I was able to attend the 2008 Presidential Forum hosted by Rick Warren at Saddleback Church in Orange County, CA. So I was a bit bummed to hear that another one was in the works for this year, but has been cancelled. The Orange County Register reports: Warren pulled the plug on this year's forum, explaining that the current negative campaign is opposite to what the church's civil forum is about, even as plans had been ramping up to coordinate schedules, secure the area and get traffic control in check for a forum of this size. Planning had begun in March. This same article has a short … [Read more...] about Rick Warren Cancels Presidential Forum
The Family Research Council Shooting
By now you've probably heard of the intruder at the Family Research Council who, presenting himself as an intern, pulled out a gun and started shooting. Joe Carter pens a nice tribute to his friend, Leo Johnson, the security guard who saved lives today (and at this moment is in the hospital in stable condition): “The security guard here is a hero, as far as I’m concerned,” said Washington D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier, “He did his job. The person never made it past the front.” Leo is indeed a hero—because he did much more than his job. Read the whole thing. The Washington Post … [Read more...] about The Family Research Council Shooting
A Back to School Giveaway Special
Dr. R.C. Sproul has a new book out last month with David C. Cook. It's called The Work of Christ: What the Events of Jesus' Life Mean for You. Recently, Tim Challies interviewed Dr. Sproul about this book and other matters. Here is one of their interactions: What motivated you to write The Work of Christ? Was it an area in which you perceived a lack of theological understanding among Christians? Was it motivated by pastoral concern? Well, the very first series that I did in the field of adult education was in 1969 at a church in Philadelphia, and the series was on the work of Christ. That … [Read more...] about A Back to School Giveaway Special
Don’t Confuse Technology With College Teaching
Good thoughts on the limitations of online learning platforms: Educators are coaches, personal trainers in intellectual fitness. The value we add to the media extravaganza is like the value the trainer adds to the gym or the coach adds to the equipment. We provide individualized instruction in how to evaluate and make use of information and ideas, teaching people how to think for themselves. Just as coaching requires individual attention, education, at its core, requires one mind engaging with another, in real time: listening, understanding, correcting, modeling, suggesting, prodding, … [Read more...] about Don’t Confuse Technology With College Teaching
The Cause of Life Can’t be Severed from the Cause of Freedom
In an election where neither presidential candidate is known as a stalwart champion for the unborn, and in which fiscal issues are guaranteed to take center stage, some consideration of the connection between economic liberty and the right to life might be helpful. In 2009, Representative Paul Ryan wrote a four page essay called "The Cause of Life Can’t be Severed from the Cause of Freedom." It appeared in a volume that the Heritage Foundation put together called Indivisible: Social and Economic Foundations of American Liberty (not to be confused with the more recent book with the same title … [Read more...] about The Cause of Life Can’t be Severed from the Cause of Freedom
The Debt Bomb – Tom Coburn
As an aside, the Paul Ryan announcement reminds me of a great book I read over vacation: The Debt Bomb by Senator Tom Coburn. The reality is, the USA is broke: Our national debt is greater than the entire U.S. economy (we passed that threshold in January). Ryan is a man with a plan to fix this by reigning in entitlement spending over the long haul in a way that gets our fiscal house in order and does not hurt the truly poor. (By the way, he has strong social conservative credentials as well.) Coburn and Ryan are not afraid to criticize failures in both parties. For example, many … [Read more...] about The Debt Bomb – Tom Coburn