheless. (The website also includes some external links on the subject.)

Audio available on BBC's iPlayer until Thursday, March 19th, 9:47am GMT.

What Texting Owes to the Literary Enlightenment - BBC Radio 4

2009-03-16T21:10:00.002-05:00

Haven't had a chance to listen to this one yet, but I'm intrigued by a perceived link between the 18th Century Romantics and modern day texters.

This has audio available on BBC's iPlayer until tomorrow, March 17th, 12:02pm GMT.

BookletCreator

2009-03-16T19:00:00.000-05:00

I just remembered that I used this site in conjunction with PDFTK Building to make the Spurgeon sermon booklet. It reorders the pages in your PDF so that you can print it double-sided and make a booklet with it.

With tools like this, what you can accomplish is only limited by your imagination.

Nifty Tool - PDFTK Builder

2009-03-14T15:18:00.000-05:00

Every once in a while something comes along that is so cool and/or so useful that you just have to sit back and say, "wow."

PDFTK Builder is that tool for me. It is a pretty simple program. It allows you to rip apart PDFs into individual pages, and also reassemble them. You can set permissions and a whole host of other options from the rather easy to use graphical user interface. For someone who doesn't have (or want to pay for) Adobe Acrobat, it rocks.

I had used it in the past on a download from Google Books of a Spurgeon sermon collection to split out an individual sermon.

But it really came in handy this week when I needed to reproduce a report in PDF which had a combination of text and spreadsheet values that were printed out and collated by hand. I exported all of the material to PDF, separated it into individual pages, and then reassembled it just like the hard copy of the report. All without Acrobat.

It was the first time I had done something like this. I am certain that it won't be the last.

You can get it here. I downloaded the PortableApp version so that it would be standalone.

Simple Yet Profound

2009-02-24T07:00:00.001-06:00

I'm woefully behind on all my blog reading (and writing has slowed to a trickle), yet amidst all of the stuff I find a gem or two that I simply must share.

This one is especially appropriate, because it talks about personal busyness, physical and mental clutter, and the real (simple) solution to it all. "Blessed are the poor in spirit..."

Lens Cleanse: Poor in Spirit or ADD

I'm intrigued by the idea that perhaps we don't let ourselves be poor in spirit and accept help, but rather look to fix our own problems with anything and everything but the one thing that can really fix them.

DTV

2009-02-17T22:11:00.000-06:00

I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who are thinking that the switchover from analog to digital is a good one. I'm just not one of them.

I'll be the first to admit that the picture quality is better. But if I cared about picture quality so much, I wouldn't still be watching VHS tapes, and I would probably have an HD TV, along with cable or satellite. The truth of the matter is, I probably watch too much TV as it is, and it wouldn't kill me to stop. But I'd hate to have no television access, particularly when there are tornados and things like that.

I'm not one of those who waited until the last minute to buy a box; we've had ours for months. But it turns out you have to have more than a converter box to get channels; you've also got to have an antenna. And not just any antenna--the right antenna.

Which brings me to my beef with the switchover. Unfortunately, the government hasn't been altogether, um, complete in their information campaign about digital TV. The literature says that you'll receive the same channels you currently get if you use an antenna or rabbit ears.

That may be true for cities, but not for the rest of us. Most channels don't come in. A couple are mostly watchable, but even those are like watching a RealPlayer video on dialup, the thing starts buffering, and the picture disappears. Or the sound is garbled, like that old fast food restaurant that's too cheap to update their drive-through equipment. And it inevitably happens at the most inopportune moments. "And that's why I tell you that the killer is ... myplxltmged." Or something like that.

So pity us country folks. With analog, we could get most stations, though with varying degrees of quality. With digital, the few stations we get without a fancy antenna are barely watchable because they are so garbled. I'm tempted to just junk the TV and read the piles of books in my house! (Either that, or upgrade my internet and just stream Netflix to my TV.)

In any case, now you know why I for one am for today's delay. My motives aren't that noble, but then, I don't think that the folks pushing the whole DTV initiative have demonstrated pure motives either.

Powell's Books Coupon - today only

2009-02-14T07:28:00.000-06:00

$5.00 off any online order. No minimum (nice!).

Use code WELU at checkout. Good until 11:59 PM Pacific Time tonite.

Happy shopping.

John MacArthur 1st Edition

2009-02-11T07:00:00.002-06:00

It is John MacArthur's 40th year at Grace Community Church, and 40 years of Grace to You. Today's radio broadcast was of John MacArthur's first message, entitled "How to Play Church."

And it will come as little surprise to those familiar with him that, barring the youthfulness of the voice and the lesser audio quality, it was a theme and variation of the message he preaches almost every time he speaks. Gospel.

I've always admired his boldness, particularly in public venues. It is interesting to see that he was the same way at the start with his own congregation - speaking to a need he perceived they had.

Here's an excerpt:

And our text is such a warning this morning. Our text is a warning to those who are comfortably entrenched in the church are who think they're comfortably entrenched in the church but who in reality are not. This is not a warning to outside people. This is a warning to us who are involved in the church to be sure that it's real. And I think it only fair to begin our ministry here that we stop and really approach this with a sense of sobriety and earnestness, to understand how we stand in view of God right now as individuals.

I'm sure that in this church right here there are people who come who do not know Jesus Christ in a personal vital way. I am convinced that because of the size of the congregation this morning there are some sitting right here in this audience who have come to church many times but who do not know Jesus Christ. And perhaps they even have religious sensations and perhaps they even have sanctimonious emotions but they do not know Jesus Christ. And it is my conviction that before we as a church can move together as a body, as a unit, we must become a unit and the only way we can ever be united and become one as Christ prayed that we might be is that when we are all are real in Christ. And so I want us to carefully examine our lives this morning.

(You can read or listen to the rest of the message here.)

His first week on the job, and rather than worrying about making nice with the congragation, he makes sure that the Gospel message is front and center for all those who need to hear.

Congratulations, sir, on 40 years of faithful service. May God continue to find you useful to His kingdom.

Online Education Tools

2009-01-20T07:00:00.000-06:00

Trolling through my drafts, I came across this site that was link to by Lifehacker. It was a page entitled: Massive Resource List for All Autodidacts. (Alas, secular education only, unfortunately. They left out my favorite place: Biblical Training.org.)

It looks like the link automatically redirects to a new page, and the new page doesn't seem to have the "massive" quality that the original had. However, thanks to the magic of the Internet Archive, you can still access the original.

Talking To Kids About Abortion

2009-01-15T10:01:00.001-06:00

Our state's annual Walk for Life is this weekend, I'm anticipating questions from the kids, particularly our oldest, about what we're doing and why. But in a broader sense, I'm trying to figure out just how to (or if I even should try to) explain something like that.

I'm particularly interested in hearing from those of you who have kids - what did you decide to tell them (or omit) and why?

Thanks.

Goodbye, W. W. Gumm

2009-01-11T14:46:00.001-06:00

In this first post of the new year, I say goodbye to my grandpa, Wilford Warren "Dad" Gumm. He passed away on December 28 at the age of 89.

He was a man of God for over 50 years.

One of the things about him that made the greatest impression on me was how he knew and understood the value of work. He knew that he was working for his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and he was working not for something as mundane as money, but for the reward, his inheritance, which he would someday receive from Jesus.

He was the epitome of Colossians 3:22-24. "Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ."

As citizens of the heavenly country, we are called to live lives free of ungodliness, including greed, which is the root of all kinds of evil. My grandpa was one of those increasingly rare individuals whose life was indeed free from the love of money. He was a generous man. But I think he was that way because he understood where his treasure was, and where his true home was.

I don't think that was ever more evident than when the house where he and my grandma had lived for over 50 years had burned down. I remember this vividly, because I was the one who got the phone call. Grandpa and Grandma were on vacation, and my mom and dad were out of town as well. My wife and I were also planning a trip, but by God's providence had not left yet.

As we sifted through the charred contents of the house, we were absolutely stunned. Many of us thought that Grandpa probably was handling the situation better than we did. His reaction was to state simply that he was just passing through, and that this was not his home. His simple statement demonstrated a profound belief in God's providence, His provision, and His promises. I haven't forgotten it, and like many others who heard it, I pray that when a test like that comes upon me, I will be found as faithful, out of a similar understanding of where my true home lies.

In preparing to say something at the funeral, I came across this excerpt from Richard Baxter's "Directions at the Grief at the Death of a Friend." It was in the Teaching Resources issue about The Death of Believers.

Yet your grief for the death of friends must be very different both in degree and kind.
1. For ungodly friends, you must grieve for their own sakes, because if they died such, they are lost for ever.
2. For your godly friends, you must mourn for the sake of yourselves and others, because God has removed such as were blessings to those about them.
3. For choice magistrates, and ministers, and other instruments of public good, your sorrow must be greater, because of the common loss and the judgment thereby inflicted on the world.
4. For old, tried Christians that have overcome the world and lived so long till age and weakness make them almost unserviceable to the church, and who groan to be unburdened and to be with Christ, your sorrow should be least and your joy and thanks for their happiness should be greatest.

Goodbye, Grandpa. Our sorrow is great, but God is good, and He has given us the Comforter. Our joy is greater, because you are out of pain, and present with your Savior. Our thanks is greatest, to God for allowing you such a long and productive life, and to you for your love, your generosity, and your testimony, both to your family and to countless others throughout your life. You are already missed, yet we are confident that one day we will be reunited with you in the heavenly city.

New Additions to the Gumm Family

2008-12-23T07:00:00.000-06:00

We are so excited to have a new niece and nephew, through the miracle of adoption. You can read about them here:

The BIG day!

Life Intrudes

2008-12-18T20:21:00.000-06:00

Although I love this virtual world, the real world calls all to often. There are many half-written posts sitting on hard drives and thumb drives (or "happy sticks," as I hear they are known in parts of Africa), and I don't know when any of them will meet my satisfaction for posting. Perhaps during the holidays, or after the first of the year.

So Merry Christmas.

And, as our office Christmas letter said this year, "Let each of us pause to remember the incredible grace of God as we celebrate the birth of His Son, Jesus; and that’s what Christmas is all about! Born of a virgin, the incarnate Christ came into the world to save His people from their sins. Jesus Christ was the perfect sacrifice for the sins of mankind to satisfy a just and holy God."

Coup d'état

2008-12-01T14:34:00.005-06:00

I thought this blog needed some Canadian content. See here for a roster sheet of the players.

It seems that the Conservative government will survive until Dec. 8, at which time it will be toppled by a coalition of Liberals, NDP, and Bloc Québecois. Those three opposition parties have formally agreed on the terms of the coup.

Only the Liberals and NDP will be in government officially. The Bloc will remain in opposition, with the proviso that they will always vote with the government on things that matter. And of course the government will make sure that no votes are called on things that the Bloc can't stomach.

Congratulations to Stéphane Dion.

You led your party to its worst showing in the 141 year history of Canada, BUT NOW you get to be Prime Minister.

You were first elected to the House of Commons in the mid-1990's as a staunch federalist, the secret weapon of the federalists in fact, BUT NOW you will head a government that is bound by formal agreement to advance the interests of the separatists.

You campaigned on integrity, BUT NOW you get to steal the government from a party that has almost twice as many seats as you.

You campaigned as a Liberal, BUT NOW you are bringing the NDP to power for the first time ever.

You are bringing down the goverment because they did not bring in an economic stimulation package on your timetable, BUT NOW you will introduce some of the largest regressive corporate tax increases in history.

As Environment Minister you named your dog Kyoto instead of implementing Kyoto, BUT NOW as Prime Minister you will have a large menu of going-nowhere files to name pets after.

As Leader of the Opposition you bewailed the lack of accountability of the government, BUT NOW as Prime Minister you will hand economic oversight to four unelected and unaccountable "wise men"

Ignatieff and Rae forced you out of the leadership of the Liberals, BUT NOW the joke's on them.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper trounced you in the general election, BUT NOW you will get to say, "Silly Stephen, the will of the people does not matter."

Just about 30 hours left now...

2008-11-29T17:23:00.002-06:00

of NaNoWriMo. My word count stands at 42,000, give or take. I never was able to get the little icon to embed correctly, but you can follow this link to check my progress.

As an aside, I'll just say that blogging is so much easier than fiction.

Textile vs. Markdown

2008-11-18T07:45:00.001-06:00

Anyone use either of these schemes? Anyone an advocate for one or the other?

Update: I noticed this Wikipedia article on lightweight markup languages. I'd like one that's easy to use, but the ease of use also needs to be that it can be easily converted by another means. I've experimented with lxtrf and Markdown.

NaNo Soundrack

2008-11-11T18:37:00.002-06:00

If I succesfully finish NaNo this year, it will be in no small part to music like this. Hammock, Marconi Union, and a few others who will be familiar favorites to Hearts of Space fans.

They have been my constant companions for the last few days, and will no doubt be there until the end, win or lose.

Voting

2008-11-04T11:37:00.000-06:00

About 2 hours and 15 minutes. The two big kids stuck it out with me the whole time. Totally worth it.

May God show us mercy in this election, and may we turn to Him for guidance and strength regardless of the outcome.

Paid $1.88 for gas yesterday

2008-11-03T08:53:00.001-06:00

Amazing change.

This has got to be the most volatile consumer gas prices have ever been.

Followup to Syncing Program

2008-10-30T07:45:00.000-05:00

I've been meaning to revisit this for awhile now.

I was able to find something that worked for me. It was from [cough] Microsoft [/cough]. It's called SyncToy.

PC Magazine had it listed in their Best Free Software article earlier this year. I'm using version 1, but it has been upgraded to version 2. The software is nothing fancy, you just set up two folders to sync, and pick the type of sync you want, and that's it.

One caution: deleting or moving a folder can have disastrous consequences. Make sure you're careful, or you could inadvertently wipe out a ton of stuff. I always use the preview button, just to make sure of what I'm doing before I hit the final sync.

I mostly use it to sync specific work files to my thumbdrive, and sync that thumbdrive again on the home computer. That's what I was looking for, and SyncToy has worked great for that.

SyncToy is available for free from Microsoft.

Emergency Microsoft Patch

2008-10-23T22:47:00.001-05:00

Windows Secrets - an online tech newsletter I subscribe to, just sent an e-mail regarding an emergency Microsoft patch for a virus that could be very damaging.

You can read the contents here. The article includes links to download the patch, and advice on how to install it.

Useful Tools - TClockEx

2008-10-23T07:45:00.001-05:00

I was looking for a small clock program that would also show the day and date (because I like to reference all of that when I'm leaving voicemail messages, but I hate having to think about it).

I found this: TClockEx. It actually sits right on top of the Windows clock, so it only takes up a small amount of additional toolbar space. You can customize the font. It offers some other options, like a pop-up calendar, the ability past dates, etc. But I just use it for the clock.

Freeware. You can download from here.

Doing My Part for the Environment - Who Knew?

2008-10-21T07:45:00.000-05:00

I had no idea that just eating PB&J was helping the environment.

And oh, so tasty.

How to Change Firefox Settings for Bookmark Widths

2008-10-17T09:45:00.001-05:00

One of the recent upgrades of Firefox seems to have shrunk the width of some of my bookmarks. It appears that there is a fixed column width which expands only when you have a subfolder that is longer than the default.

That's a pain, because most of my bookmarks are long. A simple (but crude) fix is to put a folder into each subfolder in order to widen the column. Anyone know of a better fix?

Bumper Sticker of the Day II

2008-10-15T19:02:00.000-05:00

My pastor says...
God bless America.

Off to Homecoming

2008-10-09T06:07:00.000-05:00

Well, we're off early this morning for Homecoming at John Brown University. Not only is it my reunion year this year, but I will also be participating in what will almost assuredly be my last public singing performance with the JBU Cathedral Choir as part of the Cathedral Choir Reunion.

To top it all off, my folks and my brother and his family will be there. Should be fun.

Exercising my posting privileges so that Matt doesn't disconnect me like I did him

2008-10-01T10:43:00.003-05:00

Fireproof: My Review

2008-09-30T10:06:00.001-05:00

I have to admit something. I wasn't going to go see this movie until I saw that Phil Johnson had gone to the premiere and liked it. I can't remember Phil ever making any comments on movies before. I have no idea if we have the same taste in movies, but his was the first one I saw where I felt like there might be a chance I'd like it.

I wasn't disappointed.

I read Dan Phillips' review, after I saw the movie, and it was tempting simply to link to it and be done. But I decided I still wanted to go on record with my own thoughts.

The movie centers around Kirk Cameron's character, Caleb Holt, a captain and fireman whose marriage is quickly dissolving. The opening minutes make it apparent that he is the lion's share of the problem; he's emotionally abusive to his wife Catherine, and he spends his off-hours dreaming about a boat and looking at pornography.

When his wife tells him she's through and wants out, he tells his folks, and his dad challenges him with a book called The Love Dare. This is a 40 day program in the form of a journal.

Caleb reluctantly agrees to try it, and then the real challenges begin. His wife decides that she doesn't love him, starts flirting with a doctor at the hospital where she works as the PR person, and prepares to file for divorce.

I won't give away much of the rest, except to say that Caleb comes face-to-face with his real problem - his sin, and even after he makes peace with God he must face the consequences of his actions to that point.

One of the things I really appreciated about the movie was that it reflected reality. The characters, especially the supporting characters, were regular people. They acted like people would react in a comparable situation. The response to the Gospel is realistic, too; it shows a wide range of reactions to it, including open hostility.

My wife and I both loved the fact that the movie had the Gospel interwoven throughout and it was central to the plot, instead of the movie just being a morality tale with a altar call stuck in at the end.

I'm sure you'll hear many comments about the acting. I thought it was fine, though it reminded me more of TV than a movie. That may be an apt comparison, since in many ways, it is more like a made-for-TV movie rather than a feature film.

That's as much a commentary on what passes for entertainment in the theaters these days as it is on the quality of the acting. Movies have always been an outlet for things you can't see on TV, and when something comes along which doesn't offer filthy language, gratuitous sex, or gruesome violence, it may be impossible for many to view it as anything but a "saccharine-sweet Christian alternative." Ironically, as TV continues to push the envelope, the gap between it and movies keeps shrinking. This may be the best apologetic of any for Fireproof: despite its limitations, it's something you won't see elsewhere in the theaters or anywhere on TV.

There are some intense scenes, such as the one where a young child is rescued from a burning house, and another where the firemen have to move a car off the train track as the train bears down on them. These, along with Kirk's convincing performance as the angry husband, are probably OK for teens, but are too much for younger viewers.

But for everyone else, the movie offers a realistic view of marriage and relationships that don't always go as planned, of the consequences of sin and the difficulty of forgiveness, and it uses a nearly-hopeless marriage to illustrate how God's redeeming love works, both horizontally and vertically.

Go see it.

"Bailout" No Longer

2008-09-25T07:45:00.002-05:00

I wondered how long it would be before they tried to jettison the term "bailout." It's so negative. Now we have an "economic rescue plan."

Was it just me, or were we basically being extorted into supporting this $700 billion dollars of bailout last night?

If you don't do this, you'll lose your job, your house, your business; no one will be able to get loans for anything. Complete financial collapse is imminent, and will surely come upon us without passing this legislation.

It looks like we're going to be hosed. And we're helpless to do anything about it. Bad enough Social Security will soon be bankrupt. Now the government is going to be saddled with a bunch of debt that no one who trades the things thinks are worth buying.

If I trusted in horses, chariots, donkeys or elephants right now, I would be in complete despair. Instead, I trust the Lion of Judah, who owns the cattle on a thousand hills.

A Favourite News Site - BBC Monitoring

2008-09-18T07:45:00.000-05:00

One of the most interesting web news offerings is from the BBC, from BBC Monitoring.

It describes itself in this way:
BBC Monitoring selects and translates news from radio, television, press, news agencies and the internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages. It is based in Caversham, UK, and has several bureaux abroad.

Centralized access to news from other countries, in English (and translated), is unique among offerings out on the web. If you know of something similar, or better, I'd love to hear about it.