Best thank-you ever

I taught an economics lesson for a 4th grade class at the school where my wife is a librarian.  I combined some old Junior Achievement lessons and did a chocolate chip cookie taste test.  I explained a lot of financial and decision making principles along the way, and we discussed how advertising works and what we can do [...]

Evil

I think the existence of evil in the world does more to prove God’s existence than to disprove it (see this for more on that idea).
Some consider the existence of evil as proof that a loving God doesn’t exist.  But while such philosophical discussions are important, there is an element of silliness to it.  If I [...]

Buddhists make lousy postmoderns

Buddhism has an eightfold path which should be followed when trying to avoid and reduce suffering.

Right View
Right Thinking
Right Mindfulness
Right Speech
Right Action
Right Diligence
Right Concentration
Right Livelihood

Sounds kinda dogmatic and preachy to me.  There are a whole lot of truth claims there. 
Not that there is anything wrong with that.  It just shows that Christians aren’t the only ones [...]

The worst church growth program ever?

A comment on the Yoko Ono post referred to this portion of Acts, and I wanted to clarify a few things.  It relates to how believers treated their possessions in the early church.  It could be called “the worst church growth program ever.” (I’m kidding, of course.  The church grew dramatically even with this not-so-seeker-sensitive approach.)
Acts 4:32-5:11
The Believers [...]

If you live in the NW Houston and like fine arts . . .

OK, this might qualify as a niche post, but the Houston Repertoire Ballet is performing a variety of pieces at the Tomball High School auditorium on Saturday, April 26.  It is a mix of a classical ballet, a few contemporary pieces and a storybook piece that little ones will love.
My daughters have various roles and two of [...]

Imagine no possessions . . . except hyper-strictly enforced copyrights

First she ruins the Beatles, and now this. 
I am starting to wonder if the EXPELLED producers are some kind of evil-super geniuses a la President Bush.  How else could they provoke people to give them all this free publicity?  Seriously, the fair use doctrine is not that complicated.
EXPELLED Producers to Yoko Ono: Let it Be
(Dallas, [...]

Weekly roundup

 The debate Richard Dawkins would like to forget.
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Nancy Pelosi promised that the Democrats had a common sense plan to reduce gas prices.  They have gone up $1.18 since then.  McCain and the Congressional Republicans should send her a thank-you note.
She has also been running around with fake Bible quotes.  I’m used to politicians misquoting it, [...]

Hyperbole gone mad

I realize that part of the New Atheist approach is to crank up the volume on old arguments, so some of what we hear from Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, etc. is not a big surprise.  But some of their arguments and those of their followers, are so over the top that they lose credibility. 
At an atheist [...]

Will the Methodists learn from the Episcopals?

I really hope they do.
Kudos to the local church that is leaving the Episcopal denomination.
From an “orthodox” point of view, [Rev.] Gerber said, “The culture has begun to influence the church, rather than the church influencing the culture.”
I wish them well and hope they thrive in their new surroundings.
Now if the Methodists could just learn [...]

Honduras!

I was disappointed that my oldest daughter and I couldn’t go on a mission trip to Kenya this year because of the political instability there.  We’re praying that things will settle down and that we can go next year. 
I’ve been looking for other possibilities but with summer ballet camps (uh, for the girls, not me) and all [...]

Stuff

I broke up the blogroll into various sections for easier navigating.  Enjoy!
I also added a category for Favorites (my favorite posts, not necessarily the most viewed).
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My wife went to a librarian conference last week, so I was on my own.  When your kids are in High School and can drive themselves to school and ballet [...]

The Day of Silence

The Day of Silence (where schools encourage kids to be completely silent for a day to protest alleged discrimination against gays) is back, and students’ rights are being violated left and right.  It is bad enough that they disrupt the learning process for a whole day, but now some schools aren’t permitting students to miss school [...]

Weekly roundup

Be sure to go see Expelled.  Lots of good clips here.  It looks to be informative and a little funny.  If nothing else, just go so you’ll know what all the materialists are hyperventilating about.  I can’t remember when I’ve seen such unhinged-ness and whining.  They commit the genetic fallacy over and over and over, [...]

The greatest talent you never had?

I saw that question on another blog and thought it was worth asking here.  So what’s the greatest talent you never had?  Mine is easy: Singing.  Wish I could, but I can’t.  I’m assuming / hoping I’ll be a great singer when I get to Heaven, what with the glorified bodies and all.

Inner city schools and politics: Time for a change?

Verum Serum had a good post about graduation rates at inner city high schools: Roughly 50% !!  Read the whole thing. 
You can’t blame it on spending, because these schools often have much higher spending per pupil than well-performing schools.
You can’t blame it on the “backwards South,” because that stereotype doesn’t play out either.
Fact: Democrats have [...]

Three ways churches get it wrong

Churches may get it wrong on controversial topics such as abortion and homosexual behavior in three ways: (1) ignoring the topics, (2) teaching that they are not sins or (3)  saying / implying that they are unforgivable sins. 
1. Ignoring the topics - this is what my church has tended to do, although I’ve seen a little improvement.  The [...]