Brian's Life

Five Favorite Books of 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 22:28:00 +0000

Here are my favorite five books I read in 2009. They're not necessarily the best-selling books, the funniest, or even the most engrossing - just the ones that I liked the best at the end of the year. In no particular order:

Adopted for Life - Russell Moore

The theology, ecclesiology, and practical

aspects of adoption, all wrapped up in an intensely personal story. Everyone - especially Christians - should read.

Thoughts for Young Men - J.C. Ryle

Honest, frank, and deep little book from an old Anglican bishop to the young men in his congregation. I worked through this with the high school guys at my church this Fall.

The Minutemen and their World - Robert Gross

Why did the Minutemen of Concord fire the first shots of the American Revolution? This book seeks to understand their reasons in light of the history of the people of the town, not just the immediate "no taxation without representation" business.

O Pioneers! - Willa Cather

I heart Willa Cather. You meet engaging, down-to-earth characters (as if they were people you've known for a long time) and explore the beauties of the land. The stories are never fantastical, but always intriguing enough to grip your heart even after you're done.

The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien

3rd time is a charm. Once when I was 14, once when I was 19, and now again. I think I like LOTR more this time for two reasons: I've grown up, and just feel more keenly the moral weight of it, and second, I've grown to love the land in fiction. And Tolkien does that just about as well as anyone else.

Please, take a few minutes and share your favorite books of the year with me. I'd love to hear from you.

iTunes Holiday Sampler

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:24:00 +0000

For those of you who don't know, iTunes gives away 2-4 songs for FREE every Tuesday. Their selections reflect a really broad range of musical styles, so chances are that you'll find something you like every couple weeks.

For those of you who like Christmas music, this week, they're actually giving away 20 free songs on the "iTunes Holiday Sampler." Just go to iTunes main "Store" page, and you should be able to locate it pretty easily.

Enjoy

Now that's "Reporting from the field."

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:21:00 +0000

Thoughtful Soccer

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 18:53:00 +0000

I think most people would find this video funny. Or, maybe it will just be those who are interested in philosophical/theological topics.

Or, maybe I'm alone, and I'm just a nerd...

Time's Top 50 Websites of 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 01:48:00 +0000

Time Magazine has just released its Top 50 Websites of 2009.

If you want to find out about some really cool websites - everything from music, to cooking, to astronomy, to traveling - then you should check this out. But be prepared; once you start looking, you may on the net for a while!

Correction on Chick-fil-a

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 14:52:00 +0000

Correction - your shirt does NOT have to be NCAA, just your favorite sports team. I'm pretty sure that it can be any college, any pro team, etc.

That should help some of you out.

Free Chick-fil-a

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 12:57:00 +0000

For you Chick-fil-a lovers out there (and really, how could you not be), if you got to www.chickenwave.com, sign up, and then (I think) show up on Labor Day wearing NCAA apparel, it will earn you a free chicken sandwich.

It sounds a little complicated, and it may be. My guess is that they're doing it on purpose because of what happened last year. They gave away 3 free chicken strips to ANYONE who came into a store in NCAA apparel, and then proceeded to lose quite a bit of money from handing out free food to a bagillion people all day.

Classical Guitar meets Michael Jackson

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 01:04:00 +0000

I don't care whether you like Michael Jackson or not. This is cool.

Incidentally, I'm a fan of quite a few of Jackson's songs, particularly this one.

Remembering Hiroshima

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 21:16:00 +0000

Remembering the 100,000 innocent men, women, and children who died in Hiroshima sixty-four years ago.

Old Pics of Jonathan

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 19:09:00 +0000

A couple weeks ago, some very dear people send us pictures of Jonathan from his first 20 months of life, before we got him. They are family of Wayne, the man who kept Jonathan for most of those 20 months.

Of course, I know all about adoption from the adopted end. But, it's really odd to be on the adopting end, and realize that you've never seen what your son looked like before you got him, that he had a whole life going on before you met.

Here are a couple pictures for fun:

He still makes that face!

Christian Providentialist History at its finest

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 19:41:00 +0000

Current Christian Providentialist History bothers me to no end. Now, I'm not talking about the belief that a providential God directs all of history; I believe that.

I'm talking about Americans who try to teach that America is or ever has been God's chosen nation (which it hasn't). Or Americans who teach that most of the founders of the Republic in 1776 or 1787 were orthodox Christians themselves (which they weren't). Or those who believe those same founders were doing everything they could to establish an avowedly Christian nation (which they weren't).

Now, it's no secret I disagree with this providentialist view of American history. However, I respect people who do honest historical research and come to different conclusions than I do. What I don't respect are people like David Barton who purposefully tamper with documents to make founders like John Adams sound like they are orthodox Christians, when in fact, they claim just the opposite (Adams openly rejected the doctrines of the Trinity, the deity of Christ, the substitutionary atonement, and many other doctrines that all orthodox Christians have always believed).

I also don't respect the guy in this story. Basically, this man - Terry Kemple - has decided to put billboards up all over his county with quotations from founders of the republic. These quotations all have something to do with the importance of religion in American society. If he wants to put up quotations like this, with his own money, that's his business.

But the problem comes with this: He put up one billboard which cites George Washington saying, "It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible."

One minor problem - George Washington never said that. The greater problem - Kemp KNOWS Washington never said this. Read Kemple's response when asked about this:

"I don't believe there's a document in Washington's handwriting that has those words in that specific form," Kemple said. "However, if you look at Washington's quotes, including his farewell address, about the place of religion in the political sphere, there's no question he could have said those exact words."

Are you kidding me?! Let me get this straight: you think U.S. politics has thrown off its Christian heritage. So, in order to get it back into the public-political square, we should flat-out lie about the past, as long as it supports our agenda.

That sounds so...unchristian.

P.S. - George Washington is one of my heroes...and I don't hate America.

Saving the Perfect Game

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:32:00 +0000

Yesterday, White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle threw a perfect game. For you non-baseball fans out there, that's when a pitcher throws for all nine innings without allowing a single hit or walk. That's a big deal. To put it into perspective, it's only the 18th perfect game EVER thrown in Major League Baseball.

Of course, a pitcher can't do it by himself. Check out this video of Dewayne Wise saving the perfect game in the 9th inning, with only three outs left.

Very cool.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. - Professor/Robber?

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 20:55:00 +0000

Everyone see this news story?

Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., distinguished professor at Harvard University, and probably the most influential and powerful black scholar in U.S. History, was arrested at his home last week.

Why was he arrested?

Because he was black. Call my cynical, but that's just how I see it.

Here are some facts: He came home to Cambridge, MA, from a trip to China to find his door jammed. He and his driver had to give it a good shove to get inside. A few minutes later, the police showed up, responding to a neighbors' report that two black men with backpacks were trying to break into his house (seriously, his long-time neighbor didn't recognize him? Give me a break).

When the office got there, confrontation ensued. Stories differ from this point on, but basically, the officer assumed that Gates was breaking in. Even after Gates showed the officer his IDs (a Massachusetts drivers's license and his Harvard ID), the office arrested him for disorderly conduct. Gates spent a few hours in jail, complete with mug shot.

Seriously?!!! I shouldn't be surprised. I've never been arrested, but the same kind of racial-profiling nonsense has happened to me, and it's been happening in our country since its inception. Blacks have always received it, as have Indians. The Irish immigrants got it in the early-19th century, Italians and southeastern Europeans in the mid-to-late-19th century, Chinese immigrants in the early-20th, Germans during World War I, Japanese and Germans during World War II, and most recently, anyone who looked anything like someone from the Middle East post-9/11.

Sad, just sad.

God is invisible, but what about his car?

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 19:11:00 +0000

After putting Jonathan down for a nap, I had to go back in his room. He was screaming because of monsters (I still don't know if he's honestly scared, or if he's using the monster-scheme to get me in there. It could be either).

Either way, I comforted him, and told him that the monsters aren't real. Here was our short conversation:

"Who is real?" I asked.
Jonathan immediately replied, "God. Mommy and Daddy."
"Are monsters real?" I asked.
"No."
"Good, son."
"See God?"
I was ready for that one: "No, son, we cannot see God. He is invisible and infinite," I assured him. "But He watches over you, and he sent us Jesus so that we could better understand Him."

After about five seconds, during which I could tell he was really thinking about something, he asked, "See God's car?"

That kid loves cars. Since he thinks my 2000 Pontiac Grand Am is cool, I'm sure he was thinking, if God is that big, He must have a totally awesome ride.
.

Over-spiritualizing is really unspiritual

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:27:00 +0000

I found this comic today, which made me have all kinds of funny and unfortunate memories:

Don't get me wrong - it's not that drinking coffee can't be spiritual. After all, the Apostle Paul tells us that whether we eat, or drink, or whatever we do, we should do it to the glory of God. So, drinking coffee with a friend, done to the glory of God, can be a spiritual act of eternal significance.

But, it's also ok to just like some good coffee. It's ok to just like a book because it awoke some deep emotion in you, and you really don't know why. It's ok to have a conversation about sports over the dinner table.

When I was at DBU, there was a group of students on campus that my friends and I dubbed the "psycho-Calvinists." We didn't call them this because they were Calvinists. After all, my friends and I were all either already Calvinists ourselves or were on our ways there. I found out later that there were lots more budding Calvinists on campus than I ever knew, but many were closet-Calvinists because they didn't want to be associated with the psycho-Calvinists.

We called them this, because no matter where we were or what we were doing, all these people wanted to talk about was Calvinistic theology (usually double predestination, the multiple meanings of the love of God, or some other Calvinesque topic). We couldn't just sit at the lunch table and talk about English class, or the weather, or our love for Arminius (that's what we call a boring theological joke). Their forcing us to overspiritualize every topic of conversation made life very annoying, tedious, and frankly, unspiritual. And last time I checked, those are not enjoyable or profitable adjectives.

This is no call for thoughtlessness, just an apologetic for being able to enjoy the life God has given us. And Christians of all people should learn how to do that.

A President's Note

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:28:00 +0000

Remember those times in your school years when you had to bring a doctor's note back to class to prove to your teacher that you weren't absent? Really annoying.

Well, Kennedy Corpus made it a much less annoying, much cooler experience: Here's her note:

In case you can't read it, it says:

To Kennedy's teacher:

Please excuse Kennedy's absence...She's with me.

Barack Obama

That's cool, and totally worth missing your last day of school in 4th grade.

What did you say?!

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 21:20:00 +0000

Almost every time Jonathan gets hurt, he comes up to me and says, "Daddy, kiss [insert hurt body part here] please," as he points to where he got hurt.

Yesterday, he tripped over something while walking backwards. After a short cry, he walked up to me, and with his sad little face said, "Daddy, kiss my booty please."

Proof that language is more about meaning than it is about the actual words.

Martin Luther and Literature

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 12:48:00 +0000

Just when I thought Martin Luther couldn't get any cooler (ok, I never really thought that), I find this quotation from a letter he wrote to a friend in 1523:

"I am persuaded that without knowledge of literature pure theology cannot at all endure, just as heretofore, when letters [literature] have declined and lain prostrate, theology too, has wretchedly fallen and lain prostrate; nay, I see that there has never been a great revelation of the Word of God unless he has first prepared the way by the rise and prosperity of languages and letters, as though they were John the Baptists. . . . Certainly it is my desire that there shall be as many poets and rhetoricians as possible, because I see that by these studies, as by no other means, people are wonderfully fitted for the grasping of sacred truth and for handling it skillfully and happily."

Did you get that? Theology won't endure without literature, because it is through things like fiction that people begin to grasp deep truths which they otherwise might not pick up in systematic theology books.

If I knew how to insert a little heart, I would write I [heart] Martin Luther. But I can't, so I won't.

An Irony of the "Christian Nation" claim

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 21:13:00 +0000

I like this post I found. Sums up a good irony that I completely agree with:

James F. McGrath, Associate Professor of Religion at Butler University, Indianapolis, nails the problem with the "Christian Nation" thesis as articulated by David Barton and many others who like to proclaim that the United States was founded as a Christian nation and has, only of late, become secularist and against Christianity:

"It seems unlikely that at any point in the past the vast majority of inhabitants of the United States were devout Christians with a personal faith, as opposed to nominal Christians for whom their Christianity consisted largely of a "tribal identity" including churchgoing and assenting to some doctrinal beliefs and moral precepts.

Does it not seem ironic, then, that the notion of American having once been a "Christian nation", and nostalgia for that bygone golden age, is found largely among Evangelicals, those very Christians who emphasize the need for a personal faith, and the inadequacy of a Christianity that consists merely of church attendance, denominational affiliation, or even moral living?

Am I missing something? Why would the very Christians who deny the adequacy of such nominal Christianity today, depict its heyday as a sort of golden age for American Christianity?"

There never was a "golden age" in American History when the nation was somehow truly Christian. Maybe there was a lot more church attendance, and there was certainly a time in the not-too-distant past when more people lived more outwardly moral lives. But that doesn't mean the nation was more Christian. It just means that they went to church more, behaved better in the civic squre, and kept more of their personal sins in private for fear of public shame.

This nation has probably not ever been much more, or much less, genuinely Christian than it is now.

Birthday Coming Up!

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 20:48:00 +0000

Get the John Calvin birthday clock at Calvin 500

Lion and the Lamb...sort of

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Sat, 30 May 2009 03:21:00 +0000

Here's a really great short video I ran across today. It really brings the Biblical idea of lions and lambs, someday, lying down together in peace. What I like about that image isn't just that the two animals aren't fighting (which is great), but that they will actually repose together in peace. As everyone knows, there's a HUGE difference between simply not fighting, on one hand, and being at peace.

I look forward to a day when this will be the same with humans, when we won't be so ridiculously prejudiced, unnecessarily segregated, and constantly suspicious; when we will repose in peace together.

Reason # 87 Francis Schaeffer was cool.

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Wed, 27 May 2009 02:04:00 +0000

This is a cool story about Francis Schaeffer, one of the great minds, servants, and apologists of the faith in the 20th Century:

"In 1966 I joined Operation Mobilization for a year of ministry in France, but spent two years in India instead. While in London that summer, at the one-month OM orientation, I volunteered to work on a clean-up crew late one night.

Around 12:30am I was sweeping the front steps of the Conference Centre when an older gentleman approached and asked if this was the OM conference. I told him it was, but most everyone was in bed.

He had a small bag with him and was dressed very simply. He said he was attending the conference, so I said, "Let me see if I can find you a place to sleep." Since there were many different age groups at OM, I thought he was an older OM’er.

I took him to the room where I had been sleeping on the floor with about 50 others and, seeing that he had nothing to sleep on, laid some padding and a blanket on the floor and used a towel for a pillow. He said it would be fine and he appreciated it very much.

As he was preparing for bed, I asked him if he had eaten. He had not as he had been travelling all day. I took him to the dining room but it was locked. So after picking the lock I found cornflakes, milk, bread, butter and jam—all of which he appreciated very much.

As he ate, we began to fellowship. I asked where he was from. He said he and his wife had been working in Switzerland for several years in a ministry mainly to hippies and travellers. It was wonderful to talk with him and hear about his work and those who had come to Christ. When he finished eating, we turned in for the night.

However, the next day I was in trouble! The leaders of OM really "got on my case." "Don't you know who that man is on the floor next to you?" they asked. "It is Dr. Francis Schaeffer, the speaker for the conference!"

I did not know they were going to have a speaker, nor did I know who Francis Schaeffer was, nor did I know they had a special room prepared for him!

After Francis Schaeffer became well known because of his books, and I had read more about him, I thought about this occasion many times—this gracious, kind, humble man of God sleeping on the floor with OM recruits! This was the kind of man I wanted to be."

Incidentally, reason #86 he was cool is that he created the place that served as my vacation/road-trip home for a month in the Summer of 2004.

The Case of the Elusive Pillowcase

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Mon, 25 May 2009 12:12:00 +0000

Eight months ago, my wife kindly made a new pillowcase for me. One of the pillows I sleep with is a four-foot body pillow, which is great for wrapping around and relieving some back pain. The problem: every year, when the winter comes, I really don't feel like wrapping around a cold pillow.

Janelle solved this dilemna for me by making me a flannel pillowcase. Very comfy. As winter came to a close in Bryan, TX (I think that was back in mid-January...), I began to look for my old pillowcase. After all, nobody wants to wrap around a flannel pillowcase when it's 80 degrees outside, with a humidity of 1 billion percent.

But I couldn't find my old pillowcase. I looked in the linen closet. I looked in drawers and the under-the-bed storage boxes. I started looking for it in weird places (maybe it got stuffed in the couch, or or behind the blender?).

Last night, I was getting ready for bed, once-again mourning over my lost pillowcase. The body pillow had gotten all bunched-up and out of place, so I picked it up to shake it and even it out. And as I picked it up, I felt a strange mass at the bottom of the pillowcase. No. I can't be. But I knew it was.

I found my long-lost pillowcase - in my pillowcase. For months, it had been hiding from me, thwarting my search attempts and preventing me from having temperature-comfortable sleep. But I vow that it shan't happen again!

Now, I wonder where I put my David Crowder cd...

Corrective Tract for the Prosperity Gospel

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 02:15:00 +0000

Doesn't all this talk of "your best life now" and "prosperity will follow faith" seem absolutely ludicrous when it's seen in any context other than the rich, self-absorbed, 21st-century Western world?

Anniversary of the Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

noreply@blogger.com (Brian) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 18:59:00 +0000

Tomorrow, April 4, marks the 41st anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Life magazine has published thirteen never-before-seen photos that were taken later in the day, after the murder.

These are some powerful pictures. You can find them here.