Just Put a Ring On It

At CBMW Carolyn McCulley comments on a Washington Post article about marrying young.  Hannah is 20, I am 24. Here is part of the article.

In my research on young adults’ romantic relationships, many women report feeling peer pressure to avoid giving serious thought to marriage until they’re at least in their late 20s. If you’re seeking a mate in college, you’re considered a pariah, someone after her “MRS degree.” Actively considering marriage when you’re 20 or 21 seems so sappy, so unsexy, so anachronistic. Those who do fear to admit it — it’s that scandalous.

Of course, there’s at least one good statistical reason to urge people to wait on the wedding. Getting married at a young age remains the No. 1 predictor of divorce. So why on earth would I want to promote such a disastrous idea? For three good reasons:

First, what is considered “early marriage” by social scientists is commonly misunderstood by the public. The best evaluations of early marriage — conducted by researchers at the University of Texas and Penn State University — note that the age-divorce link is most prominent among teenagers (those who marry before age 20). Marriages that begin at age 20, 21 or 22 are not nearly so likely to end in divorce as many presume.

Second, good social science pays attention to gender differences. Most young women are mature enough to handle marriage. According to data from the government’s National Survey of Family Growth, women who marry at 18 have a better shot at making a marriage work than men who marry at 21. There is wisdom in having an age gap between spouses. For women, age is (unfortunately) a debit, decreasing fertility. For men, age can be a credit, increasing their access to resources and improving their maturity, thus making them more attractive to women. We may all dislike this scenario, but we can’t will it away.

Third, the age at which a person marries never actually causes a divorce. Rather, a young age at marriage can be an indicator of an underlying immaturity and impatience with marital challenges — the kind that many of us eventually figure out how to avoid or to solve without parting. Unfortunately, well-educated people resist this, convinced that there actually is a recipe for guaranteed marital success that goes something like this: Add a postgraduate education to a college degree, toss in a visible amount of career success and a healthy helping of wealth, let simmer in a pan of sexual variety for several years, allow to cool and settle, then serve. Presto: a marriage with math on its side.

But our children now sense that marrying young may be not simply foolish but also wrong and socially harmful. And yet today, as ever, marriage wisely entered into remains good for the economy and the community, good for one’s personal well-being, good for wealth creation and, yes, good for the environment, too. We are sending mixed messages.

3 Carson Lectures on Hebrews (Use of OT in NT)

D.A. Carson spoke at Union University this month on the use of the Old Testament in the New Testament by taking three passages in Hebrews in three lectures.

1. D.A. Carson

2. D.A. Carson

3. D.A. Carson

HT: PJ Tibayan

PJ has also helpfully compiled most of D.A. Carson’s free web resources HERE.

Simmons on Rondo’s Foul

If you don’t read Bill Simmons when some Boston team is in the playoffs then you are missing out.  Last night I watched my first 1/4 of a 2009 NBA playoff game.  The series between the Bulls and Celtics is turning out to be a classic.  Rondo hit Miller hard in the face at the end of the game and no flagrant was called.

Here is the clip:

And Simmons response:

Q: Should Rajon Rondo have been whistled for a flagrant foul at the end of Game 5?

A: The short answer: Yes. The long answer: No.

OK, you’re confused. Not to sound like Coach Finstock, but there are five laws in the NBA. The first is that two players can only feud because someone owed someone else money from a card game and didn’t pay, or because someone slept with someone else’s girlfriend or steady hookup. The second is that everyone has to pretend Kobe Bryant is a good guy at all times, even if it means lying to family members, friends and media members or convincing Spike Lee to make a full-fledged gushing documentary about him. The third is the NBA doesn’t “fix” games per se; the league just “orchestrates” them a little with referee assignments, and teams are not allowed to complain. The fourth is Stu Jackson and Ahmad Rashad must always remain employed with jobs that are well beyond their means. And the fifth? The last 15 seconds of a fourth quarter or overtime morph into rugby rules and it’s just implicitly understood.

This is why everyone flipped out on Bennett Salvatore after his touch foul on Dirk Nowitzki swung the NBA Finals in 2006: Technically, yeah, the Sauerkraut Kid might have given Dwyane Wade a tiny nudge in Game 5. BUT YOU DON’T CALL IT!!!!!! Not in the last 15 seconds. Same for Hue Hollins saving the Knicks with a touch foul on Hubie Davis in 1994 (Chicago fans just groaned), or by contrast, the officials not whistling MJ’s shove on Bryon Russell in ‘98 (Chicago fans just cheered). In the Final Fifteen, the players decide the game unless it’s an obvious call. At the end of Game 4, Brad Miller grabbed Ray Allen from behind and flung him down like a kick returner so Miller could potentially get a buzzer-beating tip on a missed shot. Did they call it? No. That play shouldn’t have decided the game. And it didn’t.

So when Rondo walloped Miller across the face on that climactic drive Tuesday night, it was his single smartest play of his phenomenal first round. He had no chance of blocking the shot, and he had to hit Miller as hard as he could to prevent the and-one, so screw it … SMACK! (He even admitted this after the game.) Since the motion technically looked like Rondo was swiping at the ball — even though his hand wasn’t within two feet of it — the officials couldn’t call a flagrant and that was that. If Bulls fans want to whine about it, fine, just remember that (A) Boston’s best clutch guy (Ray Allen) fouled out on two of the worst calls of the playoffs, and (B) Ben Gordon stepped out of bounds right as he got fouled by Tony “Why Am I In The Game Again?” Allen for three game-tying free throws in the final 30 seconds. Sweeping incompetence will eventually even out over time.

John Madden, Strong and Weak

John Madden (click to see bigger)

HT: Onion News

On So Called “Gay Marriage”

I just watched the audio discussion with Carson/Piper at the Henry Institute evening on the Scholar as Pastor and the Pastor as Scholar.

I don’t know how to splice videos but someone needs to make Piper’s comment about Gay Marriage available.  Here is what Piper said (not exact quote)

I will not even use the phrase “Gay Marriage” without putting the words “so called” in front of it.  It frustrates me that we have bought the phrase, because there is no such thing.  It doesn’t exist in the universe.  Why evangelicals would start using the term is a sellout.  Stick the word “so called” in front of it every time you use it.

Click HERE to listen to the whole thing. 

Bill Gates

Bill Gates gave this talk to a local High School in Washington State.

Rule 1:Life is not fair – get used to it.

Rule 2: The world won’t care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3: You will not make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won’t be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it’s not your parents’ fault, so don’t whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent’s generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they’ll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to anything in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don’t get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time..

Rule 10: Television is not real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.

Summer Reading

A friend and I were talking last night about what we are going to read this summer.  Here is my goal, so far.  I want to spend most of my time trying to learn elementary Hebrew so I can test out of it.  If the Lord permits, I will get to the others.

More Than A Game

“More Than A Game” is a documentary about Lebron James.  But it also looks like it is about more than Lebron, it is about his entire high-school team.  Watch the trailer below.

Or watch the HD trailer Here.

Tunes on Tuesday

New Cat Stevens:  He is now called Yusuf because he is “enlightened.”

His new album comes out on May 5.  It is called Roadsinger.

Hobbit News

Here is part of the news release on the movie The Hobbit:

We’ve known for a while that Peter Jackson and Guillermo Del Toro’s eagerly-awaited adaptation of the Lord Of The Rings prequel, The Hobbit, would comprise two movies, due in December 2011 and 2012. But the make-up of those two movies has been up for debate… until now.

We spoke exclusively to both Del Toro and Jackson for our birthday issue, and they told us the latest, which is…

“We’ve decided to have The Hobbit span the two movies, including the White Council and the comings and goings of Gandalf to Dol Guldur,” says Del Toro.

“We decided it would be a mistake to try to cram everything into one movie,” adds Jackson. “The essential brief was to do The Hobbit, and it allows us to make The Hobbit in a little more style, if you like, of the [LOTR] trilogy.”

So there you go. The second film will not, as had previously been suggested, a film that will bridge the 60-year gap between The Hobbit and the start of Fellowship Of The Ring.

HT: Tim Challies

America’s Oldest Man

Walter Breuning is 112 years old.

Lots of people, including Jay Leno, have wanted an interview with Breuning. But no one wanted to travel all the way to Great Falls, Mont., to get it — and that was the deal.

That is except for CBS News correspondent Steve Hartman, who figured, at age 112, the Oldest Man In America deserved to have people come to him.

What makes Breuning such a sought after interview is that he can be interviewed.

Typically by the time somebody gets to be the oldest man or woman in America, they either can’t hear you or they answer every question with some crazy non sequitur about yesterday’s lunch. But Breuning still has every last marble. He still remembers his grandfather talking about fighting in the war — the Civil War.

Watch the interview here.

Should You Listen to Your Own Sermons?

NO:

The abundance of audio and video recordings of preaching today tempts pastors to listen to themselves and look at themselves. One might improve a few things that way. But in general it’s a bad idea. John Stott explains why:

If you look at yourself in the mirror, and listen to yourself on tape, or do both simultaneously on videotape, I fear you may find that you continue to look at yourself and listen to yourself when you are in the pulpit. In that case you will condemn yourself to the cramping bondage of preoccupation with yourself just at the time when, in the pulpit, it is essential to cultivate self-forgetfulness through a growing awareness of the God for whom and the people to whom you are speaking.

I know actors make use of glass and tape, but preachers are not actors, nor is the pulpit at a stage. So beware! It may be more valuable to ask a friend to be candid with you about your voice and mannerisms, especially if they need correction. An Indian proverb says “He who has a good friend needs no mirror.” Then you can be yourself and forget yourself.

HT: Desiring God

YES:

I listen to my own CD’s all the time. In fact, on some Sundays I listen to all three services. And I want to get better and better, and I work on getting better. I listen for dumb habits that I have. I sometimes watch my own videos, which is horrible. That will either make you better or want to get out of ministry completely. I think I make it look easy, but it’s not. I work very, very hard. And every sermon I think, “What if this is it? What if this is the last time I preach?” And I psych myself up with that thought every single week.

Andy Stanley

What do you think?  I don’t know if I have a strong opinion either way.  I have never wanted to listen to myself because I am afraid it would discourage me too much.

Like Father, I Pray Like Son

A Tribute to My Dad on His Birthday:

Some of you know him as a friend, some as a theologian, others as a pastor.  But I know him as a father.

It is his birthday today, and I want you to know the man who goes home, and immediately puts windbreaker pants on.  I want you to know the man who endlessly works, yet endlessly has time for his family.  I want you to know the man behind the books, behind the lectern, behind the pulpit. I want you to know him because I pray that someday I will be half the man he is.

Os Guinness wrote, “If asked what is the deepest relationship imaginable, many people would say it is between lovers, or between husbands and wives. The case can be made, however, that from a Christian perspective, no relationship is more mysterious and more wonderful, yet sometimes more troubling, than that of fathers and sons.”

I imagine when you are a father no one (besides your wife) knows you better than your kids.  Your kids see behind the closed doors.  Paul says in Philippians 3:17 , “Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.”

Paul wants us to look to those who walk in accord with the Scriptures.  Paul must think that watching, monitoring, inspecting, examining someone’s life shapes us.  He believes that our sight affects our faith.  We know this is true for we all “beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed.”

I want to encourage imitation of my Dad by telling three stories.  I could praise him for his knowledge of Greek, or his numerous books, or his pastoral heart, or his hospitality, but I want to focus on things that few people know.  I want to focus on the things that happened after he came home from work.  The things that are done at home, these things make men who they are.

1. Family Devotion

The game started at 7:30.  But I heard my Dad calling for everyone to pile in the car.  It was only 6:15.  I mumbled something about having to leave so early.  My dad looked at me and said, “I don’t like to miss warm ups.” John my younger brother was in his Senior year at Christian Academy of Louisville playing Varsity Basketball.  My dad did not miss a game.  And for that matter he never missed one of mine, or my older brothers.  He is on the same streak for my sister who is currently running track and cross-country.

2.  Humility

My dad is interviewed a lot in front of crowds.  Many want to know what he is like.  One time someone in the crowd stood up and asked him, “Tell us one unique thing about yourself?” He laughed and said, “I am a remarkably ordinary man.”

3.  Loving Wisdom

Knowing that he has written a couple of books that are 700 + pages some of you might think that I mean, “He loves wisdom.”  But what I mean is that he uses his knowledge in a loving way.  He communicates it to help others trust in Jesus.  Here is one example from his life.

Our dog Scamper was a beagle poodle mix.  My only and youngest sister Anna loved Scamper.  She would dress him up and take pictures of him.  When she hugged him she would curl her lips inside her mouth with all her might to let her emotion out physically.  Anna told me when she was home alone she would read the Bible to Scamper in order that he would be saved.  Anna had such a deep love for Scamper and trust in my Dad that she would continually ask him whether Scamper would be in Heaven.  Here was my dad’s response.  Full of wisdom and care for Anna, as she was truly concerned about Scamper’s eternal destiny.  He would say:

“Anna, heaven in the happiest place you can ever imagine.  If you cannot be happy without Scamper in heaven then he will be there.  But no matter what you will be happy.”

There are many more stories I could tell.  By the grace of God my Dad is a remarkable man.  I pray that just by living with him some of him would rub off on me.  I pray that I would be like my Father.

Big Truths for Young Hearts

I posted earlier about this book by Dr. Bruce Ware giving the foreword by his daughters.  I want to encourage you again to get this book.  I can’t wait to read it.  Where else can you get a Systematic Theology for kids by someone who teaches it everyday?  And not only does he teach it, he believes it and lives it.

Justin Taylor did an interview with Dr. Ware about the book.  Here is the first question.

Can you tell us the origin of this book as you and Jodi were raising your two girls?

I recall one evening when Jodi and I were trying to get our two giggly girls — who were about 8 and 4 at the time — to settle down and go to sleep, thinking to myself, “Since they don’t want to go to sleep, why not co-opt the time and teach them some theology at their bedside?” So, I started then a pattern that we followed most nights that I was home, of my spending about 15 minutes with each daughter at their bedsides going through the major doctrines of the Christian faith. Of course, since Jodi eventually home schooled both our girls, they got much additional rich teaching from her. But I relish those “bedside theology” conversations, coupled with many other such discussions at family devotions or in the car, cultivating in our children a big view of God, a clearer understanding of the magnitude of their sin and the glory of the cross, and why it mattered to know and trust in God for all of our lives.

Click here to read the whole interview.

You Will Suffer

John Piper on Suffering in the Christian’s life.  Watch this.  It was good for my soul.  It will be good for yours.

Dating/Marriage

CNN has an article about Neenah Pickett.  She is getting married in 52 weeks.

The only problem, she does not know who her husband is going to be.  She started a site dedicated to finding her husband.  It is called 52 weeks 2 Find Him.  Here is an excerpt:

“This whole process has been me really realizing I need to find new ways to be proactive,” said Pickett, 43, who might typically get roped into long hours at work or the embrace of a comfortable couch. “I’m past the stage of believing it’ll just happen.”

So she’s putting it all out there on her site. She’s blogging. She’s asking friends and strangers to weigh in with advice. She’s pushing herself to do things and act in ways she never has before.

And a little more than 14 weeks into the self-imposed challenge, she’s pretty exhausted.

“I can’t believe how hard it is,” she said of the journey so far, which has brought her more dates in two months than she’d had in two years. “But that’s why the deadline is so important.”

Setting goals and working hard — no doubt, it’s the American way.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

There are many trends in Christian circles revolving around dating.  Recently the advice from leaders has been to get married soon.  They are fighting against culture.  Many young couples were waiting for the “perfect” time or the “perfect” person.  In short they were waiting too long.   Matt Chandler says when you find the perfect person, you will also find a unicorn.

So some lead Christian spokesman came out and stressed early marriages.  However I do not think they would go as far as Neenah, and put a date on it.

One time while talking to Dr. Ware he had a really helpful statement.  He said, “Some say to get married soon, I say get married well.”  He was emphasizing that this is a life-time decision.  Marry well.  You will be with this person the rest of your life.

I married well.  Hannah is the best wife imaginable.  She is kind, serving, compassionate.  She fears the Lord.  She loves his Word.  She keeps me in line.  She is an amazing cook.  She loves everyone.  She has a quiet gentle spirit.  She loves the church.

An article that always helped me put things into perspective was “Stop Test-Driving Your Girlfriend” by Michael Lawrence.  Read it here.

John Piper Job Book Trailer

Job lost everything: his wealth, his health, and his ten children. All swept away in one satanic storm. Reduced to a heap of flesh, ashes, and tears—rebuked by friends and jeered by strangers—righteous Job wrestled over the purpose and presence of God in the midst of unbearable pain.

In this book, John Piper recounts the story of Job in beautiful, compassionate poetry and revels in God’s sovereign and surprisingly joyful purposes in allowing exquisite suffering in the lives of his saints. A deeply moving book, especially for those experiencing great suffering and loss.

HT:  Josh Harris

Click here to read the whole book or listen to Piper read it.

Listen to his 5 sermons on Job here.

Tunes on Tuesday

Rogue Wave:  Lake Michigan

Lebron James

Bill Simmons on his favorite reason why James is the MVP:

Not since Magic Johnson has a superstar doubled as such a galvanizing teammate. If there’s an enduring image of the ‘08-09 season, it’s the way LeBron stamped his personality on everyone around him. They orchestrate goofy pregame intros (my favorite: the team snapshot), trade countless chest bumps, giggle on the sidelines, hang out on road trips and support each other in every way. What’s telling about LeBron’s in-traffic dunks — and he unleashes them more frequently than anyone since Dominique — is how he seeks out his bench for feedback, and even better, how they give it to him. It makes the forced camaraderie of the Lakers seem glaring. If you want to watch a team that pulls for each other and follows the lead of its best player, watch Cleveland.

And if you’re a Cavs fan trying to talk yourself into LeBron staying after 2010, your best chance is this: Through 24 years, LeBron has proven to be an inordinately devoted guy. When you’re with him, you’re with him. The upcoming documentary (supposedly superb) about his high school years bangs this point home. So does the fact that he jettisoned his agents and surrounded himself with high school buddies. So does everything that happened this season. He’s as good of a teammate as a player. The more I watch him, the more I wonder if such an intensely loyal guy would ever say, “Thanks for the memories, everybody,” dump his teammates, dump his hometown and start a fresh life elsewhere. Although he isn’t surrounded by the most talented players right now, collectively, it’s a team in the truest sense, with a devoted set of appreciative fans, and maybe that’s all LeBron James will need in the end.

I thought he was a goner four months ago. I think he’s staying now. Regardless, he’s our Most Valuable Player for 2009. It won’t be the last time.

Sorry PJ, I am not even a Cleveland fan, but Simmons is right. 

Books

I got a new book shelf today.  Hannah and I had to reorganize the books.  Although it may look like I have a lot of books, compared to some of my seminary friends this is child’s play. 

Twitter: The Telegraph of Narcissus

JT has a link to Nicholas Carr’s comment about Twitter.  Read it here.

And what exactly are we broadcasting? The minutiae of our lives. The moment-by-moment answer to what is, in Twitterland, the most important question in the world: What are you doing? Or, to save four characters: What you doing? Twitter is the telegraph of Narcissus. Not only are you the star of the show, but everything that happens to you, no matter how trifling, is a headline, a media event, a stop-the-presses bulletin. Quicksilver turns to amber.

Narcissism is just the user interface for nihilism, of course, and with artfully kitschy services like Twitter we’re allowed to both indulge our self-absorption and distance ourselves from it by acknowledging, with a coy digital wink, its essential emptiness. I love me! Just kidding!

The great paradox of “social networking” is that it uses narcissism as the glue for “community.” Being online means being alone, and being in an online community means being alone together. The community is purely symbolic, a pixellated simulation conjured up by software to feed the modern self’s bottomless hunger. Hunger for what? For verification of its existence? No, not even that. For verification that it has a role to play. As I walk down the street with thin white cords hanging from my ears, as I look at the display of khakis in the window of the Gap, as I sit in a Starbucks sipping a chai served up by a barista, I can’t quite bring myself to believe that I’m real. But if I send out to a theoretical audience of my peers 140 characters of text saying that I’m walking down the street, looking in a shop window, drinking tea, suddenly I become real. I have a voice. I exist, if only as a symbol speaking of symbols to other symbols.

Whose Excited?

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince:

If they stay true to the books, these movies will start to become darker, and not so much children’s movies.

Good Links (and these are really good)

• Denny Burk has the audio to Schreiner, Seifrid, and Vickers assessing the Wright-Piper debate.

• Kevin DeYoung has had some excellent pieces on our High Places.  What are High Places?  High Places are the sins that we are blinded to.  High Places are the sins that other generations will look at and wonder how we missed these.  He plans on doing 5 posts about this and is done with three of them.  They are convicting, which signals that he is on the right track.  Here are the first three.

Lack of singing the Psalms in church: Is there a command of Scripture we disobey more frequently, and with so little shame, as the injunction to sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16)?

Wordliness as Entertainment: But when it comes to the entertainment choices of the vast majority of Christians in the vast majority of our churches my strong impression is that there is little difference between what we take in and what the rest of the world goes to for a good time.

The Idolatry of Youth:  many Christian parents have made an idol out of their children. Considering how frustrated we can all get with our children, it’s hard to think how we’ve made idols out of them. But think of how our schedules are dictated by our kids, and how most of what parents talk about revolves around the kids, and how getting our kids “every advantage” in life takes precedence over church, the husband-wife relationship, and just plain commonsense.

Some of what he is saying is similar to the concerns for 2009 that I posted about about the beginning of the year.  4 Pastors gave their reasons to be thankful and concerned in 2009.  Read Tom Schreiner’s, Ryan Fullerton’s, Michael Lawrence’s, and Ray Ortlund’s.

• Mark Dever on How to Start A Soup Kitchen in Your Church (at 9 Marks blog):  The First Six Steps

1. We should have more passion for and compassion for God than for people.
2. We should have hearts of compassion for all people because they’re made in God’s image.
3. Suffering is an inevitable part of this fallen world.
4. The Gospel’s main thrust is not the renewal of the fallen structures of this world, but rather the creation of a new community composed of those purchased by the blood of the Lamb
5. No Gospel that tells Scripture’s sweeping narrative that culminates in the coming of the kingdom but neglects to tell individuals how they can be included in that kingdom is any true Gospel.
6. Scripture gives us no hope that society will be broadly and permanently transformed by the preaching of the Gospel. (See Matt. 24:21-22, 29).

(This is simply the first sentence of each step.  Go to the link to read the whole thing and not take it out of context.)

• Piper on This Momentary Marriage

HT:  Brian Mahon

Dancing in the Subway

My mom sent me these.  I thought they were pretty neat.

Brian Regan: Clean Humor

CNN has an article about Brian Regan.  They emphasize how clean his routine is, and also do a Q & A with him.  Here is an excerpt:

If you’re a comedy fan, you’ve probably heard of him by now.

Famous for his clean jokes about everyday life, comedian Brian Regan is at the peak of his career, gaining new followers with every performance.

Here is one of his older routines about being stupid in school.

And one about UPS:

And one about the walkie talkie

Luther on Scripture

“In truth you cannot read too much in Scriptures;
and what you read you cannot read too carefully,
and what you read carefully you cannot understand too well,
and what you understand well you cannot teach too well,
and what you teach well you cannot live too well.”

–Martin Luther, WA 53, 218

HT: Justin Taylor

Gay Vows, Repeated From State to State

The NYT has an article about the the four states who have legalized gay marriage. Here is a scary excerpt:

But since then there has been remarkable movement in support of same-sex marriage.

“The most recent CNN poll put it at 44 percent,” Professor Persily said. “More important, the opposition has gone down. And people who are opposed are much more likely to favor civil unions,” as opposed to no rights at all for gay couples.

“There has been a shift of about 10 percentage points in five years” in public support for same-sex marriage, Professor Persily added. “On a deep moral issue like this, that’s very rare.” Public opinion about abortion, by contrast, “has been largely frozen for years.”

The trend toward greater support for same-sex marriage is likely to continue, Professor Egan said. Part of it is generational: younger people are far more apt to support gay rights than older people. And part of it is a product of changing social attitudes.

Colbert & Ehrman

more about “Colbert & Ehrman“, posted with vodpod

On Writing Well (6)

Chapter 10:  Bits and Pieces

• Use active verbs, not passive ones.  Verbs are the most important tools in writing.  Active verbs push hard; passive verbs tug fitfully.
• Of the 701 words in Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, a marvel of economy in itself, 505 are words of one syllable, and 122 are words of 2 syllable.
• Most adverbs are unnecessary.  Don’t tell us that the radio blared loudly; blare connotes loudness.
• Most adjective are unnecessary, but some are needed, make them do work.
• Prune out small words that qualify how you feel (ex. a bit, a little, sort of, kind of, rather, quite).  Don’t be kind of bold.  Be bold.  Good writing is lean and confident.
• Use periods a lot.  If you want to write long sentences, be a genius.
• Don’t use the exclamation point unless you HAVE to.  Instead construct your sentence so that the order of the words will put emphasis on what you want.  Don’t use it at the end of joke.  Readers are annoyed by your reminder that this was a comical moment.  Humor is best achieved by understatement.
• Learn to alert the reader of a mood change by using “but” (most of the time), not however, nevertheless, still, yet.
• Use “that” more than “which”, use “which” after commas.
• Keep paragraphs short, but not too short.
• Don’t use concept nouns:  For example:  “The common reaction is incredulous laughter.”  There are no people or working verbs in the sentence.  Get people doing things.  Change it to, “Most people just laugh with disbelief.”
• Rewriting is the essence of writing well: it’s where the game is won or lost.
• Write about your interests.

Resurrection Quotes

Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime.

Martin Luther

—————————————————-
Christianity is in its very essence a resurrection religion. The concept of resurrection lies at its heart. If you remove it, Christianity is destroyed.

John R. Stott

—————————————————————-

What reason have atheists for saying that we cannot rise again? Which is the more difficult to be born or to rise again? It is more difficult to come into being than to return to it?

Blaise Pascal

——————————————————————————-

Christ has turned all our sunsets into dawns.

St. Clement of Alexandria

———————————————————————————-

We Christians do not believe that Jesus Christ was the only one that ever rose from the dead. We believe that every death-bed is a resurrection; that from every grave the stone, is rolled away.
Spurgeon

————————————————————————–

Let us always remember that the end of the resurrection is eternal happiness, of whose excellence scarcely the minutist part can be described by all that human tongues can say. For though we are truly told that the kingdom of God will be full of light, and gladness, and felicity, and glory, yet the things meant by these words remain most remote from sense, and as it were involved in enigma, until the day arrive on which he will manifest his glory to us face to face.

John Calvin

——————————————————————

I am the resurrection, and the life

Jesus

2 Videos on the Gospel

Never leave the Gospel:  John Piper

The Curse Motif:  R.C. Sproul

That’s My King

HT: JT

Example of Good Lead/Ending

You want an example of good writing?  Look at Bill Simmons.  Yeah you might not like sports, but that’s your sin problem.  Here is the great lead and great ending.  It’s about Alex Rodriguez.

Lead:

A friend asked me this question last week: How many consecutive columns could I extract from Alex Rodriguez?

My final answer: 10. No modern athlete brings more to the idea table. He plays in New York for a team that stopped making the World Series as soon as he arrived. He has made statistical history but cheated to do it. He’s our highest-paid athlete in a tanking economy. He’s the star client of this generation’s most despised agent. He’s handsome and articulate, only his polished personality is so contrived nobody can connect to him. If gossip rags and blogs had a Thank God for This Athlete fantasy draft, he’d unquestionably be the first pick.

Ending:

I will even go this far: There are undeniable positives to having one antisocial wild card in any close-knit environment. You know that one grating guy in your dorm hall or in your office? Don’t you like ******* about him? You lob grenades at him as soon as he leaves the room. He’s your running joke, an easy target. But he’s also a galvanizing force, one of the few things that bring everyone else together: a mutual contempt for one human being that won’t go away. You’re stuck with him, so you make the best of it — by belittling him.

It’s a common bond of sorts. Even as you believe he’s tearing your group apart, he’s bringing it closer and distracting anyone from turning on someone else. He’s your mean decoy, your Paula Abdul, your Newman. He’s your necessary evil.

So yes, the Yankees might not miss A-Rod right now. But give them a few weeks. Every group needs an outcast just like every columnist needs a go-to guy for his column. The 2009 Yankees may not appreciate Alex Rodriguez yet, but I sure do. I won’t write 10 A-Rod columns, but I could, and maybe that’s all that matters.

Read the whole thing Here

On Writing Well (5)

Chapter 9:  The Lead and Ending

Zinsser begins:

The most important sentence in any article is the first one.  If it doesn’t induce the reader to proceed to the second sentence, your article is dead.  And if the second sentence doesn’t induce him to continue to the third sentence, it’s equally dead.

There is no set length on how long the lead should be.  Sometimes it can be a paragraph, sometimes a sentence.  What matters is the lead must capture the reader and force him to continue reading.  Some conclude that the lead must be trite, cute, or shocking, but actually these are the very things to avoid.  Capture their attention creatively.  I think Russell Moore does this with his titles.  Another hint, don’t wait for the perfect lead.  Have a good lead, and move on, the perfect lead will take you all your life.  Here is a good lead that Zinsser used:

I often wondered what goes into a hot dog.  Now I know and I wish I didn’t.

That is a lead that makes you want to keep reading.  There are no hard and fast rules about leads.  Just basic advice.  For example usually don’t lead with a quote unless it is a fabulous quote.  And I mean fabulous, quotes rarely work, although when they do, they work great.  Get creative with a lead.  One of the best ways to lead is to tell a story.  Here are the leads that are off limits.

1. Future archaeologist:  “When some future arhchaeologist stumbles on the remains of our civilization, what will he make of the jukebox.”
2. Cute Event:  “One day not long ago.”
3. Have-in common:  “What did Joseph Stalin, Douglas MacArthur, and Ludwig Wittgensten all have in common.
4. Shocking Lead:  “Sex”

Here is a good hint.  If you have seen the lead already used a couple of times it is old hat.  Be creative.

Ending:

You should give as much thought to choosing your last sentence as you did your first.  Well, almost as much…Like a minister’s sermon that builds to a series of perfect conclusions that never conclude, an article that doesn’t stop where it should stop becomes a drag and therefore a failure.

Zinsser says that you know when you have come to the end when you feel yourself or even watch yourself type “In sum” or “In conclusion.”  I would even add that when you get to that point you might want to delete the last paragraph because you probably began to ramble.  Zinsser says to never end an article with the words “In sum” or “In conclusion” or “What insights have we been able to gelan from…?”

These are signals that you are about to repeat in compressed form what you have already said in detail.  The reader’s interest begins to falter; the tension you have built begins to sag.  Yet you will be true to Miss Potter, your teacher, who made you sear fealty to the holy outline.  But your readers hear the laborious sound of cranking.  They notice what you are doing and how bored you are by it.

I basically agree with Zinsser but I do think there are certain types of writing that it is okay to write, “In sum.”  So what should an ending be like?

The perfect ending should take your readers slightly by surprise and yet seem exactly right.  They didn’t expect the article to end so soon, or so abruptly. or to say what it said.  But they know it whent they see it.  Like a good lead, it works.

This quote has been the most striking part of the book so far.  I knew right when I read this what he was talking about.  I don’t have any examples, but I can remember reading articles and feeling exactly what he described at the end…satisfied.  The article did not drain on, but ended, almost abruptly, leaving me almost shocked but still satisfied.  What if preachers did this?  What would it look like?  I don’t know myself.  I do know that this also works in movies.  The Departed worked this way.  (I cannot recommend the movie because it had too much foul language and violence), but the ending of the movie was superb.  It was shocking, but it fit.  It was the only way the movie could have ended.

Moralism vs. Gospel

Matt Chanlder has been on my podcasts for a couple of years now because he is one of the best communicators I have heard. He is a pastor in Texas who understands how to deal with moralism vs gospel. Here is a great example from the Desiring God conference. HT: Trevin Wax

more about “Moralism vs. Gospel“, posted with vodpod

On Writing Well (4)

We have passed from Part 1 (Principles) to Part II (Methods).

Chapter 8: Unity

Zinsser begins the chapter by saying this:

You learn to write by writing.  The only way to learn to write is to force yourself to produce a certain number of words on a regular basis.

Zinsser sees unity as the anchor of good writing.  Unity in what?  Unity of pronoun, unity of tense, and unity of mood.  The writer should know how they want to speak and stick to it.  In third person? In the past tense?  In a humorous mood?  Just don’t mix the moods or persons, or tenses.  Think about one thing you want to communicate.

Not two thoughts, or five—just one.  So decide what single point you want to leave in the reader’s mind…Therefore think small.  Decide what corner of your subject you’re going to bite off, and be content to cover it well and stop.

Tunes on Tuesday

Warning: If you are over 40 27 you will not like this.

This is a screamo band. (Yes screamo is a word)   In reality they are only half-screamo and that is why I like them.  I can’t get into bands who scream the entire time.  This brings me back to my early days of college.  As you can see my music taste is diverse.  I like everything but Country (and most R&B).

2 Things You Won’t Believe:

1. I have seen this band twice in concert
2. It is a Christian band

So after all that prep here it is.

Blindside:  Caught a Glimpse

I probably shouldn’t give you a glimpse of what a concert would be like.  But I think it is good for some of you to penetrate the bubble you live in  (P.S.  You might think they sound bad live but it is pretty amazing he can still sing after doing one song like this.)

Did anyone else notice that it was sleveless shirt day?

Links

Advance 09 is a conference that will be held in Durham, NC on June 4-6.  It will be about the local church with the speakers being John Piper, Mark Driscoll, Matt Chandler, Danny Akin, Bryan Chapell etc…

Click HERE to go to the website.  Here is the video.

Here is a Free online Reader’s version of the Greek and Hebrew Bible.

On Writing Well (3)

Chapters 4 (Style), 5 (The Audience), 6 (Words), 7 (Usage)

Zinsser realizes his advice about clutter could be taken to the extreme, so he qualifies it.  He believes it is important to preserve your identity.  The problem is most do not know the fundamentals of writing.

The point is that you have to strip your writing down before you can build it back up.  You must know what the essential tools are and what job they were assinged to do.

He does not expect every sentence to say “Dick likes Jane.”  A fundamental rule of writing is to be yourself.  No rule is harder to follow.  Writers must relax and have confidence.  He has a long discussion about the use of the personal pronoun “I” in writing.  He for the most part encourages using it in writing (although he realizes that there are certian types of writing that it should not appear in).  My Enlish professor said to never use “I” in papers.  The reason is because everyone knows who is writing.

Chapter 5 deals who the audience.  Zinsser’s answer is surprising.

You are writing for yourself.

I am not sure I agree with him, but I think he is trying to let writers be themselves.  Good writing is personal.  Good writing is a person being themselves.  It is like preaching, when you try to preach like someone else you fail, you must be yourself.  You have to be somewhat carefree about the reader.

Chapter 6:  Words

Zinsser opens the chapter by stressing the importance of avoiding cliches.  He also encourages the use of a dictionary and thesaurus.

The Thesaurus is to the writer what a rhyming dictionary is to the songwriter–a reminder of all the choices–and you should use it with gratitude.  If, having found the scalawag and the scapegrace, you want to know how they differ, then go to the dictionary.

He also stresses the importance of sound in writing.  Every writer must have a poet’s ear.  E.B. White suggests trying to rearrange phrases that have survived for a century or two.  Such as Thomas Paine’s

These are the times that try men’s soul.

Times like these try men’s souls.

How trying it is to live in these times.

These are tying times for men’s souls.

Soulwise, these are trying times.

Zinsser says, “Paine’s phrase is like poetry and the other four are like oatmeal–which is the divine mystery of the creative process.”

Chapter 7 is about usage.  Zinsser’s basic question concerns what words to use and when. The chapter is unhelpful.  He says there is a lot of flex on usage, but for the most part to recognize that we should not write the way we talk.  He also says it is okay to use new words but we should use them in a gramtically correct way.

Mark Wahlberg Talks To Animals

more about “Mark Wahlberg Talks To Animals“, posted with vodpod

Adult Movies

World Magazine has a short article on the possibility of Maryland University showing a XXX movie for the students.

The University of Maryland’s student union had been planning to show a XXX-rated movie tonight on campus—until the state Senate intervened this week, threatening to withdraw state funds of $424 million next year.

Read it here.

———————-

People’s feelings about Truth and about right and wrong have become desensitized.  People do not have the feeling about sin that is required to support the doctrines of judgment, Hell, and the necessity of atonement as set forth by Christian theology.  (David Wells)

We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day.  (1 Cor 10:8)

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. (Col 3:5)

On Writing Well (2)

Chapters 1, 2, and 3:

Simplify, Simplify. (Thoreau)

Clutter is the problem with most writing.  Too many words does not make a sentence better, but worse.  Zinsser says most drafts can be cut by 50 percent without losing any information or the author’s voice.

Clutter is the disease of American writing.  We are a society strangling in unnecessary words, circular constructions, pompous frills, and meaningless jargon…Our national tendency is to inflate and thereby sound important.  But the secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components.  Every word that serves no function, every long word that could be a short word, every adverb that carries the same meaning that’s already in the verb—these are the thousand and one adulterants that weaken the strength of a sentence.

Writing improves in direct ratio to the number of things we can keep out of it that shouldn’t be there.  “Up” in “free up” shouldn’t be there.  Examine every word you put on paper.  You’ll find a surprising number that don’t serve any purpose…Be grateful for every word you throw away.

For example, this is just an example of a bad sentence, with too many words, that should be  stripped and cut down to size.

The new sentence:  This is a bad sentence, with too many words.

Always cut out words like always.

On Writing Well

I started reading On Writing Well by William Zinsser.  I love writing, and I need improvement.  I am going to try to blog through the book to help myself remember what I have learned.

Introduction:

Zinsser makes the point that everyone is writing now.  But that does not mean everyone is good.

That condition was first revealed with the arrival of the word processor.  Two opposite things happened: good writers got better and bad writers got worse.  Good writers welcomed the gift of being able to fuss endlessly with their sentences –pruining, and revising and reshaping —without the drudgery of retyping.  Bad writers became even more verbose because writing was suddenly so easy and their sentences looked so pretty on the screen.  How could such beautiful sentences not be perfect?

Courtney Lee

Dave McMenamin from NBA.com has an article about the unnoticed play of Courtney Lee.  Throughout college Courtney Lee was the star at WKU and it is good to see him playing well in the NBA.  (my brother sent me this)

Now, how about the elite teams? Four teams — Boston, Cleveland, Los Angeles and Orlando — are on pace to win 60 games, making it the first season since ‘97-98 for that to happen

Out of those four teams, there is only one impact rookie. Boston’s J.R. Giddens and Bill Walker spent half the season in the D-League. J.J. Hickson got some burn for Cleveland, but his minutes dried up when Joe Smith came to town. Sun Yue might be a crowd-pleaser in L.A. when he gets mop-up minutes, but he hasn’t affected the outcome of a game yet.

No, Orlando’s Courtney Lee is the only one worth mentioning.

Read whole article Here.

Mark Driscoll: How Dare You!

Os Guinness

Faith is not doubt-free, but there is a genuine assurance of faith that is truly beyond a shadow of doubt.

Os Guinness; God in the Dark; p. 15

Dear Detroit Lions

I thought this was pretty hilarious.  It is a letter to the Detriot Lions from Ted Kluck.  He is/was? a writer for ESPN and the author of a couple books: Why We’re Not Emergent; Facing Tyson; Paper Tiger; Headlocks and Dropkicks;

He likes Sports and Theology, what more can you ask.  Here is the beginning of the letter.

Dear Detroit Lions,

Long time no talk.  By which, I’m referring to the fact that both of my earlier correspondences have gone unreturned.  No matter, I know it’s been a busy time for you.  At any rate, my earlier offer still stands – that is the offer of becoming your next general manager with all the attendant benefits that would bring you (see earlier posts under “football”).  In the spirit of Spring, optimism, and draft time – below is an unsolicited mock draft which, if implemented, may improve your football team which, as we both know, needs improvement.

Church Reform or Church Plant?

Garrett Wishall sent me a link to a conversation about church planting and church reform.  J.D. Greear has some interesting thoughts on it HERE.

Here are some the issues and points he raises.

1. You should only revitalize a church out of care for its current members
2. Don’t revitalize a church because of it’s glory days.
3. What about revitalizing a church because of it’s property?