Here's a cool tip via KP of The Christian Mind about searching faster in Firefox:

Preferrers of Firefox and the ESV may be interested in this tip on how to use your address bar as a command line to go directly to the ESV text.

1. Go to http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/.
2. Right-click in the search box and choose “Add a Keyword for this Search.”
3. Enter a Name of your choice and the Keyword “esv” into the box that appears.
4. Enter “esv” followed by a passage in the address bar to go to that passage.

(HT: ESV Bible Blog)

With features like this I wonder why it took me so long to switch from Internet Explorer!

Instead of using the site linked in the post, I headed over to Bible Gateway and rigged a few searches, using the version acronyms as the keywords. Pretty slick stuff.

This is a new one! (Via Steve Scott)

VOM, India:

Andra Pradesh: Pastor Goda Israel was missing after attending a prayer meeting on February 17, 2007. His family and church members reported his disappearance to the police, but they did not take any action. After three days, Pastor Israel's body was found in a Canal. Pastor Israel was a pastor for more than two churches. Pray God comforts his family, church members and also that the truth will be investigated and reported regarding his death.

Karnataka: There has been more violence against Christians in Karnataka. Police recently harassed believers demanding to know the location of the leader of a prayer ministry. The police alleged he was a terrorist from Sri Lanka. Police officers severely beat three Christians when they could not tell the Christian leader's location. Police gave them a strict warning and wanted them to turn the pastor in. Pray God will heal the injured believers as they receive treatment in a hospital. Ask for withdrawal of the accusation that the pastor is a terrorist and for God to open a way for this Christian leader to work peacefully in this area.

Orissa: Christians continue to face persecution in Eastern India. On February 22, 2007, radical Hindu forces demolished a church which was under construction in the Niladeri Bihar slum. Christians living in the slum are being intimidated and threatened by the radicals. Pray for protection and boldness as Christians in India face uncertain times.

Chhattisgarh: It has been brought to our attention that in last week's prayer update on India, only 30-35 Hindu extremists attacked a pastor's conference in Raipur, Chhattisgarh on February 2, 2007. The conference was attended by 80 delegates including four foreigners. The attackers stole two laptops, four mobile phones, three digital cameras and 15000-16000 rupees (about $350 US dollars). Thank you for your continued prayers for Indian Christians

Still watching the immigration issue: here's some interesting statistics that, if true, confirm some of my suspicions. (Hat Tip: PJM)

WORLD on the YouTube censorship case.

UPDATE: More nail-head-hitting commentary here.

From the latest National Geographic (March 07, p. 123) :

Primordial in appearance, the great hammerhead is actually one of evolution's most advanced sharks.

Hmmm!



Image courtesy of bsactravelclub.co.uk

The trouble is that what we call 'asking God's forgiveness' very often really consists in asking God to accept our excuses.

As twisted as the world is, it never could stand a hypocrite.

UPDATE: Instapundit has more.

I've wondered about doing something like this: here's a pretty slick blogger making neat stuff out of wood.

I like it!

Jim Wallis thinks the Religious Right is as good as dead.

AU doesn't agree.

WORLD on the ragtag lineup of conservatives for 2008.

What will Christians do with no clear choices? They will have to think. Horrors!

UPDATE: It goes like this.

Courtesy amazon.com and Instapundit

Garrett's back from the Southlands, and he's blogging up a storm.

Webwagiddywhat?

The Economist on trade unions and productivity. (Instapundit again)

A substantial piece on Milton Friedman. (Instapundit)

A fascinating way of navigating the world(s) of literature. (Hat Tip: Irrational Optimist)

MercatorNet with a critical review of a new book lauding "the hidden benefits of disorder."

Time for some long-overdue reverse marketing.

These phones don't play games, take pictures or give you the weather

Meet the Jitterbug.

VOM, Laos:

In North Central Laos, on January 18, five police officers showed up at a Christian brother's home and arrested him. VOM sources have known him and his family for 20 years. His wife and 12-year-old son did not get an opportunity to speak to him before he was taken away. All efforts to locate him or allow his wife to know where he is being detained have been unsuccessful. According to VOM contacts, in several similar incidents, the people taken by police were never found alive. Pray for this family, that has led more than 500 people to Christ in the past two years. Ask God to protect this brother and comfort his wife and child.

Another excellent blogger in Iraq. Here's a good place to start. (PjM)

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict: weighing dreams against reality.

A good piece from Joel Belz on paying taxes.

I think AU is right on this one.

A look at what Iraqi Christians are facing. Read it. (PjM)

Rudy Roundup:

• Pajamas Media
• WorldViews
• Always more at Wikipedia

Thomas Sowell on global warming. He appeared - as a much younger man - on Milton Friedman's Free to Choose series. (PjM)

Oh brother.



(PjM)

WorldViews: "has poetry left the culture, or has culture left poetry?"

A computer has discovered that the Mona Lisa is happy.

The painting was analyzed by a University of Amsterdam computer using "emotion recognition" software.
It concluded that the subject was 83% happy, 9% disgusted, 6% fearful and 2% angry.

(Irrational Optimist)

AU: "This time, science won."

Hmmmm.



Some more commentary from the Parish Blog.

VOM, Indonesia:

This week 50 Muslim fundamentalists stormed a house church in an Indonesian village, questioning the use of the house for church services. According to VOM sources the mob raided the house disrupting the service and smashing a keyboard. Christians in the village are afraid and leaders are considering moving the house church to another area.

The Army, hurting for recruits, is being forced to lower the bar. (PjM)

Must we forever punish success?

(Instapundit)

Wednesday book roundup:

• I believe we are in real need of critical reinterpretations of World War II; like this one. It seems to hold true that the victors write the histories, and American textbooks are in many ways bloated with bias. Although Norman Davies is British, he seems to have a singularly good grasp of the Eastern European perspective. We learn from history when we analyze the facts, not our perception of them. Fascinating, to be sure, but don't get your hopes up too high: it's $55.00.
• This one promises an interesting, scholarly discussion on morality and economics. The author, a Catholic, examines the socio-economic dimensions of his faith and combines these observations with a defense of the free market. It's a much more economical book, in more ways than one.
  

Absurdly ambiguous, indeed. (Hat Tip: LVMI)

There is now confirmed evidence linking Iran to Anti-American activity in Iraq. More here. (Hat Tip: Instapundit)

Giuliani campaigning in California. It's a decent performance, (I like the decision-making part) but he does sound a bit like Bush, and I wonder if that might hurt him.

A highly interesting case of censorship by YouTube, via Instapundit. Check out this Christian Blogger's response (don't miss the comment from yours truly) and go here to hear the censored user, an English atheist who made a slideshow of raw quotes from the Koran, protesting his deletion.

It seems he ought to have a voice, but I'm not so sure about this.

Another Caedmon's update. Andy Osenga also reporting here.

Iraq roundup:

• Michael Yon with another combat dispatch.
• Gen. David Petraeus officially assumes control of Multinational Force Iraq (MNF-I).
  
• Yon comments on Petraeus's appointment.

Cramped or terrified, we must, in any conceivable world, be one or the other. I prefer terror. I should be suffocated in a universe that I could see to the end of. Have you never, when walking in a wood, turned back deliberately for fear you should come out the other side and thus make it ever after in your imagination a mere beggarly strip of trees?

An ex-terrorist is facing possible deportation from Canada for speaking up about Islam. The article contains some interesting notes about Shariah law.

MercatorNet likes smashing televisions, too.

New meaning in the term "fired." (PjM)

Jailbreak in North Korea; Google earth on-scene. (Hat tip: PjM)

Dr. Francis Collins is a Scientist/Christian I have mentioned here before. Here's a fascinating account (courtesy WorldMagBlog) of his keynote address at the 55th annual National Prayer Breakfast which is attended by the President.

"But you're a scientist," Dr. Collins said people say to him so often. "Doesn't [all this talk of Jesus] make your head explode? Doesn't this create a huge conflict for you between faith and reason?" His answer, simply, is "no." True, only 40% of scientists believe there is a God, but he said he sees science as a means both of discovery as well as worship. The more he learns of how God has created and wired us, the more he feels he has "caught a glimpse of God's mind."

"There's an unwritten taboo among scientists about talking of one's spiritual leanings," Dr. Collins conceded, but he urged this not to be the case. It was a moving and personal talk from a hero of modern science, and one I hope is reported widely in the coming days in the media. Dr. Collins concluded by asking us to sing a song with him, as he played the guitar. That's not something you see every day at Washington political gatherings. The song was "Praise The Source of Faith and Learning," by Rev. Thomas Troeger. Here's the first stanza:

Praise the source of faith and learning

that has sparked and stoked the mind

With a passion for discerning

how the world has been designed.

Let the sense of wonder flowing

from the wonders we survey

Keep our faith forever growing

and renew our need to pray.

VOM, China:

• On January 22, 2007, three "Minority for Christ" workers were arrested in Guizhou province. Guizhou has one of the largest Hmong populations and is also one of the strongest Communist provinces in China.
• VOM sources also report that security police arrested 11 Korean Christians after visiting a local village in China. After extensive interrogation they were released. The group is helping a local village build a new church building.
• On January 26, 2007, Hua Huidi and his 76-year-old mother were attacked and wounded by seven police officers while walking near a 2008 Olympic hotel site in Beijing, China. According to China Aid Association (CAA), Hua, an active house-church member in Beijing, and his mother were kicked on the ground and later taken to the Olympic Police Station for questioning. "When Hua asked the police to release his sick mother and explain the legal ground for the detention, he was beaten repeatedly. While the temperature in Beijing was in the 20s, cold water was poured on him. He was later taken to a detention center," CAA said. Hua's family learned that he was sentenced to one month of criminal detention.
  

Pray God continues to protect Christians in China. Persecution is expected to intensify ahead of the 2008 Olympics. Ask God to give believers wisdom and courage as they face these difficult times.

Some morning workout wisdom, courtesy Frosted Mini-Wheats:

Did You Know:

Exercise that really gets your heart beating can help make your video game skills better. It's a super gamer's "hint"... a secret weapon that'll help you:

• Have more energy
• Be more alert
• Raise your self-confidence

Oh brother.

Screwtape goes to the movies?

I guess we'll keep squeezing them in: former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is in the running. (PjM) Giuliani is a pro-choice Republican with a somewhat shaky family background. He seems to be polling well within his party.

It seems this country hardly knows what it wants anymore.

More from Redlin (or rather, Mark Steyn) on global whining. It seems a bit ruffled, but there is some redeeming historical evidence sprinkled throughout.

Joel Belz of World Magazine on ethanol:

All the evidence says that—at least so far—ethanol really doesn't work. At least, not without a big boost from Uncle Sam. As I understand it, the argument for ethanol has three major flaws...

Is it not frightfully unfair that this new life should be confined to people who have heard of Christ and been able to believe in Him? But the truth is God has not told us what His arrangements for the other people are. We do know that no man can be saved except through Christ; we do not know that only those who know Him can be saved through Him.

But in the meantime, if you are worried about the people outside, the most unreasonable thing you can do is to remain outside yourself. Christians are Christ's body, the organism through which He works. Every addition to that body enables Him to do more. If you want to help those outside you must add your own little cell to the body of Christ who alone can help them. Cutting off a man's fingers would be an odd way of getting him to do more work.

The third sentence is clever, but does it hold up to Matthew 7:23?

Yesterday Garrett introduced me to a truly amazing guitarist he had recently stumbled upon. Andy McKee (wikipedia) is an incredibly talented pioneer finger-stylist with a gift and appreciation for emotion and energy in music. Top notch.

It's just as much fun to watch as it is to listen to.



Be sure to also catch Drifting, Into the Ocean, and Africa.

When you do something, you should burn yourself completely,
like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself.
-Shunryu Suzuki

(from Andy's bio page)

The savings rate: getting the real story. (Instapundit)

LVMI has more.

The latest dispatch from Michael Yon, while somewhat graphic, skillfully documents some dramatic events. The human perspective Yon provides on the war is invaluable.

Keep praying.

Redlin seems to me a singularly sane voice in the climate change debate. Read it.

Error always contains the seeds of its own demise: the feminist movement is tripping over itself. (PjM)

LVMI on the economics of immigration.

MercatorNet reviews two historical works: one a young girl's private perspective on communist Russia, the other a chronicle of a Jew's search for his great-uncle's family, who were murdered during the Holocaust. The second seems a particularly poignant look into some of the deeper themes of existence:

Mendelsohn’s quest to recreate the lives of his six lost relatives, now no more than “minor characters in someone else’s tale”, takes him to the Ukraine, Australia, Prague, Vienna, Israel, Denmark and Sweden. One person leads to another, thousands of miles distant; one clue leads to another, which then illuminates an anecdotal fragment which has got blurred in the telling. So urgent is the author’s need to know, “to have facts and dates and details” and to impose order on this chaos of facts, by “assembling them into a story that has a beginning, a middle and an end”, that the reader, too, becomes absorbed in the search. Five years in the making and 500 pages long, Mendelsohn’s passionate tale makes his own family tragedy our tragedy too; indeed, the tragedy of mankind.