So then, the problem with ignorance is that when you don’t know, you frequently don’t know what it is you don’t know. A common trope among our leaders and pontificators is found in the phrase “the greatest national security threat we face is . . .” followed whatever it is they want us to be …
American Jesus
So I have written about American exceptionalism before, and so let me begin with a quick review of my take in the first paragraph. Taken one way, the notion is just ten more pounds of idolatrous silliness. Every great nation at the top of its game — and there have been lots — knows how …
Looking Forward to Another Year of Thotwas
Let’s pretend that you guys are stockholders, and I am giving you all a report, an end-of-year round up. How did Mablog do this year? More importantly, how did your stock perform relative to Mablog‘s performance? Well, the good news is that, since your current translucent stock was valued at the beginning of 2015 at …
Getting Off on the Right Foot for the New Year
No Kidding. 40 Years.
So today marks 40 years together with Nancy. It has been entirely a good business, largely owing to her good heart, good work ethic, good humor, good cooking, good sense, and good looks. That’s 14,600 lucky days for me, not factoring in the leap years. That many lucky days in a row. We had a …
7 Tips for Watching This Presidential Campaign
We are now five weeks out from the start of actual voting in Iowa. That being the case, and given that the field has been winnowed to fairly manageable proportions, I thought I should offer a few pointers to those observers who are having trouble tearing their eyes away from this slow-motion car-crash spectacle. 1. …
John Piper’s Saturday Night Special
In my response to John Piper’s post on guns, I alluded to some of the paradigmatic issues underlying the differences we have concerning what we should do with our guns — whether we should have them in the first place, and what direction we get to point them. One of the paradigmatic differences I mentioned …
Welcome the Child
One of the more notable features of the life of our Lord, as recorded in Scripture, is the fact that references to the outside world are overwhelmingly political. When Jesus was born, Augustus was Caesar (Luke 2:1) and Quirinius was governor of Syria (Luke 2:2). Herod the Great was ruler in Judea (Luke 1:5), and …
John Piper and Guns
So I see from the Internet that John Piper set off a flurry of reactions and responses to his gun post. I refer to the one in which he discouraged Christians from packing heat, you can imagine how that went over. For my readers in the UK, yes, this really is a thing. Some churches …
Mulled Cider, Mulled Thought
“Just as Christmas is a time of year when mulled cider is welcome, it is also a time when mulled thinking should happen as well. Thinking about Jesus, talking about Him, and reading about Him at the table throughout Advent, are good ways to fill your house with the right kind of smell” (God Rest …