Head-dibs

This is New Year’s Eve, the day before New Year’s Day. Congratulations, you made it! Make this day (and the next) meaningful by taking time for personal reflection. Someone once likened our lives to be like a stirred-up pond--murky, cloudy. When the sediment settles, the bottom can be clearly seen. Perhaps you need to get to the bottom of something with God or with someone else. There is no better time than the present to take care of business, to work toward peace and reconciliation with someone. If you need peace with God, no work is required as He's already made the way by the cross of Christ if you will repent. New Years 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation was enacted. What freedoms do you need in your life? While fireworks are a common feature of New Years, some magazine and newspaper publishers burn publications of the past year, really putting behind everything that happened the previous year. What do you need to finally put behind you on the cusp of a new year? Ancie...

The most memorable Christmas I can recall was the year we covered the Christmas tree with small gold-colored clips that held tiny red (unlit) candles. This was the year we discovered frosting in a can that permitted us to decorate our gingerbread men with particular fineness. This was the year I got a John Deere tractor, a gas station, Lincoln Logs and this may have been the same Christmas I got a small plastic case that folded out presenting a Western scene with a teepee on one side and a fort on the other. The scene was populated by tiny plastic cowboys and Indians and the hours of play turned into years of play. I can’t say there is one particular gift that stands out as my favorite. I’ve had a few “screamers;” you know, those gifts you open and the only reaction is to scream and dance. “The Complete Works of Jonathan Edwards” was a screamer a few short years back, and while those two volumes hold a special place on my shelf, in my mind, to my walk and for my life, they are not my ...

Over the weekend I came across yet another controversy regarding Christmas decorations which was rather unusual. The controversy concerned a woman who used Christmas lights to decorate her home, only the lights were arranged in the outline of a certain crude hand gesture. While I disagree with that particular arrangement, I find myself taking her point. Consider for a moment those who are offended at traditional decorations (to use an over-generalization to include biblical forms or otherwise)--what’s the big deal? I believe this woman turned the whole thing over on its’ head by being blatantly offensive. Biblical imagery is slowly disappearing from public view and the outcry is heard the loudest during the Christmas season. The truth is that removal of biblical imagery is impossible. The world as we know it would not exist--but what would happen if it were possible?  Let’s wake in the twilight zone where biblical imagery does not exist: There is no such thing as Michelangelo's D...

Douglas Adams four-part trilogy, the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, includes a curious setting where at the edge of the universe, one is able to sit down to a nice restaurant meal and watch the oscillating beginning and end of all things. Reflecting on this last year leaves me with the impression that we’ve had the appetizer and salad, now awaiting the arrival of the main course (or at least one of its features). Take a moment and think through the headlines: how many times has the world ended? There is the first lesson I’ve learned: think. Think about the source of the information. Some may quickly say, “ religion and religious fanatics are the source.” The second lesson I’ve learned is this: God can be trusted. Now, let’s process this. It takes not much thought to agree there will be an end to the world and it will happen in two ways: our personal death and the leaving of it; and, the actual cessation of all things as we know it. One will happen before the other, and should the l...

Here are some amazing facts about McDonald's McRib sandwiches . Send your children to school with body armor . Maybe there was a reason this child did not want to go-- but spray him with mace ? These Texas teachers pack more than just a lunch box . Will the President take Joe Biden's Baretta ? Oh, how we need The Prince of Peace! Books I'm reading (with my journal):

Someone posted photographs of the school children lost in Sandy Hook. The pictures were unexpectedly difficult to view. The difficulty came when a seemingly random thought reappeared--a thought I had the other day, then forgot as it wandered off to wherever it is wandering thoughts go when they wander. Well, this particular thought decided it was time to return home, and it slammed the door upon arrival. The thought was this: if we are a the outcome of evolution process, a mass of tissue responding to chemical reactions and impulses, then why does tragedy matter? If evolution were true, then those who cause destruction on others are demonstrating strength and the power necessary for survival. Yes the question remains: how can this be survival when the assertive ones destroy themselves? Ernest Hemingway was a man who lived powerfully, strongly, assertively then took his own life because he was convinced that even in death, he was still in control, living life to the final moment. The ...

The approaching Christmas day has me thinking about one nearly overlooked facet of God’s attributes: His Beauty. The dark of night is twinking bright with colored lights of stars above and homes below. Whatever Christmas may be, we all agree this is a time of beauty so as creatures made in God’s image, we creatively add attractiveness to that which would otherwise be dreary with light and color and sounds and smells and warmth and laughter. Consciously or otherwise, this time of year we reflect outward that which draws us to Him: beauty. Attractiveness. There is another side to beauty but before we quickly say, “oh, that would ‘ugliness,’” let us first discover where beauty resides and then the source of un-beauty (whatever that is). I turn to an experiment that recently took place on the streets of New York. If I had not seen this with my own eyes, I, too, would think I had made this up. A small group of “someones” rolled an old upright piano out onto a sidewalk then pointed a camer...

I can't wait to see the documentary in its entirety:

Ralphie and George. James E. White explores the great divide between "It's A Wonderful Life" and "A Christmas Story." Pioneers released a short film narrated by   Columbia International University alumnus Steve Richardson, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the arrival of the gospel among the Sawi, originally captured in the book,  Peace Child . Steve and his family revisit the Sawi and see how God is transforming their culture. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has a neat graphing tool charting unemployment rates since 1948 . Could Texas REALLY secede from the Union?

Can you guess what this is, what it does or how it's used? Everyone at Calvary Chapel Blythewood knows!

Here's a compelling reason to skip the "Christmas Season"  ! One state seceded where the others failed. This writer suggests " Four Reasons Men Don't Read Books (with a practical suggestion) ."  What would be your thoughts on the matter? Bomb the moon for bragging rights . Yeah. Here's a fun one! State and local law enforcement want wireless providers to store your text messages for at least two years . You know, for evidence. This brilliant person assigned each number of Pi to a musical note. Here is the result (in the right hand): The video just goes to show that "All Creation moves in a cosmic danse before the Lord her King . . ." (Kemper Crabb, "The Danse")  

Someone thought up 17 reasons as to “Why God Never Received a PhD.” While my initial thought was “who would award it to Him?” here are my responses to each point. One can easily see how well the objector did his research--and most likely will not get a PhD, either: 1. “He had only one major publication.” This is like saying a Library only has one book. There are sixty-six books of the Bible, each “published” over the course of time. 2. “It was in Hebrew.” There are doctoral students who do publish dissertations in languages other than English. (I can’t believe I actually had to mention this). 3. “It had no references.” What is one to do with Ancient Near Eastern law code (such as “the goring ox” law) and the other books mentioned in the books of Kings and Chronicles? 4. “It wasn’t published in a refereed journal.” The quotations of scripture in the works of early Christian writers alone are so extensive that the New Testament can be reconstructed without use of any actual man...

Never been fond of cats. Never. Never had a reason to. Then I stumbled across a poem titled “ Jubilate Agno ,” by Christopher Smart penned between 1759 and 1763 that caused me to rethink this animal. The title, by the way, means “celebrate the Lamb.” Here is a summation of this unusual poem and three points that spoke most loudly to me: 1. He considers God: My cat is the servant of the Living God, duly and daily serving Him, worshipping in His way. Having done duty and received blessings, he begins to consider himself by inspecting, washing, stretching and extending; he fleas and rubs himself; he looks up for instruction; he goes in quest for food. 2. Having considered God and himself, he considers his neighbor: If he meets another cat, he will kiss her in kindness; when he takes his prey he plays with it to give it a chance. 3. When his day’s work is done, his business properly begins: He keeps the Lord’s watch in the night against the adversary, count...

Another pic from inside our local library.

Our local library is so photogenic! A local artist filled spaces with umbrellas.

A couple of years ago we found this curious leaf, so we had a little fun with perspective.

Richard Adams in his novel “Watership Down” paints a rich picture of the full moon, providing a fresh glimpse of the landscape at night. By the way, “Watership Down” is not the name of a sunken submarine. “Down” here refers to treeless, rolling hills (the Downs of Southern England). “The full moon, well risen in a cloudless eastern sky, covered the high solitude with its light. We are not conscious of daylight as that which displaces darkness. Daylight, even when the sun is clear of clouds, seems to us simply the natural condition of the earth and air. When we think of the downs, we think of the downs in daylight, as we think of a rabbit with its fur on. Stubbs may have envisaged the skeleton inside the horse, but most of us do not: and we do not usually envisage the downs without daylight, even though the light is not a part of the down itself as the hide is part of the horse itself. We take daylight for granted. But moonlight is another matter. It is inconstant. The full moon wanes...

This is the title page to my copy of Janos Starker's arrangement of Bach's Cello Suites (with personal notes on interpretation and technique). The golden nugget of wisdom is found in the top-left: "Break your cello! It is better to have character in what you play than to have a beautiful sound." (Pablo Casals)

Foot Bridge at Riverwalk Park, Columbia, SC

Near the State House, Columbia, SC

Cayman Islands, mid 1970's

Riverfront Park, Columbia, SC

Riverfront Park, Columbia, SC.

First, this graphic illustrates how the President won. Click on the graphic for an intriguing explanation. Now, Al Mohler writes: "Looking back at the election, The Washington Post offers a detailed analysis of the results with a keen demographic perspective. The data points to the fact that worldview is often tied to contexts and conditions. First, gender matters. Men favored Mitt Romney for President, with 52% of men voting for him, while 45% voted for President Obama. Women flipped the equation. 55% voted for Obama, while only 44% voted for Romney. Second, marriage matters. Married women favored Mitt Romney (53%) rather than Barack Obama (46%). Non-married women, in contrast, favored Obama (67%) over Romney (31%). Note the scale of that reversal. Third, theological convictions matter. White Roman Catholics favored Romney by a huge margin, 59% to 40% for Obama. But white evangelicals preferred Romney by an even greater degree, with 78% voting for Romney and 21% for O...

“ From barbarism to civilization requires a century; from civilization to barbarism needs but a day .”  (Will Durant) “A little science estranges a man from God. A lot of science brings him back.”  (Francis Bacon) A Letter to the Country from an Emergency Physician . Entitlement vs. Real Need. Gas Rationing: 1979 or 2012-- can you tell the difference ? Go paperless with Crowder Family Living. Beatrix Potter pictured with her rabbits . Who knew? Happy to be a Bearded Gospel Man.

(Source: " Happy Now? " at Cheezeburger.com)

"The entertainment industry is known for its liberal ways. Musicians and performers, like their actor counterparts, generally embrace left-of-center politics. Performers like Pink!, The Dixie Chicks, Madonna and Green Day, among others, have made their allegiances known. But what about their conservative counterparts ?" 

I have a Bible reading plan and try to stick to it. Wednesday morning I picked up a devotional book (I use them mostly for reference) and started reading about a particular incident in 1 Samuel 26. Here’s the scene: David is running for his life as Saul is chasing him with 3,000 chosen men of Israel. Saul camps just off the road not far from where David is camping in the wilderness. I like v. 4, “ David sent out spies, and he knew that Saul was definitely coming .” Hard to miss 3,001 men a place like this. Yep, they’re coming. So Saul camps on David’s doorstep. David wants to go down into the camp of his potential assassin and takes his nephew Abishai with him. They get down there and find Saul asleep and surrounded by all these people. No, I don’t know what he was thinking either; but, we do know what was on Abishai’s mind: “ Today God has delivered your enemy into your hand; now therefore, please let me strike with him the spear to the ground with one stroke, and I will not str...

The shortest verse in the New Testament is NOT the one you think it is! Here is the real Maria Von Trapp (1905-1987). This is the theme park we were looking for. This video on The City of London (and its evil alien reptilian queen) makes you feel pretty darn good to say, "I did not know this!"

“I met those of our society who had votes in the ensuing election, and advised them, 1. To vote, without fee or reward, for the person they judged most worthy: 2. To speak no evil of the person they voted against: And, 3. To take care their spirits were not sharpened against those that voted on the other side.” (John Wesley, journal entry, October 6, 1774)

"I don't care about the liberal agenda anymore. It's boring. Boring. I'm giving you a boring alert." (Tony Stark) Let's do something different this time.

A number of years ago, we visited my grandparents. I don’t recall the precise details of the trip, but it may have been a Thanksgiving visit. The scene: a restored log cabin built in the 1880’s sitting on the shoulders of Tennessee hill country a mile and a half from the nearest neighbor. I was about high-school age, late junior-high. I recall it was nighttime when a visitor came. I paid so much attention to the visitor, I honestly can’t say if the person was a young man or a young woman. What I do remember is the visitor was cellist, and may have been with the Nashville Symphony. This is significant because I played the cello then. Matter of fact, I played until our third child, our first son was born. I stopped playing after he was born because I sold the instrument because we needed the money. I may return to this later. The visit that night was pre-arranged. This person was invited to come for a private performance (as I remember it) that centered mainly around Bach’s Cello Sui...

Digging Graves is Hard Work!   “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. … If we ever forget that we’re one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.” HMS Bounty sinks during Sandy . The Captain has yet to be found. Rescued sailor (and USC student) Claudine Christian dies. Brave young soul. Gena Norris is much tougher than Chuck ( he said so , so it must be true!) and she is fighting! Music, borrowed from the birds . Boeing offers an "optionally piloted vehicle."

As we prepare to go to the polls, reflect on these words by Charlie Chaplain, playing the part of a Jewish barber mistaken to be the dictator of Tomania (from the film "The Great Dictator, released in October 1940 before the fall of France by Nazi Germany):

Find out if you're going to die . . . before it's too late.

Anyone who knows me knows of my love for books. My office shelves are quite packed and no room is found on any shelf in the house. While I like books neat and orderly on the shelf (and I am not as ordered as some--often visitors are astounded that my books are cataloged, like in the library. I could be like one individual who arranges his books by size and color . . . ), I am finding there is a particular beauty in stacking them where there is no room. I am moving from “library” to “thrift shop” in terms of style.  Isn't the (above) picture beautiful? No, they are not mine. :-( Given my love for the bound word, believe me when I say I find it extremely difficult to pass by any stack of books for sale, particularly used books. Being that I am in an academic setting, boxes of books often appear in various places ranging from $1.00 or more a piece down to twenty--five cents or “Free.” I know these “free” books--books that never sell and need to be cleared out. True treasur...

The sun had not yet risen but growing light was blooming color back into the world. My headlights pierced fog’s cloak, the friend of the night that wrapped trees and road in a cold gossamer veil. Sliding quietly up the road, a large dark shape suddenly filled the opposite lane. I did not see the vehicle except by the deep shade that blended in with the shadows of the banking curve and the trees. My headlight beams bounced off shiny surfaces as the driver of the other vehicle drifted on his way the other direction--no lights burning. Glancing in the rear-view mirror, I slowed and watch the car until out of site, no signs of light anywhere, driving in dark’s diminuendo. I watched the vehicle long enough to realize this fellow had no intention of turning on his lights. How could he see? Could he truly drive safe with the light he had? Perhaps, but the driving is slow and even poses a danger to other drivers--especially when the unspoken rule of driving around these parts is “...

Great concept, but . . . couldn't help but could'nt help but lol a time or three:

One reason many stop reading the Bible is the genealogies. The names are tough enough, but the smallest amount of confidence can lend to an acceptable pronunciation--a list of names is no reason to stop reading. The list of names is given for a reason and discovering that reason can be quite satisfying. Sudoku, crosswords, word searches and assortments of puzzles provide hours of entertainment, so why should a list of names slow us down? Isn’t is amazing that so many people have lived on this planet and are forgotten? These names are recorded in God’s Unchanging Word locate specific people at a specific time in a specific place. They must be mentioned for a reason even if all we have is a name. We belong to a movement with the primary distinctive of teaching through the Bible book-by-book, chapter-by-chapter and verse-by-verse. Running the risk of sounding critical, one cannot help but wonder why when we approach many of these passages our teaches say to the effect, “see that list ...

Time to meet your sole mate! Find the perfect workout shoe for your routine and find what to do after you make a purchase (where was this article when I needed it?). Who do you luv? (ht: cheezburger fail blog) Think of it as a tribute to invention:

Amazed at the wonders of Creation. These two were found merely inches apart.

Geoffrey Chaucer Hath a Blog . He is writing a "newe set of tales. Thinketh of this: the image of the viage of an erthely pilgrimage ys but a maner of shewinge the wey of thilke parfit glorious pilgrimage into the celestial spheeres of the skye, in which we shal weare awesome shinye clothes and have swooshie laser swordes and eek have snappye dialog and sweepinge orchestrale bakkeground musique as we flye arounde the sunnes and moones and thinges-that-are-nat-moones. And thus Ich am writinge nat of pilgrimes on erthe but of pilgrimes -- wayteth for yt -- IN THE STERRES!" If Gotham City needed crimefighters in the Victorian era, these dress designs from the 1880s would've been a good place to start.

Eric Siblin’s book “The Cello Suites: J. S. Bach, Pablo Casals, and the Search for a Baroque Masterpiece” set me free. Siblin composes a history of Bach’s six Cello Suites that does not merely impart information, but cultivates a deep(er) appreciation for The Master and his masterwork that was nearly lost. Taking his cue from Bach, Siblin divides his book into six chapters (one for each movement) with their respective preludes, allemandes, courantes, sarabandes, minuets, bourees or gavottes and concluding gigues. He explains how, “Bach will occupy the first two or three movements of each suite. The dances that come afterward or earmarked for Pablo Casals. And the gigues that close each suite will be reserved for a more recent story . . . “ (p. 9) While this framework helps the reader capture the mood of each suite, the writer also (perhaps unwittingly) delivers history in a manner that helps the non-cellist grasp the experience of actually playing. The Chord, utilized by Bach thr...

This week is the Christian Life Conference at Columbia International University (CIU) with President Emeritus, Dr. Robertson McQuilkin . Dr. McQuilkin served as the 3rd President of CIU, headmaster of Ben Lippen School and a missionary in Japan. Chapel messages for the week can be heard online . Shock Your Body . Jump-start your workout program! Interested in your thoughts on this short film:

I hope you didn't look at your calendar but if you did, you would notice that today is Rosh Hashana. This holiday is one Israel’s calendar, one festival of three celebrated in the seventh month. Students of scripture would call this the “Feast of Trumpets.” Many today would call this “New Years” so if you need to “start over,” this is a great time to do it. Why wait for January 1? The Torah instructs (the book of Numbers, chapter 29) that this is a day of worship, sacrifice and suspension of labor. Such a time of refreshment intends that one literally stop whatever is keeping one busy and worship. Lay down the tools, get your fingers off the keyboard, gather with others who love the Lord and worship. Each time we worship, we do a spiritual “check”, make certain we keep clean before the Lord by confession and repentance. Are you clean before the Lord? How committed are you to the things of God? He gave us the best gift of Himself as the perfect sacrifice. Why not take this time...

What Kind of book reader are you?  I'm pretty much pegged in the opening paragraphs. Jon Bloom at Desiring God has some thoughts regarding reading . Some talented Ninja action at a Shakespeare festival (?):