Movieguide approves of blue material

Last updated on: July 30, 2011 at 7:12 pm By Fred Clark

Movieguide, “the family guide to movies and entertainment,” weighs in on The Smurfs. They smurfing loved it. It received three out of four stars, with a +1 content acceptability rating for BBB, C, CapCap, Ho, L, V, N, A. For those unfamiliar with Movieguide’s unique content rating system: BBB: “Very strong biblical or moral worldview, principles, perspective or character” C: “Mild or light Christian worldview or elements, Gospel witness, redemptive elements, or positive reference to Jesus Christ, Christianity or a... Read more

There is nothing new under the sun

Last updated on: July 30, 2011 at 11:55 am By Fred Clark

From John Chrysostom’s 21st homily on 1 Corinthians: It is foolishness and a public madness to fill the cupboards with clothing and allow men who are created in God’s image and likeness to stand naked and trembling with cold, so that they can hardly hold themselves upright. Yes, you say, he is cheating and he is only pretending to be weak and trembling. What! Do you not fear that lightning from Heaven will fall on you for this word? Indeed,... Read more

Friday fragments

Last updated on: July 29, 2011 at 4:12 pm By Fred Clark

The Infrastructurist brings us “10 of the Dumbest Road Signs You’ll Ever See,” some of which are dumb, but some of which are kind of awesome. To me the strangest road sign is the one that says “Form Two Lanes.” I used to pass such a sign every night at four in the morning on my way home from the paper, wondering, “How am I supposed to do that?” Also infrastructure-related: the White Roof Project. That’s a Good Thing, though... Read more

Take me

Last updated on: July 29, 2011 at 9:41 am By Fred Clark

I’d like to explain what has happened to me / So it doesn’t happen to you … “Take Me Away,” Avril Lavigne “Take Me Back,” Randy Newman “Take Me Back,” Van Morrison “Take Me Back to Love Canal,” Chagall Guevara “Take Me (Back) To You,” Cracker “Take Me Down to the Infirmary,” Cracker “Take Me in Your Arms,” Doobie Brothers “Take Me Out,” Franz Ferdinand “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” The Hold Steady “Take Me to Aruanda,” Astrud... Read more

A prayer for infrastructure investment

Last updated on: July 28, 2011 at 5:52 pm By Fred Clark

From The Atlantic: “Another Dust Bowl?” After a spring filled with reports of devastating floods and tornadoes, another climatological disaster is taking shape. Fourteen states across the south, particularly Texas, are facing a lethal combination of record heat and low precipitation. The Office of the Texas State Climatologist reports that this past June was the hottest June in recorded history. Twenty-five Texan cities broke heat records. Meanwhile, water supplies are drying up and crops are dying. … One consequence of... Read more

They tend to get offended

Last updated on: July 28, 2011 at 12:18 pm By Fred Clark

So these three preachers walk into the White House for an argument with President Lincoln … That’s not the start of a joke. It’s a true story, an eyewitness account from the Rev. Nathaniel Brown who was, in 1862, the editor of an abolitionist Baptist newspaper. He was part of a three-person delegation that met with Abraham Lincoln on the eve of the Emancipation Proclamation for a contentious discussion on its necessity, purpose and likely effects. I posted Brown’s complete... Read more

John Stott dies at 90

Last updated on: July 27, 2011 at 5:19 pm By Fred Clark

Anglican theologian and author John R.W. Stott died today in London. He was 90. Stott wrote and thought and spoke with great clarity and his books were influential and widely respected among American evangelical Christians. And those who had the privilege of spending time with him know that he was also, in person, a gracious and lovely man. I spent a decade as a member of the staff of the nonprofit parachurch organization Evangelicals for Social Action. Stott’s writing and... Read more

I'll share them all for a cup of coffee

Last updated on: July 27, 2011 at 1:07 pm By Fred Clark

Three years ago today it poured rain in Sea Isle City, N.J. It was a torrential thunderstorm that ruled out any plans for a wedding on the beach. That downpour also coincided with high tide, producing flooding that lingered long after the rain finally stopped. Two feet of water covered the streets in the middle of town — including in front of the rented beach house on the porch of which we’d hastily relocated our ceremony. But at least the... Read more

To whom much has been given

Last updated on: July 26, 2011 at 4:44 pm By Fred Clark

From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded. Karoli’s post — “Rick Warren, What Were You Thinking?” — is spot on and she deserves kudos for actually prompting a response from Warren, albeit a clumsily defensive one. The only thing I’d quibble with is the rhetorical question in that title. It’s obvious what he was thinking. There isn’t more than one possibility... Read more

Rick Warren and The Purpose-Driven Lie

Last updated on: December 30, 2011 at 1:18 pm By Fred Clark

Via David Atkins at Hullabaloo: Yesterday famed “Christian” pastor Rick Warren, wealthy author and megachurch leader, tweeted the following: HALF of America pays NO taxes. Zero. So they’re happy for tax rates to be raised on the other half that DOES pay any taxes. Stupid or evil? Both. That’s such an old lie, told so often by old liars and debunked so frequently that Warren can’t have believed it unless he had spent the previous three decades somewhere with no... Read more