Curated content for Christians
I was doing a phone interview last night and had a rather awkward moment. I was in the basement and as I was answering a question, I spotted a hamster in the window well, trying to get into our house (or get out of the window well). I hadn’t expected that. When the interview wrapped…
Why Won’t God Just Tell Me What To Do? – “That would certainly make things simpler in life, wouldn’t it? Like if there was a blank page at the back of every Bible, and every morning you woke up and there was a personal, hand-tailored message for you from God. Telling you where to eat…
I spent a lot of time reading this weekend. Reading on the Internet, that is. And now when it comes to A La Carte I find that I’ve got about 100 articles bookmarked. Well, 20 or 30 anyway. So let me see if I can make up an interesting mix that reflects the eclectic nature…
It’s funny what happens to Saturdays when the family grows. Already I’ve taken my son to baseball practice, my daughter to ballet and worked over tomorrow’s sermon in the meantime. Next up is a list of chores (passport photos, baseball helmets, groceries). I remember when weekends were relaxing. But I think it’s a fair trade.…
It’s been a cool and rainy spring–enough so that my son’s baseball season has already been delayed twice. The fields are just too wet to play on. However, we are hoping to finally get the first practice in tomorrow, with a game to follow early next week. It’s back to the diamond at last. U-S-A…
The Slippery Story – It’s been very interesting to see how the story of Bin Laden’s death has changed over the past few days. The Atlantic tries to make some sense of it. I wonder how much of the changes are based on misinformation that came through today’s way-too-fast news cycle. Victory Over or Struggling…
Anatomy of a Fake Quotation – This is interesting: “Yesterday, I saw a quote from Martin Luther King Jr. fly across my Twitter feed: ‘I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy.’ – Martin Luther King, J’. I was about…
It is a double birthday in the Challies home today, with my wife turning [something] and my youngest daughter turning 5. Question is, when there are two birthdays, do you do one cake and put both names on it? Or do you do a cake each? I’m going with the one cake this year… You…
It’s Not Poetry – The Sola Panel blog (think Matthias Media) has an interesting article about the early chapters of Genesis. “When it comes to standard Hebrew poetic forms—especially parallelism, ‘non-standard’ vocabulary and ‘unusual’ verb patterning—these are also absent from the text (with the exception of 1:27). As my old Ancient Near East history lecturer…
One more A La Carte to finish up another month. I believe I have done something like 1,300 A La Carte posts over the years. Turns out there is lots of interesting stuff to make note of! Here are a few more examples of this. An Interview with Newton – This is kind of cool.…
Ringold, GA – My sister and her family live in Ringgold, GA, a town flattened by a tornado. We’re praising God that he saw fit to keep the family and their home safe. The Big Picture has photos of the destruction in other southern towns. The size and scope of this disaster is just shocking…
I am strangely drawn to infographics. I’m not sure what it is about them, but I guess it probably has to do with the way a good infographic lays out interesting information in an attractive and effective way. I am generally drawn to words more than pictures, but make an exception for infographics. Let’s start…
Airport Security – “At the Bangkok airport they took my scissors. This was the second time they took my scissors in Bangkok. I should have learned my lesson. They were safety scissors, the kind you’d give to a child, about two-and-a-half inches long with rounded tips.” There’s a lesson in there about airport security. Pride…
Quote Mania – Mark Lauterbach reflects on our love of quotes (and I admit that I’m at fault here). “Citing favorite quotations has become epidemic among bloggers and facebookers and tweeters. Perhaps it is the media that determines the size of the message, but I have some concerns.” What Jesus Did for You? – Jay…
On Friday we enjoyed a Good Friday service with 1,000 people from 5 Toronto-area churches. On Saturday I got my city-slicker family out into the countryside to visit some old, dear friends. While there my kids fired off rockets, drove ATVs and did some target practice with rifles (well, only my son did the latter).…
Bell’s Inferno – John MacArthur completes his series on Rob Bell. “The sad reality is that if Rob Bell does not confess the truth in this life, one day he will realize how wrong his understanding of hell really is. His view of hell will be painfully altered forever when he receives the more severe…
Jerusalem & Hollywood – Carl Trueman recently wrote an article critiquing giant Christian conferences. Thabiti Anyabwile returned fire and Trueman took the opportunity to respond. There is some interesting (and kind-hearted) discussion there. The Church in China – Dr. Mohler has an article that offers a little glimpse into the persecuted church in China. Hope…
Two of my kids get to go on class trips today. My daughter is going to a concert by a French band; my son is going to the dump. And yet they are still both excited. I guess anything is better than another day in school… At Home with the Pope – In case you’ve…
Social Media & Politics – According to this article “Obama set the ‘gold standard’ for use of social media, and now it’s an absolute must for candidates.” Indeed. It is tough to imagine how any political campaign could be successful today without a strong social media component. Pastors & Social Media – Speaking of social…
eBook Sales – Evidence of a massive shift in publishing: “The publishing tide is shifting fast: E-book sales in February topped all other formats, including paperbacks and hardcovers, according to an industry report released this week.” Speaking of which, the Kindle now has a version that just barely tops $100. Future Leaders – Brian Croft…