Alex and Brett Harris over at The Rebelution have an excellent series of posts that seem to have originated from Thomas Friedman's best-selling book The World is Flat (an excellent read). They provide a good synopsis of the book in their first post, and also do a nice job highlighting the problems regarding the (poor) math and science competency in the USA today, particularly at both the college and high school level. I happen to care deeply about this given my engineering background and involvement with prospective engineering students at a Christian college (each of whom will be required to … [Read more...] about The World is Flat – by Thomas Friedman
Practical Ministry
Addendum to Previous Post
Packer and Nystrom's book Praying: Finding Our Way Through Duty To Delight also contains helpful assignments for group study/reflection associated with each chapter. The assignments are broken down into the topics of study, prayer and writing. … [Read more...] about Addendum to Previous Post
Praying: Finding Our Way Through Duty to Delight
J.I. Packer and Carolyn Nystrom have just published a book with InterVarsity Press called Praying: Finding Our Way Through Duty to Delight. The book is based on a series of taped lectures on prayer given by Dr. Packer, which Ms. Nystrom then developed into a transcript, which the two later developed. The authors describe their book as a “heart-to-heart affair in which two Christians who try to pray and wish they prayed better share thoughts about what they are doing with people whom they envisage as being like themselves.” I resonate with the struggle in prayer that they describe: … [Read more...] about Praying: Finding Our Way Through Duty to Delight
Desiring God National Conference – Sep 29 – Oct 1
We're back from our family vacation to Grand Rapids, MN. It was a fantastically relaxing time of sitting by the lake, swimming, barbeque-ing every night, and bonding. Our daughter Karis had some difficulty (as did Marni and I) with the sweltering heat (mid-90s, sometimes with humidity to boot). The family vacation afforded me the opportunity of some extended reading time. I read ahead on most of the assigned reading for my upcoming Preaching class this Fall and Spring. But the book that has most been captivating me (I'm about 1/3 of the way through) is David Well's Above All Earthly … [Read more...] about Desiring God National Conference – Sep 29 – Oct 1
Blogging Vacation: July 22 – July 29
Dear Readers, My wife and I will be taking Karis up to a lake for a week (it is a Minnesota-sort of thing to do). No Internet. Almost no telephone. Just a few books, games, and conversation. I posted a bunch of stuff tonight, and Lord willing, will be back to posting on July 30. Blessings, Alex … [Read more...] about Blogging Vacation: July 22 – July 29
My interview with MSN Match.com
I would be grateful for your prayers as I prepare to respond to questions submitted to me for an interview to be published in MSN Match.com's Faith-Based Dating section. Somehow, they got a hold of my With One Voice book, and think an interview with my wife and I would interest their readers. I will be digesting the following questions as I spend the week away (July 22-29) at a lake with my family: What does spiritual IMMATURITY look like in a dating person? Define spiritual maturity: What’s an example/characteristic of a spiritually mature woman? What’s an example/characteristic of a … [Read more...] about My interview with MSN Match.com