Welcome to your weekend! I think we are CLOSE, so close to spring! But for now, its still cold, there is still ice on my walkway (or “fall-way” as I’m dubbing it now), and snow is still on the ground.  So grab a cup of something warm and check out these stories from the past week…

To the left coast we go…Harrison Ford crashed his 1942 fighter airplane into the 8th hole of a golf course this week.  He seems okay though…Some might recall that in the recent past Ford broke his leg somehow on the door of the Millennium Falcon while shooting the new Star Wars flick. This guy is as clumsy around airplanes as I am on the ice!

Speaking of Hollywood – the guys over at Covenant Eyes (a firm devoted to protecting families from pornography) put together a video re:50 things to know about 50-shades of Grey (the movie/book).  I’m posting this a bit late since the movie came out 2 weeks ago, but I don’t mind pilling on and warning good people away from polluting their minds.

IMPORTANT STORY ALERT (not really…but its pretty darn funny): The Bank of Canada has their shorts in a twist over the mass “Spocking” of their 5 dollar bill!  (h/t my Kate)

I clicked over to the New Republic this week to read a piece on Hillary Clinton, but it was super-duper boring. What I ended up reading was this much more interesting article on the evolution of the American Mall. 

This week John MacArthur’s Masters Seminary is hosting a conference on Biblical Inerrancy. Lots of peeps flocking to participate, and in the meantime, R.C. Sproul (one of the speakers) posted this very helpful little blog re: why its an important subject. 

WACKY: Not sure what to think of this one…

In political news…Hillary Clinton’s email scandal is causing her some trouble, particularly as it relates to Benghazi.

And…the Supreme Court is debate Obamacare stuff again – this is round 3.

And you may have heard that Israel PM Netanyahu addressed the US Congress this week. It was a big deal…Here’s the analysis from Al Mohler. Here’s the CNN story about how tweaked our POTUS was about it. 

And I forgot to mention this last week, but in case you missed it, a major Putin critic found himself on the wrong end of a contract hit and wound up dead not far from the Kremlin…ya, seriously…

NERD ALERT: Sometimes folks ask me what books I’ve been reading, so here’s what I finished last week: ‘Blood Feud‘ by Ed Klein which was a really interesting look inside the Clinton/Obama drama-filled relationship(s), ‘Christ-Centered Biblical Theology’ by Grahame Goldsworthy was a great read and I’d recommend it to every pastor reading this because it helps articulate a Christ-centered hermeneutic with helpful suggestions and analysis. Similarly, I finished a short book by G.K. Beale on how to properly handle the NT use of the OT – good for Bible teachers and pastors, though it can be highly technical at times. Finally, last week I read ‘Zillow Talk’ which was a fascinating look inside the real estate market by the men who founded and run the Zillow App.

ON DECK: Books being devoured right now include work by Steven Lawson, Richard Lints, Nancy Pearcey, J.R.R. Tolkein, and George W. Bush.  Reading THIS devotionally and its wonderful.

That’s it! Enjoy your weekend!

PJW

Hello from sunny Nevada!  I know this is really late to be posting the weekend reading, but with travel and work this week there has been minimal time for any recreational reading or blogging.  Nevertheless, here are a few items that I hope you’ll enjoy as you relax this weekend!

First – the revelation (not that it is any surprise) that Hillary Clinton’s top aides knew Benghazi was a terrorist attack (and not some nonsensical reaction to a YouTube video) from the early moments of the news out of Libya.

And in (related?) other news, a new report out this week says that the US Military has shrunk significantly under President Obama – apparently to levels barely adequate to defend the homeland. 

Ligonier Ministries held their annual conference this past weekend, the messages are online now for free.  ALSO – R.C. Sproul has released a new album of hymns he’s been working on for some time now. Check those out here, and see the making of video here.

David Murry has a post utilizing Jonathan Edwards’ thoughts on food and drink and their enjoyment. A few enjoyable nuggets and a good perspective.

Lastly, if you’ve been a Christian for a while and have read several different versions of the Bible, then you’ll find this next article hilarious – it’s called ‘If All the Bible Translations Had a Dinner Party’ – worth the laugh (h/t my Kate).

That’s it! Go enjoy your weekend!

PJ

Another busy week has left me interested in relaxing a bit this weekend, however, that may not be in the cards! I did read and pick up a few interesting articles and videos this week that are worth sharing. This is a relatively light list, so enjoy – and stay warm!

Speaking of COLD – check out this interesting article called ‘How to Survive Winter in Antarctica’ – I found it fascinating that for so many months its SO dark. I’ll go ahead and pass on any winter job opportunities in this region, thank you.

And for those of you who think that social media snark won’t ever catch up to you, this article from the New York Times will put some caution into your typing…Frankly, this article ought to remind everyone that social media is forever AND its a public forum. You aren’t whispering under your breath, and you aren’t just talking to two or three close friends (most of the time). This is the public square, and you shouldn’t write anything here that you wouldn’t want published on the front page of the paper…or in this case, the New York  Times!

And the libs over at Huffpo actually did something worthwhile this week by compiling the Top 10 Political Sketches of All Time.  I found the Bill Clinton McDonalds one (because its one of my favs) and literally laughed out loud!

On to theology...the Gospel Coalition has a short article (which is just an excerpt from GK Beale’s excellent Revelation Commentary) on why the number of the beast in Revelation is ‘666.’

Speaking of evil beings – I meant to shoot this out last week. It’s a video that explains the One Ring from the Tolkein series. And, actually, it does a pretty darn good job. If you’ve never touched the ‘Silmarillion’, but have seen the Lord of the Rings movies, this will prove most satisfying. (h/t Lisa Wenzel)

Some of you might know that Al Mohler does a daily briefing (imaginatively named ‘The Briefing’) that pertains to politics and news analyzed from a Christian worldview. On the 17th his briefing was very good indeed. He addressed how Evolution has been in the news lately, and how politicians have been answering it. Worth listening to.

Two eye-popping news stories to keep on your radar this week were 1. ISIS burning 45 Christians to death on an African Beach and 2. Russian aggression now pushing boundaries even into British airspace…….

Lastly, if you’re a mother and have ever read CS Lewis’ ‘Screwtape Letters’, then you’ll really appreciate this blog post on Desiring God written from a similar perspective. Very creative stuff here!

That’s it! Enjoy your weekend, and stay warm!

PJW

Valentines Day weekend is upon us, so you may not have much time for articles and videos, so I’m keeping it SUPER short today. If you steal a few minutes away to catch up, here is where you ought to look at…

I’ll lead off with Al Mohler’s article called ‘Fifty Shades of Shame’, its an undressing (pardon the pun) of the new 50 Shades of Gray movie set to release this weekend. Worth the read, Mohler takes a look at the bigger picture (again, pardon the pun) in sobering terms.

And as the invisible GOP primary continues to unfold, the left is starting to wonder if there are GOP candidates who have clear stances on evolution…

Speaking of leftist propaganda, this week revealed that “scientists” have been fiddling with global temperature data...who knew?

Lighten UP: this video made the rounds on FB this week (h/t to Marc Wilson who always finds the most hilarious videos)

Ravi Zacharias responds to POTUS’s disastrous prayer breakfast speech. 

Something Different – interesting write up on the policy war being waged over music rights.

Video of the Week: John Piper dissects the word “foreknown” in Romans 8:29.  Watch and learn my friends…watch and learn…

Book of the Week: I read this book by J.I. Packer last week, simply fantastic – and pretty concise as well. It’s only 115 pages or so.

That’s it! Have a great weekend!

PJW

It’s Friday and I’m writing this post around 6pm eastern, so the weekend is upon us! I have read a number of interesting stories/videos/blogs this week that you might enjoy – check them all out below!

I usually start with political/world news items, but instead let’s begin with great articles from the Christian world.  First, Jon Bloom has channeled his inner C.S. Lewis and written a piece called ‘The God-man or Madman?’ about the incredible claims Jesus made about Himself. It’s definitely worth looking over.

NERD ALERT: Justin Taylor has posted up an excerpt from Tom Schreiner’s Biblical Theology that addresses Genesis 1:26 which talks about the Trinity’s involvement in creation. As you might recall, the verse says “Let us” make man in our image etc. But is this a direct reference to the Trinity? Check it out…

This week was the anniversary of the Challenger disaster, and to commemorate that day, I watched President Reagan’s short speech to the nation on the matter. Amazing how well this man could communicate.

Speaking of disasters, Congressman Tim Ryan announced this week that he has decided to become “pro-choice.” Is that the same as Conspiracy to Commit Murder? The two most perverted facts about the story: 1. Ryan came to this conclusion AFTER having his first child this past year…(I kid you not) and 2. this comes on the heels of rampant speculation about a potential Ryan Senate campaign in 2016.

More Theology…Tim Challies has a post addressed to his Reformed Christian friends called ‘How to Offend a Room Full of Calvinists’ that was really good.

And if I have another person proclaim the joys of Ikea coming to Columbus Ohio I will, well, I don’t know what. I’m mainly excited about the Swedish meatballs! Here’s the Dispatch story on it. EXTRA SILVER LINING: At least the Dispatch is printing something people care about reading for once!

But I enjoyed this story much more…I guess our globe-trotting State Department superstar got a ticket for not shoveling his sidewalk…can’t make this stuff up…

Speaking of which – I promise I didn’t make this one up: ‘Five Days After Burial, Tampa Cat Crawls Back from Grave.’

And have you been STUCK on many conference calls this week? Enjoy this humous YouTuber sent courtesy of Alison Payden.

Speaking of Conference Calls – Mitt Romney announced on one today that he is NOT running for President next year. 

And the Senate Dems failed to filibuster the Keystone Pipeline, so not it heads to President Obama’s desk where he’s vowed to veto it.

Back to more eternal issues…R.C. Sproul, Jr. wrote a little piece a while back asking the question ‘How Can an Infinite Hell Be Just When Our Sins are Finite?’

This week Denny Burk pondered the question ‘Will Christians be Allowed to Serve as Judges in California?’ 

And did you see this? The “evil” Koch brothers are set to spend almost a BILLION dollars on the 2016 election cycle!

Maybe they could load some money to Jimmy McMillan?

INTRIGUE! ‘FBI Nabs Member of Russian of Russian Spy Ring in NYC’

Finally…ever think about whether Radiocarbon Dating is really the best way to learn the age of really old stuff? The Institute for Creation Research has some food for thought…

That’s it! Enjoy your weekend!

PJW

 

It is ALMOST here…the weekend! So I’ve teed up all the articles, videos and blog posts I found most interesting from the week. Check them out and enjoy your weekend!

Let’s start with ‘Deflategate’ – the big story before the Superbowl is how the Patriots (allegedly) were deflating footballs before the conference championship game. Tom Brady denies all wrong doing here. Oddly enough, the issue was fixed at half-time, and the Patriots proceeded to trounce the Colts in the second half leading to an embarrassing 45-7 “W”…so there’s that…

The political world is really heating up as 2016 Presidential contenders are making calls to donors and building their staffs. In the wake of all this hubbub, The New York Times had an interesting story comparing President George W. Bush with his younger brother Jeb.…along similar lines, they have a piece about how Jeb and Mitt are meeting…

And on the world stage, Buzzfeed pokes at Sec. of State John Kerry for his “special” moment with French President François Hollande.  

Speaking of international affairs, my friend Uri Goldflam has an article in The Time of Israel hitting liberal columnist Thomas Friedman for his hypocrisy. Interestingly, I found others doing a nice job documenting this in even more (fun and) extensive depths…

This week there were big battles on the Hill about abortion and lots of blather over climate change. Nothing significant happened per se in either policy area, but it was interesting to note what 2016 presidential aspirants are saying about so-called “climate change…”

Now for a lighter moment…several people close to me have their homes on the market right now, and Kate sent this informative real estate slide show around: ’37 Horrifying Real Estate Photos…’

In other important news, the Idaho state legislature has decided NOT to make the salamander the state amphibian. 

Mommy Blog Alert (this is actually a great article): ’20 Things I Want My Daughters to Understand about Being a Woman’

And if you missed the President’s State of the Union Address – first, good for you for making a healthy lifestyle decision – but secondly, you might want to check out how the President is planning on taxing 529 education plans upon $$$ withdrawal….(h/t my Kate)

And there must just be a ton going on in foreign affairs this week, because there are two more important items you should know about: First, Speaker John Boehner invited the Israeli PM to address Congress without going through the State Department/White House (a major snub), and SECOND, just a few hours after our talented diplomats met with Cuban diplomats for the first time in like 50 years, the Cubans turn around and decry the terrible human rights record of the U.S (h/t Dennis Lankford)….I kid you not. Warm up the Sunday Morning Shows, it’s going to get ugly for POTUS.

The WRAP UP – 3 Great articles for your weekend that won’t leave you shaking your head!

1. Tim Challies has a piece on his wedding anniversary that is really great. 

2. Justin Taylor reports on the fragment of Mark that dates back to the first century. Taylor answers the question: How should Christians respond? 

3. Justin Taylor gets a gold star for yet another great piece. This is a short one called ‘5 Scientific Problems with Current Theories of Biological and Chemical Evolution.‘

That’s it!  Enjoy your weekend – and happy reading!

PJW

Welcome to the weekend! Scroll through a few articles, videos and other interesting items as you enjoy the cold weather! From what I read this week, here are the most interesting items…

Let me start with a long article from the Miami Herald. You don’t have to read the whole thing to get the gist. It’s called ‘Plundering America: The Cuban Criminal Pipeline’. Key graph: “The federal government has long pointed to the prevalence of Cuban immigrants in Medicare fraud, as first reported in the Miami Herald, but authorities never quantified it. The Sun Sentinel analyzed court bookings data and found that Cuba natives, operating primarily in South Florida, are so prolific they account for less than one percent of the U.S. population but are responsible for 41 percent of arrests nationwide for health-care fraud.”

Also, as Parris and all of Europe have been shocked by the terrorist goings on in their own backyard (they even compare it to 9/11). Obviously there was some significant backlash when President Obama failed to attend the Parris march of solidarity. Here’s a video of the state department trying to explain why…its bad…Meanwhile, a much larger Muslim/Islamist terror threat has killed thousands in Nigeria (h/t David Clementson). The group carrying out the killing is called Boko Haram – here are some interesting things about them. And here are some fascinating satellite images of the destruction they’ve caused.

Here in America, the discussion over who will be running for President on the GOP side took an unexpected turn last Friday when Mitt Romney decided to dip his toe in the water. The reaction from political insiders has been almost unanimously bad, though Romney still holds high name recognition among the electorate.

Now for something more positive…on the 12th, John Piper posted a very good article called ‘What God Can Do in Five Seconds’. Definitely worth reading. 

Also, Corrie Mitchell asks us to ‘Stop Singing These 10 Worship Songs’…do you agree?

Book Alert: I just finished ‘Lit! A Christian Guide to Reading Books’ and I recommend it to anyone whose interested in reading better. Parents who want to encourage their kids to read will enjoy chapter 14 ‘Raising Readers’ which offers good suggestions on how to encourage your kiddos to enjoy reading. Favorite line from the chapter “Fill your home with a library of books. To save paper (or money), go to the library. The point is to make books visible and prominent, so your children will see books as worthwhile and enjoyable.” A question: Do your kids spend more time watching TV or playing video games than reading? Do you?

More Politics (oh goodie!)…Next week is the State of the Union Address. This article talks about President Obama’s different approach to the big speech this year.

Now for this important news item from the AP: ‘Cops: Suspect stopped for chicken and biscuits after heist’

Speaking of wacky items – check this new one out for your iPhone (h/t Alex Wenzel)

And…this is NOT from the Onion!

Arts and Crafts…Etsy is raising capital for a major IPO...what kinds of things do they sell? Stuff like this.

From tech world...there’s a story out this week about how researchers can use your “likes” on Facebook to figure you out.  It works…sometimes…

CONTROVERSY…And maybe you saw this already, but one of the boys who said he went to heaven and has been proclaiming ‘heaven is real’ etc. has now confessed that he made it all up…you don’t say? Phil Johnson Comments…Christianity Today article includes an updated statement from the publisher of his book (Tyndale), who is recalling the books. Apparently Tyndale hasn’t even paid the family for what books have sold…the SBC condemned all such false and Scripturally antithetical experiences a while back…(h/t Kate Wenzel & Tim Challies)

Finally, speaking of so-called Christian behavior…here are 10 horrific and hilarious ‘Christian’ pick up lines…(h/t Kate Wenzel)

That’s it! Enjoy your weekend!

PJW

Welcome to your Friday on what feels (at least to me) like the week that will never end! I found myself reading a lot this week – both articles and books. I’ve read two books (What’s Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done, and Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President) and finished another (Volume 3 of William Manchester’s ‘The Last Lion: Defender of the Realm’).  I enjoyed each of these and look forward to what the new year has in store!

Books on Deck: In edition to the myriad commentaries on Revelation I’m reading, I’ve begun Tolkein’s ‘The Silmarillion’, and have already paged through notable parts of ‘The Inklings Handbook’ which seems to be a hard one to get a hold of. I also intend to (finally) read Charles Krauthammer’s ‘Things that Matter’, which was a thoughtful gift from Kate’s parents some time ago and promises to be an excellent book.

On to Articles! Here’s what I (and others who sent stories my way) found of interest this week:

As I’m writing this, the U.S. (or should I say President Obama acting on his own) has imposed sanctions on North Korea for the Sony hack. This when it seems that the communist state may not have really been the ones to perform the hack in the first place...I’m guessing that at this point the details which encompass the motives of the President, NK leadership, and Sony will never be known in full. But if it all comes to light eventually, I guess the comfort is that someone will make a made-for-TV movie of the snafu…so then everyone wins, right? (h/t David Clementson, Matt Ferris)

And since this seems to be the post for getting the truth out about stuff, Al Mohler (among others) outed Newsweek’s own hack job. The hack this time wasn’t a program but a person, namely Kurt Eichenwald. Eichenwald wrote a trashy article on the Bible a few days ago, and committed egregious malpractice in his vindictive and unprofessional slur. (h/t Gene Belew)

Speaking of getting the truth out about news stories, it turns out that the Pope didn’t actually say that all dogs go to heaven, that seems to have (possibly) come from a previous Pope. Not sure if this Pope agrees with the last Pope, but hey that’s another issue altogether! The NY Times and others caught onto their shoddy journalism and printed a few graphs at the bottom of the linked clip explaining their deficiency. (h/t Jen Gates)

You’ve probably heard by now that Florida State got hammered by Oregon (and yes we’re talking football here), and Ohio State advanced past an SEC team (the entire South must be in denial right about now) to meet in the national champ. game.

I mentioned earlier that I enjoyed Matt Perman’s book ‘What’s Best Next’, well you can check out his blog here.  Has lots of enjoyable and helpful tips for getting you organized for the new year. In that similar realm of organization and efficiency, studies are starting to show that the open office floor plan isn’t so sweet. 

Speaking of things which aren’t so sweet maybe you should read this for a laugh and not an investment opportunity…

With one year ending, and another beginning, there are several article round-ups and charts on what 2014 brought us. Here are a few…

Ligonier has their best articles of 2014, You Version listed a few facts about people’s Bible Reading habits, the best photobook options for all those holliday pics, and Challies’ top articles of the year.

Sidebar: You Version said 2014’s most popular verse is Romans 12:2, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

As I was reading through the Desiring God website’s top articles, I pulled out just one – on motherhood and a wife’s calling. This used to be their most visited article of all time (now #2) and I thought it was worth posting. It’s very very good.

Speaking of motherhood I found this post by Krista Welch to be really thought provoking and worth a read. 

With a new year will come many new inventions and cool things ahead. One of them is the 4k TV’s. Another might be new advances in biometric security…some of these are hilarious.

In the new year, I want to read more, and do more – don’t you? Well Al Mohler had an article on how he reads and what he reads earlier in the year which I thought was worth posting. And David Mathis over at DG had a nice little piece on how ‘Bible Reading is an Art‘.

For an interesting long form read on technology, check out the New Yorker’s profile of a young man who has begun building an empire based on ‘Clickbait’.

And you don’t even have to leave the New Yorker site to get a chuckle at Ayn Rand’s Reviews of Children’s Movies (h/t Alex Wenzel) PREVIEW: Her review of ‘Frozen’:

An exceptional woman foolishly allows her mooching family members to keep her from ruling a kingdom of ice in perfect solitude. She is forced to use her unique powers to provide free entertainment for peasants, without compensation. I liked the snowman, when he sang. —One star.

Also, in terms of world news, this just happened…Someone please alert that guy who is writing the Tom Clancy novels now, who, really, isn’t, Tom Clancy…

Finally, be sure to check out Vince Vitale’s interesting piece called ‘Everyone Believes in a Virgin Birth’…

Enjoy your weekend! (like you need one right?)