“Author Stephen Atlrogge says that there’s a conspiracy affecting every person who has ever lived,” reported the publisher Crossway’s blog. Atlrogge has written The Greener Grass Conspiracy to explain the problem and recommend a solution. This photo, however, says he should have given his book another title.
All posts by Phil
Silence (with words)
I don’t often travel alone, and when I do, I don’t turn on the TV. Watching it isn’t how I want to spend the little time I have in the room, and since my on a working trip, I don’t think my managers want me to lollygag around the room for long, especially when I could be lollygagging right under their noses. (Lollygag is a distinctly American word from 1862, perhaps deriving from the old world loll meaning “to relax completely.”)
I know many Christians will approve of my habit of ignoring the hotel room TV, because it guards me from any temptation to watch the soft porn or worse which is usually available on premium cable channels. (Pornography, by the way, was first used as an English word in 1858. It comes from a similar Greek word which meant “writing about prostitutes.” I wonder how many models or actors would want to think of themselves as prostitutes.) I wonder if a growing number of other believers, those who vocally criticize “fundamentalists” for hiding from the world in their church-bunkers, would see what I do as hiding from the world also or maybe a lack of self-control due to a prudish morality.
(A prude is an excessively modest or discreet person. The word comes from an old French world, which meant “good, virtuous, modest.” The word had variations for male and female, the male version meaning “a brave man.”)
Regardless any criticism, I think leaving the TV off is one step in cultivating an acceptance of silence, a small detox from the constant noise in our media-saturated world. Doing that should help build contentment, self-control, and even purity. How can I surrender my indefatigable pride to the Lord of Life if I hide in a bunker made by the world markets? Isn’t that one of the many meanings of Psalm 119?
90s TV Nostalgia
The last generation to have TV as their major media source is nostalgic for the good ole days of 90s programing. How could Nickelodeon turn down an opportunity like that?
This brief NPR report is interesting, because it states that 20-somethings are so deluged with media throughout the day they will relax in front of the TV with familiar programming, a single media source taking them to their childhood comfort-zones.
Luther on the Call
“Those who operate without a proper call seek no good purpose. God does not bless their labors. They may be good preachers, but they do [not] edify. Many of the fanatics of our day pronounce words of faith, but they bear no good fruit, because their purpose is to turn men to their perverse opinions.” – Martin Luther
Spiders in Pakistan
Here’s a story worthy of April Fool status, if it were not true. “With more than a fifth of the country submerged, millions of spiders climbed into trees to escape the rising floodwaters.” As a result, many trees are knit together with spider webs. The eery pictures look like a Ted Burton creation, but in a more positive light, the mosquito count is way down.
"You Are What You Speak"
Author Robert Lane Greene has a good interview with NPR’s Diane Rehm on his book, You Are What You Speak: Grammar Grouches, Language Laws, and the Politics of Identity. Many of his points are great, and it’s amusing that people have been complaining about the death of their language for centuries. Greene says slang will always be in a living language, and most of it will pass with times, but the idea that how we speak defines us to a large degree is critical. Perhaps that is another reason memorizing Scripture is vital to healthy living.
Beautiful Jane
Jeffrey Overstreet reviews Jane Eyre by writing a love letter to his sweet wife, Anne. Perhaps, he says, the essence of the story is that “a sin-scarred man casts off shame, a pious woman casts off her fears, and they’re united in grace.”
Poverty of Education
This video is featured on the Nordskog Publishing site, which has healthy education as its topic this week. Some of the claims here seem overstated, but I sympathize with their decisions, particularly Voddie Baucham Jr.’s comments. Christians and God-fearing people need to reject the self-indulgent messages coming from many places and take up the call to teach our children ourselves in healthy, godly communities.
Coffee Prices on the Rise
Something has been missing from our blog lately, and I’ve just remembered what it is. We need some coffee news. World coffee supplies are beginning to suffer. In Columbia, farmers are having a harder time producing quality coffee. Weather patterns have not cooperated.
How Has Technology Changed You?
Tim Challies asks, “Do you own technology, or does it own you?”
I heard an interview on the Mars Hill Audio Journal a few weeks ago during which Nicholas Carr observed how many books exist on Christianity and politics or culture but very few on Christianity and technology or how technology has or could shape the way we think of ourselves and the world. Tim Challies’ book on the subject should be worthy reading.