Massachusetts Miracle

For all those Democrats (including the president) and pundits who somehow contend that the special election for "Ted Kennedy's seat" was not a referendum on Barack Obama and his policies, take a look at this ad from the Scott Brown campaign:

Murder Conviction in Tiller Shooting

There was no other verdict to reach. George Tiller enthusiastically engaged in the odious practice of late term abortion. But that did not justify murder.

Posted by Wesley J. Smith

Of Catchers and iPads

As I've become more involved in book publishing, I've become extra alert to trends and developments in the industry. Two stood out to me this week.

First was the death of J.D. Salinger, author of The Catcher in the Rye. As news of Salinger's death spread, sales of his depressing 1951 novel of alienation, which was required reading when I was in school, have skyrocketed on Amazon.com. My first thought, as an author, was, "Sure, the numbers go up when he's dead and unable to collect the royalties."

Second was Apple's introduction yesterday of the iPad, which stakes out new ground on the personal technology landscape, somewhere between the laptop and the iPhone. Of interest to me in book publishing is the device's foray into the e-books market. As someone who just a month ago made an investment in a perhaps now already obsolete Kindle reader by Amazon, I feel like I just bought the last eight-track tape player before they came out with cassette.

What does all this mean? Perhaps not much. Sales of Salinger's one-hit novel nearly six decades after its initial publication indicate that there will always be a market for people who write well and who have a powerful message. The possible supplanting of the Kindle, which is a great product, so soon after the introduction of its second generation indicates that we shouldn't get too wedded to the particular form of delivery. Books will survive, even if their covers continue to change.

Sarah Palin Weighs in on Tim Tebow Superbowl Ad

Posted by Stephanie Condon, CBS News

Former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is chiding women's rights groups for their stance on the anti-abortion ad featuring football player Tim Tebow that CBS plans to air during the Super Bowl.

My comment: Bravo to CBS for standing up for freedom of speech. Why is free speech OK for everyone except conservatives and Christians?

UPDATE: Here's a blog posting by CT's Mark Moring that has a hilarious exchange between Bill O'Reilly and an angry pro-choicer who wants to, in his words, "abort the ad."

Packer, Unpacked

Timothy George attempts to interpret the great 'theologizer.'

Reviewed by Christopher A. Castaldo

Podcast: The Crisis

John Wilson and Stan Guthrie discuss the latest by David Poyer, The Crisis: A Dan Lenson Novel.

2010 Christianity Today Book Awards

Judges whittled 472 submissions down to 12 winners.

Catholics Come Home?

One of America's many "former Catholics," now an evangelical pastor, considers the latest New Evangelization initiative.

By Chris Castaldo, author of Holy Ground

Podcast: A Closer Look at the Latest B&C

John Wilson and Stan Guthrie discuss the twists and turns you'll find therein.

On the Radio: Keeping the Faith

Here's my interview with John Blok of New Day Florida about Christianity Today's Web-only profile of Denzel Washington, "Keeping the Faith" (a link to which is here).

Archaeology: What an Ancient Hebrew Note Might Mean

Scholar says five lines of ancient script on a broken piece of pottery confirm Kingdom of Israel's existence in 10th century B.C. Others are cautious.

By Gordon Govier

Why the Great and Growing Backlash?

People heard his serial promises about airing the health-care debate on C-SPAN, his new-transparency/no-lobbyist vows, and his monotonous boasts to close down Guantanamo within a year. All that is now “inoperative.” The problem was not just that Obama made promises that he broke, but that he made them so frequently and so vehemently — and so cavalierly broke them. That brazen campaign deception is problematic for a politician, but proves fatal for a self-appointed messiah.

By Victor Davis Hanson

Faces from Haiti

Here is a photo based on the ministry of Samaritan's Purse in Haiti.

Long Live Organic Church!

But what do we do if the world isn't transformed?

By Mark Galli

Why Organic Church Is Not Exactly a Movement

If the driving force of any movement or phenomenon is not Jesus Christ, we are building castles in the air. A response to "Long Live the Organic Church."

By Frank Viola

Pentagon Whitewash

An Islamic terrorist was raised in the United States and given a pass throughout his professional career in the United States military. His allegiance was not to his country but to his radical religion. He told his colleagues of this again and again. He didn't set off signals, he set off sirens. And nothing was done.

By Bill Bennett

We Have a Dream

Keeping the Faith

Denzel Washington is more than just an Oscar-winning superstar. He's a Christian who's serious about his roles ... even when they get a bit bloody, like in the Book of Eli.

By Brett McCracken

Where Was God in the Earthquake?

A theological response to the Haitian calamity from Fleming Rutledge.

On the Radio: The Myth of the Perfect Parent

Here's my interview with John Blok of New Day Florida about Christianity Today's January cover piece, "The Myth of the Perfect Parent" (a link to which is posted on January 4).

Helping Haiti

The following comes from Mission Network News:

Subject: Help in Haiti

Hello Group Members:

I have received a couple of requests to include a list of trusted organizations who are working in Haiti. Here they are:

Compassion International - http://www.facebook.com/l/a4700;www.Compassion.com
GAIN-USA - http://www.facebook.com/l/a4700;www.GainUSA.org
Baptist Haiti Mission - http://www.facebook.com/l/a4700;www.bhm.org
For Haiti with Love - http://www.facebook.com/l/a4700;www.ForHaitiWithLove.org
Mission Aviation Fellowship - http://www.facebook.com/l/a4700;www.MAF.org
Food for the Hungry - http://www.facebook.com/l/a4700;www.fh.org
CURE International - http://www.facebook.com/l/a4700;www.HelpCureNow.org
Bright Hope International - http://www.facebook.com/l/a4700;www.BrightHope.org

These are organizations we trust and have a long standing relationship with. We will be adding others. So, please, help them if you can. Compassion International helps 63,000 kids and families in Haiti -- many of the Compassion staff are unaccounted for right now. Please pray for them.

Greg Yoder, Mission Network News

Another good organization is Samaritan's Purse. Hope you can help!

Unless You Repent

There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."

Luke 13:1-5, ESV

Make Mine Freedom

This cartoon from 1948 has a lot to say to our current circumstances.



HT: Mom and Dad

Podcast: Paul and Aristophanes; John McPhee; Kaiser Wilhelm, Czar Nicholas, and George V

Stan Guthrie and John Wilson talk about some fascinating characters.

Q & A: Brit Hume

The former news anchor for Fox News explains why he told Tiger Woods to turn to the Christian faith.

Interview by Sarah Pulliam Bailey

A Call for Moral Rearmament

The Church’s Role in Battling Radical Islam

By Stan Guthrie

During one of his recent trips to Europe, Barack Obama was asked about American exceptionalism, the belief that the United States is a special nation.

On the Radio: CT's Top 10 News Stories of 2009

Here's my interview with John Blok of New Day Florida about Christianity Today's top 10 news stories of 2009 (a link to which is posted below).

September 10 All Over Again

Question: What's the quickest way to gain the rights of a United States citizen?

Answer: Attempt to blow up a passenger jet in the cause of jihad.

That's a conclusion one can justifiably reach after reviewing the attempted Christmas Day destruction of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 and its aftermath.

After his capture, the Nigerian Muslim terrorist bragged that similar attacks sponsored by al Qaeda in Yemen were coming. Did the Obama administration drop its political posturing about waterboarding (and its plans to prosecute CIA agents who did so, thwarting other terrorist attacks) and use all necessary means to get vital information out of this thug to save American lives?

No, waterboarding is "torture," you see-never mind that the U.S. military has used this harsh and scary technique to harden its own troops. These anti-waterboarding people assured us that we could use other methods, such as befriending the terrorists during interrogation, to get more reliable intel than that produced under the duress of waterboarding or other rough tactics.

So did the administration at least use these kinder, gentler interrogation techniques? No again-at least not for long. Instead, with its September 10 mindset, the administration is treating this guy as a common criminal, giving him a lawyer, and presumably reading him his Miranda"rights." Presumably he has shut up now, foreclosing any possibility of getting the intel we need-unless he decides to cop a plea.

But why should he do that? Since it is now U.S. policy to ship large numbers of terrorists back to Yemen, perhaps he should just wait for his U.S.-taxpayer-provided return ticket. That makes about as much sense as the current policy.

Christianity Today Bible Study: The Myth of the Perfect Parent

Christianity Today Bible studies are available for download at ChristianBibleStudies.com. This one, "The Myth of the Perfect Parent," is based on an article in the January 2010 CT.

Christianity Today has graciously allowed me to post the studies I have written to this site, usually one or two a month. If you would like to use them for anything other than your own spiritual growth, I ask you to download them at the CT Bible study site mentioned above. You can go here to purchase the study for your group.

According to Leslie Leyland Fields in “The Myth of the Perfect Parent,” Bible-believing parents have imbibed the philosophy of John B. Watson, an early 20th-century psychologist who boasted he could train any child. Christians often follow the same kind of behaviorism, giving it a Christian veneer with selected Bible verses.

And yet many children in evangelical homes are not “turning out” the way we hope or expect. Plus, many biblical saints were either products of bad parenting or bad parents themselves. And if we judge God’s success as a parent by how his children turn out, then he doesn’t pass our test either. Our expectations of parenting are clearly off-kilter and need to be rethought.

Here is a link to the study for your personal, individual use. Your feedback is always welcome.

HT: Thanks to Mary DeMuth for allowing me to use this link.