Monday, April 26, 2010

The Vatman Cometh

With his dangerous overspending and laying the groundwork for a Value Added Tax, Barack Obama has changed the discourse from "How do we grow the economy?" to "How much can we raise taxes?" As the president prepares to shift responsibility for this growth- and job-killer to a "bipartisan deficit commission," he hopes we forget all about his campaign promise not to raise taxes on any but the wealthy. Hey, I guess we're all wealthy now.

PROGRAMMING NOTE: THIS BLOG HAS MOVED TO HTTP://STANGUTHRIE.COM. PLEASE UPDATE YOUR RECORDS AND MOVE TO THE BRAND NEW STAN GUTHRIE COMMUNICATIONS WEBSITE. THANKS! THIS BLOGSPOT SITE WILL BE SHUT DOWN SOON.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Overdog

Just when I was starting to warm up to the overdog Tiger Woods, the story broke, along with his SUV, of his serial infidelity. Now I don't want to root for Woods because I don't like him personally.

Many people, at least at Augusta, have no problem dichotomizing Tiger the golfer from Tiger the man. I do. Where is the line? Would we root for Jack the Ripper or Hitler if he could hit a clutch shot at the Masters?

Then again, we have no assurance that any of the other guys don't do exactly what Woods did ... or would if they could. Still, I feel golf as a gentlemen's game has lost something by all of this, and that's too bad. Tiger's no gentleman, and neither are we.

PROGRAMMING NOTE: This blog has moved to http://stanguthrie.com. Please update your records. Thanks!

Friday, April 09, 2010

On the Radio: Allah vs. Jesus

Here's my interview with John Blok of New Day Florida about my review of Between Allah and Jesus.

PROGRAMMING NOTE: This URL is being phased out. Please go to http://stanguthrie.com for all the usual Guthrie stuff, plus tons more!

Thursday, April 08, 2010

Stan Guthrie Communications Site Launched



Since October 2004 StanGuthrie.com has been parked on Blogger. Except for the last few weeks (when I was forced to give it a Blogspot address), there it has remained, basically unchanged. But times and needs change, and so must this website. This isn't the end, but a new beginning.

Today I'm excited to announce that StanGuthrie.com is moving to WordPress. While StanGuthrie.com remains the URL, the official name for the site is now Stan Guthrie Communications. This change reflects the broader mission of my business.

Since parting with Christianity Today last year, I have actively expanded my presence in book publishing as an author, coauthor, editor, podcaster, speaker, and literary agent. In addition, I continue to do journalism and public relations work.

The new StanGuthrie.com reflects this expanded mission. Besides remaining the home for my personal blog and Thought of the Day, the site is a one-stop shop of publishing news and information. StanGuthrie.com:

- more effectively promotes my business as a writer, editor, speaker, and agent;

- highlights my books;

- provides a live news feed on publishing and journalism;

- offers interesting facts and insights about publishing;

- allows you to hear (and in one case so far to see) podcasts, radio interviews, and some of my speeches; and

- serves as a gateway to tons of information about book publishing, journalism, and the Christian faith.


While the Stan Guthrie Communications site is unabashedly self-promotional, I believe it provides a real service to authors, publishers, and readers. You should expect to come away with something new after each time you visit.

And of course you will see why you should consider hiring me. The motto of the new site sums it up well (if I do say so myself):

Because Words Matter.

I will keep this current Blogger site up a while longer to ease the transition, but for new content, please go to StanGuthrie.com.

Thank you!

Wednesday, April 07, 2010

All That Jesus Asks

Preordering now available.


My new book, All That Jesus Asks: How His Questions Can Teach and Transform Us, will be available from Baker Books this fall. But you can preorder your copy from Amazon.com today. Just click here.

Here's a synopsis:

More books have been written about Jesus than any other historical figure. Many of these books ask and answer questions about Jesus. All That Jesus Asks allows him to do the asking and shows why getting the right answers will change your life.

Covering nearly 300 questions recorded in the New Testament under twenty-six separate themes, All That Jesus Asks uncovers who Jesus is by examining what was important to him and what he wants us to believe. This unique and comprehensive look at the greatest figure in history will encourage and challenge readers.


I'm excited about this book. The writing has deepened my love for Jesus and strengthened my faith. I pray reading All That Jesus Asks will do the same for you.

Go here for the Baker Publishing Group page.

Autographed Copies:
If you send me your request and a check on a U.S. bank for $19.99 (list price) plus $4 for shipping and handling for each copy, I'll autograph each one and mail them to you as soon as the book becomes available.

Questions: My e-mail is guthsc [at] att.net.

Thank you.

Tuesday, April 06, 2010

The Future After Health Care

I hope Obama gets his wish to be a one-term president who passed health care. Not because I think I will like his opponent--I very much doubt that I will support much of anything Obama's opponent says. But because politicians shouldn't feel that the best route to electoral success is to lie to the voters, and then ignore them.

By Megan McArdle, The Atlantic

My comment: I know this is old, but it's still good.

Asking the Right Question

Why neither worm theology nor worth theology will do.

By Mark Galli

Podcast: The Color of Paradise


A new film by Majid Majidi, director of The Color of Paradise, is now available on DVD: don’t miss it! A discussion between Books & Culture editor John Wilson and yours truly.

You can subscribe to this podcast in iTunes.

Monday, April 05, 2010

God’s Power, God’s People

Below are my remarks as prepared for the Easter Sunday "Eye Opener" at College Church in Wheaton, Illinois.

INTRO: The Apostle Paul says that we carry the gospel in jars of clay “to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” Over the last two years I have been learning a little bit about human weakness, including my own jar of clay, and about God’s power—the same power that raised Jesus from the dead.

MY MOTHER: First, my mother was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and her health was failing fast. The day before Christine and I were to fly down to the hospital, I broke a bone in my right hand. Awash in stress and grief, I would randomly break down in tears. We went anyway, of course, and Mom continued to slip away. With her brain swelling dangerously, the surgeons tried to relieve the pressure. To their astonishment, they found not a cancerous tumor but a treatable abscess. Today, after months of rehab, my mother is close to her old self and freely admits that the prayers of many Christians—including yours—had a lot to do with it.

MEDIATED MIRACLES: God’s power isn’t confined to unexpected medical diagnoses, of course. It often comes mediated through the everyday compassion of his people. Last year I was suddenly laid off and was in a daze about how God would provide for my family. But my wife, who had been out of the paid workforce for a dozen years, quickly found a very good position. College Church also sustained us in practical ways, and my new freelance publishing career has, by God’s grace, done better than I expected.

SHOULDER: Then this past December an MRI gave me the unwelcome news that the rotator cuff for my right shoulder, on my good side, was torn and needed surgery. Now I depend greatly on my right arm to get around, so the prospect of losing full use of it for who knows how long was scary. But amid my fears and frustrations, College Church members again responded with prayers, meals, rides, housecleaning, shopping, unexpected gifts, and more—all to the glory of our risen Savior.

GRIPING: These days it’s fashionable to gripe about the shortcomings of one’s church. To my embarrassment, I’ll admit that I’ve done it a few times myself. But I have also seen this body of believers repeatedly spring into action when we have needed it the most.

THREE STEPS: So when you suddenly find yourself face to face with your own weakness, with your own jar of clay, and desperately need God’s resurrection power, do this: ask his people for prayer, invest in a few boxes of thank-you notes, and wait. There’s no cure for human frailty, save the resurrection, but there’s no limit to God’s power, either.

Thank you.

Saturday, April 03, 2010

Despite hype, unemployment news is grim

The Obama administration and their sycophants in the (once)-mainstream media trumpeted the increase of 162,000 jobs in March claiming that the recovery in underway and becoming entrenched. This included 48,000 part-time workers for the Census and another 40,000 new part-time jobs in the rest of the economy.

Nevertheless, behind these headlines the data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics also reveal a grimmer side of the picture.


By Steve McCann

Obamacare was mainly aimed at redistributing wealth

Some prominent advocates of Obamacare have spoken more frankly than ever before about why they supported a national health care makeover. It wasn't just about making insurance more affordable. It wasn't just about bending the cost curve. It wasn't just about cutting the federal deficit. It was about redistributing wealth.

By Byron York

Friday, April 02, 2010

The Problem with Self-Esteem


Before I could act like a father and gently remind my son to use his library card (which he had forgotten to bring), the librarian, making sure his feelings weren’t bruised, hustled over to tell us in a soothing voice that it was all right.

So much for personal responsibility. Teachable moment lost.

While a minor skirmish in the current war between self-esteem and personal responsibility, to me it was telling.


By Stan Guthrie

Thursday, April 01, 2010

Getting Serious About Pornography

Imagine a drug so powerful it can destroy a family simply by distorting a man’s perception of his wife. Picture an addiction so lethal it has the potential to render an entire generation incapable of forming lasting marriages and so widespread that it produces more annual revenue — $97 billion worldwide in 2006 — than all of the leading technology companies combined.

By Anonymous

On the Radio: Born Again ... Again

Here's my interview with John Blok of New Day Florida about the CT article "Born Again ... Again."

Why All the Wounded Fawns?

Why are charges of racism and political extremism suddenly in the air?

By Victor Davis Hanson