All the Cubs Read this Blog

I know no other reason why the Cubs could have been as motivated as they were to sweep the Cubs this weekend. Two Sundays ago (July 23rd) I briefly reflected on the fact that life is good based upon the NL Central standings, posting the records of the Cards and Cubs. Me and my big (blog)mouth!

Books: Keep Clean or Mark Them Up?

For those of you who love books, do you mark them up with highlighters, notes, etc., or do you try to keep them pristine?

Trivia: Where Am I?

I took this picture recently when traveling. Guess where I was. Closest guess wins bragging rights. Hint: It has to be in one of the red states below.

Hubris

John Kerry, who was in Detroit yesterday stumping for incumbent Governor Granholm, said regarding the current Israeli-Lebanese conflict: "If I was president, this wouldn't have happened."

Does he really think that the POTUS has that much sway in the Middle East? His statement was simultaneously ignorant and arrogant.

Life is Good

NL Central
1st - St. Louis 56W 41L
5th - Chicago 37W 60L

States I've Visited

I remember somewhere that many of the boys that went to Europe or to the Pacific to fight World War II had never even left their home county before they left home for the war. That's right - county - not country. Times sure have changed. I remember eating in a restuarant in Long Beach, California five years ago and meeting a waitress who, upon finding out we were from Florida, told us that she had never left California in her entire life. I thought that to be extremely unusual for someone in the early 20s. I've been to 27 states so far, most of which I had visited by the time I was in my early 20s. Wisconsin sticks out like a sore thumb, so next time I'm in Chicago, I need to make a short run to the state line.



create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

Food Friday: Coffee

Cup of Joe. Java. Mud. Murk. Call it what you want, it is America's favorite morning pick-me-up. Who would have dreamed that one of the most successful companies in the past decade would be a chain of coffee shops?

I know, it's not all about the coffee. It's about the atmosphere, the experience. Coffee shops are all the rage. And it's had a significant influence on the evangelical world. Take away the coffee shops and the whole emerging/emergent movement is...*puff*...misfiring synapses in an obscure corner of Brian McLaren's brain.

I remember when coffee was available in two flavors: caffeinated and decaf. At about 50 ceents a cup max, with free refills, it was a cheap way to get the gray mass active.

Times have changed. People in my community regularly pay $3-5 for a cup of coffee every morning. And when you think about the number of flavors available now, Baskin-Robbins doesn't have anything on Starbucks.

Me? I'm not a huge coffee drinker. I can go months without a cup as long as I've got a nice cold Mountain Dew awaiting me each morning. Lately I've been drinking a little more coffee as I'm trying to get out and meet more people instead of being holed up in the office 24/7.

I tried a few of the frilly flavors. But I'll stick with the original. Give me a straight coffee...black. No sugar. No cream.

By the way, I'm sitting in a coffee shop right now.

Attention All Single Men

Michael Lawrence has written a great article titled "Stop Test-Driving Your Girlfriend".

HT: Justin Taylor

All Creatures of Our God and King

My Dad took this photograph today in Illinois.

Great, huh?

Ligonier a Little Out of Touch at Times?

I subscribe to Tabletalk magazine, the monthly devotional publication of Ligonier Ministries. I am deeply indebted to Dr. R. C. Sproul for his teaching ministry. To say his teaching has greatly impacted my thinking is an understatement. Tabletalk is a fine publication and I applaud the work of Burk Parsons and the staff at Tabletalk.

However, take a moment to digest this sentence from the August 2006 edition of Tabletalk:

What Boethius does in his tractates is to offer a defense of the doctrine of the Trinity where he assumes the truth of the Nicene position, and then deploys logic in order to demonstrate how Trinitarian theology requires careful analysis of how language is used, and how Aristotelian logical categories can help with this task. (from "Boethius: The Philosopher Theologian" by Carl R. Trueman)

Say what?

According to the Ligonier Ministries website, the materials produced by Ligonier are "designed to fill the gap between Sunday School and seminary." Certainly this is a worthy yet daunting goal. But the sentence above is very heavy on the seminary side of the ledger. Here I am a Doctor and I had to re-read it three times before I even began to feel like I was getting a grasp on it. Granted, I'm only a D.Min., not a Ph.D., but nonetheless...well, just look at that sentence again!

Burk Parsons, the editor of Tabletalk also serves as the Minister of Congregational Life at Saint Andrews Chapel, the church where Dr. Sproul serves as the Minister of Preaching and Teaching. I'm no editor, to which anyone who has read this blog much would agree, but, Burk, I have a word of advice: e-mail the rough drafts of these articles to some people from a little less educated congregations demographically prior to sending these articles to print. A Southern Baptist would be perfect! If you can get a Southern Baptist to understand it, you'll make a lot of headway at getting in that middle range between Sunday School and seminary.


On a sidenote, I recently listened to an interview of Carl Trueman, the author of the notorious sentence above, by Mark Dever. He seemed like a pretty cool cat, and spooky smart.

I Can't Believe I'm Posting on This Subject

A historic first at semper reformanda! For years I have been critical of the "sport" known as NASCAR, or more properly, stock car racing. Yet, I have noticed lately that I have begun to pay more attention to the headlines, which I hesitate to admit, but is evidence that there is a level of interest in me. Now, I'm almost officially sucked in to being a casual, and boy do I mean casual, fan. The reason? Juan Montoya. He has officialy announced that he is making the jump from Formula 1 to NASCAR, effective next season. He will even begin racing in the Busch series later this year after the Formula 1 season has ended.

I have always felt like NASCAR was limiting itself by being a closed community of "good ole boys." If you would never be found dead with a confederate flag on you, then chances are pretty good you wouldn't be to welcome at a NASCAR event, let alone behind the wheel of one the cars. Of course that has been changing gradually as the popularity of the sport spreads geographically. But Juan Montoya has a huge international following and should he be able to make the transition as well as Tony Stewart has, expect NASCAR to be completely changed. If, however, he goes the way of Paul Tracy, Al Unser Jr., or Christian Fittipaldi, well, Montoya will be a bust and NASCAR will roll on. The suspense is enough to keep me interested.

Worship Matters

Lately I have really enjoyed reading "Worship Matters," Bob Kauflin's blog. Check it out sometime and I think you will agree that Kauflin is insightful, practical, and most importantly, biblical.

One More Reason I Like Batman...

...because he's my little buddy!

He Actually Said It...

I just heard John Feinstein, who is subbing today for Jim Rome, say regarding Longhorns hoops coach Rick Barnes: "Don't let the Southern Twang fool you, he's as sharp as a guy can be." Implied: Southerners are stupid.

I watched the movie "Glory Road" the other night. The prejudicial myth that was mentioned frequently was that African-American ballplayers couldn't handle the pressure. Do you think that Feinstein would ever be able to get another job if he had just interviewed Dwayne Wade and then said, "Don't let the colored skin fool you, he's a guy who can handle the pressure"? Or what if I had interviewed Feinstein and then said, "Don't let the last name fool you, the guy is generous to a fault"?

I'm sure Feinstein's comment will go largely unnoticed because there are three groups you can pick on these days with no public outrcy: Christians, obese people, and Southerners.

Food Friday: Nachos

Ok...so it's almost lunch and I decide to check my old friend Carey's Blog and he tells some story about a bird and an injured bunny. He mentions "nachos" and suddenly I'm transported into another world...dreaming of black beans, melted cheese, salsa, sour cream, etc. I immediately realize that I've learned another life lesson, similar to "Never go grocery shopping on an empty stomach." It is this: never read Carey's blog right before lunch.

Here's what I like on my Nachos:
Melted cheddar cheese
Black Beans
Onions
Tomatoes
Black Olives
Sour Cream
Guacamole
Salsa (on the side)
Hold the Jalopenas, thank you!

Something About Sunsets

They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder but I have yet to meet anyone who does not ascribe beauty to sunsets. Does this picture look familiar to you? I wouldn't be surprised if it did. Guess the source...

Here's a couple of sunset pictures over the Gulf of Corinth...

Dare to be Holy

Do not claim that you are begotten of God and have His royal blood running through your veins unless you can prove your lineage by this heroic spirit: to dare to be holy in spite of men and devils.

- William Gurnall

Let Freedom Ring!

Batman is Better than Superman

No, I haven't seen the movie yet. Yes, I'm sure it's good and I will probably thoroughly enjoy it, but that will not change the fact that I like Batman better than Superman.

With all the Superman hype right now, I want to just remind everyone why Superman will always play second fiddle to Batman. Here are the reasons why:

1. Batman is a real man. Superman is not even from the planet earth. They should rename him "Superalien." I prefer a hero that is one of the good old boys, you know, a homo sapien.

2. Because Batman is a real man, he doesn't have any superpowers, which makes him dependent upon superior physical training and scientific technology.

3. Please explain to me how Superman flies. It's the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen. When he does fly, why does he stick his arms straight forward? Why not stick them alongside his body like someone who is free falling does to maximize speed? Where does his freaking speed come from anyway?

4. Remember the scene when the Christopher Reeves' version of Superman is spinning around the earth the opposite direction so fast that he reverses the earth's rotation thereby reversing time? Is that not a candidate for the most preposterous scene in the history of modern film?

5. Batman has a dark side. He is a man in which his behavior and choices are greatly impacted by his inner struggles. It makes for much better drama than "Superalien" and his trying to fit into life on this planet.

6. Batman's mask hiding his true identity is much more reasonable than Clark Kent putting on some dark-rimmed glasses. "Let's see now, how can I hide my identity?... I know! I'll put on a pair of glasses!" Gimme a break!

7. Compare the costumes. I'll grant that the old TV show Batman costume was pretty lame, but let's compare the more recent movie versions. I wouldn't be seen in Superman's suit, but Batman's? Totally cool.

Who do you prefer? Batman or Superman? But be careful of ticking off one of them...