There is no half-way house and there is no parallel in other religions. If you had gone to Buddha and asked him 'Are you the son of Bramah?' he would have said, 'My son, you are still in the vale of illusion.' If you had gone to Socrates and asked, 'Are you Zeus?' he would have laughed at you. If you had gone to Mohammed and asked 'Are you Allah?' he would first have rent his clothes and then cut your head off. If you had asked Confucius, 'Are you Heaven?' I think he would have probably replied, 'Remarks which are not in accordance with nature are in bad taste.'

The idea of a great moral teacher saying what Christ said is out of the question. In my opinion, the only person who can say that sort of thing is either God or a complete lunatic suffering from that form of delusion which undermines the whole mind of man. If you think you are a poached egg, when you are looking for a piece of toast to suit you, you may be sane, but if you think you are God, there is no chance for you.

We may note in passing that He was never regarded as a mere moral teacher. He did not produce that effect on any of the people who actually met Him. He produced mainly three effects - Hatred - Terror - Adoration. There was no trace of people expressing mild approval.

Go Zoho!

You know, some of this is just a wee bit... silly. (PjM)

All right, this is really, really cool. Introducing pandora.com, personalized internet radio that assimilates your preferences and locates music that you don't know about but already like. The best part? No DJ's!

(Thanks Garrett!)

It's testimony to the widespread respect for the resource that Wikipedia is now being incorporated - cautiously - into judicial decisions. (PjM)

Go Wiki!

Interesting idea for a list: the top 10 books people lie about having read.

I'm 0 for 10, and mostly proud of it. (#1 and #2 are imminent reads and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World should cover for #5.)

The Northern Gleaner: good thoughts on prayer, positivism, and [looks sheepish] fellow bloggers.

LVMI: on the (non-)correlation between wealth and happiness.

Libertarianism definitely suffers from at least some degree of Ivory Tower syndrome. It seems the facts are that many people throughout the last century have been forced to choose between food and freedom. That's not an easy choice.

Daily Kos links to a video of the recreational violence that is plaguing Baghdad. (Older viewers only please.)

Wait a minute: isn't the ISF supposed to be a non-sectarian representation of a stable, democratic Iraq? What's with all the Sunni/Shiite animosity within the force? Someone help me out here.



And yes, keep praying.

Free speech? This seems to be taking things a bit too far. (PjM)

UPDATE: Another report on this sorry mess, via Instapundit.

MercatorNet with another report on the negative fallout of China's one-child policy. (Earlier article here.)

Well, Bloglines was looking like a go until it started missing new posts. Not good. I mean, that's sort of the point.

I've been throwing OPML's around like frisbees, trying to find a reader that would import my feed file because I was getting really tired of rounding them up every time. Gritwire flunked, along with Sage and NewsAlloy. Google Reader was having trouble recognizing and reading feeds. FeedLounge is a paid service: no thanks. Rojo was not too bad, but it seemed to me that the developers used so many toppings on the pizza that they forgot the dough.

There was only one left: NewsGator. Nervously, I loaded the home page, registered for the umpteenth time, and found the import tab. Presto! It loaded my opml from Bloglines seamlessly and won me over with its crisp, intuitive interface.

The only significant drawback is that it's a bit slow, but hey, it works, and that's all I'm asking right now.

(In case anyone is interested, here is the article that Garrett linked to in his comment below. It's a good summary of what's available. Also see Garrett's RSS post from October.)

Postscript: If you manage RSS content, be sure to add the feedbutton - a nifty little java widget - to your site to simplify the subscription process for your readers. I've had one on Sojourner's Song for awhile: Green Coffee gets one today.

Israel has approved a Muslim as a cabinet minister. (Daily Kos)

Muslims need the Lord, just like the rest of us. But it's always heartening to see some sense and sanity in politics, an arena that could really use a little ecumenism.

Baghdad: Mortar explodes at girl's school; five dead.

It seems the extremists have been targeting the education system in a mindless slaughter of the innocents. Lord, how long?

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is throwing his hat in the presidential ring. The more the merrier I guess. (Daily Kos)

UPDATE: You guessed it: Charlie Rose interview.

I was somewhat disturbed the other day to see The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins, ranking #25 on Amazon. Currently, it's at #16; apparently it peaked at #2. This is an unsettling measure of society's collective fist in God's face.

MercatorNet has posted an excellent article about the book, with lots of sagacious commentary, along with a comprehensive roundup of links and resources for further analysis.

I'm not counting my chickens just yet, but it seems I've found a workable RSS solution, at least for the short term, or until I get a Mac. I'm using Bloglines, which isn't bad, although there are a few things I would change.

I'm using this post to test the notifier.


UPDATE: Bloglines checks... once an HOUR? You've got to be kidding me! That is soooo 20th century!

Hmmmm.

A lot of my work on the web relies on my ability to efficiently monitor RSS feeds. The last couple of days my computer has been crashing (yes, it's a PC) and clearing my feed lists. If you have a reliable solution that has worked well for you I'm all ears.

VOM, Ethiopia:

On January 8, the homes of three Christian families were burned by Muslims in the village of Begge. Even though the family belongings were burnt, no one was injured in the attack. At last report, the police had not yet investigated the incident or taken any action to bring the arsonists to justice. In the same area, 10 Christian youths have been living in a church building in Begge three months after fleeing from their homes. They were chased from their homes after their families threatened to execute them for converting from Islam. In a separate incident, a Christian man was killed by an unknown person in the town of Kofele. The father of five was hit on the head with a metal iron rod. His family believes he was killed by Muslims, since the Kofele area is dominated by Muslims. Pray God will comfort this brother's family in their grief. Ask God to encourage the Christian families who are homeless, so they can have deep assurance of God's love in the midst of tough times.

Keeping a finger on the Caedmon's pulse. "There's a stirring..."

I love political satire: LVMI just posted this livid-libertarian gem that is actually written very entertainingly.

AU is criticizing Bush's proposal for school vouchers:

Republicans leaped to their feet at the mention of “school choice” for parents across the country, while Democrats applauded politely, clearly bristling at the thought of diverting desperately needed funds away from public schools.

Supporters of church-state separation have reason to bristle, too. Vouchers are not just a way to get kids out of failing schools, as advocates claim; they effectively force taxpayers to finance religious indoctrination and discrimination. ....

For example, approximately 1,800 D.C. students currently receive up to $7,500 to attend the private or charter school of their choice. Two participating schools are the Blessed Sacrament School and the Islamic Saudi Academy. A quick glance at these schools’ Web sites shows how much their curricula are infused with religion.

AU is totally missing the point. The government is not specifically endorsing religious education: it is merely equalizing the subsidization it has already introduced; namely, that state-funded education be accessible to the entire population. To allow parents and students to choose their own preferred educational establishment does not endanger the separation of church and state.

Education Vouchers are an idea that Milton Friedman continuously advocated as a means to give students and parents more leverage in the education market. They seem to make complete libertarian sense.

Whether government-sponsored education is a good idea in the first place is an entirely separate discussion.

Garrett has revamped his blog pretty drastically: check it out.

As is often the case, the world is quicker to point out the travesties of evangelicalism than Christians. Here's AU on TV evangelist Benny Hinn; Wikipedia largely substantiates the criticism.

The Northern Gleaner on leadership.

Years ago when I was leading a fellowship one of the men who was a key part of that Church said, "If you want to know if you are a leader, look and see if anyone is following you, If they're not you are just taking a walk"....

I say, that's not leadership, that's domination and intimidation. Leadership is finding the right people, preparing them and if they will do what they must, giving them a hand to help them become everything they were created to be.

That, my Minister readers is what Ephesians 4 is all about. Not creating followers, creating leaders.

Sting operation targeting So. Cal. illegals results in over 450 deportees. (PJM)

This is sort of what I was hoping wouldn't happen.

SOTU roundup from WORLD.

Wesley Autrey, a New York construction worker who heroically rescued a seizure victim from a subway train and was mentioned in Bush's SOTU address, already has his own Wikipedia article. And you can't afford to miss this fantastic interview on the David Letterman Show.

Great guy, great story!

The Christian Mind on materialism and medical ethics.

President Bush will deliver his State of the Union address tonight, beginning in about 45 minutes. C-span will be streaming the speech.

UPDATE: Wow. Let me add some quick takes - I'm skipping over education and national security.

Federalism:
Economy is going strong; let's keep it that way: not with more government, but with private enterprise. Right on. Proposes to introduce a plan to eliminate the Federal Deficit in 5 years. Yikes. Without raising taxes. Sounds difficult.

With all the talk of budget-cutting, Bush plays the federal spending card a surprising number of times during the speech, asking congress to approve funding for health care, education, alternative energy, immigration reform, and, of course, national security. Going to be tough to tie these two ends together.

Health Care:
By and large, health care remains privatized. Tax reforms are proposed to enable lower income households to afford insurance.

Immigration:
Double the border patrol, and increase funding in order to improve the infrastructure. Create a temporary worker's program to take the pressure off and allow the patrol to concentrate on "the drug smugglers and criminals." This is key. Things on the line have got to loosen up.

Deal with resident illegals, but handle them carefully: "without animosity, and without amnesty." Good. Maintain America's legacy as a "melting pot." This is important: there is altogether too much prejudice and snobbery, racial and otherwise, in the country today.

Environmentalism:
Decrease gasoline consumption by 20% within 10 years. This would allow us to cut our dependence on Middle Eastern oil by 75%. Bush acknowledged global warming, and expressed specific interest in Ethanol, hybrid vehicles, and new electricity-generation strategies.

Toward the end, Bush spent some time congratulating the American character. Some of it may have been a bit overdone, but his commendation of Wesley Autrey was thoroughly appropriate and rather moving.

It disturbs me that the President currently commands so little respect. Let's debate the issues - absolutely - while not forgetting our duty to honor. It will be disappointing if all that Americans think about for the next two years is who the next executive will be.

UPDATE: Wikipedia summary, and video/transcript.

Issues like global warming beg the question: just how politicized has science become? Science has no special immunity to ethical erosion: at least no more than economics, or religion. You can do anything with statistics, and it is becoming harder to know what to believe. Snarls like the Korean clone scandal aren't helping matters.

We must work to bridge this gap from both sides: the layman, by paying attention and asking the right questions, and the scientists, by refusing to succumb to biased partisan agendas or peddle inflated or otherwise distorted facts. Here's one article I read that tackles - or begins to tackle - the problem. (Hat Tip: Pajamas Media)

The delights of scam-busting, with David St. Lawrence.

Some stunning photography from a Russian Pilot. (PJM)

MercatorNet reflects on 34 years of Roe. There are the passionate pro-lifer's, fighting more urgently than ever; the equally passionate pro-choicer's, stubbornly defensive; and a few of us in the middle who feel the whole question largely misses the point.

WSJ interview with Milton Friedman, 4 months before his death.

We who defend Christianity find ourselves constantly opposed not by the irreligion of our hearers but by their real religion. Speak about beauty, truth, and goodness, or about a God who is simply the indwelling principle of these three, speak about a great spiritual force pervading all things, a common mind of which we are all parts, a pool of generalized spirituality to which we can all flow, and you will command friendly interest. But the temperature drops as soon as you mention a God who has purposes and performs particular actions, who does one thing and not another, a concrete choosing, commanding, prohibiting God with a determinate character. People become embarrassed or angry. Such a conception seems to them primitive and crude and even irreverent. The popular 'religion' excludes miracles because it excludes the 'living God' of Christianity and believes instead in a kind of God who obviously would not do miracles, or indeed anything else.

Another iPhone contender. I don't know: at $275 above Apple's base model, it's going to be difficult to compete. Besides, there's no mention of an OS or even a browser.

A California assemblywoman plans to submit a bill making the spanking of children under 3 years old a misdemeanor.

'I have to question why our society holds so tightly to physical discipline among the very young,' said Ms. Lieber, who does not have children. 'We’re very addicted to violence.'

(Emphasis added.)

It's official: Hillary Rodham Clinton has launched her campaign site and declared her candidacy for the Presidency. (Instapundit)


Hmmmm.

Superb interview in this month's National Geographic with Scientist/Christian Francis Collins.

Horgan: What do you think about the field of neurotheology, which attempts to identify the neural basis of religious experiences?

Collins: I think it's fascinating but not particularly surprising. We humans are flesh and blood. So it wouldn't trouble me—if I were to have some mystical experience myself—to discover that my temporal lobe was lit up. That doesn't mean that this doesn't have genuine spiritual significance. Those who come at this issue with the presumption that there is nothing outside the natural world will look at this data and say, "Ya see?" Whereas those who come with the presumption that we are spiritual creatures will go, "Cool! There is a natural correlate to this mystical experience! How about that!"

Read the whole thing.

MercatorNet discusses the deterioration of The New York Times and takes the opportunity to explore the ethics of journalism.

New York Times veteran reporter John McCandish Phillips gives a particularly poignant talk to budding writers he calls "Media Ethics According to Deuteronomy". He recounts tales of the noble profession. "More than a few times I scooped other reporters in covering events, but there were occasions when my stories lacked fascinating content that showed up in other papers, usually in the highly competitive tabloids," Phillips recalls. "These were lacking in my stories on account of their failure to have occurred. You cannot top a liar."

He tells the aspiring journalists that he is asked most about "reportorial ethics." But what he tells them is surprising. "God gave us the core ethic in the words ‘You shall not bear false witness.’ Some reporters lamentably do just that, with facts, with quotations, with subtle or grievous shifts in emphasis…You will not lie. You will not distort. You will not make things up… If you get into investigative reporting, never let your suspicions run one-eighth of an inch ahead of your facts…

More on evangelism from The Northern Gleaner: part 3, part 4, and part 5; and he's not through yet.

Despite the Agape Love I have for these people at this fellowship we have fights. We argue. We don't LIKE each other sometimes. Agape isn't about liking someone. I can have an agape love toward you and not like you. Look back at the description. That was true in the early church. The Apostles fought like cats and dogs and even didn't really like each other all that much sometimes. But they loved each other in the Love of Christ. Agape.

Hmmmmm.

Continuing to walk the line with Michael Yon.

A preliminary autopsy on college degrees: Did he say "carpenter"?

I'm looking forward to society adopting a more meritocratic system for employment and enterprise.

Practical, accessible, privatized small-town health-care. Great concept, and superb execution: kudos to Dr. Berry! (WorldMag)

The cold is taking a heavy toll on California citrus, ruining nearly $1 billion worth of produce.

Schwarzenegger visited Fresno to see the damage firsthand.

VOM, Sudan:

Sudanese police have denied attacking 800 Christians at a New Year's Eve service in Khartoum's Anglican cathedral. Six members of the congregation were injured after the police fired tear gas into the church. As a result of the attack, the sound system, pews, chairs and windows were damaged. Pray God will heal believers injured in the attack. Pray for protection and that publicity from the attack will cause Christians worldwide to lift the country of Sudan before God's throne.

Gene Redlin: A clown by any other name is still a clown. Hit 'em again, Gene.

You wanted to be in. You wanted to be hip. Being out of sync with the latest jokester was a place that no hopeful up and coming preppie wanted to be. SO, you laughed. You didn't always think it funny when they made fun of the little blind girl, or the kid that walked kinda funny from polio; that was funny wasn't it, when the class clown imitated her limp.

So, you went along. You laughed on cue. You were "IN".

The unraveling continues: marriage is now minority. (New York Times)

Michael Yon: podcasting from Iraq on the state of the war.

Smart, subversive journalism: derailing cliché caravans. What fun!

(Instapundit)

Gene Redlin of The Northern Gleaner with some thoughts on evangelism. (Part 1 posted yesterday.) Interesting, if inconclusive, perspective.

Evangelizing takes place only after inquiry. If a person isn't asking the question your answer is useless. The questions usually come on the heels of a personal crisis of some kind. Much of what we think of as evangelism is answering questions people aren't asking.

Happy Birthday Susanna!

Around here:

Vons just started stocking fresh donuts at the gas station. I think I'm doomed...

On Bush's speech: the trench perspective.

Regulatory favoritism: the new minimum wage measure contains a much-criticized exception.

Robert Carrillo just emailed with a bunch of news and needs. If you didn't receive it and can spare 5 minutes for the body, please click here and read it. Let's keep them drenched in prayer.

I just noticed that Blogger has incorporated custom domains into their in-house blog management system. Pretty cool.

Apparently the forecasted cold snap is for real. Here is the OES alert.

The National Weather Service has reported to OES that temperatures will drop into the 20 and 30s Wednesday night into Thursday, followed by daytime temperatures in the mid 40s in most areas. On Friday and into the weekend, temperatures will drop further, reaching the high teens to low 20s in most areas at night, and continued daytime lows in the mid 40s.

The war issue notwithstanding, it's nice to see some positive reinforcement of the President. It's a tough, complicated job, and one that should inspire respect, not resentment.

VOM, India:

On December 30, 2006, the congress party passed the Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Bill, where only 8,000 of the more than 6 million people are Christian. Under the anti-conversion bill, any person found forcibly converting another person could be imprisoned for up to two years and/or fined up to 25,000 rupees ($565 US). Meanwhile on January 2, 2007, an evangelist and three Christian brothers were beaten by Hindu radicals after being falsely charged with forced conversion. They all sustained internal injuries. Pray God would give Christians in India boldness to stand for Him in the midst of persecution. Pray for protection and that publicity from these laws will cause Christians worldwide to lift the country of India before God's throne.

More really good writing from Iraq. And the photography is superb.

Steve Jobs introducing the iPhone. Being an innovation buff that loves kinetic convenience and intelligent interfacing, this is pretty exhilarating. Check it out.

Slated to ship in June, on the Cingular network, for $499 for 4 GB. I think I'll need to see the waterproof, shock-resistant, neon orange, construction-grade case.

Popular Mechanics covers the competition. Looks to me like Apple will be first and best: can they hold on to the lead?

Not everyone is that enchanted: and for good reasons. But hey, it's fun to watch the developments.

The 10 most dangerous jobs in America. I'm ranked #10 for fatalities; #5 for injuries.

Don't tell my wife.

Interesting discussion between KP of The Christian Mind and an unnamed scientific materialist about the practical and historical interface between science and theism.

LVMI quoting Revolutionary-era preacher Jonathan Mayhew on sanctified rebellion. Quite reasonable. Not quite Christian.

Some very good journalism from Iraq; thanks to David St. Lawrence for the tip-off.

I plan to spend the entirety of 2007 with our troops at war, until sickness, wounds or worse send me home, or the military tires of my presence and catapults me over the wire. Having spent most of 2005 in Iraq, I know what this means. “Drive-by reporting,” as some commanders call it, is worse than no reporting at all. The only way to approach describing what our troops experience, and what is really happening in Iraq, is to go the distance.

Rumor has it that Israel is planning to lightly nuke Iran. Israel denies any such intentions.

To think that we will launch an atomic attack against Iran, and on top of that that we would reveal it in advance to a foreign newspaper is doubly ridiculous, the official added.

Polling the house church movement: I'm just not sure satisfaction is the goal of church.

At present we are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of the door. We discern the freshness and purity of the morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure. We cannot mingle with the splendours [sic] that we see. But all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumour [sic] that it will not always be so. Some day, God willing, we shall get in.

LVMI attacks the green agenda of The New York Times. This issue is not as simple as it looks, from either side.

Picasa, besides being the best desktop picture software I have used, also has the cleanest and most intuitive web interface around, with 250 MB of storage. I'm lovin' it.

I'm liking my new Sandisk Sansa m250. Holds all my music with room to spare, and uses an AAA battery, which means I can change it on the job. The coolest part is the nice and SHORT usb cable that it shipped with - it's about time.

UPDATE: Garrett thinks the equivalent player from Creative Zen is a contender. It sports a bigger screen and photo/video capability, but at nearly twice the price, I think I'll pass. Besides, I can't stand proprietary batteries. And who wants to watch movies on a 1.5 inch screen, anyway? Give me a break.

Getting to know Keith Plummer, the blogger behind The Christian Mind.

The Economist examines the 2008 Presidential Race and comments on the lineup of hopefuls. I'm characteristically sympathetic to underdogs like Giuliani or Romney, but it might be fun to have Clinton win just to make Falwell mad.

Wacky warning labels: funny at first, but the situation, in actuality, is deeply depressing. (Instapundit)

The ultimate price for peace: neutral Muslim cleric shot and killed in Gaza Strip. (PM)

Search engine conglomerate promises to fetch the stick.

(Hat Tip: Just A Leaf)

MercatorNet is roundly criticizing Wikipedia. Some of the points are valid - some are not. Seems one shouldn't complain too loudly about free food.

The idea that enough mediocrity can eventually produce excellence is novel and interesting, but unconvincing. A better and perhaps more accurate mantra might be "garbage in, garbage out."

Hmmmmm.

Nancy Pelosi, a California Representative since 1987, is the first woman - and first Californian - to be elected Speaker of the House.

Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison to take his oath of office on a Koran - Thomas Jefferson's Koran. (PM)

I'll refrain from inflammatory commentary. But I will say that...[ooomph!]

UPDATE: AU comments.

I thought so: education is good for you. (PM)

Just not too much of it.

Garrett's been sort of leafing around; now he's back. Thanks for the plug!

The New York Times: examining free will. You HAVE to read it.

Pat Robertson seems to upset more people than he impresses. I don't even know who listens to the guy anymore. Both Americans United and Stand to Reason are critical and disgusted.

The word of God is not bound! VOM, Iran:

Christian Couple Flee Persecution in North Iran
A Christian couple who led more than 200 church members in a Northern city in Iran have had to flee to a bigger city in order to continue their ministry. After becoming Christians they led their friends and family to the Lord and started a Bible study. Within a year it had grown to a church of 50 people and in two years they had 200 believers. The church spread to more than 10 cities and they started training 24 others to evangelize and continue building up the Body of Christ. "It was during this time that my wife and I noticed the government had found out about us and was pursuing us. We were in constant danger and threat of being arrested," the pastor said. Pray God protects and opens doors for this Christian couple to continue preaching and reaching Iran for Christ.

Looks like Google's Blogger Beta switch hasn't been entirely painless. (LVMI)

Accelerated primary learning in China: not a new concept, but certainly another twist on implementation. It's time to pay attention when American High School is outdone by Aisan kindergarten - if you don't get on the ball, someone else will.

On a more basic level, it looks like a shrewd American firm attempting to capitalize on a hungry education market. I'd like to see a similar, indigenous Chinese program.

(Hat tip: Pajamas Media)

Richard Dawkins: pathetic optimism.

This year I'm taking a break from Oswald Chambers and reading C.S. Lewis's The Business Of Heaven.

When He said, "Be perfect," he meant it. He meant that we must go in for the full treatment. It is hard; but the sort of compromise we are all hankering after is harder - in fact, it is impossible. It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.