Well, its a cold, wet day here in Columbus Ohio. It seems as though our good weather fantasy bubble has finally popped!  So, if your weather is like mine, today is a great day to catch up on reading.  Here is just a small selection of articles and books I enjoyed this week…

Reformation Day is coming up, and Stephen Nichols has a blog explaining what it’s all about here. 

Martin Luther, a scholar, took quill in hand, dipped it in his inkwell and penned his 95 Theses on October 31, 1517. These were intended to spark a debate, to stir some soul-searching among his fellow brothers in the church. The 95 Theses sparked far more than a debate. The 95 Theses also revealed the church was far beyond rehabilitation. It needed a reformation. The church, and the world, would never be the same.

No doubt many of you saw the gigantic leap that tech stocks took Friday, and the subsequent wealth that was added to the majority owners and CEO’s of these companies.  It’s fascinating stuff. Here’s a story specifically how men like Jeff Bezos and Larry Page were billions of dollars richer by 10am Friday.   If you’ve ever read about Russia in the 90’s then you’ll know about the rise of economic Oligarchs, and how they controlled a great deal in Russian society and media and politics. They overplayed their hands and eventually were put down by the dictator Putin, but during their run the control they exerted was substantial. I wonder aloud here if we’re entering such a time in America. In the past there have been waves where a very small group of rich men have controlled and steered the economy and even other aspects of our lives (think Rockafeller, Vanderbilt etc.).

In a similar vein: The Real Reason CVS Wants to Buy Aetna? Amazon

The weekly hypocrisy alert: Why doesn’t Hillary’s ‘dossier’ trick count as treason?

For all of you who might have been fascinated by the possibility of scumbag Kid Rock running for Senate, he has a message for you, “Of course I’m not running for Senate” (the sanitized version). 

Speaking of scum bags, conservative radio host and columnist Erick Erickson has a thought: Maybe Bill O’Reilly Should Repent Instead of Being Mad at God.

Two good deep dives for you this weekend…

First: China’s Entrepreneurs Squirm Under Xi Jinping’s Tightening Grip

Second: Responding to the Transgender Revolution

Something I could have written: Tell Me What You Read, And I’ll Tell You Who You Are

Spies, spies and more spies: North Korean hackers stole U.S. and South Korean wartime plans, Seoul lawmaker says AND How Israel Caught Russian Hackers Scouring the World for U.S. Secrets.

I can’t recall if I posted this, but I’m a little skeptical still: Why 4 a.m. Is the Most Productive Hour.

Books…This week I finished a book on Eisenhower by Paul Johnson, which was just okay. Two things were wrong with it, first it was too short and that made it a fact-cramming exercise, and second, it was too positive. That is to say that it didn’t seem very critical of any decisions Eisenhower made, and the mistakes he made were quickly defended by Johnson.

I also read ‘Destine for War’ by Graham Allison and found it helpful.  It is a book dedicated to the exploration of this question: Is war between China and the U.S. inevitable?  Allison explores the mind of the Chinese and explains how it differs from the American mind and how this thinking strategically interacts etc. He also explores past wars and potential wars (at least 12 of them I believe) to see what lead to war, and what lead to the escape from war.  Allison has a unique perspective because even though he is a professor, he has interacted with Kissinger (he was taught by HK), and others on the world scene, and obviously seems to have done his homework.

This week also saw me wrapping up ‘The Man in the High Castle’ by Philip K. Dick. A very interesting book that I found different from the Amazon Orginal Series of the same name – not different in all good ways though. In many ways, the Amazon series made the book’s story more cogent, clear, and understandable. Of course in other ways, the book supersedes the series – mainly in the uniqueness of the writing style.  Dick employed an introspective writing style that had you listening in to main character’s thoughts, and exploring their world and their dilemmas with them.

Here’s where I stand on my reading goals for the year (170/200). Unfortunately, I had to adjust them downward (to 200 from 250) to reflect, well, reality.

That’s it!  I hope you have an enjoyable (and warm) weekend!

PJ

Good morning folks, I hope the week was a good one. Here are the books, news items, and articles I found most interesting.

First, the shooting in Las Vegas is on everyone’s mind, so I want to link here to a column written by Al Mohler on the subject of “evil” in light of the shooting.  One excerpt especially caught my attention:

Evil is a fact, too. And evil is a theologicalcategory. The secular worldview cannot use the word with coherence or sense. The acknowledgement of evil requires the affirmation of a moral judgment and a moral reality above human judgment. If we are just accidental beings in an accidental universe, nothing can really be evil. Evil points to a necessary moral judgment made by a moral authority greater than we are — a transcendent and supernatural moral authority: God.

Mohler also mentions that one of the characteristics of evil is that it often seems random, and nonsensical. But because we are moral creatures, we necessarily think in those terms – as we should. Lots to ponder and pray about here. One thing I’ve noticed recently though: Our reaction to natural disasters and terrible shootings showcases humanity at its best and worst – but what we notice and how people react is very basically human. Hollywood and liberals in our college classrooms may try to rewrite what it means to be human and may claim there are no real moral categories, but in the wake of a disaster, we don’t find anyone claiming anything of the sort. That is because to do so would be to assert something so insensitive and ridiculous that they’d be booed down and shamed by the media.

It would be wise to use what we learn in the wake of the evils of disaster to combat the evils of mis/disinformation flooding our televisions and classrooms today. 

Moving on…I don’t think I got to link to this last week but it is excellent: Using Scripture to Pray Over Your Children. 

Oddly enough, the Village Voice had a fascinating article this week called, ‘Keepers of the Secrets’ …excerpt:

I was told that the most interesting man in the world works in the archives division of the New York Public Library, and so I went there, one morning this summer, to meet him.

NOTE: ChristianAudio.com has Sinclair Ferguson’s ‘The Whole Christ’ audiobook for free this month.

This was excellent as well: God Is with You in Your Panic Attack (h/t Derek S.)

Also, I wanted to link to this story from Politico called, ‘How We Found Tom Price’s Private Jets’. Not because it’s such a fascinating read, but because every day I get newsletter compilations from Politico (and others) and I continue to be shocked at how often they make the news about themselves. Here’s a note to my friends in the media: you are violating one of the most basic rules of journalism!  The news isn’t about you!  This may not seem like a particularly egregious example but for me, it’s just the latest in a serious of nausea-inducing headlines that make my head involuntarily shake with dismay…of course, I grew up the son of a journalist (a real one) – we watched movies like Broadcast News, where Aaron Alman invariably would have sarcastically derided these showboats by yelling at the TV or the Paper with a witty, yet stinging, comment (A lot of alliterations from anxious anchors placed in powerful posts!).  End Rant.

Speaking of journalistic obsessions, this week all the rage was “bump-stocks” and I’m not linking to any of their “investigative” articles, but I am linking to a press release from Cong. Adam Kingsinger that talks about efforts to tighten restrictions on them in the wake of Las Vegas. I will just note that a good friend of mine who has helped train me for self-defense shooting, says that he is baffled why these things are still legal at all (and that’s coming from a huge 2nd Amendment guy).

Major News Item: Jimmy Kimmel Produces Official Document Confirming He Is Nation’s Moral Authority.  I knew it!  ….was only a matter of time!

Actually – here is a real news item that I’m thankful for: Trump Administration Rolls Back Obama Rule on Birth-Control Coverage

Also, don’t miss this…END OF AN ERA 

More nonsense: Farewell, Valedictorian: High Schools Drop Tradition of Naming Top Student …. not even sure you need to read the article…just shake your head and move along!

I can’t believe I’m linking to scummy Slate…but this is cool: The Greatest Paper Map of the United States You’ll Ever See. (h/t my Kate)

Intriguing: Musk: Tesla can rebuild Puerto Rico power grid

I read a few interesting books this week.  First, I read the latest book by Blake White called ‘God’s Chosen People: Promised to Israel, Fulfilled in the Church’, and for those who’ve never thought much about the nature of the OT and NT and God’s people across the ages, this is a good introductory volume. Blake is definitely becoming a better writer (I laughed out loud a few times), and while he I wish he would have slowed down a few times and been a little more thorough, the book definitely moved quickly apace and was an easy read (something of a virtue for theologians). 

I also finished Zack Eswine’s book The Imperfect Pastor: Discovering Joy in Our Limitations through a Daily Apprenticeship with Jesus. Really good book here. Worth reading for all church leaders – and for those who aren’t, its an interesting and thought-provoking look inside the mind and life of a young pastor. Eswine is a bit of a rambler, I was lost at times structurally, but the content was excellent.

Lastly, I read Arnold Kling’s The Three Languages of Politics: Talking Across the Political Divides.  It was thoughtful but too short; a good discussion starter, and probably required reading for anyone thinking about talking politics around the office water cooler.

Currently working through (among others):  Heroes: From Alexander the Great & Julius Caesar to Churchill & de Gaulle, The Vanishing American Adult, The Churchill Factor: How One Man Made History, Henry V,  and David Copperfield. 

That’s it!  I hope you enjoy your weekend!

PJW