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by on 5.20.14

awkward!

I don’t know if my American friends can see this video, its an interview by a Canadian TV personality, George Stroumboulopoulos. I can’t stand George and I’m not a huge fan of the Prince, but I was a good deal put off by the beginning of the interview.

The way it appeared to me, Strombo, as they are sitting down, unexpectedly sticks out his hand to the Prince, expecting to shake hands. Prince Charles appears not to notice at first, then, to spare George embarrassment, reaches out and shakes his hand.

It might be just me, but I seem to recall that you just don’t do that… If you meet a royal and they initiate a handshake, it’s all good. But we commoners keep our hands to ourselves otherwise. At least … that’s the way I think it is supposed to be done.

I am sure on-air interviews aren’t easy, for interviewee or interviewer. But wouldn’t George have been briefed on protocol before he sat down with the Prince? Or is he just completely clueless? (I tend to think the latter.)

Filed Under: Canada, General Interest, Monarchy
by on 5.8.14

May God bless Steve Pettit

I am pleased that my good friend Steve Pettit has taken on the post of president at our mutual alma mater, Bob Jones University. Steve and I were in seminary together, shared many classes, not the least of which was “Snack Shop Theology” where we would hash over what we learning during breaks between classes.

I call him a good friend, and so I consider him, though our ministries have been miles apart and we have not crossed paths frequently since graduation. There are some points of practice where he and I might not see completely eye to eye, but Steve is a good man and will be a strong leader for BJU, something that has been sorely needed for some time.

I am sure he will receive the occasional “what in the world is going on” kind of letter from me as both of his predecessors did. But, still, I think he is a good choice and I wish him all the best.

It is interesting to me that another mutual friend told me this was going to be the choice back in March. I don’t know when the final decision was made, but my buddy surely had the goods on this one at that time.

Filed Under: Uncategorized
by on 4.24.14

we’re not comfortable, so here’s a statement about something

Interesting development at NIU. Daniel Patz produced a response to the alarm raised over the woman preaching in the NIU chapel the other day. I am not quite sure how to characterize this. Apology? Damage control? “Sorry if you’re offended?”

Perhaps some reaction to whatever it is might be helpful. It is not that I think you need the benefit of my opinion, but rather that issues of complementarianism/egalitarianism have long been an interest of mine. I’ve debated the issues at length on an old forum sponsored at one time by the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. (One thing we should say – the names for this issue are most unwieldy – too bad they couldn’t have come up with something more catchy!) This particular instance reveals the weak side of many professing complementarians – when push comes to shove, they will weasel around.

I am quoting the statement in its entirety, but will interact paragraph by paragraph. I provide the link above so readers can verify that I am quoting the statement entirely in its form as copied from the linked site on 2014.4.24.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Complementarianism, Issues
by on 4.22.14

Woman preaching at NIU?

That’s what this looks like.

Sad.

Filed Under: Complementarianism, Gender, Issues, Worldliness
by on 4.17.14

here’s a breathless announcement

It is a bit bigger and somewhat colder, but a planet circling a star 500 light-years away is otherwise the closest match of our home world discovered so far, astronomers announced on Thursday.

This comes from Scientists Find an ‘Earth Twin,’ or Perhaps a Cousin in the New York Times.

Here is something that bothers me in this story, and in some of the pronouncements of astronomer’s in general. The way this is reported, it sounds like they know for sure that what they saw is 1) a planet; 2) of a certain size; 3) orbiting a Sol-like star; 4) orbiting in the ‘habitable zone’ of that star. All of these pronouncements are stated matter-of-fact-like.

Yet what do they really know?

[Read more…]

Filed Under: General Interest, Science, Space
by on 4.17.14

clever spam

What do you think of this one?

Was given a copy of a Book & Bible from a group of people who comes from the Mormon church and days later we decided to start reading it. Hope we are not going to be misled and are been led into error that will send us to hell forever ?
Please are the teaching from the Mormon (Church of Jesus Christ Latter Days Saint) in line with the Bible and the Word of God?
PLEASE HELP ME & MY FAMILY OUT!

Brother Mike Okiji & family
Room 2b No 4 Okiba village Road,
% P.O.Box 982
B/City, Edo State, Nigeria

This showed up in my inbox today, totally missed Google’s filters. The addressee is the same Yahoo address as the sender. My address is presumably in a BCC.

If you get something like this, and are tempted to reply… don’t! You are just confirming your address as “live” to some despicable human beings.

don_sig2

Filed Under: Blogosphere, General Interest
by on 4.16.14

settled science?

A thought struck me while reading George Jonas’ rambling column, Challenging ‘settled science’. He is mostly talking about global warming / climate change.

You are aware, of course, that many conservatives are not very convinced of global warming. They regularly debunk those who claim it is true. The science, according to them, is far from settled.

I happen to think they are right on this point, but doesn’t it strike you as odd that most of those who doubt climate science are also certain that evolutionary theory is ‘settled science’. They are open minded when it comes to the weather, but they have no time whatever for an alternative view of evolution.

Kind of ironic, no?

don_sig2

Filed Under: Science
by on 4.11.14

uncertainty

One of the plagues of our day is the softening of orthodoxy among Bible-believers. I wonder how we came to this.

Kevin Bauder posted an essay recently where he discusses Bob Jones Jr, among other things. He has this to say about Dr. Bob:

Whatever else Bob Jones may have been, he was never timid. He had a tender side alright, but (and I mean none of this to be derogatory) he was a vigorous, robust, confident, assertive, tenacious, resilient, square-jawed, straight-backed, tough-as-nails, heavy-duty, industrial strength, hardnosed, bull moose, larger-than-life, uncompromising fundamentalist leader who most definitely did not suffer fools gladly. He was the captain of his team, the general of his armies, the chieftain of his tribe, the commander of his troops, the admiral of his fleet, and the master of his domain.

Having known and loved Dr. Bob, I would say that this description is pretty well accurate. Dr. Bob was not shy about his convictions. He was also as warm-hearted as a man could be, at least in my experience. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Blogosphere, Issues, Personalities
by on 3.6.14

this may seem like heresy

But why are we concerned about Crimea?

I get that it’s Russia, and by default we should be anti-Russky. I get that it’s Putin and he gives us all the creeps. I get that guns are involved and that means, you know, IT CAN’T BE RIGHT!

But here are some facts: [Read more…]

Filed Under: General Interest, Politics
by on 1.23.14

affirmative action

Affirmative action is an old story, an old issue. It used to be much talked of, but I think even liberals got tired of it. Lately, however, I have heard some Christians espousing the need for affirmative action for churches and Christian institutions to redress past wrongs. Some of my Christian friends, who once (and might still) considered themselves politically conservative are applauding these statements.

It is more than astonishing to see this. It is as if we suddenly turned into liberal parrots, mindlessly repeating left wing talking points. This is just wrong. Affirmative action has high sounding motivations, but it fails on many levels, not the least of which are Scriptural levels.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Issues, Racism
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