"With A Shout"

"Modern “liberalism” is strikingly illiberal; the high priests of “tolerance” are increasingly..."

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 19:13:18 -0800

“Modern “liberalism” is strikingly illiberal; the high priests of “tolerance” are increasingly intolerant of even the mildest dissent; and those who profess to “celebrate diversity” coerce ever more ruthlessly a narrow homogeneity.”

- The Liberal Enforcers - Mark Steyn - National Review Online

enicolle: “…[Syme] remembered a hornbill, which was simply a...

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 09:52:59 -0800

enicolle:

“…[Syme] remembered a hornbill, which was simply a huge yellow beak with a small bird tied to it. The whole gave him a sensation, the vividness of which he could not explain, that Nature was always making mysterious jokes. Sunday had told them they would understand him when they understood the stars. He wondered whether even the archangels understood the hornbill.”

-from the Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton

My buddy Ethan drew G.K. Chesterton on a hornbill. Must reblog!

"Drum asks us to envision a Muslim-run hospital that required its employees to bind themselves to..."

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 11:20:38 -0800

“Drum asks us to envision a Muslim-run hospital that required its employees to bind themselves to Shariah law. But the analogy is hopelessly flawed, because the typical Catholic hospital doesn’t require its employees to follow Catholic doctrine in their personal lives — on sexual matters or anything else. The Church isn’t asking for the right to fire an employee for missing Mass on Sunday or for coveting his neighbor’s wife. It just doesn’t want its institutions to be legally required to pay for acts that it considers immoral, as the price of running hospitals at all. (Or to pay for them directly, since obviously an employee could use their paycheck to buy any produce or service they so chose.) This isn’t the equivalent of a hypothetical Muslim hospital demanding, say, that all its employees permanently abstain from pork and alcohol and premarital sex. It’s the equivalent of a hypothetical Muslim hospital declining to stock Playboy in its gift shop, or serve pork and alcohol in its cafeteria.”

- Liberals and Catholic Hospitals - NYTimes.com (via ayjay)

Where are the men?

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:29:22 -0800

ronniejones:

Taken from “A Word to the Men”

by: Pastor Mark Driscoll on Jan 31, 2012

“When men who’ve been changed by Jesus lead well by the power of the Holy Spirit, leading their homes in a loving and biblical way, amazing things happen.

For instance:

Men who lovingly and biblically lead their homes have considerably better marriages and families.[1]

Men who are involved with a local church express more positive emotion to their wives, are more attentive to their marriages, serve their wives more, take more time for date night and time together, and invest more in their wives.[2]

Men who are godly are “the most active and expressive fathers and the most emotionally engaged husbands.”[3]

Couples who regularly attend church together report greater marital happiness, marital support, and romance in their marriages.[4]

Couples who regularly attend church together are far less likely to separate or divorce, which is the most common eventual result of separation.[5]

Unfortunately, these types of men are the exception not the norm in our society. We have a crisis in the US. We’re sorely lacking in strong, godly men who love Jesus and lead well both in the church and in their marriages.

What are the guys doing?

Often, they’re acting like boys who can shave, getting drunk, watching porn, attending sporting events, and treating responsibility like Superman does green kryptonite.

The Atlantic (here and here), New York Times, and Wall Street Journal have run major stories on the changing landscape of gender in our culture, in particular, on young male’s increasing tendency to delay assuming any adult responsibilities and the effects this has on young women. This shift is the root of many marital problems today. As a pastor, I see the effects of men not leading daily and I’m deeply burdened by the suffering this causes for both women and children. One of the reasons Grace and I wrote Real Marriage was to share God’s plan for men and women in the Bible regarding gender and marriage in hopes of seeing healthy marriages.

This is why preach so directly to the men at Mars Hill Church. Contrary to what the bloggers would have you believe, we aren’t trying to build an army of meat-headed, hyper-masculine, misogynists. We’re calling men to repentance. We’re telling men they’re made for more than skimming through life with the goal of avoiding as much responsibility as possible, sleeping with as many girls as possible, and working dead-end jobs that let them play as much as possible.

When a man’s heart is inclined toward Jesus, his heart is also lovingly inclined toward his spouse, children, and grandchildren. Men, you were put here to love, to protect, to provide, to care, to serve, to nourish, and to bless. That’s what it means to be a man.

It takes the grace of God to be faithful and loving for a lifetime to one woman and to the children God entrusts to your care. We are not encouraging you to simply “man up” but to depend on the grace of God for forgiveness, ask for the Holy Spirit to empower you to love well, and enjoy the role he’s given you. By God’s grace we’ve seen men completely changed from slackers to strong leaders in our church and in their families at Mars Hill.

The primary reason we go after men is because we believe it’s biblical for men to lead their family and the church.

The Scriptures make clear that God designated that the marriage relationship—patterned after Christ’s own relationship with the church—be one in which the man and the woman each play distinctive roles.

These roles in the context of marriage are composed of the husband leading his home well and his wife respectfully encouraging him to lead. The Bible expects husbands and fathers to lovingly function as pastors to their wives and children. The Bible not only commands husbands to be in the Scriptures with their wives regularly and to lovingly lay down their life as Christ did for the church , it also commands fathers as “pastor dads” to spiritually raise their children.

Practically this means that as men, we need to be both tough and tender. We must be tender with our families, loving them, snuggling with them, verbalizing how much we love them, and serving them. We must also be tough for our families, protecting them and working hard to provide for them.

Men, I encourage you to take responsibility for yourself, and to take responsibility for your wife and children if or when you have them. Take responsibility for your church. Take responsibility for your company. Take responsibility your city. Real mean don’t look for others, organizations, and governments to carry their load. Real men carry their own load, because men are like trucks and drive straighter with a weighted load.”

Want to know more about what it means to be a man pursuing faith in Jesus? Check out the Biblical Manhood category on marshill.com.

[1] See the published articles by W. Bradford Wilcox.

[2] W. Bradford Wilcox, Soft Patriarchs, New Men: How Christianity Shapes Fathers and Husbands(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004), 158.

[3] Ibid., 195.

[4] Nicholas H. Wolfinger and W. Bradford Wilcox, “Happily Ever After? Religion, Marital Status, Gender, and Relationship Quality in Urban Families,” Social Forces 86 (20008): 1311-37..

[5] Edward O. Laumann et al., The Social Organization of Sexuality: Sexual Practices in the United States(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994), 501.

embracinggrace: Holy cow. Mark Driscoll is so...

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:35:14 -0800

embracinggrace:

Holy cow. Mark Driscoll is so intense.

Awesome.

To those Christians who (for some reason) think Driscoll hates women: watch this please. Or maybe any of his sermons on marriage.

veareflejos: Lincoln, 1940 N.C. Wyeth

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:52:36 -0800

veareflejos:

Lincoln, 1940

N.C. Wyeth

lunatictoons: High Diving Hare

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 17:52:11 -0800

lunatictoons:

High Diving Hare

wordsoftakumi: While browsing through the family photo album,...

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 23:04:37 -0800

wordsoftakumi:

While browsing through the family photo album, Lisa notices that there are no baby pictures of Maggie. Homer explains by recounting the story of Maggie’s birth. In 1993, Homer hated working at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, and had a dream of working at a bowling alley. After he received a paycheck that cleared him of all his debts, he quit his job at the power plant, and went to get a job at the local bowling alley.

When Homer and Marge “snuggled” to celebrate this development, she became pregnant. Marge knew that the news would end Homer’s new lifestyle and affect his happiness, because it meant he could no longer support his family on his bowling alley salary. Marge kept her pregnancy a secret as long as she could, but Patty and Selma, eager to ruin Homer’s life, spread the news quickly around town.

Homer was not happy when he found out about Marge’s pregnancy, and was completely unenthusiastic about the impending birth. Because of the financial problems caused by the pregnancy, Homer was forced to make a sacrifice and go back to the power plant. However, Mr. Burns made Homer beg for his job back, and placed a large plaque in front of Homer’s desk reading: “Don’t forget: you’re here forever”. Homer was once again unhappy at his work, but as with all the Simpson children, when Maggie was born, Homer instantly fell in love with her. Back in the present, Bart and Lisa still do not understand what that has to do with Maggie’s photos. Homer merely mentions that they are in the place where he needs them the most. The scene then cuts to his workplace where all of the photos of Maggie are positioned on the plaque on the wall, which now reads: “Do it for her”.

kellyreeves: interweber: And just when I thought I was done...

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:19:04 -0800

kellyreeves:

interweber:

And just when I thought I was done with these Shit ____ Say things, Eliot & Ilana go and make the best one. If you live in New York. I PROMISE.

Yeeeeah watch this.

Ohhh New York….This is a pretty good one.

“It smells like maple syrup.” Is this still happening, New Yorkers? I remember the first time this happened, 5 or 6 years ago when I lived there, it was so odd.

typographicverses: Isaiah 55:6 - Seek the Lord while He may be...

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 22:23:17 -0800

typographicverses:

Isaiah 55:6 - Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Designed by Daniel Golden (@dangolden1).

oldhollywood: Elmer Bernstein - Main Titles (The Magnificent...

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 21:09:55 -0800

oldhollywood:

Elmer Bernstein - Main Titles (The Magnificent Seven Theme: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

thepitapredator: In celebration of Community coming back in the...

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 22:08:50 -0800

thepitapredator:

In celebration of Community coming back in the spring, I’m bringing back this video of Joel trolling the Home Shopping Network in 2007.

This is pretty great.

veareflejos: Crossing the Sierras Edgar Alwin Payne (American,...

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 12:27:41 -0800

veareflejos:

Crossing the Sierras

Edgar Alwin Payne (American, 1882-1947)

ericbranscum: I created a blog about fashion because NO DUH why haven’t I created a blog about...

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 08:49:05 -0800

ericbranscum:

I created a blog about fashion because NO DUH why haven’t I created a blog about fashion.

http://besttrendsforlife.tumblr.com/

Re-tumbl and follow and blahblahblah! I’ll be bored with it in a week.

"You should not look a gift universe in the mouth."

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 12:10:06 -0800

“You should not look a gift universe in the mouth.”

- G.K. Chesterton (via invisibleforeigner)

IRAN: NADARKHANI UPDATE

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 11:15:17 -0800

IRAN: NADARKHANI UPDATE:

derekthornton:

Iran’s Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani, head of the judiciary, has ordered the judge presiding over Youcef Nadarkhani’s case to delay his written verdict for one year. The judge was specifically ordered to keep Nadarkhani in prison, using whatever means necessary to force him to recant his Christian faith and convert to Islam.

According to Present Truth Ministries, the order was designed to cause the international community, specifically Christians, to forget about Nadarkhani’s case.

“Once we forget about him, then they are free to execute him,” said a spokesperson from Present Truth Ministries. “Please help us ensure that [Nadarkhani] is not forgotten.”

Nadarkhani has been in prison since October 2009 after being charged with apostasy. He received a death sentence in 2010, a verdict upheld by the Iranian Supreme Court in July 2011.

In 2011, the original tribunal was asked to re-examine whether Nadarkhani had practiced Islam as an adult before becoming a Christian at age 19, according to Present Truth Ministries. Although the judge acknowledged that Nadarkhani had not practiced Islam, the death sentence was upheld. The court ruled that because he came from a Muslim family, he was guilty of apostasy, according to reports from Middle East Concern.

You can take action on Nadarkhani’s behalf by talking to your congressmen, telling your friends about the case or e-mailing the Iranian Embassy. Post his prisoner alert profile in your church or Sunday school class, or write a letter to Nadarkhani while he is in prison. Please be respectful, saying nothing negative about the Iranian government. Pray that Nadarkhani’s conviction will be overturned and that his family will continue to trust God during this time.

The Innocence Mission - Seven Christmas Songs!

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 19:26:53 -0800

The Innocence Mission - Seven Christmas Songs!:

moochiethinks:

One of my favorite bands, The Innocence Mission, have released a free (WOOT!) Christmas album!

If you like them, or have never heard them, check them out! I think their music is really pretty & quiet. Perfect for Christmas Eve.

Enjoy!

The Ugly Realities Of Socialized Medicine Are Not Going Away - Forbes

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 10:58:08 -0800

The Ugly Realities Of Socialized Medicine Are Not Going Away - Forbes:

Other nations with government-dominated healthcare systems offer a preview of the fiscal woes and substandard care that lie ahead thanks to the president’s spendthrift reform plan.

In order to realize some savings, the NHS is raising the threshold at which patients qualify for treatment and lengthening wait times for surgeries determined “non-lifesaving.” The Service is also cutting more than 20,000 NHS jobs over the next two years and shuttering a number of hospitals.

Patients are feeling the pain. For decades, they’ve turned over substantial portions of their hard-earned paychecks as taxes — and accepted “free”

health care from the government in return. Only about 11 percent of Britons pay for their care privately.

They’ve foregone cutting-edge medical treatments available in the United States, told by their leaders that these new therapies were no better than the old ones — just more expensive. At least in Britain, they thought, everyone has access to basic health care. That has to be better than the situation in America, where tens of millions of people lack health insurance, right?

Hardly. The British healthcare system may “guarantee” access to care — but that doesn’t mean patients actually receive it.

it is also a fact that we all got on the same motor-bicycle

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 11:16:05 -0800

sparklesdire:

Lord de Walden, William Archer, J.M. Barrie, G.K. Chesterton and Bernard Shaw, in the middle of making the cowboy film How Men Love.

from GKC’s autobiography: “We went down to the waste land in Essex and found our Wild West equipment. But considerable indignation was felt against William Archer; who, with true Scottish foresight, arrived there first and put on the best pair of trousers. They were indeed a magnificent pair of fur trousers; while the other three riders of the prairie had to be content with canvas trousers. A running commentary upon this piece of individualism continued throughout the afternoon; while we were rolled in barrels, roped over fake precipices and eventually turned loose in a field to lasso wild ponies, which were so tame that they ran after us instead of our running after them, and nosed in our pockets for pieces of sugar. Whatever may be the strain on credulity, it is also a fact that we all got on the same motor-bicycle; the wheels of which were spun round under us to produce the illusion of hurtling like a thunderbolt down the mountain-pass. When the rest finally vanished over the cliffs, clinging to the rope, they left me behind as a necessary weight to secure it; and Granville-Barker kept on calling out to me to Register Self-Sacrifice and Register Resignation, which I did with such wild and sweeping gestures as occurred to me; not, I am proud to say, without general applause. And all this time Barrie, with his little figure behind his large pipe, was standing about in an impenetrable manner; and nothing could extract from him the faintest indication of why we were being put through these ordeals.”

Die Hard, Interrupted

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 10:23:16 -0800

Die Hard, Interrupted