INTRODUCTION: Thus far, we have considered the context of all child-rearing, the attitude underneath all child nurture, and the mechanics of discipline. We will finish this short series on loving little ones by addressing a miscellaneous collection of remaining issues. THE TEXTS: “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that …
Behind the Painted Scenery
“Real people are never cool; only their projected identities are. Smooth guys far too often have child support to pay. Fine dressers are often broke, party animals look a whole lot better at midnight than at four, and a lot of world-traveling backpackers are really just hiding from their parents” (Paul Grant, Blessed Are the …
William F. Buckley, R.I.P.
William F. Buckley went to be with the Lord yesterday, and I cannot let the moment pass without acknowledging, however inadequately, my many obligations to him. I attended high school in Ann Arbor, Michigan from 1968 to 1971, and those were, as some of you no doubt recall, zany times in a zany town. I …
And Is Catnip for Consumers
“Cool is the most powerful spiritual environment possible for advertisers” (Paul Grant, Blessed Are the Uncool, p. 18).
Odd Cousins
“American cool and American racism were born together and have grown up together. Cool as we know it was born in the shadowy intersection of black and white America” (Paul Grant, Blessed Are the Uncool, p. 16).
How Big a Problem is Porn?
Here is some good news, I guess, depending on how you look at it, but bear with me for a moment. I have long had trouble with people who try to encourage or alarm us with raw numbers alone. Raw numbers alone are often a very misleading part of the story. An example would be …
Discipline in Context
Yesterday’s sermon was third in a series on loving little children. You can find it here.
Cool and Uncool
“But what is cool anyway? For a passion so prominent in our hearts, we barely notice it, or think about it. We watch our tempers, we control our appetites, and we surrender our jealousies to God, but cool flies below our radar . . . I am defining cool as the private performance of rebellion …
Serious Filums
A few days ago I stumbled across a documentary on the trials of movie makers in dealing with Hollywood’s rating association, the one that supplies ratings for filums. I didn’t watch it long, and what I did watch was kind of choppy because the raunchy clips required channel-switching, but still it was quite informative. The …
That’s My Story, And I’m Sticking to It
“And through their arguing, the thing gets down into their spirits before it is thoroughly examined and understood. And once it gets down there, then it must be maintained” (Burroughs, Irenicum, p. 421).