Friday, November 29, 2013

Weekend Playlist: La Vie En Rose

The best thing about listening to Pandora is that I'm constantly discovering new artists that I haven't heard before. I'll give them credit - they really know how to tailor recommendations based on user preferences. Today's artist is a perfect example of someone I've discovered thanks to Pandora.

According to their website, Duo Gadjo offers jazz with a French twist. In addition to their own recording, they are also members of the Hot Club of San Francisco which offers their own take on acoustic jazz.

There are few songs are so quintessentially classic French than La Vie en Rose. It's been recorded a number of times and is considered a standard in French jazz. Here is there take on the classic song. Enjoy.


Daily Links 11-29-13

Remembering The Princess Bride, a kid's reading room that is worthy of envy, a search for lost Marines, and more in today's roundup of links.

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Inconceivable! Cary Elwes is writing a book about his experiences while making The Princess Bride. This will be going on my list of books to read.

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Speaking of reading, check out this kids' reading room. Or to be more precise, a reading net.


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A plea to prospective college students:

Consider this: those three or more years at university occur at a seminal time of life under peculiarly trying circumstances. For many, this will be the first time away from home, away from the protection of parents and the shepherding of the pastors they have always known. They will go into a stimulating, demanding environment with a host of new enticements, fresh temptations, different companions, peculiar challenges, and unexpected opportunities. For many, the regular and immediate outward restraints of knowing and being known, of parental government and pastoral oversight, will be removed for a prolonged period of time. And all this at a time when the character is only just being formed, when physically, mentally, emotionally and very often spiritually, there is a degree of uncertainty and instability and often immaturity alongside rapid development. The previous anchor points of life are necessarily (and not necessarily unhealthily) being altered, and the soul may drop its anchors in better places, worse places, or simply be cast adrift. And into this potentially fruitful, potentially devastating environment goes the student, and he or she often does so without any notion of where they will find Christian care, compassion, example and instruction over the long haul. Could it be that one of the reasons why we see so many professing Christians falling away or losing their way during their university years is that they have headed off to their colleges and courses without first determining where and how they will obtain their spiritual sustenance? 

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Alfred Hitchcock once directed a film that appeared to have been made with continuous shots. In fact, there are ten hidden edits in Rope as explained in this post.

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One man's quest to find the lost Marines of Tarawa. Over the course of three days of battle during World War II, the U. S. Marines lost approximately 1100 men on this tiny pacific island. To date, only about half of those killed have been found and their bodies returned home.

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This is a skill that nearly everyone needs to learn: how to say no gracefully.

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Thursday, November 28, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving!

"As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!"


Daily Links 11-28-13

How music affects the brain, using Monk Mode to increase productivity, a Jane Austen trivia game, and more in today's roundup of links.

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This is interesting: 8 ways that music affects the brain. Personally, I find I am more productive when I have music on in the background while working.

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A half-hour wedding proposal went viral on YouTube. And that's not a good thing.

The problem with trying to turn a marriage proposal into a wannabe Oscar performance is twofold: first, it turns a monumental moment into essentially a creativity competition, the root of which is vanity. (Did anyone notice how the video focuses almost exclusively on the guy making it? It’s not about her, or even them – it’s about him.) 
But more importantly, it turns the focus away from the purpose of the proposal – marriage. Because guess what? The way a man proposes has nothing to do at all with love, commitment, loyalty, or longevity. I hate to bring up America’s 50% divorce rate, but in light of videos like this, I feel somewhat compelled. We can dream up brilliant, creative, unique ways to propose, but all the flash mobs and music videos in the world can’t save a marriage when it’s past this butterflies, pie-in-the-sky phase. If anything, all the hype and hoopla of an over-the-top proposal can distract from the serious, down-to-earth business of making sure that you are marrying the right person.

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Total Film has a roundup of 50 movies that should have won an Oscar but didn't. My personal favorite is Rear Window. (Hat tip: Shrink Blog)

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Monk mode as the key to insane productivity. I don't know if that would be the name that I put to it but I like the idea. There are times I have had to completely shut off everything in order to stay focused on a major project. It's not an everyday thing but it is a strategy that makes sense if you have a big task to focus on. (Hat tip Challies)

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A Kickstarter for a Jane Austen Trivia Game. I have a feeling the women in my household could get behind that.



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Could single-sex public schools be making a comeback? One group in the Bronx is trying to bring all-male public schools back to help young men in New York. The results appear to be promising.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Daily Links 11-27-13

Things to do before leaving your church, John Piper on Calvinism, benefits of being a boring guy, managing information overload, and more in today's links.

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Thabiti Anyabwile has a useful article on things to consider before leaving your church. Fact is that most people will at some point leave their church. These are some good things to consider prior to departing.

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James Clear on how we consume information:

How much time do you spend consuming information that you have no intention of taking action on or that you don’t care deeply about? 
For example: the nightly news cycle of local crimes, the endless stream of Facebook and Twitter updates, celebrity gossip, reality TV shows, Buzzfeed articles. The list goes on. 
In this age of information overload, your life can be filled with irrelevant or unnecessary information in an instant.
And here’s the main problem: 
After a while, these information sources start to become normal. Pretty soon, you’re logging onto Facebook because of the fear of missing out on “something.” You turn on the news or check CNN, not because you care about a particular topic, but merely out of habit. You watch tonight’s reality TV show because that’s what you always do on Thursdays at 8pm. 
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m all for learning and soaking up new information. After all, education is one of the master keys to the universe. And staying up-to-date on important stories can help shape your worldview and make you a good global citizen. 
But it is becoming dangerously easy to consume low quality information and convince yourself that it’s normal and good, when it isn’t helping you live a better life at all.

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Redefining the meaning of being boring. I strive to be boring every day.

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Tim Challies reviews John Piper's new book Five Points: Toward a Deeper Experience of God's Grace. It looks like it's a good read.

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In what order should you read the Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis? Some would argue for chronological order. However, the more sensible plan is to read them in publication order. That's the way we read them as a family and it's the order that makes the most sense.

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Answering the big questions: why you wake up before the alarm goes off.

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Daily Links 11-26-13

In today's link roundup: tech companies that turned down merger offers, using a procrasination pad, remembering Apollo 11, and much more.

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A fascinating list of 8 tech companies that turned down merger offers. Not all of the stories ended well. Some of the companies, however, thrived.

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From Art of Manliness, a wonderful collection of spy concealments.
During World War II, a British publisher used Monopoly sets to smuggle maps, compasses, and money to prisoners of war.

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From Lifehacker, how to stay focused on your current task with a procrastination pad. Personally, I like working from to-do lists and this seems like a great way to manage my free time.

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An online gallery of the objects from Apollo 11 that are currently housed in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

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Here's a real piece of cinematic history: Audrey Hepburn's screen test for Roman Holiday.


Hat tip: Open Culture

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An assortment of vintage advertisements starring notable authors (hat tip Book Riot). Yes, it's true that there was a time when authors would endorse different products. Nowadays authors aren't as well known so it's unlikely that you would see these kinds of ads.

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A review of the new documentary profiling Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson, Dear Mr. Watterson, at Christianity Today.

Monday, November 25, 2013

Daily Links 11-25-13

In today's roundup: game theory and The Price Is Right, classic children's books that started out as bedtime stories,

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Who says there is no profit in studying math? A mathematician used game theory as a way to increase the odds of winning on The Price is Right.

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Mental Floss has a wonderful list of 15 classic children's books that started out as bedtime stories. Some of these titles will surprise you.

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The new documentary Dear Mr. Watterson is another great Kickstarter success story. It's also the story about a passionate filmmaker cut through all the traditional distribution channels to get his production directly to his audience. Calvin and Hobbes fans rejoice.



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A collection of luxury homes with libraries worth splurging for.

This luxury Wisconsin home has a two-story library that can be accessed directly from the master bedroom. It can be yours for a mere $8,750,000.

Friday, November 22, 2013

Weekend Playlist: Someone to Watch Over Me

When it comes to jazz standards, few are as famous as George and Ira Gershwin's Someone to Watch Over MeLike many of the Gershwins' tunes, it was written for a show but took on a life of its own. It's been recorded a number of times and it would be difficult to select one definitive version of the song. So, I'll settle for a very good one: Blossom Dearie's 1961 version of the song.


Daily Links 11-22-13

Five for Friday: a roundup of links today on writing (plus a bonus recommendation on how to deal with rejection).

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From Brain Pickings: Ernest Hemingway's advice for aspiring young writers. This includes a great excerpt from Ernest Hemingway on Writing. Be sure to scroll to the end of the post for links to more writing advice.

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How to write things the people you lead will want to read. This is a great article including three common mistakes people make and how to fix them.

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Since 2005, the SAT has included an essay section. What's the key to doing well on this part of the test? Make stuff up!
This essay, which was added to the SAT in 2005, counts for approximately 30 percent of a test-taker’s score on the writing section, or nearly one-ninth of one’s total score. That may not seem like much, but with competition for spots at top colleges and universities more fierce than ever, performance on a portion of the test worth around 11 percent of the total could be the difference between Stanford and the second tier. So it’s not surprising that students seek strategies and tips that will help them succeed on the writing exercise. Les Perelman, the recently retired former director of MIT’s Writing Across the Curriculum program, has got a doozy. 
To do well on the essay, he says, the best approach is to just make stuff up. 
“It doesn’t matter if [what you write] is true or not,” says Perelman, who helped create MIT’s writing placement test and has consulted at other top universities on the subject of writing assessments. “In fact, trying to be true will hold you back.” So, for instance, in relaying personal experiences, students who take time attempting to recall an appropriately relatable circumstance from their lives are at a disadvantage, he says. “The best advice is, don’t try to spend time remembering an event,” Perelman adds, “Just make one up. And I’ve heard about students making up all sorts of events, including deaths of parents who really didn’t die.” 

As a result, the SAT is helping us create bad writers.

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A related problem is that college graduates don't know how to write.

Our graduates lack writing skills. While adept at crafting bullet points, they often have difficulty writing in declarative sentences and complete paragraphs – thus impeding the effectiveness of their business communications, including memos, letters, and technical reports. 
A 2004 Conference Board survey of 120 corporations in the Business Roundtable concluded that most companies take written communications into consideration when making their hiring and promotion decisions and implied that many current or prospective employees lack the requisite skills. This conclusion was reinforced by a 2006 Conference Board survey of 431 human resource professionals, which cited writing skills as one of the biggest gaps in workplace readiness. 
Recent graduates also frequently commit basic grammatical errors, such as using an improper pronoun (e.g. “between you and I”) selecting the wrong homonym (e.g. “compliment versus complement”) or employing incorrect diction (e.g. “appraise versus apprise”). Not coincidentally, these kinds of errors are difficult to catch with spell-check. 

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But there is hope. Here are 10 tips how to write less badly.

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As an added bonus, a great quote from Barbara Kingsolver on dealing with rejection:


Thursday, November 21, 2013

Daily Links 11-21-13

Playing Poirot, the secrets of the Zapruder film, how to be a man at home, cool book nooks, and more in today's roundup of links.

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David Suchet shares his secrets to playing Hercule Poirot. Some of the tips are a little surprising. For example, I didn't realize that he would watch each previous portrayal before filming a new installment. Plus I love the fact that he stays in character all throughout filming.

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Brian Howard has five tips for how to be a man at home. These are all great suggestions.

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Tomorrow marks the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John Kennedy. The most famous piece of film from that day is the amateur 8mm movie taken by Abraham Zapruder. Life Magazine has the story of how they managed to acquire this precious piece of film.

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This is surprising:
Full story here.

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Some people love Disney so much they decided to move there. Not a bad deal if you have a couple of million to spare.
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Here's a collection of book nooks that will warm your heart. I think this one is my favorite.

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How C. S. Lewis led the way to better apologetics.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Daily Links 11-20-13

Stories of amazing photographs, American Girl dolls, objects that made America, the guitar as an American icon, and more in today's link roundup.

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The story behind Dorothea Lange's iconic Migrant Mother photograph and how she almost didn't take it.


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Tracing the history of an American icon which is also a work of art: C. F. Martin Guitars.

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The Smithsonian has selected 101 Objects that made America. Which ones would make your list?

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American Girl dolls are changing and it's not for the better.

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This photograph may not look like much. It was taken in the South Pacific in the early days of World War II.

The photo was the result of a team effort of nine men. It is arguably the most decorated photograph in history. Read the fascinating story here.

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Aaron Armstrong has an excellent review of John Piper's new book on Calvinism. It looks like a great read.

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Amazon to start delivering packages on Sundays utilizing the U. S. Postal Service. Could this help the Post Office make its way back to solvency?

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Daily Links 11-19-13

In this morning's link roundup: a collection of bookish tote bags, how to make your marriage last a lifetime, the thankless job of a pastor's wife, and more.

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A bookish collection of tote bags via Book Riot.


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Two things you can do to make your marriage last a lifetime.

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One way to figure out today's "must do" item is to make a list of things that make you most anxious or uncomfortable and start there.

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When Columbia University was moving into their new library in 1934, they used a really long book slide.



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Thom Rainer has a wonderful word of encouragement to pastors' wives. It is a truly thankless job.

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As children, their family were spared the violence of the Kristallnacht by an SS officer. Now, 75 years later, they are on a quest to find that officer to thank him for his kindness.

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The 50th anniversary of the passing of C. S. Lewis is coming up in a couple of days. Here's an interview with HarperOne publisher Mark Tauber on Lewis' enduring appeal.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Daily Links 11-18-13

Good morning. Here's the latest roundup of links for your reading enjoyment. How you should read your Bible, why you shouldn't have goals, some thoughts on marriage, and more in today's post.

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Not long ago Tim Challies wrote a post entitled 18 Things I Will Not Regret Doing With My Wife. Now it is his wife Aileen's turn to offer her list of things she doesn't regret doing with her husband.

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Aaron Armstrong concludes his series on getting serious about Bible study by exploring some recommended resources for hermeneutics.

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Are goals a bad thing? Perhaps they are standing in the way of achieving the things we want to achieve. Maybe it's better to have a system designed for success rather than a specific goal to achieve.

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Lovers of Shakespeare know the old joke about everyone dying in the tragedies. But this infographic helps illuminate the point:


Source

It can also be purchased here.

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An app that creates interactive Shakespeare plays:

WordPlay Shakespeare is a study aid that pairs text with videos of professional Shakespearean actors performing the same plays. Each video is short and features the performers reciting the lines on the opposite page, which often amount to less than 10 lines or 150 words at a time. Splitting the play up into these digestible chunks makes it easy to understand the emotion and intent behind every word.
If readers are still stumped, each page features a "tap to translate" button that converts the Shakespearean text — in Wordplay's case, a combination of the First Folio of 1623 and the Globe editions of 1866 — into modern language. For example, touching the translate button turns this line from Macbeth: "He can report/ As seemeth by his plight, of the revolt/ The Newest state" into this: "He can report/ Given the gory state that he's in/ The latest news from the battlefield." Wordplay also offers a pictorial synopsis at each scene's beginning and a clickable cast list with each character's biography (but beware of plot spoilers). 
As with an e-book, readers can highlight portions of text and add notes. Readers can see their notes on digital index cards. Users can share their notes or favorite phrases from the play via email, text message, tweet or Facebook post.

Maybe I should think about buying an iPad. (Hat tip: Book Riot)

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The secret lives of four common condiments. This is a really interesting article.

Friday, November 15, 2013

Weekend Playlist - When Did You Fall In Love With Me

Chris Rice is best known as a contemporary Christian artist. But he managed to score a huge hit with this wonderful love song about a guy who realizes that his female friend has fallen in love with him. It's a great example of someone who is an artist first and a Christian second. It's also a really cool song. Enjoy.


Should Teens Be Allowed to Date?

Our family has chosen to not allow our girls to date until they are ready to consider marriage (which won't be for a while yet). Lest you think I am being too prudish, I offer this article from Acculturated for your consideration.

Think about the purpose of dating. It’s not just some fun thing people do. It’s going into dating with that mindset that takes a wrecking ball to the heart. 
No, the most essential purpose of dating is to seek out and get to know a potential spouse. Sure dating also entails emotional and spiritual growth. But a big part of that growth is to prepare you to be a better spouse and parent. Life and nature have this pretty stubborn trajectory, and marriage and family is the direction we hurtle, whether we like it or not. 
So let’s go back to teen dating. Pretty sure there is a broad consensus that teenagers should not get married. With the exception of maybe the Duggar family, people on both sides of the aisle tend to agree that men and women should be emotionally (and heck, physically) mature before they take lifelong vows, especially if those vows are to stand a chance of actually being life-long. Ok maybe the Duggars are a bad example because Josh Duggar (married son) actually seems like more of a man than your average 30 year-old. But I digress.
Heck, call me a bad social conservative, but I don’t even think women should get married until they are in their mid-twenties and have had a little time to experience some independence after college, which yes, I think they should attend. Unmarried. 
The average female body doesn’t even stop growing until around the age of 25. And call me crazy, but it seems un-ideal for a woman to have a baby when her body is still growing and developing. And considering that babies are the natural result of marriage, well – it’s worth thinking about these things.

Yes, it is worth thinking about these things. Unfortunately, many families don't carefully consider the pros and cons of teenage dating before allowing their children to pursue relationships. And it's best to start thinking about it early before your kids are teenagers.





Daily Links 11-15-13

Links for your weekend reading: Unrequited love redeemed, the schedule makers, tea inspired by books, the best careers are not planned, and more.

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An essay on unrequited love redeemed. Now that's how to do the proposal.

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Putting together Major League Baseball's regular season schedule is no easy task. 30 teams, 162 games apiece. It's a logistical nightmare. The amazing thing is that for more than a quarter century the task has been completed by a husband and wife team using no more than a pencil and paper. Their story is featured here.

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Nothing accompanies a good book as well as a hot beverage. If you're a tea drinker and love books you will want to check out this line of teas inspired by classic literature.


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The best careers are not planned (Hat tip: Glenn Reynolds):

I was having a discussion with a friend recently about career planning. I told him that I had received some advice about my career plan. I had been told that I need a more defined career plan and need to control where my career is going. Some of the advice was solid. For instance, I was told that I need to identify my weaknesses and find ways to improve them or get the experience required for my dream job. True. But I was also told that I need to work out the details right down to choosing a region and finding organizations in that region for networking. That seemed a bit intense to me. I was assured that I could apply my own personal metrics and essentially control my career path. 
My friend asked me how old the person offering the advice is and I gave the age. My friend grinned and said, "Oh, well that is young enough to think he can control those things." 
I love that answer. 
I love it because we are all told to plan and try to control every aspect of our lives to win the prize of career, money or other desired goal. The problem is that our ability to control really stops at the end of our fingertips. We can only control ourselves (and in some instances that is complicated and difficult).

This article really resonates with me because my current career is not at all what I had planned coming out of college. A lot of folks I have talked to have had the same experience. Rarely do we end up pursuing as a career what we think we will.

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Aaron Armstrong continues his series on improving your bible study with a helpful list of technological aids.

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Dr. Timothy George offers his perspective in the debate over Strange Fire.

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Daily Links 11-14-13

In this morning's roundup of links: systematic theology, Victorian slang, pop-up reading rooms, whatever happened to Bible study, and more.

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Aaron Armstrong continues his series on Bible study. In this post, he makes the case for needing a systematic theology.

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A fun list of Victorian slang words.

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Tim Challies continues his interview with John MacArthur regarding the criticisms of his Strange Fire conference. As I have mentioned before, I don't have a firm position on this issue. I post these articles only because they interest me in studying this issue. An added bonus: a charismatic responds to MacArthur.

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This pop-up reading room brings books to different parts of New York City. A very cool idea.


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Whatever happened to Bible study?

It seems to me that simple Bible study – when we open a Bible and study it together – is slowly vanishing from the church. 
Oh, we have studies and we call them Bible studies, but the primary source of the study is often a book or curriculum about the Bible, not the Bible itself.  The Ladies ministry has “Bible Studies” but they are really studies the thoughts and writings of Beth Moore or Mary Kassian or Lysa TerKeurst or Liz Curtis Higgs or some other well-known author and speaker. I’m not particularly offended by any of those ladies and I’m sure there is lots to be gleaned from their books and study guides. Men gather and study some book about being godly men and there’s nothing wrong with that! I even hear of preachers who do series based not on a book of the Bible, but based on someone’s book about the Bible. Small groups use this book or that study. And, in full disclosure, my life was radically changed at a pastors’ conference when we studied Henry Blackaby’s “Fresh Encounter” series, and later the “Experiencing God” curriculum was instrumental in a time of revival in my church in Cedar Rapids. 
I am not opposed to Christian books, discipleship curricula and such things.

But I am just wondering, “Where did all the Bible study go?”

Hat tip: Challies

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Take a virtual tour of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.

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An incredible gallery of photographs from Charles Dickens' London.


Wednesday, November 13, 2013

This Is Real


Daily Links 11-13-13

In this morning's edition of links: remembering Veteran's Day, lessons about marriage from Pride and Prejudice, a new documentary on the Robertsons of Duck Dynasty fame, what real manhood is all about, and more.

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Monday was Veteran's Day here in the United States. Unfortunately, Americans don't do as good a job as the British do in remembering the day. Called Armistice Day in the United Kingdom (in honor of when World War I ended), the British have a number of wonderful traditions including a two minute silent ceremony conducted at 11:00 a.m.
Workers at Lloyds of London pause for a moment of silence on Armistice Day
In addition, a small village held a funeral at 11:00 a.m. for a World War I veteran who had died alone a month earlier.

We should never forget those who sacrificed so we can enjoy freedom.

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Karen Swallow Prior argues that everything she needed to know about marriage she learned from Pride and Prejudice:

When I teach Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, I take great pains to un-sully it from students’ film-adaptation-induced misconceptions that it’s a “romantic” novel. As a satirist, even if a gentle one, Austen offers rather unromantic corrections to vices and foibles, many of which range far beyond the surface themes of love and marriage. Indeed, like most early novels, Austen’s contend with the seismic social shifts birthed by modernity, particularly the rise of the individual. In Pride and Prejudice, as in Austen’s other works, the private angst surrounding the choice of a marriage partner really reflects the larger, public anxieties swirling around a disintegrating class structure, a new social mobility, and increasing personal autonomy.
Nevertheless, the truth is that I still learned everything I needed to know about marriage from Pride and Prejudice

Read the whole thing. (Hat tip: Acculturated)

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You know the Robertsons from their hit show Duck Dynasty. But do you know the whole story. On November 21, I Am Second will premiere a full length film on America's most famous family. You can see the trailer here.

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Stephen Mansfield on what real manhood is all about:


A review of his new book will be coming soon. Stay tuned.

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A delightfully bookish collection of wedding cakes.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

How I Survive Baseball's Offseason


Daily Links 11-12-13

Your daily roundup of interesting items from the web. In today's edition: the disappearance of the gentleman athlete, choosing a study Bible, ending the worship wars, and more.

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Emily Esfahani Smith argues that the gentleman athlete has disappeared (hat tip: Glenn Reynolds).

On a related note, Bobby Jones is another very gifted athlete that also epitomized what it meant to also be a gentleman athlete. His story is wonderfully documented in Mark Frost's excellent book The Grand Slam. Jim Caviezel also portrayed Jones in the movie Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius which is one of my favorites.

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Aaron Armstrong is encouraging folks to get serious about Bible study. The first place to start is picking the right Bible. More specifically, picking a study Bible. There are lots of good tips here on how to pick the right Bible for you.

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Thom Rainer believes there are signs that the worship wars are coming to an end. I especially agree with his second point regarding the resurgence of hymnody.

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What Shark Tank can teach us about capitalism. While I don't get to see this show often the few times I have watched it I have found it compelling television.

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Is all sin the same to God? According to Tim Challies, the answer is yes and no.

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Here's a handy chart of kitchen weights, measures and more.

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Kevin DeYoung offers ten errors to avoid when talking about sanctification and the gospel:

With lots of books and blog posts out there about law and gospel, about grace and effort, about the good news of this and the bad news of that, it’s clear that Christians are still wrestling with the doctrine of progressive sanctification. Can Christians do anything truly good? Can we please God? Should we try to? Is there a place for striving in the Christian life? Can God be disappointed with the Christian? Does the gospel make any demands? These are good questions that require a good deal of nuance and precision to answer well. 
Thankfully, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. The Reformed confessions and catechisms of the 16th and 17th centuries provide answers for all these questions. For those of us who subscribe to the Three Forms of Unity or to the Westminster Standards this means we are duty bound to affirm, teach, and defend what is taught in our confessional documents. For those outside these confessional traditions, there is still much wisdom you can gain in understanding what Christians have said about these matters over the centuries. And most importantly, these standards were self-consciously grounded in specific texts of Scripture. We can learn a lot from what these documents have to teach us from the Bible.

Monday, November 11, 2013

"Everyone Thought We Were A Bit Mad"

Meet Simon Fitzmaurice, an Irish filmmaker who chose life in the face of certain death:
Ruth Fitzmaurice watched as the consultant, a man they had never met before, entered the hospital room and made his way towards her husband’s bed.
Simon, a talented filmmaker and the father of three small boys, lay there with a tube going down his throat, pushing air into his lungs, allowing him to breathe but preventing him from being able to talk.
They listened as the medic spelled out in no uncertain terms what he expected them to do.
'He basically announced that this was the end of the road,’ explains Ruth. ‘That was it, they had done all they could - that he had phoned Simon’s own consultant in Beaumont Hospital who agreed that ventilation for Motor Neurone Disease (MND) is not advocated in Ireland.’
The consultant continued, telling Simon that it was now time for him to make ‘the hard choice’ - to agree to come off the ventilator.
But Simon was not going to give up that easily.
Despite the consultant’s stark and very clear recommendation, Simon refused to grant permission to take him off the machine that was keeping him alive.
‘Simon’s family very much think for themselves, and Simon in particular is a very strong character,’ smiles Ruth. ‘He wouldn’t be fazed by being told what to do by a doctor, he would question things and say: “Hang on a second.”
‘The consultant told us if he stayed on the ventilator that he wouldn’t get out of the hospital. With MND [a degenerative condition that destroys the cells that control voluntary muscles and can affect speaking, walking, breathing, swallowing and general movement] it’s like, “where do you think this is going? You’re only going to get worse. Why would you choose to ventilate?” So that’s when we decided to fight.’
Not only did they decide not to take Simon off the ventilator they went a step further by deciding to have more children (they already had three when they received his diagnosis). They ended up having twins.

‘Everyone thought we were a bit mad,’ laughs Ruth. ‘But we felt in the face of death and with everything that had happened, well, kids are the ultimate opposite of all that, they’re life-affirming.’ 

But that's not all. Simon also went on to finish a script that he had been working on for a movie he will direct starting next year.

Rather than accepting a death sentence, Simon has chosen to go on living life to the fullest possible. It's a beautiful picture of what it truly means to choose life. Be sure to read his entire story.

Daily Links 11-11-13

Giving C. S. Lewis his due, the best time to drink coffee, Saving Mr. Banks, and responding to critics of Strange Fire in today's link roundup.

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November 22nd will mark the 50th anniversary of the death of C. S. Lewis. According to Christianity Today, he will finally receive a recognition that is long overdue:

On the anniverary of his death, Lewis will be commemorated with a memorial plaque in Westminster Abbey's Poets' Corner, which honors authors and other cultural figures whose work has shaped English society. A two-day conference on Lewis's works will begin the preceding day.
Alister McGrath, the latest to examine Lewis biographically, believes this anniversary year will solidify Lewis's reputation as an apologist and classicist. At Oxford's recent literary conference, McGrath's sold-out talk on Lewis led to requests for him to give three more. 
"We've minimized Lewis's importance [in the UK], and we have catching up to do [with U.S. evangelicals]," said the author of C.S. Lewis: A Life. "Lewis is here to stay; that debate is over. Now there is this sense of, 'There is more to learn from Lewis, so let's read him again.' "

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More on C. S. Lewis: why he is still relevant fifty years after his death.

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There's no question that coffee helps you stay alert. But did you know there is a best time to drink coffee, scientifically speaking? (Hat tip: Challies)

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John MacArthur answers his critics regarding Strange Fire. For example, why MacArthur chose to emphasize what is essentially a second-level issue of doctrine:

These questions remind me of an article Thabiti Anyabwile wrote during the Strange Fire Conference, in which he explained why this issue is so important. He wrote, “First, we have to admit that there’s a correct and an incorrect position on this issue. Somebody is right and somebody is wrong… . Second, we have to admit that how we view this issue substantially impacts the nature of the Christian life. It matters. It’s not an inconsequential idea. Someone worships God appropriately, someone doesn’t… . Third, we have to admit that this issue practically impacts Christian worship and fellowship. It’s not only a private matter, but a corporate one as well.”
I agree with all of that. This is an issue of critical importance because it affects our view of God as well as our understanding of how to live out the Christian life, both individually and corporately. 
I don’t think, however, that this issue is unclear in Scripture. The fact that Christians disagree on what the Bible teaches does not mean that there is a lack of clarity in Scripture, but rather in Christians. The Word of God is our authoritative rule for faith and practice—meaning that it is perfectly sufficient for teaching sound doctrine and governing right living. Certainly, an orthodox pneumatology fits under that umbrella. 
On the one hand, I would agree that this is a second-level doctrinal issue—meaning that someone can be either a continuationist or a cessationist and still be a genuine follower of Jesus Christ. I have always maintained that position, and I reiterated that point several times during the conference. I have good friends who consider themselves continuationists, and I am confident that these men are fellow brothers in Christ. But that doesn’t excuse the seriousness of the error. In fact, I would appeal to my continuationist brethren to reconsider their views in light of what Scripture teaches. 
On the other hand, I am firmly convinced that this secondary issue has the very real potential to taint a person’s understanding of the gospel itself. In such cases, it becomes a primary issue. For example, charismatic theology does corrupt the gospel when it expresses itself in the form of the prosperity gospel. Moreover, the global charismatic movement happily shelters other heretical movements—such as Catholic Charismatics and Oneness Pentecostals. Taken together, the number of charismatics who hold to a false form of the gospel (whether it is a gospel of health and wealth or a gospel of works righteousness) number in the hundreds of millions, which means they actually represent the majority of the global charismatic movement. That is why we took such a strong stand both at the conference and in the book. 

Be sure to read the whole thing. More to come on this subject.

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One of the movies that I am really looking forward to seeing is Saving Mr. Banks which tells the story of how Walt Disney convinced author P. L. Travers to allow him to make a movie version of Mary Poppins. The film focuses in part on the writing of the songs that would make up the memorable soundtrack. The songs were written by Richard and Robert Sherman (portrayed in the movie by B. J. Novak and Jason Schwartzman). Thankfully the duo had the opportunity to work closely with Richard Sherman throughout filming.  



Friday, November 08, 2013

Weekend Playlist - I Haven't Met You Yet

What happens when you combine a handsome, talented vocalist with a well-styled music video? You get this weekend's featured song, of course. Michael Buble is arguably one of the best vocalists working today. His music reflects all sorts of genres that make it difficult to pigeon-hole him into one type of music (and that's a good thing). Here's one of my personal favorites of his songs. It's a lot of fun.


Daily Links 11-8-13

A bookish roundup of links to start off your weekend: a cool bookmark, why you should write in your books, a really neat audiobook you can listen to for free, and more.

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I love this bookmark....


You can find more neat designs here. (Hat tip: Book Riot)

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Here are five reasons you should write in your books. I've never been in the habit of writing in my books but this makes a fairly good case for doing so.

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Although C. S. Lewis is probably best known as a theologian I think his fiction books are his best works. One of my personal favorites is The Screwtape Letters. One of the earliest audio editions was narrated by none other than John Cleese. You can listen to all of it for free here.

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Ernest Hemingway is arguably one of the greatest writers of the 20th Century. Although he never wrote about how to write fiction he did mention the subject in a number of letters, articles, and books. Here are seven of his best tips on how to write fiction.

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Here's a terrific list of books on reading and writing.

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If you live in Copperas Cove, Texas, you better return your books to the library on time or end up in jail:

An ordinance adopted by the City of Copperas Cove could mean an arrest for patrons if they don't return library materials.
A recent case landed one man behind bars for a book he'd had checked out for more than three years.
On Wednesday Jory Enck was booked into jail and released for overdue library materials.
Court documents show he checked out a GED study guide in 2010 and didn't respond to attempts from the library to get the book back.

I have heard of extreme penalties for overdue library books but this seems like a little bit much.

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Fans of Jane Austen beware: there is a new updating of Sense and Sensibility coming to bookshelves soon. While it's a popular thing to attempt, there are several pitfalls writers would do well to avoid.

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Here's a list of 9 books that you should drop everything to read right away.

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This is without a doubt one of the coolest bookstores you're likely to find anywhere. The Dutch really know how to make the most of an abandoned church:


Details (and more photos) here.

Thursday, November 07, 2013

Daily Links 11-7-13

How the Internet affects your brain, an update in the war on boys, calling vs. career, and more in this morning's roundup of links.

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How the internet is rewiring your brain. This is both fascinating and scary at the same time. (Hat tip: Stephen Mansfield)

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The latest story in the continuing war on boys via Christina Hoff Somners:

Being a boy can be a serious liability in today’s classroom. As a group, boys are noisy, rowdy and hard to manage. Many are messy, disorganized and won’t sit still. Young male rambunctiousness, according to a recent study, leads teachers to underestimate their intellectual and academic abilities. “Girl behavior is the gold standard in schools says psychologist Michael Thompson. “Boys are treated like defective girls.”
These “defective girls” are not faring well academically. Compared with girls, boys earn lower grades, win fewer honors and are less likely to go to college. One education expert has quipped that if current trends continue, the last male will graduate from college in 2068. In today’s knowledge-based economy, success in the classroom has never been more crucial to a young person’s life prospects. Women are adapting; men are not.

Hat tip: Nancy Pearcey

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John Ortberg on calling versus career:

American society does not talk much about calling anymore. It is more likely to think in terms of career. Yet, for many people a career becomes the altar on which they sacrifice their lives. Benjamin Honeycutt, a historian who specializes in the history of work at the University of Iowa, notes that work has become our new religion, where we worship and give our time. As people’s commitment to family, community and faith are shrinking, they begin to look to their careers to provide them with meaning, connectedness, identity and self-esteem.
A calling, which is something I do for God, is replaced by a career, which threatens to become my god. A career is something I choose for myself; a calling is something I receive. A career is something I do for myself; a calling is something I do for God. A career promises status, money or power; a calling generally promises difficulty and even some suffering – and the opportunity to be used by God. A career is about upward mobility; a calling generally leads to downward mobility.
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A cool collection of Scrabble themed gifts.


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A fascinating list of 10 celebrities who also were spies.

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It's not our job to "police" other Christians:

In my experience as a Christian and Preacher, you would think that any disagreements, arguments, or debates I'd have would be with the non-Christian, the atheist, or those from other religions, but not true. It seems anytime I've had a disagreement with someone over Christianity it is always a fundamental or legalistic Christian who feels it's their mission and life's work to be God's police to the world. 
These types of people make it their personal mission in life to prove others wrong, be right, argue, debate, belittle, name-call, and look down on those who do not line up with them whether doctrinally, theologically, denominationally, or other church or faith issues.  It's a mind-set of either you are for me or against me.  You either agree with me or you are a liberal, heretic, sodomite, watered-down, ignorant, stupid, (add you own description here), I've been called a lot.  The sad thing is I don't like to argue(really!), but some folks can't seem to understand that, their whole faith system is made up of proving others wrong, being right, and making a point to "police" Christians.

Wednesday, November 06, 2013

A Word About Southerners.....

Presenting the following as a public service to non-southerner visitors to the blog:


Daily Links 11-6-13

David Suchet bids Poirot "Adieu", John Cleese lectures on creativity, things I will not regret doing with my wife, and much more in today's roundup of links.

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After 25 years portraying Agatha Christie's famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, David Suchet will make his final appearance when Curtain airs in the UK next week. American audiences will have to wait until next year to see the final films. The Telegraph has a wide-ranging interview with Suchet about the role that made him famous that is a must read.

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John Cleese is arguably one of the funniest men in show business. But he also has some great insights into fostering creativity from this lecture from 1991. Take the time to watch this excerpt:




Hat tip: Brain Pickings

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Duck Dynasty has been a huge hit for A&E. It's also not without a little bit of controversy over what's getting edited out of the show. R. J. Moeller argues that Duck Dynasty's values don't need editing.

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I bet you didn't know that it was a little girl who inspired Abraham Lincoln to grow out his beard.

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Tim Challies shares 18 things he won't regret doing with his wife. He also shared 18 things he won't regret doing with his kids. Both are worth reading.

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Trying to decide how many kids to have? Consider reading this first. These are some good things to consider when determining how large a family to have.


Tuesday, November 05, 2013

Daily Links 11-5-13

A fresh roundup of links for your morning reading. In today's edition, a call to parents to require obedience from their children, defining fecundophobia, and more.

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John Piper has a few things to say about children and obedience:

I am writing this to plead with Christian parents to require obedience of their children. I am moved to write this by watching young children pay no attention to their parents’ requests, with no consequences. Parents tell a child two or three times to sit or stop and come or go, and after the third disobedience, they laughingly bribe the child. This may or may not get the behavior desired. 
Last week, I saw two things that prompted this article. One was the killing of 13-year-old Andy Lopez in Santa Rosa, California, by police who thought he was about to shoot them with an assault rifle. It was a toy gun. What made this relevant was that the police said they told the boy two times to drop the gun. Instead he turned it on them. They fired. 
I do not know the details of that situation or if Andy even heard the commands. So I can’t say for sure he was insubordinate. So my point here is not about young Lopez himself. It’s about a “what if.” What if he heard the police, and simply defied what they said? If that is true, it cost him his life. Such would be the price of disobeying proper authority.
I witnessed such a scenario in the making on a plane last week. I watched a mother preparing her son to be shot. I was sitting behind her and her son, who may have been seven years old. He was playing on his digital tablet. The flight attendant announced that all electronic devices should be turned off for take off. He didn’t turn it off. The mother didn’t require it. As the flight attendant walked by, she said he needed to turn it off and kept moving. He didn’t do it. The mother didn’t require it. 
One last time, the flight attendant stood over them and said that the boy would need to give the device to his mother. He turned it off. When the flight attendant took her seat, the boy turned his device back on, and kept it on through the take off. The mother did nothing. I thought to myself, she is training him to be shot by police.

Hat tip: Challies

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Dispelling the myth "I'm bad at math" is genetic. The bottom line is that you have to work harder but you can get better at it.

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Mollie Hemingway has an insightful piece on fecundophobia - the irrational fear of families with large numbers of children:

There is much more than a whiff of the misogyny in denigrating mothers of multiple children as brainless, in stating that mothers who are homemakers are inferior to those who “earn” their living, or in attacking women for prioritizing fertility above independence. It’s not just that nobody on planet earth could be truly independent — which is to say completely self-reliant or free of any other human support. It’s not just that we each depended on others from the moment of our conception to birth, but all of society is comprised of individuals who work with each other and depend on each other throughout their lives. Or healthy societies are, at least. It may be impolitic to suggest that men and women are in any way different, science be damned, but many women have a particular specialty in cultivating relationships and family. To denigrate women who acknowledge and accept this as a good thing rather than fight against it is not exactly life-affirming.

Hat tip: John Stonestreet

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How to read a lot more than you are now.

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A defense lawyer's reply to the government's motion to not be referred to as "the government". (Hat tip: Glenn Reynolds)

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Revealed: a once-lost art collection valued at approximately $1.5 billion that was thought to have been destroyed in air raids during World War II was discovered behind rotting food in a Munich apartment.

Monday, November 04, 2013

Daily Links 11-4-13

Do reporters report the news or invent it? What should we make of the fight between Mark Driscoll and John MacArthur? Are we raising a generation of wimps? Answering these and more of life's important questions in today's roundup of links.

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The Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals first met in the World Series in 1946. The final game ended in controversy when Johnny Pesky of the Red Sox held on to the ball hit by Harry Walker to drive in Enos Slaughter to win the series. The problem with this story? It didn't happen that way. The sportswriters altered the facts to create more drama. 

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Barnabas Piper is discouraged by the fighting between Mark Driscoll and John MacArthur in the aftermath of the Strange Fire Conference. What kind of message does this send to young evangelicals?

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Are we raising a generation of wimps? Well, yes. We need to do something about it.

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What do they teach kids in schools these days? That is not merely a rhetorical question meant to criticize the state of public schools.

A Pennsylvania woman set out with a video camera to learn what college students in her state know about the Holocaust — and discovered an incredible lack of knowledge not only of the genocide of the Jews, but of basic facts about U.S. history and World War II. 
Rhonda Fink-Whitman visited college campuses in Pennsylvania this fall, including the venerated Ivy League institution the University of Pennsylvania, where she was repeatedly faced with a remarkable ignorance about events that took place in the last century. 
Students didn’t know where Normandy was, why U.S. forces landed there, why the U.S. even entered the war or who was president at the time. (Wilson, Eisenhower and JFK were among the guesses.)  One student didn’t know who Anne Frank was, because he said he never read the book.

Be sure to watch the video at the link for the full story.

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How do you set your priorities and make decisions? Following these guidelines from President Eisenhower can help.

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Kirsten Powers shares how she became a Christian. It's a fascinating article.

Friday, November 01, 2013

Weekend Playlist - Feelin' Good

This is a case of a song being written for a particular show but takes on a life of its own thanks to a popular cover. Here's the background on the song and its original appearance in a 1964 musical. Nina Simone's version recorded in 1965 became a big hit and has appeared in numerous places. But I would venture to bet that most people know this version by Michael Buble the best. The video is a pure classic as well. Enjoy.


CD Review: The Word of Promise Next Generation New Testament - Dramatic Audio Bible

Our culture today (particularly among the so-called millenial generation) is a media-soaked culture. Millenials consume media at a greater rate than any other generation. With this in mind, Thomas Nelson published the Word of Promise Next Generation New Testament in a dramatized audio version. The star-studded cast features a number of younger Hollywood stars including Sean Astin, Anasophia Robb, Corbin Bleu, Jordin Sparks, and many others. The idea is simple: present an audio drama version of the New Testament targeted towards millenials who are more likely to sit and listen to a drama than read the Bible.

Pros
This is a high quality production. It's pleasant to listen to and makes for an enjoyable experience. I felt like I was really immersed in the biblical narrative through the presentation.

Some of the casting choices were quite good and performed better than I expected for an audio drama. This is a much different type of acting where you have to relay a wide range of emotions and thoughts through the voice.

Each book of the bible also has an audio introduction by Max Lucado and Jenna Lucado. These were very helpful in setting up the context for each book so that the listener could fully understand what was happening at the time the book was written.

Cons
The production is obviously targeted towards a younger audience. The producers chose to use the International Childrens Bible (ICB) translation for the script. While this offers the benefit of having plainer and simpler language (particularly in the narration) it felt a little like the scripture was being watered down for the audience. The ICB lacks the beauty of other English translations of the Bible and this is particularly apparent when it's being read aloud.

The intentional casting of younger actors to appeal to a younger audience also seemed like a bit of a drawback. As a result, some of the performances lacked a bit of gravitas that you would hope for in a presentation such as this.

That being said, this is still a reasonably good production. Families who are looking for an audio bible to listen to with younger children will do well with this production.

The audio bible comes on 3 MP3 CDs as well as a behind the scenes DVD that offers insights into the production.

I would recommend this for families with pre-teen and teenage children.

This product was provided for review through the Booksneeze program. No compensation apart from the product to be reviewed was provided in exchange for this review.

Daily Links 11-1-13

Happy Friday! Here's a super-sized roundup of links for your weekend reading pleasure. The Right Stuff 30 years later, benefits of procrastination, separation of church and state, marriage and religious freedom, and much, much more.

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Last week, Dr. Albert Mohler addressed the students and faculty at Brigham Young University on the critical issue of marriage and religious freedom. An excerpt:

The moral revolution we are now witnessing on the issue of homosexuality is without precedent in human history in terms of its scale and velocity. We are not looking at a span of centuries, or even the length of one century. This revolution is taking place within a single human generation. 
I would argue that no moral revolution on this scale has ever been experienced by a society that remained intact, even as no moral revolution of this velocity has yet been experienced. We can now see more clearly where this revolution began. It is virtually impossible to see where it ends. 
But, for the first time in the experience of most Americans, the moral revolution revolving around marriage, the family, and human sexuality is now clearly becoming a religious liberty issue. The rights of parents to raise their children according to their most basic and fundamental theological and moral convictions are now at stake. Courts have ruled in some jurisdictions that parents cannot even “opt out” their children from sex education driven by moral revisionism. Legislatures in California and New Jersey have made it illegal for mental health professionals to tell minors that there is anything wrong with homosexual sexuality, orientation, or relationships. Parents are put on notice. How long will it be before the moral authority of the secular state is employed to allow children to “divorce” their parents? How long before the logic of sexual revolution and sexual self-expression leads to parents being told what they must allow and facilitate with their own children when it comes to sex, gender, and sexual orientation? The logic of moral change by legal coercion is already fully on display in many modern legal debates. How long will a respect for parental rights and religious liberty hold back the flooding river of this moral revolution?

Read the whole thing.

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A 95 year old World War II veteran who was a POW of the Burma Railway (made famous in The Bridge on the River Kwai) has come forward to tell his story. This is a fascinating account and I'm glad he decided to write a book. I hope it will be available here in the U. S.

Procrastination is a bad thing - or is it? Perhaps it doesn't necessarily need a cure.

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Seven obstacles to enjoying Sabbath rest. By the way, I disagree with the premise that it's not a mandate for Christians. I believe that the creation account from Genesis 1 as well as the Ten Commandments makes it clear that it is mandated.

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A historical examination of why we separate church and state (Hat tip: Acton Institute Power Blog)

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It's been thirty years since The Right Stuff first appeared on movie screens. Here's a look back at the film that helped Hollywood shake its "Vietnam Syndrome".

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The first automated library in the U. S. has opened in Norman, Oklahoma. It's kind of a Redbox for books. While on one hand this seems like a neat idea, I am not sure that I'm comfortable with the idea of not being able to browse for books.

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In defense of Disney princesses:

Disney movies aren’t telling girls that they should limit their aspirations to becoming princesses (although young women sometimes do become one, so be ready); they are teaching them to adopt the values of Disney princesses: kindness (Snow White), compassion (Ariel), intelligence (Belle), humility (Cinderella), courage (Merida), and determination (Tiana), among others. These are worthy attributes for boys as well as girls, but the point is that Disney isn’t steering girls toward being future trophy wives – it’s promoting values that make you a decent person, regardless of your career or lack thereof.
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It's Friday. Trevin Wax has some advice on what you should be saying at the end of the work week.

I'm writing this post on a Friday. It's been a frantic week, with a higher-than-usual number of meetings to attend, decisions to make, content to create, and people needing a response.
When I leave my office this afternoon, I will be leaving behind an inbox full of emails awaiting response.
There are editorial tasks I hoped to cross off my list this week. Unfortunately, they have risen in defiance of my careful agenda and have chosen to stubbornly persist into next week's to-do list.
hen I leave, I'll have my laptop bag strapped on my shoulders, but it's all the stuff I carry around in my mind that will weigh me down. The blogs to write, curriculum to edit, writers to enlist, the teams I lead, the contacts I need to make...
And like I do every week, I will whisper to myself as I walk out the door: And God saw that it was good.