With this one now in the books, it is time to lay out the next challenge. So, I thought, “Why not go for broke?”And, that’s exactly what I’m going to attempt to do. Over the course of the summer I am going to try to tackle 500 miles running, 1500 miles biking, and 13 miles swimming–for a grand total of …
Why Even Attempt the Uttermost?
Why would any sane person attempt to run 500 miles, bike 1500 miles, and swim 13 miles this summer? Perhaps, the simplest eleventary answer is:1. A mile more or a mile less just wouldn’t add up (at least not this year).2. A great cause warrants a great challenge.3. It’s more than a marathon, more than an ultra, more than a …
Gaining Our Liberty–and Losing It Again
On June 9, 1776, the Continental Congress accepted a resolution of Virginia delegate Richard Henry Lee to appoint a committee to draft a declaration of secession from the dominions of the English King and Parliament. On June 29, the committee—composed of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston—presented their draft for debate and a vote. It …
A Lesson in Skirling
During the Christmas holidays in 1841, Thomas Chalmers, then perhaps the most prominent man in all of Scotland, paid a visit to the tiny Borders town of Skirling in Peebleshire. During his stay, he consented to stop by the local village school and give a lecture on Mathematics. The great man was always inclined to leave a moral philosophy lesson …
Your Legacy of Truth
The glories of the ages past, Long held for you in trust, Are deeded now for your employ, Are ceded now in grateful joy; The splendors of the ages past, Reserved but for the just. The rich bequests of Christendom, Insured against default, Are brought to flower on this day, Are sought in valor just this way: The vast endowments …
Country Music Marathon
The torrential rains did little to dampen the spirits of the 30,000+ runners on Saturday, April 27 who took to the streets of Nashville to run in the St. Jude Country Music Marathon. Along with the others, I had a wonderful time on the soggy, splashy, squishy course. Although I think we all would have wished for drier conditions, the …
The Battle of the White Horse
The Christian king of Wessex, Alfred the Great, defeated the pagan Viking warlord Guthrum at the Battle of Ethandun on this day in 878. The battle not only ensured that Christianity would survive in England, it made the unification of that land possible for the first time since the departure of Roman legions in the fifth century. The battle was …
Take Us Back
On May 18th the Ryman here in Nashville will host the first concert in a 36-city tour featuring the pioneers of contemporary Christian music: Andrae Crouch, Chuck Girard, Evie Tornquist, Randy Stonehill, and the Archers. According to Evie, “The One Way Experience Tour,” will hopefully “rekindle a pilot light in many of our hearts.” Indeed, just thinking about the concert …
Planned Parenthood’s Hidden Crimes
A new poll conducted by the National Right to Life Committee indicates just how successful Planned Parenthood and its cronies in the media have obscured and distorted the abortion giant’s image. The survey of registered voters, shows that a majority of Americans have favorable opinion of the vast organization. But according to NRLC executive director David O’Steen, this just shows that Planned Parenthood’s favorable image “is really …
Ultimately
Ultimately—is a very fine word For a more than rarified notion; Ultimately—though it seems absurd, It might even be quaffed in a potion: Surreptitiously with soda or nog, Or serendipitously on someone’s blog. Ultimately—it’s an eleventary aside, For a band that’s not twelve or ten or seven; It’s not either three or five—but eleven. Mattie, …
Moral Philosophy Lessons from Modernity
1. Ideas have consequences. 2. Worldviews matter. 3. Right and wrong are not adjustable in accord with clock and calendar. 4. There is no virtue in celebrating vice. 5. Just as there are no victimless crimes, there are no victimless sins. 6. Principled opposition to the reigning shibboleths is not hate or fear. 7. Advocacy is not tolerance. 8. Insults …
A Gipper Eleventary
1. The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” 2. Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his. 3. I’ve noticed that everyone who is for abortion has already been born. 4. I have wondered …
Priming the Tastebuds for Our UK Trip
1. Pret a Manger: Charing Cross 2. Nero’s Coffee: St. James Piccadilly 3. Barbacoa: St. Paul’s 4. Wagamama’s: Tower of London 5. Jamie’s Italian: Covent Garden 6. The Eagle: Cambridge 7. The Borough Market: Southwark 8. West Cornwall Pasty: Victoria 9. Nandos Peri-Peri: Brighton 10. Maoz Falafel: Leicester Square 11. Recipease: Bighton
Holy Boldness
By the spring of 1521 a 38-year-old theology professor from a tiny university town in Saxony Martin Luther had surprisingly become a powerful and popular voice of reform—much to the chagrin of both the secular and the ecclesiastical authorities throughout late Medieval Europe. The situation was more than a little distressing—and threatening—to the authorities. So it was that Marin Luther …
2nd Vote App
Do you know where Planned Parenthood gets its money? Besides the nearly $1 billion in tax revenues and contracts at the local, state, and national levels, corporations lard the coffers of the abortion industry’s largest and most profitable non-profit organization to the tune of nearly another half a billion each year. That’s a lot of blood money. But of course, …