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Showing posts from May, 2016

Commonplace Monday #36

"After a while he pulled a sigh that would have fed a blacksmith's bellows all afternoon."  - Archie Gordon in Rex Stout's, "Fer-De-Lance", pg 197 Commonplace Monday is a series of posts wherein, on Monday mornings, I share short quips, sentences -perhaps as much as a paragraph- which I have collected in my various commonplace books and files. If I wrote down or recall where it came from I will certainly give attribution. However, sometimes I write down things and not where they came from. So if you see anything like that here and recognize it, that's what comment sections are for. 

Throwback Thursday: Created in our image.

Throwback Thursday is a series of posts, wherein I will on (some) Thursdays post a piece of writing from back in the day. Generally not from this blog. I will edit lightly for readability, but my intention is to allow each piece to stand basically as written. Over the years my mind has shifted on many things, as my knowledge of life, the Scriptures, and myself has grown. I'm not in the business of hiding this fact, so these will probably (at least on occasion) contain some things which even I think are crazy. Originally posted on Facebook on  November 3, 2009 at 2:55pm Public Friends of Friends Friends Friends except Acquaintances Only Me Custom Good feed South Lake Youth Ministries See all lists... Le Mars, Iowa Area Plummer, Idaho Area Family US Postal Service Acquaintances Go Back "Man created God in his own image: angry, bigoted, and hateful." So said a bumper sticker I saw the other day. (The exact wording may have differed, but that was the gist of it.)

Commonplace Monday #35

"We have to murder perfectionism...90% perfect and shared with the world always changes more lives than 100% perfect and stuck in your head."   -Jon Acuff, Quitter, pg 62 Commonplace Monday is a series of posts wherein, on Monday mornings, I share short quips, sentences -perhaps as much as a paragraph- which I have collected in my various commonplace books and files. If I wrote down or recall where it came from I will certainly give attribution. However, sometimes I write down things and not where they came from. So if you see anything like that here and recognize it, that's what comment sections are for. 

Reading With Your Kids

This is a somewhat overdue follow-up to my post on Speaking With Your Kids . A while back, my children and I finished reading through The House at Pooh Corner  by A.A. Milne (you can see my mini-review here ). While there were things all throughout the book that struck me, this interchange near the end of the final chapter snagged my attention like a flashing red light: So they began going there, and after they had walked a little way Christopher Robin said:  "What do you like doing best in the world, Pooh?"   "Well," said Pooh,"what I like best----" and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called. What is that called? The thing which brought this particular exchange to my attention was the fact that what Milne, through the honey-stained lips of Pooh, describes is the experi

Christopher Hitchens vs Douglas Wilson debate

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This debate is from 2008, but still interesting today. I am obviously, as a Trinitarian Theist, partial to Wilson's position; but I have always found Christopher Hitchens to be a fantastic personality, a capable debater, and a fascinating individual. I think debates are an interesting thing. I doubt many minds are ever changed by them. But to hear a capable doubter such as Hitchens attack the things which I believe seems to sharpen my own thinking, cause me to consider how others process the world, and hopefully both inform my belief and shape my witness.

Commonplace Monday #34

"Good art clearly conveys the intended message."   -Karey Stivers Commonplace Monday is a series of posts wherein, on Monday mornings, I share short quips, sentences -perhaps as much as a paragraph- which I have collected in my various commonplace books and files. If I wrote down or recall where it came from I will certainly give attribution. However, sometimes I write down things and not where they came from. So if you see anything like that here and recognize it, that's what comment sections are for. 

#StampOutHunger

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As many of my blog readers will be aware, my day job is carrying mail for the United States Postal Service. My official job title is Letter Carrier, and as such, I am a member of the National Association of Letter Carriers. Considering that I grew up in a right-to-work state with a lot of deep-seated prejudices against unions, joining one was a big step out of my comfort zone. I'm pretty used to it now, though, and am quite thankful for the work my union and other unions do to protect worker rights. One of the things the NALC does each year is hold the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive . This one day food drive, this year to be held on Saturday, May 14th , is the largest single-day food drive in the country. Last year we collected about 71 million pounds of food, and over the previous 23 years we have collected over 1.4 Billion pounds of food. All of this food stays in the area where it was collected, serving those local individuals and families in need. Letter carriers across th

Throwback Thursday: A few thoughts on God and us.

Throwback Thursday is a series of posts, wherein I will on (some) Thursdays post a piece of writing from back in the day. Generally not from this blog. I will edit lightly for readability, but my intention is to allow each piece to stand basically as written. Over the years my mind has shifted on many things, as my knowledge of life, the Scriptures, and myself has grown. I'm not in the business of hiding this fact, so these will probably (at least on occasion) contain some things which even I think are crazy. Originally Posted on Facebook as, "A few thoughts on God and us." November 12, 2009 at 2:24am Public Friends of Friends Friends Friends except Acquaintances Only Me Custom Good feed South Lake Youth Ministries See all lists... Le Mars, Iowa Area Plummer, Idaho Area Family US Postal Service Acquaintances Go Back So this is mostly just writing to myself...but honestly most of what I write is, I comprehend and process better if I have to put things into words.

Commonplace Monday #33

"Risk is right."  - John Piper, Don't Waste Your Life, pg 89 Commonplace Monday is a series of posts wherein, on Monday mornings, I share short quips, sentences -perhaps as much as a paragraph- which I have collected in my various commonplace books and files. If I wrote down or recall where it came from I will certainly give attribution. However, sometimes I write down things and not where they came from. So if you see anything like that here and recognize it, that's what comment sections are for. 

Review: Life Under Compulsion: Ten Ways to Destroy the Humanity of Your Child

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Life Under Compulsion: Ten Ways to Destroy the Humanity of Your Child by Anthony Esolen My rating: 4 of 5 stars While Esolen occasionally indulges in a "good-old-days"ism that is somewhat tedious and annoying, this is quite occasional, and on the whole this is one of the finest books I have read not only on parenting, but on life in general. A helpful critique of our compulsion, productivity, and technology driven culture. View all my reviews

Commonplace Monday #32

"Deep in the human psyche, all of us long to be chosen by love. It hurts, because we know we don't deserve it, but we want it anyway."   -Michael Lawrence, Biblical Theology in the Life of the Church, pg 141 Commonplace Monday is a series of posts wherein, on Monday mornings, I share short quips, sentences -perhaps as much as a paragraph- which I have collected in my various commonplace books and files. If I wrote down or recall where it came from I will certainly give attribution. However, sometimes I write down things and not where they came from. So if you see anything like that here and recognize it, that's what comment sections are for. 

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