Between Two Worlds

Censorship at its worst:

Bush urges end to cartoon violence

I guess this means no more dropped anvils or exploding bombs on Saturday mornings!

(HT: Jonah Goldberg)

[FYI: they've now changed the headline]

Tim Challies provides a brief review of C.J. Mahaney's Living the Cross Centered Life--which combines and expands his two previous books, The Cross Centered Life and Christ Our Mediator.

If you haven't read Mahaney on the cross, I'd strongly encourage you to do so.

Gene Veith has some questions for the cartoon rioters. He then offers his own helpful answers, reflecting on the nature of collectivism vs. individualism.

Meanwhile, be sure to check out John Piper's latest article: Being Mocked: The Essence of Christ’s Work, not Muhammad’s.

Fellow evangelical blogger Joe Carter (one of "us") joins Hugh Hewitt, Dennis Prager, and Michael Medved (one of "them") to discuss the Danish cartoon controversy.

My oh my. It seems to me that if you work for the CIA, you should--at minimum--have the ability to keep a secret. But for a number of CIAers, classified information should be shared as long as it has the potential to damage the President. Note this news excerpt below about Director Porter Goss's attempt to crack down on the leaking. As you read it, remember that Goss's internal memo is classified--and yet even its contents have been leaked!

The director of the CIA has launched a major internal probe into media leaks about covert operations. In an agencywide e-mail, Porter Goss blamed "a very small number of people" for leaks about secret CIA operations that, in his words, "do damage to the credibility of the agency."

According to people familiar with the Goss e-mail, sent in late January and classified secret, the CIA director warned that any CIA officer deemed suspect by the agency's Office of Security and its Counter Intelligence Center (which handles internal affairs) could be subjected to an unscheduled lie detector test.

Goss told CIA employees there were ways other than talking to the news media to resolve any issues they had with classified CIA operations.

The following poem appeared in The Continental Journal on March 11, 1779. It was entitled “On Predestination.”

If all things succeed as already agreed,

And immutable impulses rule us;

To preach and to pray, is but time thrown away,

And our teachers do nothing but fool us.

If we’re driven by fate, either this way or that,

As the carman whips up his horses,

Then no man can stray --- all go the right way,

As the stars that are fix’d in their courses.

But if by free will, we can go or stand still,

As best suits the present occasion;

Then fill up the glass, and confirm him an ass

That depends upon Predestination.

Two weeks the same newspaper published an answer by another writer:

If an all perfect mind rules over mankind,

With infinite wisdom and power;

Sure he may decree, and yet the will be free,

The deeds and events of each hour.

If scripture affirms in the plainest of terms,

The doctrine of Predestination;

We ought to believe it, and humbly receive it,

As a truth of divine revelation.

If all things advance with the force of mere chance,

Or by human free will are directed;

To preach and to pray, will be time thrown away,

Our teachers may be well rejected.

If men are deprav’d, and to vice so enslav’d,

That the heart chuses nothing but evil;

Then who goes on still by his own corrupt will,

Is driving post haste to the devil.

Then let human pride and vain cavil subside,

It is plain to a full demonstration,

That he’s a wild ass, who over his glass,

Dares ridicule Predestination.

[Cited by Charles W. Akers, “Calvinism and the American Revolution,” in The Heritage of John Calvin: Lectures, ed. John H. Bratt (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1973), pp. 170-171. Thanks to this lecture by Sam Storms for the reference.]

The New Yorker has a lengthy and interesting profile of President Bush's speechwriter and policy advisor Michael Gerson. A Wheaton grad, Gerson talks about his relationship to the President, his faith, and the influence of the Sermon on the Mount upon his own thinking and oratory.

Sony eBook:

The Sony Reader, in case you haven't heard about it yet, is a device about the size and shape of an average book. Weighing a little over 8 ounces, it's basically a hand-held screen on which you can read a book page by page. The device, which will go on sale this April, uses a technology called "E ink" to display book pages in a form which Sony claims comes closer than ever to the experience of actually reading off the paper page.

Those who saw it at the big gadget fest in Las Vegas recently marveled at the readability of the device and seemed to agree with Sony's claim. There are no electronic jitters, no backlit screen (you need light to see the Sony Reader, just like any book) and therefore, such is the claim, none of the tired eyes and headaches common to staring at PC screens and other devices.

E-ink is a cool bit of micro-technology -- microscopic white and black ink capsules suspended in a thin layer of clear fluid beneath the surface of the device's screen, which is in effect a blank page until electrically charged. A negative (black) or positive (white) electric charge brings the proper capsules to the surface of the "paper" to print the page you are reading. When you have finished that page, you press a button and "turn" to the next. It's kind of like "Etch-A-Sketch goes to MIT."

(HT: Instapundit)

From a letter sent by John McCain to Barack Obama:

"I would like to apologize to you... Thank you.... I’m embarrassed.... sorry for the confusion...please be assured I won’t make the same mistake again."

Well, to get the full context, you should probably read it for yourself.

Here's an update from BibleWorks, for those wanting to upgrade or for those looking for a very good Bible language software:

Greetings from BibleWorks.

We are pleased to announce the release of BibleWorks 7. With over 110 Bible translations in 32 languages, an impressive selection of lexicons and grammatical resources, and a wealth of new features to make the program easier (and more fun) to use, this release has what you need to make the most out of the time you spend studying the Scriptures.

A lot has changed since you licensed your copy of BibleWorks 4! Here is just a sampling of what you have been missing:

* An extensive set of task-oriented study guides supplemented with over four hours of instructional videos.

* A Version Database Compiler for adding your own fully searchable Bible versions.

* A Synopsis tool for viewing the parallel Gospel accounts side-by-side.

* Detailed, customizable satellite maps of the Holy Lands.

* A redesigned Editor Window with full Microsoft Word compatibility and a wealth of new features, including drag and drop editing, graphics import, hypertext links, and full support for Unicode.

* Some of the best reference works available for Greek and Hebrew exegesis, including a collection of Hebrew Lexicons (BDB, Holladay), Greek Lexicons (Friberg, Gingrich, Thayer, Lust), the Greek Works of Josephus and Philo, the Metzger New Testament Textual Commentary, Leedy's New Testament Diagrams, plus much, much more.

* Unlockable modules for a wide range of essential Greek exegesis tools like the standard BDAG Lexicon, Wallace's Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics, the Abridged TDNT, Balz & Schneider's Exegetical Dictionary, Moulton & Milligan's Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament, the Blass, Debrunner, & Funk Greek Grammar.

* Unlockable modules for a wide range of essential Hebrew exegesis tools like the standard HALOT Lexicon, Waltke and O'Connor's Biblical Hebrew Syntax, Futato's Beginning Biblical Hebrew, Weingreen's Practical Grammar for Classical Hebrew, plus much, much more.

This is only a sampling of the new resources and tools that you will find in this new release. A full list of BibleWorks 7 contents is available at www.bibleworks.com. Check it out!

Anthony Esolen writes:

"The death of Coretta Scott King has caused me to wonder, if I were a black man and had the choice, whether I would prefer to have grown of age when the Reverend King did, after World War II, or whether I would be happier with the state of affairs for black men now. It isn't an obvious choice, and that itself calls for some consideration."

Read the whole post.

Tim Challies turns in a thoughtful post on Muslim Outrage and God's Grace. Joe Carter also offers some Reflections on the Danish Cartoon Conflict.

Al Mohler answers some readers' questions about reading. Sagacious advice, as usual.

Here's another interview with John McWhorter.

(HT: A.B. Caneday)

John Piper writes in:

"Am I missing it, or is there an unusual silence in the blogosphere about the Muslim outrage over the cartoons of Mohammed. To me this cries out for the observation that when artists put the crucifix in a flask of urine, Christians were grieved and angered, but not one threatened to kill anyone. Our longing is to convert the blasphemers with the Good News of Christ's death and resurrection, not kill them. Our faith is based on One who was reviled not just in cartoons but in reality and received it patiently for the salvation of the cartoonists. These riots are filled with intimations about the glorious difference between Christ and Mohammed, and between the way of Christ and the way of Islam. And the cowing of the press around the world and the US government is ominous for the fear we are under of Islam--not just extremist Islam. I do not respect the teachings of Islam which when followed devoutly lead to destruction. So I have been pondering which will take me out first, Islam, Uncle Sam, or cancer. No matter, all authority belongs to Jesus. I just want to bear faithful witness to his glorious gospel of peace to the end."

Update: Some have asked about the source of this quote. It's from a personal email, posted with permission. Yes, you can feel free to post it on your blog, attributing it (of course) to John Piper.

John Piper's biographical sketch of William Tyndale is now online. See:

“Always Singing One Note”—A Vernacular Bible: Why William Tyndale Lived and Died

For those who want an update on Piper's surgery, DG has posted a short note on it.

Hardly noticed a few days ago was news by Western Union that they will discontinue the Telegram:

"Effective January 27, 2006, Western Union will discontinue all Telegram and Commercial Messaging services. We regret any inconvenience this may cause you, and we thank you for your loyal patronage."

Amazing that it's lasted till now! You can read the whole story--including details about the history and legacy of the telegraph here.

Here's CJ's response.

For years I've heard about an email debate that was conducted between John Frame (then Professor of Apologetics and Systematic Theology at Westminster Seminary California) and Darryl Hart (then librarian and Assistant Professor Church History at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia)--but I was never actually able to get my hands on a copy. The topic was on the Regulative Principle, and the relationship among Scripture, tradition, and culture. Frame--with Hart's permission--has now posted the whole exchange online for those who are interested.

What are motives, do they matter, and can we judge them? Those are some of the questions Doug Wilson takes up in this thoughtful piece: Imputing Motives and Justice.

Here's an interesting concept: free audio of books in the public domain, through LibriVox. You can either listen or volunteer to contribute.

Some enterprising individual or group should organize a way to get the Puritan classics and others in audio form.

(HT: Kevin Meath)

CJ posts to some good resources for fathers and sons.

(:-) [artistic rendering of CJ]

For all you bibliophiles out there, Joe Carter of Evangelical Outpost points out a cool new extension in Firefox:

Firefox Hack -- Next time you're looking to buy a book online, don't waste your time searching for the lowest price - let your browser do the work for you. The Book Burro extension is a Web 2.0 extension for Firefox. When it senses your are looking at a page that contains a book, it will overlay a small panel which when opened lists prices at online bookstores such as Amazon, Buy, Half.com (and many more).

You aren't still using Interet Explorer, are you??

Mark Dever has more thoughts on reading and the books that have shaped his life and thought.