Ellen: No, but those whose identity is based more on theological distinctives- as Clark says- are prone to what he describes.

Michael, are you thinking that this is a problem that is unique to Calvinists?

This is a serious inside attempt at answering the question. You can decide how truthful this is.

Sometimes our defensiveness causes us to lose focus on the rest of the faith. Certainly, relative to broad evangelicalism, we confess things that set us apart in theology, piety, and practice and those distinctives are to be treasured. We tend to focus on one or two of these things and sometimes forget the rest of what we confess. Sometimes the jerks in our midst are obsessed with one or two doctrines while ignoring the ethical or moral teaching of the confessions. In so doing they are not actually being very confessional. Let’s say our jerks lack humility.

Bill, I took your Twilight Zone marathon advice last year and freaked out every time one of my daughter’s dolls would talk after that.

“I’m going to kill you.”

Also, the toilet seats at our house have the name “Bemis” on them and I always think of Burgess Meredith when I see that.

I trust you are all wasting your time by watching the Twilight Zone marathon.

Sharon:  Stay away from the organ meats, I know how you southerners are.

Snow: We had a green Christmas, but have about 4 inches now.  Rain this week should erase it.

So what if the spiritual watchdogs at Slice got ahold of the Monk’s recommended book list for 2007? What would that post be like?

Travel with me into the minds of the Slice o’ Bot, where “no one is saved but me and thee….and I’m not so sure about thee.”

“Slice readers are aware of the anti-Christian blog known as the Internet Monk, a person who presents himself as a minister but who endorses and defends the worst degenerate misbehavior of the emerging church. The apostate monk recently published a list of recommended books. This deceiver of God’s people showed why evangelicalism is in the grips of a Satanic emerging denial of the truth. A look at his book list and recommended authors demonstrates that this is the path to contemplative apostasy and emerging ecumenistic heresy. More »« Less

People who say the term “missional church” is just a vague mumbling of people trying to be cool…please read this.

Sharon: It happened to me two years ago. Also at Christmastime. Painful in ways one simply cannot explain. One home remedy that afforded me some relief was eating lots of canned cherries, brought to me by a kind elderly neighbour. That and sleeping as much as possible. Keeping the bedsheets off your foot. Hope preaching goes well for you tomorrow.

One ugly Word:

gout

I will be preaching atop a stool in the morning.

2006 Darwin Awards

My review of Apocalypto is up at IM.

Leonard Sweet.com. Visit, just to irritate someone out there.

It irritated me greatly.  The letters are too small and too gray.  That’s all.
Back on the oatmeal topic – instant oatmeal; fast.  Can be yummy.  The biggest advantage to the “real” oatmeal is the fiber (back to that older body again).

I wish I had the Piper book.  I was not even aware of it.  I do not understand why more people aren’t honest about depression.  At a church (a great church, IMO) that we were a part of the pastor began a series on battling depression.  He was talking about how Jesus must have battled depression.  Psalm 22 and other Passion passages were unpacked.  I thought it was great stuff.  He said over and over that Jesus didn’t sin but that he was fighting what we would call depression.  He was also careful to say that all depression in people need not be considered a direct result from personal sin.  Some can be but all isn’t.  Even with these qualifiers and honesty, the response from many in the congregation was so negative that he actually stopped the series.  He did it in a humble way.  But I was amazed.  So many people in the congregation were likely right in the battle and wanting to hear from God’s word.  Oh well.

From Lurker Clay:

Idealistically, I would prefer purist oatmeals, too. Occasionally, I will roil up a boiling pot of the real meal, or get a bowl at Cracker Barrel (quite good, really), but most days I eat my meal with a dash of reality. Frankly, too much talk of “steel cut Irish whole rolled oats” starts sounding a bit TRish, to me. Do only the elect eat “real” oatmeal? Funny thing is, I’m very intuitive and idealistic, but the sensate reality of purist oatmeal takes too much out of me (I really dislike cleaning stove-brewed oatmeal pans). So even though I know my version will be greatly ridiculed and derided, I offer it on behalf of all the others like me who eschew the chewy oat groats in favor of the modern version:
—Quaker 1-Minute Oats (no generics, no single-serve packages), 1/2 cup tightly packed and generously rounded.—Bottled water (no tap), 1 cup with slight spill-over allowed.—Wide-rimmed bowl (not narrow, not deep).—Microwave (yep, nuke it), 1:50 on Hi (additional 10 seconds if the meal still moves in the bowl upon jiggling)—Brown Sugar (dark brown, not light), two very heaping tablespoons (or, for dieters, substitute 2 packs of Splenda)—Frozen Blueberries (Dole are the best), up to 1/2 cup depending on preference, 30 seconds in microwave, then mixed into hot oatmeal to thaw rest of way.—Milk to taste (1% for me).

Now you can taunt and ridicule. But let me add this. I’ve eaten my oatmeal and blueberries with great satisfaction twice a day for about six months now (it’s now a comfort food). It has helped me lose 45 pounds (260 to 215), has contributed to a precipitous drop in cholesterol (190 to about 130), and simplified my life (no more big choices for breakfast and lunch, and prepared easily). So there.

PS: No reply necessary. Just couldn’t resist offering a contrarian view.

On a different topic, Gene Veith has a column on the origins of the December 25th Christmas celebration. Worth keeping. And here’s a related piece at Get Religion.

TSK likes Piper’s When The Darkness Will Not Lift. I believe this material is in another book, but I’ll have to read this…in violation of my resolution. (I told you this would be difficult.) I’ll say this: I appreciate that Piper will at least talk about depression, because many reformed type will only talk about sin or demons. I’m sure Piper talks about that, and he should. It’s pertinent. But when you have lived with this upclose you know that you are often dealing with something wrong and dysfunctional in the brain and the body.

Alastair feels the pressure.

Eric Reed has a short piece at CT on Jonathan Edward’s resolutions.

Rich Copley names his Top Ten films of ‘06.

I’m going back on Sirius radio Tuesday at 5 on The Catholic Guy program on The Catholic Channel. This is a fun show. We talked as much about egg nog as about serious topics last time. Some readers caught the show, which was cool.

Bill could be down here in the south, doing some good. But Noooo.

Does your Bible blame the innkeeper? Clay and I are now using the NLT2, and I was pleased to see it lets the innkeeper off the hook.

A review of Johnson and the English Language.

Leonard Sweet.com. Visit, just to irritate someone out there.

Justin T is reporting that D. James Kennedy is seriously ill with cardiac arrest yesterday.

Dr. Mohler has also had surgery and is recovering well.

I don’t think there’s any correlation between religion and job performance

I can’t see that that statement is true.  Maybe it is just too general.  Substitute “level of skill” or “talent” for job performance and maybe it is more on track.  Otherwise, you end up with a really narrow view of religion.  I don’t see it.  Oh, I am not for discrimination at all.  But we have to be realistic here.

Do I need that new book? The flow chart answer.

There are now reports out of Iraq that Hussein has been hanged.

I’ve got one wonderful Christmas gift this year: My friend and relation David Head, former member of the BHT in years gone by, has taken a pastorate in Lexington at Victory Baptist Church. David is a great writer and speaker, and a good friend. I am going to be inviting him, and another good brother, back to the BHT. I’m sure he’ll be busy, but I hope he can join us.

David’s mom was my half-sister that died in August, and he also sent his kid to college this year. Denise and I will be glad to see him and Paula again and spend some time together. Hopefully, he can avoid meeting Joel and Leif, but it may happen anyway.

The imradio podcast 38 is now up, and I have included a lot of material for Matthew. Pray for him.

Those of you who hate my TR fascination can keep praying. I’m about as uninterested in those guys right now as it’s possible to be.

Here’s the beta of Mars Hills new web page.

And I close with these words of wisdom from Scott Adams:

When it comes to discrimination against people’s choices, the only exception is a person’s choice of religion. You can’t discriminate because someone picked the wrong religion. And here I’m only talking about the big name religions. You can still pick on the little religions.

If a guy shows up for a job interview and tells you his religion requires him to wear a stuffed rhino penis as a hat, you can show him the door. But if he says his prophet walked on water, or rode to heaven on a flying horse, you slap a name tag on his cubicle and hope for the best. If he thinks he might have reincarnated from a caterpillar, sign him up. If he says he’s wearing special underpants to ward off evil, put him on the fast track.

In all fairness, I don’t think there’s any correlation between religion and job performance, so it wouldn’t make sense to allow religious discrimination. I just want to feel safe when I walk down the street in my rhino penis hat.

Thanks to Michael’s apostolate I have become a Moleskine devotee. It feels a bit like I’ve joined a cult. I’ve got three different ones going right now. I love these little, perfectly designed notebooks. But here’s a guy who really loves his Moleskine. Enough to serenade it. Listen – Little Black Book (The Moleskine Song)

Michael, I use the batch processing functions of Photoshop Elements to downsize and down-save image files for later web publication. Picassa (free from Google) can do the same but I don’t think it’s available for OSX.

Was Apocalypto highly detailed in it’s evisceration scenes or more inferential? All we get for TV is CBS and we’re totally gored out with all of the CSIesque programming.

Finally, I’ve been listening to the EWTN-The Journey Home podcasts per the request of a dear Catholic brother who hopes for a similar story from me. I’ve enjoyed the stories, but frankly (and I’ll tell him this) they confirm my ‘why nots’ regarding RCC involvement. I was listening to an interview this morning with an Anglican Priest who became RCC. A major incongruency; “At some point I simply needed to put aside such issues as ‘justification by faith’ and simply trust in the authority of the Church” vs. a later statement “Protestants right now are more devoted to the charisma of their pastors than they are to the Church”. More »« Less

I think I like Cream of Wheat better.

Me too.  As I said, try oat bran.  Rolled oats are the devil.  Leave them to the horses.

David Fitch wrote this list at his blog, Reclaiming the Mission. It’s an interesting look at how missional thinking differs from the typical “seeker” oriented church-growth thinking. Fitch’s church is “Life on the Vine.”

TEN THINGS ANYONE WHO JOINS IN A TWENTY FIRST CENTURY MISSIONAL CHURCH PLANT SHOULD NOT EXPECT More »« Less

Hutchens keeps making his point. I guess he doesn’t like the picture.

Mr. Hutchens is starting to sound a bit like [name deleted] who used his Christmas posts to ridicule the preaching or Ergun Caner. Get a grip.

Matthew just wrote me and said he needs our prayers as he goes to be pastor to a family whose daughter just committed suicide.

“O Lord, strengthen your servant Matthew in the difficult work of standing in the midst of grief and loss as a sign of the comfort of Christ in a broken world. Humble his heart, mind and words with the peace that comes from the Holy Spirit. Measure his words with the compassion of Jesus. May he be silent, or weep, or embrace, or proclaim the comforting Gospel as you lead.

Father of mercies, we pray for a family in confusion and loss. May your own Father’s heart surround them. There is no sense to be made and no answers that will ease pain, but there will be anger and despair, blame and shame. Pour the presence of your suffering and resurrected son into this family in their moments of unimaginable pain and darkness. May your son be the final Word to all that is spoken, felt and experienced.

In Jesus name and power we pray these things. Amen.”

I think we are already creating our own gods. Consider the vast and varied nature of scriptural extrapolations that are currently wafting around pop Protestantism. To me, very idea of a god who is not as completely omniscient as the scripture says that he is, is a false god. The god that is held at bay by our measly little Richard craniums is the anti-Christ, as, technically – by making his gift of salvation subject to our ability reason – we are placing the onus of control on us. Man = God, therefore, man is god. We get to be spirit brothers with Christ right here in temporal land.

Concerning oatmeal: you have to use a water glass full. Ets no Scottish ef ets less than that, Irish – maybe – but no Scottish. And, ef ets no Scottish, et’s CRAP.

Oatmeal:  in coookies.

Seriously – McCann’s steel-cut Irish oatmeal is the best, but if you don’t cook it long enough, it’s like eating gravel.  I use the slow cooker, like Lurker Derek.

Additives:

• brown sugar, apples, cinnamon


• honey, milk


• bananas, brown sugar


• blueberries

A Will Willimon gem : His Dec 18th Christmas meditation. More »« Less

From Lurker Derek, who has me going to class smelling of oats and a famous Kentucky product.

The place to start is steel-cut oats. My favorite is the McCann’s steel-cut Irish oatmeal, but I usually use to the bulk version, which is basically just as good. Steel-cut is more filling, better tasting, and, if I remember right, even more packed with soluble fiber.

However, making it the traditional way is problematic. It takes half an hour every morning and requires supervision and stirring. Fine for Saturday morning, but lousy for weekdays, especially if, like me, you’re more of an evening person (also called “a person who spends upwards of half an hour some mornings waiting for the toaster to make a pot of coffee.”) Also, the traditional way, if not done perfectly, tastes burned and gives your jaw a killer workout.

So forget the traditional way. Slow cookers are the way to go. Spray down the sides with oil and gently pour in the water and oatmeal (and always a pinch of salt, natch.) Be sure to add a little extra water to account for evaporation. The next morning you get oatmeal that is not only easier to figure out than the Bodum pot, but is creamy, beautifully textured, and flavorful all on its own.

But not flavorful enough, at least compared to pork products. So let’s talk additives. To me, it doesn’t get better than bourbon. Whiskey is the traditional thing, but I’ve been sold on bourbon ever since I added a teaspoon or so of Woodford Reserve and discovered exquisite banana flavors emerging. Hey, you were going to add vanilla anyway, right? This is supporting Kentucky industry.

And if you’re going to add a sweetener, go with sucanat. It’s also called evaporated cane juice, available anywhere hemp sandals are sold. It’s along the lines of a very molasses-laden brown sugar, but with fantastic complexity. It’s not a lot healthier, but you can use a lot less and get better flavor.

Fruit is a good way to go, too. As far as health goes, strawberries are hard to beat, since they have maybe 20 calories for a cup and they’re loaded with good stuff. Personally, I prefer farm raspberries and blueberries.

Best of whole-grain breakfasts for the new year.

I found steel cut oats online here...along with lots of other interesting flours and grains. Sponsor?

Just finished a bowl with cinnamon, some faux butter and some sweetener. Tolerable. Doubt I’ll be hungry till dinner. I think I like Cream of Wheat better.

Bible Belt Blogger- who is the Lexington Herald Leader’s religion reporter- carried this post featuring some remarkable anti-Christian rhetoric. I try to temper the typical response of “What if they said this is print about about Jews or Muslims?” but really, my main thought is that this is a great apologetic opportunity. I love to built sermons off of these kinds of things. Here’s a juicy portion:

“Why have a god who needs and wants to be loved so much that he makes loving him the first law for humanity? Why have a god who cooks up the unlikely plan of tearing his substance apart to create a son who is man and god all in one?

Why make the gruesome sacrifice of that son into the key evidence of the god’s love for humanity and belief in that sacrifice humankind’s only hope for escaping an eternity of suffering? Just as there’s a big element of masochism in God’s sending his son to suffer as evidence of his love, there is a great deal of sadism in God’s throwing into the flames of hell anybody who doesn’t return his love by believing the whole implausible story. We have a right to hope for better in our gods.”

This, by the way, is from a government professor at one of our state universities. Don’t say Kentucky is unsophisticated. Our atheist professors can ring ‘em up with the best of the Brits or Ivy Leaguers.

It’s his last sentence that really makes an impression. We should, apparently, self-consciously create our “gods,” i.e. religions, in the image of our own values. So this fellow would probably like to worship Hillary Clinton. Or at least her thighs.

Personally, I’d like for Yahweh to step aside and make room for someone like Donald Trump. Everyone deserves a second chance, especially if you’re a hottie.

What do you think of this open call to return to the gods of Olympus redux and improved? Any nominations for a deity?

Arrgh! I missed the obvious Alton Brown haggis recipe.

Good on ya, Bill.

Oatmeal:  Eat it with a pinch of salt and stir it with a spurtle.

Mix it with sheep’s liver, lungs, heart, and kidneys and boil it in a sheep’s stomach.  Cut it with sword before serving.

Actually, if you happen to prefer something like cream of wheat, I suggest you eat oat bran, rather than oatmeal.  A nicer consistency in my opinion, and calorie and cholesterol wise, much healthier than oatmeal.  More fiber also.

You could try steel cut or pinhead oats.  More natural and healthy than rolled oats.  If you start boiling a batch now, they’ll just be ready for  New Year’s breakfast.

There isn’t a lot that can be done with oatmeal. But…

I like mine with vanilla (a little bit of the real stuff goes a long way), cinnamon, nutmeg if you have it (or you could just use apple pie spice or pumpkin pie spice), and brown sugar.

Other sweets could include plain sugar (meh), molasses (better), or – if you’re trying to cut calories – you could go for something like Splenda. Personally, I’ll take a few extra calories and give just enough dark brown sugar to make it taste good.

Now here’s the thing about vanilla. Never, and I mean NEVER, use imitation vanilla. It tastes like @%#$. Real vanilla extract is the stuff to go for, but don’t buy it. Make your own.

Order up some good quality vanilla beans online. (I’m sure FoodTV still has sources on their web site) Get yourself a good quality bottle of vodka. (Don’t go crazy with Grey Goose, just get something that doesn’t taste like turpentine.)

Cut a slit down the length of each bean and drop them in the vodka. 6-9 months later, you’ve got a LOT of vanilla extract.

Lauren Winner writes in Opinion Journal on the why so many detective stories are set in churches with religious characters.