Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (Psalm 119:105 ESV) They received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. (Acts 17:11 ESV) In 2007 I used a reading schedule designed to get me through the Bible in a year. …
Month: December 2007
Today is the winter solstice, but it has been winter for a while already
Today is the winter solstice---the shortest day of the year---but by some definitions, it has been winter for a few weeks already. The meteorological definition of winter is that it is the coldest three months in temperate zones, that is, December, January, and February in the Northern Hemisphere. Alternately, it could be defined as starting …
Continue reading Today is the winter solstice, but it has been winter for a while already
For the Beauty of the Earth — Chapter 7
In Chapter 7 of For the Beauty of the Earth, author Steven Bouma-Prediger gives ten arguments for why we should "worry about spotted owls and the Pacific yew." All of his arguments have validity to some degree---the author points out weaknesses of some arguments---but I'll focus on the ones that I think are strongest for …
Pop vs Soda
I like to have meaningful conversations at the dinner table---we are usually all together for the meal---but often I have little control over where the conversation ends up. Tonight we got back to the "pop" versus "soda" discussion that we have fruitlessly gotten into many times before. Shirley and I both grew up drinking "pop," …
Pinching Pennies
You hear in the news that the dollar continues to decline against the euro. So what? From Christianity Today: The dollar's falling value translates into a pay cut for many American missionaries, who receive funding for their work from church and denominational budgets and from the gifts of supporting Christians. According to the U.S. Center …
Denominations in the U.S.
This item was originally posted in December 2006. It is now part of my blog recycling program. Because I have new readers of The GeoChristian, I will occasionally go back and re-use some of my favorite blog entries. The Map Gallery of Religion in the United States has maps showing the distribution of various religious …
Free Bach
Free Bach organ works: http://www.blockmrecords.org/bach/ http://www.bach-fest.org/podcast.aspx#Schmidt I haven't listened to organ music much in the past, but this stuff is growing on me. For one that you have heard, try "Toccata & Fugue in D Minor BWV 565" from the second site (www.bach-fest.org). Thanks to: Cyberbrethren Grace and Peace
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
Forget "White Christmas" and "Miracle on 34th Street." THE movie to watch for Christmas is "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians." (click for the movie at Google video) The Wikipedia article says this film "regularly appears on lists of the worst films ever made." It is so bad it is actually fun to watch. Internet Movie …
Wisdom from Sally Brown
I was looking for a quote from the "Peanuts" character Sally Brown. These are from her reports written for school: When writing about Church History, we have to go back to the very beginning. Our Pastor was born in 1930. This is my report on Rain. Rain is water which does not come out of …
A Montana Native’s Perception of New York City
A couple days ago I commented (click here) on a map of Montana printed by The New Yorker Magazine. (I got the map from Strange Maps). Those Easterners know that Montana has everything from militia groups to radical environmentalists, but they didn't know what part of the state to put them in. I was thinking …
Continue reading A Montana Native’s Perception of New York City
Prince Caspian trailer
The movie trailer for "Prince Caspian" can be found here. I'm looking forward to it; Disney did a good job of remaining faithful to the Christian elements of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. At the opposite end, Albert Mohler comments on the intensely anti-Christian fantasy "The Golden Compass" (which I will not bother …
Following Jesus
From the introduction to The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer: When the Bible speaks of following Jesus, it is proclaiming a discipleship which will liberate mankind from all man-made dogmas, from every burden and oppression, from every anxiety and torture which afflicts the conscience. If they follow Jesus, men escape from the hard yoke …
A different map of Montana
A few weeks ago I commented on the new geologic map of Montana. A beautiful work of art. Strange Maps has a map called Montana: The gorgeous mosaic: This map, from The New Yorker Magazine, is proof from once again that Easterners know nothing about Montana. The "obsessed environmentalists" are really concentrated around Missoula, in …
HIV/AIDS: A.B.C., S.L.O.W., or S.T.O.P.?
Christianity Today has an article on Kay Warren's framework for fighting HIV/AIDS. (Kay Warren is the Wife of Purpose Driven Life author Rick Warren). The article is HIV/AIDS: S.L.O.W. It Down, or S.T.O.P. It? The approach that has been promoted by many Christians in places like Africa is ABC --- A -- Abstinence B -- …
Divorce is bad for the environment
Divorce is bad for the soul. Divorce is bad for the children. Divorce is bad for the environment too. Headline on Yahoo News: Mother Nature feels the pain of divorce. Divorce can be bad for the environment. In countries around the world divorce rates have been rising, and each time a family dissolves the result …
For the Beauty of the Earth — Chapter 6
Chapter 6 of For the Beauty of the Earth by Steven Bouma-Prediger is "What kind of people ought we be?" In this chapter, the author develops seven ecological virtues: 1. Act so as to preserve diverse kinds of life. Biodiversity is an intended result of God's wise and orderly creative activity. Creatures exist to praise …
Unirii Day 2007
December 1 was the Romanian national holiday, Unirii Day, celebrating the unification of Transylvania with the rest of Romania at the end of World War I in 1918. The biggest celebration in Romania was at Piata Unirii (Unification Square), a twenty minute walk from our apartment. The highlight was the lighting of the "largest Christmas …
Feline diet program
Cat survives 19 days with jar on head
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