Is there anyway we can get this guy to come over to America? Please take a listen to Daniel Hannan speaking in Parliament over in England. This guy needs to give lessons to our politicians ... and really to all of us to speak with clarity, conciseness, and conviction.
Daniel Hannan speaking to Parliament
So what do you think?
impressed,
Burt
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Perspective
A PCA pastor friend offered a link to this comedian's appearance on Conan O'Brien. It's a humorous look at our culture's impatience, ingratitude, and pride. Enjoy it!
comedian
From a Christian perspective, think of how believers are guilty of the same thing ... failing to sense the "awe" and "wonder" of our God and His blessings to us.
laughing and repenting,
Burt
comedian
From a Christian perspective, think of how believers are guilty of the same thing ... failing to sense the "awe" and "wonder" of our God and His blessings to us.
laughing and repenting,
Burt
Friday, February 6, 2009
Worth a Listen
We've all probably heard the stories of USAir Flight 1549 crashing into the Hudson River in NYC and been amazed at God's mercy of protecting all onboard. The audio tapes and transcript of the conversation with the pilot and air traffic controllers has been released and is fascinating to listen to.
Audio of Pilot
This is the guy I want flying my plane! My best friend from high school is a pilot and actually trains pilots with USAir. Wonder if he trained or knows Captain Sullenberger?
watching for birds at the airport next time I fly,
Burt
Audio of Pilot
This is the guy I want flying my plane! My best friend from high school is a pilot and actually trains pilots with USAir. Wonder if he trained or knows Captain Sullenberger?
watching for birds at the airport next time I fly,
Burt
Friday, January 9, 2009
Congrats to Florida
Yep, it sort of pains me to say that ... but they played a great game last night and have earned the right to be #1 in college football. This stuff used to matter a whole lot more to me than it does now. Don't get me wrong - I'm still a huge FSU fan, pulled for Oklahoma last night, and will always cheer for UF's opponent. But now that this season is over and Florida is the champion, I say congratulations to them for a great season and an impressive win over Oklahoma!
So now let me start my rant! And it honestly doesn't have anything to do with any dislike I have for UF. It's about the golden child, Tim Tebow. I'll start by saying he's a great athlete, strong, intelligent, passionate, leads his team effectively, and is probably a pretty good guy. However, I do get a bit weary of the "good Christian" self-righteousness that seems to be associated with the guy. Danny Wuerffel was another great quarterback who played at UF and also boldly professed Christ, but Danny was incredibly humble and didn't draw the attention to himself as does Tim Tebow. But even that isn't the main focus of my rant today. So what is it? Here it is:
What if Tim Tebow was black? What if an African-American Tim Tebow made all those gestures, ran around waving his arms, celebrating in such a manner, drawing all that attention to himself? We surely wouldn't hear that "the world would be a better place if we could all just spend 5 or 10 minutes with that young man!" Rather we would hear that he's a show-off, he's going overboard, he's thuggish, he just has "no class." We would be told he should learn to "act like he's been there before." We would be questioning his motives rather than heaping praise on his "tremendous leadership." We would doubt the sincerity of his professed faith saying, "how could a true Christian act like that?" We would categorize his bold claims and predictions as "arrogant" and "typical" rather than "inspiring." We would have nothing but personal disdain for the guy, but would tolerate him because he has his place and helps us win. (understand that when I say "we" I'm referring to our culture in general)
I firmly believe that Tim Tebow gets away with what he does because he's white - black guys just wouldn't be able to do the stuff he's been doing for 3 years and not be utterly condemned. Not only has he not been condemned, the exact opposite has happened - he's praised for that behavior. I think racism is probably more deeply embedded in our hearts than we care to realize. I'm just saying!
Anyone have thoughts on this?
finished with my rant,
Burt
So now let me start my rant! And it honestly doesn't have anything to do with any dislike I have for UF. It's about the golden child, Tim Tebow. I'll start by saying he's a great athlete, strong, intelligent, passionate, leads his team effectively, and is probably a pretty good guy. However, I do get a bit weary of the "good Christian" self-righteousness that seems to be associated with the guy. Danny Wuerffel was another great quarterback who played at UF and also boldly professed Christ, but Danny was incredibly humble and didn't draw the attention to himself as does Tim Tebow. But even that isn't the main focus of my rant today. So what is it? Here it is:
What if Tim Tebow was black? What if an African-American Tim Tebow made all those gestures, ran around waving his arms, celebrating in such a manner, drawing all that attention to himself? We surely wouldn't hear that "the world would be a better place if we could all just spend 5 or 10 minutes with that young man!" Rather we would hear that he's a show-off, he's going overboard, he's thuggish, he just has "no class." We would be told he should learn to "act like he's been there before." We would be questioning his motives rather than heaping praise on his "tremendous leadership." We would doubt the sincerity of his professed faith saying, "how could a true Christian act like that?" We would categorize his bold claims and predictions as "arrogant" and "typical" rather than "inspiring." We would have nothing but personal disdain for the guy, but would tolerate him because he has his place and helps us win. (understand that when I say "we" I'm referring to our culture in general)
I firmly believe that Tim Tebow gets away with what he does because he's white - black guys just wouldn't be able to do the stuff he's been doing for 3 years and not be utterly condemned. Not only has he not been condemned, the exact opposite has happened - he's praised for that behavior. I think racism is probably more deeply embedded in our hearts than we care to realize. I'm just saying!
Anyone have thoughts on this?
finished with my rant,
Burt
Monday, December 29, 2008
Something Bigger than the Game
Here's an article just too good to pass up! Amazing that it takes a football coach in Texas to teach us about grace in action. What would this look like in my life and yours?
football article
Go Tornadoes!
Burt
football article
Go Tornadoes!
Burt
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
The Bible teaches ...
Here's an example from Newsweek of what happens when you don't understand the doctrine of "sin" and affects of the "fall of man" into sin. Without "sin" there obviously is no "redemption" since there is no real need of it. Without "sin" the Bible just becomes a history book full of examples we can follow. Without "sin" we can surely find some Bible character's action or inaction that might justify pretty much anything we want to do. Without "sin" we don't even need a Savior.
Our Mutual Joy
Read the article and be angry. But don't be angry at the author or the group the article is about, rather be angry at the church in America for so watering down the Gospel over the past several years to the point where Jesus is no longer our Savior but rather just a good example. [as I said Sunday, Pelagianism was condemned as heresy more than once - Councils of Carthage (412, 416 and 418); Council of Ephesus (431); The Council of Orange (529); Council of Trent (1546) Roman Catholic; 2nd Helvetic (1561/66) 8-9. (Swiss-German Reformed); Augsburg Confession (1530) Art. 9, 18 (Lutheran); Gallican Confession (1559) Art. 10 (French Reformed); Belgic Confession (1561) Art. 15 (Lowlands, French/Dutch/German Reformed); The Anglican Articles (1571), 9. (English); Canons of Dort (1618-9), 3/4.2 (Dutch/German/French Reformed]
needing a Savior,
Burt
Our Mutual Joy
Read the article and be angry. But don't be angry at the author or the group the article is about, rather be angry at the church in America for so watering down the Gospel over the past several years to the point where Jesus is no longer our Savior but rather just a good example. [as I said Sunday, Pelagianism was condemned as heresy more than once - Councils of Carthage (412, 416 and 418); Council of Ephesus (431); The Council of Orange (529); Council of Trent (1546) Roman Catholic; 2nd Helvetic (1561/66) 8-9. (Swiss-German Reformed); Augsburg Confession (1530) Art. 9, 18 (Lutheran); Gallican Confession (1559) Art. 10 (French Reformed); Belgic Confession (1561) Art. 15 (Lowlands, French/Dutch/German Reformed); The Anglican Articles (1571), 9. (English); Canons of Dort (1618-9), 3/4.2 (Dutch/German/French Reformed]
needing a Savior,
Burt
Monday, December 8, 2008
The Missing Books
Those in worship with me this past Sunday had to listen to me complain about the missing books that I ordered from Amazon and were reported by UPS to have been delivered. My guess was that they were delivered to the wrong address ... sure enough, today a neighbor brought my box of books to the house.
The box contained 5 copies of Michael Horton's book "Christless Christianity" which I referred to yesterday. I'm not sure who, but five of you need to get this book this book from me, read it, and share it with someone else. If you're interested, just let me know ... I have the books!
I was also blessed today to hear from good friend Jawan ... she sent me an audio sample of some Christmas music she's been working on at the McGinnis' church in Columbus (Westminster PCA). She's apparently putting together some Christmas special and assembling a music team. I've always loved Jawan's singing and musical taste ... and once again she doesn't disappoint. Even though it's not her singing, listen and be blessed.
O Holy Night
with books to share,
Burt
The box contained 5 copies of Michael Horton's book "Christless Christianity" which I referred to yesterday. I'm not sure who, but five of you need to get this book this book from me, read it, and share it with someone else. If you're interested, just let me know ... I have the books!
I was also blessed today to hear from good friend Jawan ... she sent me an audio sample of some Christmas music she's been working on at the McGinnis' church in Columbus (Westminster PCA). She's apparently putting together some Christmas special and assembling a music team. I've always loved Jawan's singing and musical taste ... and once again she doesn't disappoint. Even though it's not her singing, listen and be blessed.
O Holy Night
with books to share,
Burt
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