Nice Shirt

I love it.
(HT: Zach)

 

Religion in Politics

The Baltimore Sun put an article up on their website today entitled, Top 10 ‘abuses’ of religion on the campaign trail.  Below is their list:
No. 10. Mitt Romney is asked if he believes “every word” of the Bible (CNN/You Tube debate (11-28-07).
No. 9 . CNN’s Soledad O’Brien asks John Edwards to “name his greatest sin” [...]

The Reason for God – Interview with Author

I’ve been (slowly) reading Keller’s The Reason for God and so when I came across this interview with Keller, I took notice.  It’s a really good (and long) interview.
A couple of highlights:
Keller on the “consumeristic” view of Church (aka: “what is/has God doing/done for me?”):
I think, when I was a younger man, if somebody said, [...]

Joys, Dangers, and Reasons for Blogging

Zach has written a great blog on the topic of Why Blog.  I find his insight here quite helpful – especially on the dangers of blogging. 

Have You Read Your Bible?

This past week I had the opportunity to teach on 1&2 Kings in a combined young adult (20s-30s) and high school class at our church. At some point not too far into the lesson, I asked for a show of hands of those that had even read 1&2 Kings. I got about 6 hands out [...]

Google Reader Shortcuts

I use Google Reader for keeping up with blogs that I want to follow and recently came across a listing of handy keyboard shortcuts.  If you use Google Reader or ever plan to, this may be helpful to you as well:
Blog on Google Reader keyboard shortcuts.

OT History – Part 6

Tonight in the OT Historical Books class, we’ll be talking about Judges 9-12, specifically of Abimelech and Jephthah as judges.  The notes for tonight are below.
Judges 9-12

If Solomon Was So Wise…

We’ve been working through the Old Testament Historical Books in our Sunday morning young adult class and for the last couple of weeks, we were talking about Solomon (1 Ki 1-11).
One person in class kept asking the question, “If Solomon was so wise, why did he fall away like he did?”  The basic foundation behind [...]

Got Commentaries?

If you like to read commentaries on different books of the Bible (as I do), you might like this article on Five Rules for Choosing a Commentary helpful.
I have also found John Glynn’s, Commentary and Reference Survey: A Comprehensive Guide to Biblical and Theological Resources to be a valuable resource.

Some Good Blogs from Dr. Mohler

Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, has recently commented on a couple of news articles that I’ve posted here on this blog. 
Check out Dr. Mohler’s comments on what I posted in American Religion in his post titled, America’s Changing Religious Landscape.
Check out his comments on what I posted in America’s Most Sinful Cities in his post titled, America’s Most Sinful [...]

Husbands Love Your Wives

I stumbled across a good article for husbands today called Cherishing Your Marriage: Part 1.  There is some real good practical advise in there – and some things that can definitely help me as a husband.
(HT: Chris Gensheer)

Are We “Getting the Message”?

“When Cornelius greets Peter at his door in Acts 10, he manifests the spirit that leads to profitable hearing and study of the Word.  He declares, “Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us” (Acts 10:33).  Sadly, if many supposed Christians [...]

American Religion

USA Today put out an article today entitled, Survey: Americans freely change, or drop, their religions. 

Some stats that jumped out to me:

Nearly 20% of all men and 13% of all women say they are unaffiliated. So are 25% of adults under age 30.

All the major Christian denominations are losing numbers fast. Only non-denominational Christian churches [...]

Child’s Play

NPR has a great article on their website on the evolution of how kids play – focusing on how toy-marketing has changed and how the last 50 years or so has proved to be radically different than times of the past.  Check out the article entitled, Old-Fashioned Play Builds Serious Skills.
(HT: Zach)

The Reason for God – Part 2

Some of my thoughts on and Keller’s words from Chapter 1 of The Reason for God.

Keller notes that he sees the biggest problem with Christianity as exclusivity.

In most cases, the Christianity that is growing is not the more secularized, belief-thin versions predicted by the sociologists.  Rather, it is a robust supernaturalist kind of faith, with [...]

Culture and Corporation

Neelima Mahajan writes a good article on culture and corporations entitled ‘Steer clear of culture shock.’  There is some good stuff here with regard to how organizations deal with culture. 
“The bigger and more differentiated an organization, the more it needs strong centralisation as well as de-centralisation. Decentralisation operationally, but let the individual units be efficient,” says Schein.

Bumgarner Family Blog

Meghan and I have now started a new family blog too.  We’ll keep pictures and blurbs of our girls over there.

National Resurgence Conference: Text & Context

The National Resurgence Conference is being held out in Seattle next Monday through Wednesday (Feb 25-27).  This year’s focus is on Text and Context and features speakers like Mark Driscoll, John Piper, and C.J. Mahaney, among others.  They’re planning to stream live video feeds this year on the the Resurgence website.
I probably won’t catch any [...]

C.J. Mahaney on Andy Pettitte, Steroids, and Confession of Sins

C.J. Mahaney has posted a very good article on Andy Pettitte and My Confession of Sin.  He takes an honest look at Andy Pettitte, compares him to a lesser known pitcher, Daniel Naulty, and talks about sin and confession.
What I love about the article is the ending where C.J. talks about his own sin and [...]

America’s Most Sinful Cities

Forbes has a compelling article on America’s Most Sinful Cities that is worth checking out.  They claim to have “unveiled the American city that has fallen the farthest from grace in each of the seven deadly sins (lust, gluttony, avarice, sloth, wrath, envy and pride).”
The article includes an interactive map.  He’s the break down of #1’s [...]

Religion in Britain

Writer Ruth Gledhill of The Times discusses a new report regarding religion in Britain stating now that somewhere in the neighborhood of 2/3 of all Britons claim “no religion.”
Read the article here.
In a 23-page report published this evening, a UN rapporteur claims the 2001 Census findings that nearly 72 per cent of the population is Christian can no [...]

Did You Catch the Total Eclipse?

I hope you didn’t miss the total lunar eclipse last night.  If you did, you’ll have to wait until December 10, 2010 for the next one.

Crazy Complex: The Human Genome

Check out this list of 20 Facts About the Human Genome.  We are crazy complex creatures. 

Biblically Acceptable Alternatives to Church???

The Barna group has a recent report out surveying individuals who are “Christians” by self-designation.  In other words, a survey of pretty much anybody!  Regardless of the reference group, it shines some interesting light on what people see as valid alternatives for conventional church that are “biblically acceptable”:

worship at home (89%),
active in house church (75%),
watching religious [...]

Albums I’m Digging

Here’s some albums getting the most play in my world right now.  Don’t miss the 1992 blast from the past with R.E.M.’s Automatic for the People.