[Jesus excited that Americans apparently want to become Christian.] My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has... Read more
I haven’t been following my own good advice, so obviously I, and probably you, could use a reminder. Here is something super clever I said last year. **************************************************************** The main headline on Drudge this morning–well, that one above the headline–is that eight out of every ten Americans feel stress sometimes or frequently during the day. Gallup did the poll, and you can go and read all about it. Turns out having kids makes you more stressed, and not having any... Read more
I have, as I said last week, been doggedly pursuing the goal of actually reading books this year and my task has been eminently rewarding. Amongst my favorites is Aimee Byrd’s Why Can’t We Be Friends. It was only fairly recently that I heard of the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood—probably because of the Nashville Statement—and the Billy Graham Rule. I’m not Baptist. I’ve swum shallowly and uncomfortably in that pool because of life circumstances, but my soul has... Read more
This was a fun and hilarious thread on twitter, only partially ruined midway by a scolder who wanted everyone to stop complaining. It is of pastors enumerating, with great good humor, the strangest criticisms they’ve ever received. It’s full of wonderful horrors like, ‘you care too much for special needs children,’ ‘I hate your tie,’ and ‘you’re terrible with people.’ Too many, as you scroll along, are ‘you preach the Bible too much,’ which should be taken as a complement... Read more
I’ve been saving up this charmingly terrible goop gem for a few days. I thought about letting you know about it before, in time for your actual Christmas shopping, but then I thought I would do the moral thing and only bring it to your attention when it was too late, in order to spare you the agonizing pain of wondering, “Should I or should I not spend $959.00 on an avocado vegan mattress?” In other words, you don’t really... Read more
Good morning. It’s quite gray here, which is surprising, I know, so we’ve done up a rather too long podcast about how the Church of England has mangled baptism so that they might as well not bother any more, and how Mary visiting Elizabeth has nothing to do with God birthing a dream to start a new business in your heart. What more could you possibly need or want today? Don’t answer that. Here’s an article about the Church of... Read more
It has come to that alarming moment in Advent where I look at the calendar and realize that somehow the season is suddenly about to be over. I thought I had time. I mean, I knew somehow I didn’t, but I shoved that knowledge down into the depths of somewhere and ignored it. But the cold hard fact of the number of days broke through my self-deceit. Either I am going to wrap the pile of presents that I’ve shoved... Read more
Thought it would be fun to enumerate seven reasons to kill yourself by doing your pageant on Christmas Eve instead of at a sane time like a couple weeks before all the crazy. One Doing the pageant on Christmas Eve gives you all of Advent to get ready. The children have a whole month to forget to learn their lines and to suffer through whatever weird song it is that you are trying to make them sing. Two Doing the... Read more
On Monday one of my children declared, “I like to spend most of my time from Halloween to now being angry about how everyone tries to celebrate Christmas too early but then when it’s finally time to celebrate Christmas it’s weird to have to stop being angry.” Or words to that effect. To which I responded, “You don’t have to be angry about that. You could just let people get on with their lives without you being angry at them.”... Read more
I’ve been working to my utmost to get to 50 books read this year. Part of that effort has been enduring some reads on audible that aren’t quite, how shall I say it, the most scintillating. Case in point, I cheerfully and relentlessly made it through Consider The Fork by Bee Wilson. If you want to congratulate me, please go ahead. Truly, Consider the Fork is just a touch, well, it is a good book for the persistent. If you... Read more
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Preventing Grace
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