One reason Christians should pray more and argue or fret less is the truth, maybe not exactly as we understand it but the truth nonetheless, will endure. Fools and wicked men may gain the White House and the Kremlin or be promoted to management, but the Lord says to cast our worries on him because he cares for us.
All posts by Phil
So Many Books, So Little Time
Here’s a sermon out of Luke 10 on the things that matter most. “But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary.” (Link is to MP3.)
Clipping Reviews
Wouldn’t there be a market for a national literary supplement, something to go in USA Today maybe? Perhaps the NYTBR holds that place, and yet it is as disgraced its partner paper, is it not?
Grad student Kristen Keckler remembers seeking out book reviews in the Sunday paper, clipping them, and taking a folder of them to the bookstore to help her buy interesting or winning books. “While Amazon suggests books it ‘thinks’ I’ll like,” she says, “newspaper book reviews introduce me to books off my radar, books I wouldn’t encounter otherwise. Print book reviews also offer the authority, depth, and substance that online reviews often lack.”
I feel for her, honestly, and I do wonder about a national book review, The USABR, if you will; but regardless, I can readily imagine a country without newspapers.
Salman Rushdie on Colbert
Author Salman Rushdie gets a few words on book reviewing in between jokes on The Colbert Report. I like Colbert’s solution to finding good books: if it’s good, he featured it on his show.
Like Coffee to Lutherans
G.E. Veith notes the film industry will further ruin the movie rating system by raising the ratings for smoking. Commenter Organshoes said characters in some of the old films smoked a lot. “Cigarettes were offered to guests like coffee to Lutherans.”
Does the movie rating system help you when choosing something to watch?
Promising Documentary on American Colleges
What do you think about indoctrination? I’m all for it and plan to indoctrinate my children in my worldview for as long as I can. It will look like education the older they get, but as I endeavor to know the truth, I will pass it on to them.
American colleges don’t claim to follow my pattern for their students. They claim to promote freedom and the bold exchange of ideas. It’s about education for them, but in a new documentary, Evan Coyne Maloney shines light on what education means on campus. My guess is Indoctrinate U. will show how liberalism undermines its own principles. I don’t know when I will be able to see this film, but I’m sure it’s worth seeing.
Books What Should Not Be Wrote
Books that shouldn’t be, according to Peter Feld: MySpace for Dummies. Has anyone bought this book, and if so, have they used it as intended?
Books like this make the statistic on how many books are published in America less scary. I’m sure 20% of the annually published books in this country are stuff like this, and why should I complain? I don’t lose money on them.
Is Christianity Good for the World?
Authors Douglas Wilson (pro) and Christopher Hitchens (con) debate Christianity. Excerpt:
Hitchens: “the ‘Golden Rule’ is much older than any monotheism, and that no human society would have been possible or even thinkable without elementary solidarity (which also allows for self-interest) between its members.”
Wilson: “The Christian faith cannot credit itself for all that ‘Love your neighbor’ stuff, not to mention the Golden Rule, and the reason for this is that such moral precepts have been self-evident to everybody throughout history who wanted to have a stable society.”
Chattanooga Talespin Festival
This weekend, Chattanooga is hosting several storytellers for a kind of celebration of life in story. You won’t get a firsthand account from me though. I’ll be at home, maybe spinning my own stories.
Dick Staub on writing and culture
Dick Staub, author of The Culturally Savvy Christian, was interviewed on Moody Radio last night. Here’s the audio. It begins with a brief discussion of why Staub choose an American Booksellers Association publisher over an Association for Christian Retail publisher.