October 2010
1 post
August 2010
5 posts
July 2010
1 post
June 2010
2 posts
May 2010
3 posts
April 2010
1 post
January 2010
10 posts
We've Moved and Improved!
We’ve moved the vast majority of my blogging life over to the BRAND NEW BenandJacq.com, effective immediately. I’ve re-posted almost all the non-photo posts from here to there, so that it doesn’t look too lonely, and from here on out I’ll use this tumblr blog for silly things I find on the web and/or pictures. Check out my first post over there, a satirical look at my...
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Pat Robertson and I, the Temanites.
I just got done reading Job 4 and 5, and was struck by the parallels between Pat Robertson’s comments yesterday and Eliphaz the Temanite’s comments to Job.
The major lesson? In the face of tragedy, responding with theological truisms (or conjecture) is not only insensitive, it’s the exact opposite of the Christian message, even if those truisms and conjecture are correct.
What...
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Grading Parents might take more than Originality.
Lately a trend on the facebook is folks taking a quiz that grades their parents on originality in naming them. The only metric (as far as I can tell) to factor into the grade is how many other folks were named what you are named during your birthyear. Making it easy to simultaneously grade highly and win an award for a terrible parenting decision.
Here’s a few of the names Jacqueline and...
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The Terrifying thought of Christ-centered...
Thanks to the power of Twitter, and my ever-running search for “campus crusade” I saw this tweet yesterday:
A terrifying description of the Campus Crusade for Christ Club: “We are here to help turn lost students into Christ-centered laborers.” —@gogocosmonaut
To which I responded:
you and I must have a different view of Christ. It’s terrifying that anyone...
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The Reason for God.
The Reason for God by Tim Keller is a must-read for anyone looking for a pastoral, thoughtful, and compelling defense of the Christian faith.
I call it pastoral because, unlike some theological works (even those by such great minds as CS Lewis), this book doesn’t at any point talk down to it’s reader. It is a defense, to be sure, of the Christian faith. But it feels like Pastor Tim...
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Earth.
Have you seen the movie Earth? It’s narrated by James Earl Jones, so that alone should convince you. That man could read the labels on a tube of lipstick to me and I would pay attention.
But the narrator is not why I’d suggest you go see Earth. The movie is a fascinatingly well-done documentary that literally was shot from the North Pole to the South Pole. We watched it at a...
December 2009
14 posts
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For those times when ONE blog isn't enough...
For the next few weeks I’ll be manning the helm of not only this blog, but two (count ‘em) blogs for our winter conference. I won’t be the only contributor, but I will have a significant amount of input and veto power over everything that appears on them.
The first is a live blog of the conference. In a way, our winter conference has already started, as students begin to...
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Signing a Declaration? Really?
I followed a link today to www.IBelieve.com sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, and was shocked to find this thinly guised signup for the BGEA and Christianity.com mailing lists:
It’s sad, Franklin Graham, that you would be a part of this.
The verse on the “declaration” is that our LIGHT would shine, not our WORDS. Indignantly declaring that we are...
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“Our belligerence toward “Happy Holidays” is roughly analogous to...”
– Me, in comment to a funny post by Jon Acuff
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More verses I've never heard on "Christian"...
This is the latest in a series. To read the series from the beginning, click here.
Romans 1:18 in combo with Romans 3:23
I’ll give it to Christian radio. They might have actually played these as the “verse of the day.” But I’ve never head it. The first one says that the wrath of God (not exactly a ratings-hog of a concept) is poured out against the unrighteous. The...
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Tim Keller=Brainache.
I am absolutely loving the first of the two Keller books purchased recently. I don’t know how any(genuinely seeking)one could read this book and remain ambivalent toward Christianity.
More to come on this thought once I finish the book.
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Hard Work.
I started my three new books with Roy Williams’ Hard Work, because (contrary to what the title might have me believe) I knew it would be the quickest read. And nothing fuels reading like some good momentum.
Tim Crothers (Roy’s help writing the book) does an excellent job of hiding behind what sounds exactly like Roy Williams is speaking, and making it come off as both well written,...
Matt Chandler isn't wasting his Brain Tumor. →
What an encouraging video by Matt Chandler, pastor of the Village church in Texas.
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While I'm on the Santa topic...
I’ve heard some people say that they are worried about their kids, when they are told about the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, and Jesus, that they might learn two of the three are a lie and assume the third is also.
That’s pretty silly, unless during family devotions you are praying to the Easter Bunny. Kids can tell the difference between something you devote your life to and something...
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Santa Claus.
We’re probably not going to do Santa with our kids.
When I say that, immediately there are those who jump up to tell us how it’s just innocent fun to tell the stories of Santa. (Funny how it’s not OK for me to tell others not to do Santa but it’s perfectly acceptable for others to tell me to do the opposite…)
They also often say something to the effect of “we...
November 2009
20 posts
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Fishing Trip, Day 1.
5:30 AM Dad knocks on my door and says “It’s 5:30” (which you already knew, but I didn’t, at the time) I mutter something incoherent and grab for the toothbrush in the bag by the bed.
6:15 AM Having swung by my brother’s house to pick him up, we stop at a covered gas station to rearrange the stuff in the bed of the truck without the “help” of the chilling, driving rain.
7:03 AM We...
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If Only Life were "According to Ben"
Here’s the thing about perseverance: It takes a while.
I want the non-existent concept of instant obedience. I say to God, “OK, I’ve checked the box marked ‘experience emotional strain and pain from a precariously low bank account and trust God to provide’ and now I’d like to move on to the box marked ‘experience the joy of giving out of an...
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“Fear is the exaggerated need for security in some area of life.”
– John Estorge
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Kingdom in the context of Capitalism.
What am I running toward? Why do I want to raise over $2000 in monthly support? The Bible says that “for lack of vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18 King James Version) and I can definitely relate to that.
Unless there is a compelling picture in my mind of why the heck I am doing this—all the phone calls and appointments and initiating with strangers about their wallet...
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Dear College Freshman...
There’s this myth out there that says you have the next four years to really go crazy, and live it up. You think you’ve been given a free pass to be irresponsible, dangerous, and, well, stupid. After all, you are only hurting yourself. There will time to grow up later.
That’s a lie. All you are doing by ignoring the fact that physiologically you entered adulthood 3-4 years...
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WatchThe class this kid shows is pretty awesome. Welcome to the family. Go Heels.
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A Downright Inappropriate Verse.
This is another in my latest series (that started out as one ginormous post I decided to break into several) on verses that will never be read on Christian radio.
This one is a verse that, if you are reading out loud to your underage children, (a practice I wholeheartedly discourage with any of my writing) I’d stop.
(mouse over the verse to read it)
Ezekiel 23:20 We are not likely to see...
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Negative, Downbeat, Discouraging Verse of the day.
I started yesterday with Nahum 3:5-6
Today we’ll keep it in the Old Testament with another seemingly non-uplifting verse:
Exodus 22:22-24 There are tons of these types of verses in the books of the law that are never going to see time in a top ten list of encouraging verses. But they should. The encouraging thing about a provision in the law specifically calling for the protection of...
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"Negative, Depressing, and Discouraging" Verse of...
One of the reasons I can’t get wholly behind Christian radio is that they often whitewash the troubling doctrines and the tough-to-swallow parts about Christianity, when they could be contextualizing those difficult doctrines and glorifying God for them.
By taking verses like Philippians 4:13 out of their horrific context (the reason you can do all things through Christ is because he was...