Bally's For The Mind

"I demand the total abolition of law and order!"

"There should be universal leisure for all, and a standing wage sufficient to provide life without working ought to be supplied ... so that everybody becomes a leisured aristocrat ... aristocrats are Marxists."

"In a completely reorganized modern society, women's lib would be realized by girls being given a house of their own by the age of twelve, and three-quarters of the wealth of the State being given to the girls so that marriage would be abolished and the girl could have as many husbands as she liked."

"Mr. Brezhnev and Mr. Carter are really the same person."



-John Conrad Russell, eldest son of philosopher and atheist, Bertrand Russel, in an address to the House Of Lords in England, 1978.

"I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me."

Deu 5:9

Church Today

"He who has God and everything has no more than he who has God alone."

-C.S. Lewis

Enough

All of You is more than enough for All of me,

for every thirst and every need,

You satisfy me with Your love,

And all I have in You Is more than enough.

You're my supply,My breath of life;

Still more awesome than I know.

You're my reward, Worth living for;

Still more awesome than I know.

You're my sacrifice Of greatest price;

Still more awesome than I know.

You're my coming King,You are everything;

Still more awesome than I know.

More than all I want,

More than all I need,

You are more than enough for me.

More than all I know,

More than all I can,

You are more than enough.

Bally's For The Mind

“I’ve had many discussions one on one with atheists who have asked some penetrating questions. At some point in the discussion, after we have looked at some of the abstract philosophical issues, I’ll sort of change the topic for just a second and ask a straightforward blunt question of my friends. I’ll say to them - ‘What do you do with your guilt?’

You would think that the immediate response would be simply to say , ‘Well I don’t have to deal with my guilt because since I don’t believe in God, I don’t believe that there is any ultimate standard of right and wrong, and so “sin” is simply a convention based [on societal custom] so ultimately there is no such thing as guilt so I don’t have to deal with it.’

But it is rare to get that kind of response. Usually there is an abrupt change in the tone and in the demeanor of people engaged in this kind of a serious discussion. There is almost always a pregnant pause, a profound silence where you can tell that they are suddenly troubled in the midst of this discussion and they are uncomfortable.”

- R. C. Sproul


From Renewing Your Mind radio broadcast, 05/26/2006 - “Forgiveness, Resurrection and Life Everlasting”

Bob Dylan XM Radio Show

For any Dylan fans out there, go to this blog, scroll down a ways and there's a link to download his 1st XM radio show.

http://poundforpound.blogspot.com/

Richard Got His Wish

It's Taylor!

But Catherine is cuter.

Bally's For The Mind - LOST on ABC

Lost's shepherds are also deep-thinking guys whose soulful concerns are imprinted on the show. Lost co-creators, Damon Lindelof 33, and Carlton Cuse, 47, both speak of spiritual awakenings during adulthood; they aspire to use Lost as a vehicle to tell stories of redemption and, according to Cuse, explore the question of ''how does one lead a life.'' During the show's conception, Lindelof was grappling with an array of internal debates prompted by the death of his father. At the same time, he was falling in love with his future wife, and finding the spiritual connection he was seeking through exposure to her Catholic beliefs. ''For me,'' he says, ''Lost is about meaning — and the search for meaning.''

-Damon Lindelof & Carlton Cuse, Lost co-creators' on siritual themes, AOL Entertainment May 15th, 2006

McSubversive

Here's some great stuff for Cal at the Kidzworld website:

Ancient Torture Devices

Get the Goods on Goth Style

Is My Body Piercing Safe?

Boyz In Da Hood - The 411 on Circumcision

The 411 On Breasts, Periods And Puberty!


No - I am not making this up!

The Office

Hey did everyone love The Office last night? I thought it was the best season finale of any season finale ever.

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Waffles

These are so good and flavorful.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 C Whole Wheat Flour
1 C Oatmeal (I used instant)
1 T Baking Powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs- separated
1 1/2 C Milk
6 T melted butter
2 T brown sugar

Process:
1. Stir together dry ingredients. Set aside.
2. Beat egg whites until stiff, but not dry. Set aside.
2. In large bowl, beat egg yolks until thick and lemon colored. Continue beating adding milk, butter and brown sugar. Stir in dry ingredients until just combined... a few streaks of flour should be visible.
4. Fold in egg whites. Do not over mix.
5. Enjoy with syrup! (Or jelly, I guess)

Bally's For The Mind

“God is of no importance unless He is of Supreme importance.”

-Rabbi Abraham Heschel

From Staublog

Las Vegas

Eric and I had fun in Vegas. I didn't get many pictures because I was by myself the whole time. My days were filled with sleep, poolside rest, a massage, dinner out, and early bedtimes. I didn't see any prostitutes. Eric had a conference and even was a fantastic speaker at one of them (I got to watch). I only threw up once on the way back on the plane. I love barf bags. The trip was short, but great.

Bally's For The Mind

"The gospel... is God's power for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek."

Rom 1:16

Bally's For The Mind

Whoever marries the spirit of this age will find himself a widower in the next.
- William R. Inge Incarnation Project May 4th, 2006

Calvin

We sure had fun with Calvin last week. Went to the zoo, the mall, Legoland, bookstores, Chipotle, Big bowl, the park.... whew! He is quite the kid and the people magnet. At Border's they have a big kids section. While I was browsing the stacks for books on Adobe Premiere Elements and The Da Vinci Code, Sally and Calvin had fun reading in the kids corner. When I got there Calvin brought me a book and let me read it to him for about six seconds and then was off to find another. That book he took, not to old grandpa stasche, but to the cute little teenage girl who was sitting in some chairs in front of the little stage they had with some friends. (No dummy this kid! Gonna have to beat 'em off with a stick.) She of course read to him for a couple of pages whereupon Calvin decided it was time for a show and got up on the stage and entertained everyone with his dextrous use of stuffed animal boxes. What a kid!

Bally's For The Mind

As you may (or may not) know my favorite orator is Charles Hadden Spurgeon. I have always loved his conversion story. Found it in his own words at Pilgrim Publications and thought I would post it here today. For much more detail especially as to his state of mind and heart up to this point go here. Here is the post:

"It was about twenty-six years ago, twenty-six years exactly last Thursday, that I looked unto the Lord, and found salvation, through this text (Isaiah 45:22 — "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else."). You have often heard me tell how I had been wandering about, seeking rest, and finding none, till a plain, unlettered, lay preacher among the Primitive Methodists stood up in the pulpit, and gave out this passage as his text. He had not much to say, thank God, for that compelled him to keep on repeating his text, and there was nothing needed — by me, at any rate, — except his text. I remember how he said, —

'It is Christ that speaks. I am in the garden in an agony, pouring out my soul unto death; I am on the tree, dying for sinners; look unto Me! Look unto Me! that is all you have to do. A child can look. One who is almost an idiot can look. However weak, or however poor, a man may be, he can look; and if he looks, the promise is that he shall live.'

Then, stopping, he pointed to where I was sitting under the gallery, and he said,
'That young man there looks very miserable.'

I expect I did, for that is how I felt. Then he said,

'There is no hope for you young man, or any chance of getting rid of your sin,
but by LOOKING TO JESUS;'

and he shouted, as I think only a Primitive Methodist can,
'Look! Look, young man! LOOK NOW!'

And I did look; and when they sang a hallelujah before they went home, in their own earnest way, I am sure I joined in it. It happened to be a day when the snow was lying deep, and more was falling; so, as I went home, those words of David kept ringing through my heart, 'Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow'; and it seemed as if all nature was in accord with that blessed deliverance from sin which I had found in a single moment by looking to Jesus."
— From #2867, MTP Vol. 50, 1904, pg. 37

Bally's For The Mind

From Challies Dot Com on the latest Time magazine article on the 100 people who shape our world:

"As I thought about this list I was reminded of something Os Guinness wrote in The Call. He discusses fame and heroism and the call of Christ. He provides three reasons that heroism has fallen on hard times. The first of these is the modern habit of bebunking. Modern people are (often necessarily) cynical and "look straightaway not for the golden aura but for the feet of clay, not for the stirring example but for the cynical motive, not for the ideal embodied by for the energetic press agent." The third reason is the death of God in Western society, or as Guinness terms it, "the drowning out of the call of God in modern life." Having lost a perspective of the transcendence of human life, we can no longer properly talk about an ideal human character. In previous generations, to be a great human being was to be a "knight of the faith." This is, of course, no longer the case. Because there is no Caller and no higher calling, there are no knights of faith and no one who can dub them.

It is the second reason, though, that most gripped me. Guinness points to the press and media and their role in creating the modern celebrity. He did this long before "American Idol" and the rise of the "reality" show. These forces widen the gap between "fame and greatness, heroism and accomplishment." It used to be that heroism was linked to the honor of accomplishment so that only those were regarded as heroes who had actually made some grand accomplishment, whether in "character, virtue, wisdom, the arts, sports or warfare." Sadly, this is no longer the case. Today we find that the media offers a shortcut to fame--"instantly fabricated famousness with no need for the sweat, cost and dedication of true greatness. The result is not the hero but the celebrity, the person famously described as 'well-known for being well-known.' A big name rather than a big person, the celebrity is someone for whom character is nothing, coverage is all."

Complete blog entry here.

Welcome Back Eric and Leah

Yes, welcome back from Vegas and remember:

From The Wittenburg Door

Fresh Blood

A video from one of the filmmakers at VisionGateFilms. Thought it was pretty interesting.

Weekend Report

This weekend Kari got us tickets to go see Kathy Griffin Live. It was awesome. If you haven't heard her before you should, she is really funny. The show was at the Circle Theatre in downtown Indy. From what I read this was one of the first movie houses built in the Midwest, and the architecture was amazing. It has since been refurbished and is now the home of the Indianapolis Symphony. Also Kevin and I worked on my new poker table some more. We are basically finished and as soon as blogger stops being stupid I will post a picture.


UPDATE: The Picture