I pledge allegiance to no flag

We evangelicals in America have an amazing tradition of missing the point.  We allow all of our attention and energy to be focused on a particular tree, not noticing the forest just behind us.  We love to fight about peripheral issues while completely missing the real problem.

Reblogged #005: Pray for our president

Roy Ingle over at Arminian Today is one of my favorite bloggers.  He had a great post this morning reminding Christians of their primary duty toward our nation's leaders:  to pray for them.  It's worth a read, and more importantly, it's worth actually doing.

I admit I've been remiss in my responsibility.  I hope you'll join me in lifting up our leaders -- even especially the ones we don't particularly like -- and praying God's grace and mercy upon them.

Happy anniversary to the American Holocaust

This past weekend many in America celebrated the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that declared abortion legal in the United States.  I generally listen to NPR on the way to work, and this weekend they were having a ball trumpeting this landmark in "women's rights".

That's how it's presented:  as an issue of a woman's individual rights.  I'm not denying that women have certain inalienable rights, just as men do.  I'm not arguing that their rights are in any way inferior or subservient to the rights of men, or that their rights ultimately come from men.  All are created equal.

It's just that, as a man, I don't have the right to murder a baby either.

Instead of a review of "Bonhoeffer", a rant about "The Hobbit"

Rather than a review of Eric Metaxas' Bonhoeffer which is what was scheduled for today, and which I haven't actually written yet, I want to link to this article, which is a translation of the first interview ever given by Christopher Tolkien.  Tolkien is the son of J. R. R. Tolkien, and has devoted the last forty years of his life to his father's work.  Not coincidentally, perhaps, he hates the Peter Jackson movies.

Reblogged #004: Count von Zinzendorf and the Moravians

Great article.  Would that we all had such zeal, springing from such love.

A mighty and righteous stomp

'Many have missed the point of why Christian should let another person stomp on him. The reason is not that the Christian is a wimp, but that he has surrendered the job of vengeance to the Lord. If someone does me wrong, I am not to take the law into my own hands. Instead, I give it all to God in prayer, and if (in His perfect judgment) he sees fit to do so, He will stomp on the person who stomped on me; and he has a righteous (and bigger) stomp.' -- Ray Comfort, The School of Biblical Evangelism

I finally made a New Year's resolution

I generally avoid making resolutions, mostly because that seems to be the absolute worst way of ensuring that I do whatever it is I resolve to do.  I've found it works much better for me and my perverse self-defeating streak to just say that I'm going to try and do something.

Good (not) free music #011: Derek Webb again

I'll be upfront with you:  I'm going to tell you to spend money you don't have to.  A while back I told you that a acoustic version of Derek Webb's latest album, Ctrl, was available on NoiseTrade.  That was a very, very good thing.

Interpreting "Bangs"

First, listen to this:

Then read the interpretation here.

Who are we planning on shooting?

There's a lot of talk going around about guns right now.  The ones who hate guns are demanding they be severely restricted and eventually outlawed entirely.  The ones who love guns are demanding that the solution is more guns, not less.  Arm the teachers, they say, and anyone fool enough to attack a school will get what's coming to him.

Bringin' the stoopid #008: T in the D-T

"Bringin' the stoopid" is what happens when I stay up too late playing on the computer.  Readers should be warned that they will never get back any of the time they waste on this post.

No explanation.  Just give yourself to the magic ...

What does it mean to say the Bible is "real" to me?

This is the body of a response I wrote to a post on G+.  Enjoy!

Good free music #010: Paper Route

I downloaded this a couple of months ago, but for whatever reason didn't listen to it until last night.  That's a shame, because Paper Route's Absence (packaged here with the single ""Better Life") is a really good pop album.  They remind me more than anything of MuteMath, though more because they share influences (80s pop and post-punk) than due to any real similarities in their sound.

The album's available for free at The Source of All Free Goodness, NoiseTrade.

Bringin' the stoopid #007: R of LM

"Bringin' the stoopid" is what happens when I stay up too late playing on the computer.  Readers should be warned that they will never get back any of the time they waste on this post.

Review #005: "The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience"

Ron Sider is a big name in certain circles, due largely to his book Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, first published in 1978.  I have to admit that I've had that one on my "to-read" shelf for a year or so and haven't gotten around to it yet.  I have read his 2005 work The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience, though, and found it both bracing and very frustrating.

Five more books

One of my first posts on this blog was dedicated to five books that had a significant impact on me.  With my revived interest in writing fiction (see my other blog 365 Pages), I thought it might be a good time to revisit the concept.

Kindle freebies and cheapies, 01JAN13

Here are a few interesting free-and-almost-free Kindle books.  There's no telling how long they'll stay at these prices, of course, so get 'em while they're hot.

Doug Bender, Live Second:  365 Ways to Make Jesus First.  +Greg Harper recommends the heck out of this one, and it's $1.99 for the time being.

John MacArthur, Found:  God's Will.  Free!

R. C. Sproul, Abortion:  A Rational Look at an Emotional Issue.  Free!