Muddling Toward Maturity Blog

CHARLTON HESTON, R.I.P.

Michelle Malkin has a great post with Charlton Heston videos from his speeches and movies.

JUAN WILLIAMS COMPARES OBAMA AND MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR

I found Juan Williams' recent article in the Wall Street Journal perceptive. 

JIM ROGERS (LEGENDARY INVESTOR) SAYS U.S. ECONOMY PROGRESSING TO WORSE RECESSION AND INFLATION

CNBC  interview with Jim Rogers here  (on YouTube).  It is dated around March 13, 2008.

CLASSIC WORKS OF CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS

I appreciated this post by devinasheville:

J.P. Holding of www.tektonics.org just launched a really great site called “Classic Works of Apologetics”, which is an incredible wealth of information and resources that you can search by author and by topic. Tektonics has always been really good at refuting the more recent attacks on Christianity, and doing tons of book reviews on anti-christian works. I do disagree with him on some things, but over all he has provided a lot of good resources, and his new site is simply amazing. The site was just launched, so we may see some “coming soon” spots on the site.

Click here to visit!

Big hearty thanks to J.P.

Me: Again, my appreciation to devinasheville for this post.

ONLINE BIBLE READING PROGRAMS (WITH SOUND!)

Good News/Crossway offers a marvelous online selection of Bible reading programs.  Until now, I have not utilized online resources, but I think this website may change that.  I like the fact that one can listen to the Biblical text being read, in addition to reading the Bible oneself.  I highly respect the Bible version that Good News/Crossway publishes and uses on this website - The English Standard Version.

• Daily Light on the Daily Path. For over a century, Daily Light on the Daily Path has been a favorite devotional book of those who realize the tremendous benefit of reading and praying Scripture. Originally printed in the mid-1800s, Daily Light was born out of the devout faith of Samuel Bagster, a British bookstore owner determined to share his faith with his twelve children. The Bagsters’ daily practice of reading Scripture together, then connecting the day’s verses with other passages, inspired one of the children to compile their devotions for publication. The family discussed and prayed over the selection and arrangement of each verse until they were convinced that no further improvement could be made. After two years of prayer and consideration, the devotions were printed in two volumes for morning and evening reading.
• Every Day in the Word. The popular reading plan features a reading from the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs each day. This plan divides the text into 365 sections, so you can read through the entire Bible in one unforgettable year—in as little as 15 minutes a day. In one year, you read the Old Testament, New Testament, and Proverbs once, and the Psalms twice.
• One-Year Tract Bible Reading Plan. This plan is based on the M'Cheyne reading system, featuring four different readings for use in both family and personal devotions. Each day has two passages from the Old Testament, one from the New Testament, and one from either the Psalms or the Gospels. In one year, you read the Old Testament once and the New Testament and Psalms twice.
• Through the Bible in a Year. The online version of the popular tract. Each day includes a reading from the Old Testament and New Testament. Starting in Genesis and Matthew, the readings continue sequentially—over the course of a year, you never read the same passage twice.
• Book of Common Prayer Daily Office Lectionary. This plan follows the Daily Office Lectionary found in The Book of Common Prayer (1979) used worldwide by Anglicans and Episcopalians.
• Daily Reading Bible. Follows the reading plan found in the ESV Daily Reading Bible. Each day has one Old Testament reading, one New Testament reading, and one reading from the Psalms. You read the Old Testament once and the New Testament and Psalms twice over a year.
• Chronological. Read the events of the Bible as they occurred chronologically. For example, the Book of Job is integrated with Genesis because Job lived before Abraham. This reading plan is copyright Back to the Bible.

MORE PLANNED PARENTHOOD RACIST CLINICS EXPOSED

Michelle Malkin writes:

I’ve written several times before about Lila Rose’s pioneering undercover journalism. If left-wing reporters are going to use their positions to engineer bigotry stings, then there’s most certainly room for independent journalists to expose racism where the Left doesn’t want to go. In February, Rose released undercover tapes of her discussion with an Idaho Planned Parenthood official eager to accept money from a racist donor who supported aborting black babies. Now, Rose is back with new video of PP clinic officials in New Mexico and Oklahoma willing to take money from a blatantly racist donor. One PP staffer openly admits that “for whatever reason, we’ll accept the money.”

Sympathy for eugenics isn’t just an aberrent occurrence. It’s embedded in the historical DNA of Planned Parenthood. Margaret Sanger would be so proud.

Click through to see the video Michelle Malkin refers to above.  See also my previous post, Slimy Planned Parenthood.

"QUIET TIME" MISNAMED; SHOULD BE "TALKING TIME"

I have on occasion advocated praying out loud.  This piece by David Powlison (via Justin Taylor), goes even further in that direction.  He responds to a Justin Taylor post on Hearing, Praying, and Speaking the Word.   Powlison writes:

Many years ago I worked through the psalms looking for the vocal cues. By my count, more than 95% of the psalms portray or invite audible words directed to God. You "hear" what is written, because so much of it is out loud: crying out, the sound of my voice, songs, shouts, the tongue and lips, asking God to listen, groaning, roaring, seeking, calling on, making requests, and so forth. In the mere handful of psalms with no vertical verbalization, the psalm speaks about people in relation to God (e.g., Ps. 1), or speaks from God (e.g., Ps. 110), or speaks to other people (e.g., Ps. 49). An audible response is then the most natural thing in the world.

   In the verbal actions of the psalms—rejoicing, asking for help, and expressing thanks (cf. 1 Thess. 5:16-18)—we talk to someone else, in this case, God himself. It's fair to say that having a "quiet time" is a misnomer. We should more properly have a "noisy time." By talking out loud we live the reality that we are talking with another person, not simply talking to ourselves inside our own heads. Of course "silent prayers" are

BEST ARCHAEOLOGICAL GUIDE TO ISRAEL

Tod Bolen writes:

The best archaeological guide to Israel is now out in its fifth edition.  The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide, by Jerome Murphy-O'Connor is the best companion for a trip to ancient sites anywhere in Israel.  The section on Jerusalem is especially lengthy (150 pages in the 4th edition), and the whole is accurate and readable.  Don't expect to find out about hotels or restaurants - this is a guide to archaeological sites only!  The 4th edition came out in 1998, so while I haven't yet seen the new edition, I expect it will have significant updates.  The author has lived in Jerusalem longer than I have been alive.

(HT: Between Two Worlds)

POPE BENEDICT XVI'S BAPTISM OF A FORMER MUSLIM: IT'S SIGNIFICANCE AND MEANING

Stephen Brown writes:

During the recent Easter vigil at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, Pope Benedict XVI baptized Muslim-born journalist, Magdi Allam, into the Christian faith before the eyes of the world.

. . . By baptizing such a prominent European Muslim in St. Peter's during one of Christianity's holiest times -- and deliberately garnering worldwide attention -- the Pope clearly intended to reach out to Muslims questioning their faith and to show them that they need not be afraid to convert. The Church is there for them.

The German pontiff was also announcing that the Church was no longer going to be cautious in regard to its policy of converting Muslims. As already noted in FPM, one of the main reasons Cardinal Ratzinger was elected pope was to confront an aggressive, militant Islam. Among his goals, the former German cardinal said he intended to protect Christians in Muslim countries and Christian converts from Islamic brutality in Europe, indicating that Muslim converts were a high priority for him.

(see page 2)

IS REV. JEREMIAH WRIGHT (OBAMA'S PASTOR) A PROPHET?

After listing quote after quote, and newspaper after newspaper casting the Rev. Jeremiah Wright as a prophet, Dennis Prager strongly demurs saying:

The essence of the real prophets was not that they said things that disturbed people; the moral essence of the prophets was their moral clarity. They knew the difference between good and evil. "Woe unto those who call good 'evil' and call evil 'good,'" said the Prophet Isaiah.

Those who cannot see the monumental moral gulf between America and the unspeakably evil jihadists America is fighting in Iraq and elsewhere are not prophets. Those who think Americans got what they deserved on 9/11 are not prophets. Those who think the Russian people were better off under Communism are not prophets. Those who think America developed AIDS and infected people of color with it are not prophets. Those who think America is more worthy of damnation than of blessing are not prophets. They are fools.

I have posted previously on Rev. Jeremiah Wright here and here.