Twenty Items of Interest (v.41)

| January 11, 2009

I just checked and the last Twenty Items post I did was back on 11/24/08.  So much for doing them on a weekly basis.  I’m pretty sure I’ve picked up some subscribers and readers since then so let me explain what this is.

These are items that catch my interest as I read that I think should catch yours.  I hope.  Maybe?  Well anyway it is random miscellany of news, politics, theology, apologetics, life, links to interesting posts my friends have done, etc.  Just a mish mash of stuff, so if this is your first time reading one of these posts – enjoy!

1.  Home Schooling surges, but the evangelical percentage of families doing this drops.  HT: Family Research Council Blog

2.  Hang on to your wallets, the 111th Senate session looks like it’s going to be pretty expensive based on the first ten bills coming down the pipe.  HT: Right Wing News

3.  Obama Administration “prepared to talk to Hamas” – can anybody think of another administration have talks with a terrorist organization?  Nope, because they don’t.  So much for a foundational bedrock principle for how our government deals with terrorists.  HT: Smart Girl Politics

4.  Apparently the EPA believes that cow flatulence contributes to global warming, so introducing, the cow tax!  HT: The Enlightened Redneck

5.  The New Deal Never Solved the Unemployment Crisis.

6.  What are you willing to give for a hope-n-change?  President-Elect Obama on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos:

“Everybody’s going to have to give… Everybody is going to have to have some skin in the game.”

HT: Amanda Carpenter

7.  Apparently I’m a religious zealot who is more committed to tradition than sacred text (which I am not).  Thank you Scot McKnight for your “evenhanded” comment regarding how N.T. Wright is straightening those who disagree with his position on justification out.

8.  Theology – Calvin & Hobbes style – HT: Bill Kinnon

9.  Great Commission Companies – somehow that seems to be an oxymoron, but apparently they do exist.

10.  30 Recession Surviving Dating Ideas – having no money is not an excuse not to date your spouse!

11.  The 40 Most Obnoxious Quotes For 2008 – My “favorite”:

“I have to tell you, you know, it’s part of reporting this case, this election, the feeling most people get when they hear Barack Obama’s speech. My, I felt this thrill going up my leg.” — “Journalist” Chris Matthews

HT: Ft. Hard Knox

12.  Got to love this media bias cartoon:

HT: Nuke

13.  Thinking about full-time vocational ministry?  You’d better go over and take the Stuff Christians Like self-evaluation first.

14.  Abstinence is on the rise.  HT: Writing on the Wall

15.  Steve Brown is excited about 2009, he may be the only one (just kidding).

16.  Huck PAC started a  National Volunteer Team, and they are nearing 2,000 people already.  You can join here.

17.  Tim Challies – A Word about Free Will

18.  Ever want to read through John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion in a year?  I can’t say I’ve thought about doing that, but probably will give it a shot (by the way not to replace reading through the Bible in a year – that is far more important to do).

19.  The Dead Theologians Society on Biblical (Mis)Interpretation.

20.  Conor Friedersdorf isn’t very enthused about Joe the Plumber turned “Joe the Journalist“.

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Category: Twenty Items

About the Author ()

Shane Vander Hart is the founder and editor-in-chief of Caffeinated Thoughts.  He is also the President of 4:15 Communications, LLC, a social media & communications consulting/management firm.  He is a communications director for American Principles Project’s Preserve Innocence Initiative.  Prior to this Shane spent 20 years in youth ministry serving in church, parachurch, and school settings.  He has also served as an interim pastor and is a sought after speaker and pulpit fill-in.  Shane has been married to his wife Cheryl since 1993 and they have three kids.  Shane and his family reside near Des Moines, IA.  You can connect with Shane on Facebook or follow him on Twitter and Google +.
  • http://www.FamilyInsights.net Cesar

    Man, I love how random this list is. It’s a great way to share some good material from all different types of sources.

    As always, I’m a big fan of your work and I appreciate what you do. Let me know how I can continue to support you and your ministry.

    Cesar G. Gamez, MA
    http://www.FamilyInsights.net

  • http://www.FamilyInsights.net Cesar

    Man, I love how random this list is. It’s a great way to share some good material from all different types of sources.

    As always, I’m a big fan of your work and I appreciate what you do. Let me know how I can continue to support you and your ministry.

    Cesar G. Gamez, MA
    http://www.FamilyInsights.net

  • http://www.FamilyInsights.net Cesar

    Man, I love how random this list is. It’s a great way to share some good material from all different types of sources.

    As always, I’m a big fan of your work and I appreciate what you do. Let me know how I can continue to support you and your ministry.

    Cesar G. Gamez, MA
    http://www.FamilyInsights.net

  • M.Hovda

    Great clip art on the EPA/Cow tax story! That’s the hilarous part about this global warming… uh no…um, climate change. :-) The part that I think that is lost on most Americans and a great many evangelical congragants is that at that if you believe in global warming even as a conservative evangelical (as Mike Huckabee does and I’m not against Huckabee per se) AT THE VERY LEAST you are speaking about a stupid or non involved intelligent Creator. If the Secularist believes that Man caused it, the Conservative Evangelical who belives in Global Hooey… um sorry again….climate change should tell the secularist that yes man has caused global warming. It is because of Man’s Sin (too much Carbon AND and rebellion against an all Holy and powerful God. Yes, in Genesis we are told to be good caretakers of the land. I remember when John Gibson was really coming at Gov. Palin really Really hard in his interview her to acknowlege that climate change was man’s fault. To my brother Huckabee…it’s about the Cross, not climate change.

  • M.Hovda

    Great clip art on the EPA/Cow tax story! That’s the hilarous part about this global warming… uh no…um, climate change. :-) The part that I think that is lost on most Americans and a great many evangelical congragants is that at that if you believe in global warming even as a conservative evangelical (as Mike Huckabee does and I’m not against Huckabee per se) AT THE VERY LEAST you are speaking about a stupid or non involved intelligent Creator. If the Secularist believes that Man caused it, the Conservative Evangelical who belives in Global Hooey… um sorry again….climate change should tell the secularist that yes man has caused global warming. It is because of Man’s Sin (too much Carbon AND and rebellion against an all Holy and powerful God. Yes, in Genesis we are told to be good caretakers of the land. I remember when John Gibson was really coming at Gov. Palin really Really hard in his interview her to acknowlege that climate change was man’s fault. To my brother Huckabee…it’s about the Cross, not climate change.

  • M.Hovda

    Great clip art on the EPA/Cow tax story! That’s the hilarous part about this global warming… uh no…um, climate change. :-) The part that I think that is lost on most Americans and a great many evangelical congragants is that at that if you believe in global warming even as a conservative evangelical (as Mike Huckabee does and I’m not against Huckabee per se) AT THE VERY LEAST you are speaking about a stupid or non involved intelligent Creator. If the Secularist believes that Man caused it, the Conservative Evangelical who belives in Global Hooey… um sorry again….climate change should tell the secularist that yes man has caused global warming. It is because of Man’s Sin (too much Carbon AND and rebellion against an all Holy and powerful God. Yes, in Genesis we are told to be good caretakers of the land. I remember when John Gibson was really coming at Gov. Palin really Really hard in his interview her to acknowlege that climate change was man’s fault. To my brother Huckabee…it’s about the Cross, not climate change.

  • Iowaguy

    Here’s another example of the basic dishonesty and lack of integrity of your conservative of the year.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/geoffrey-dunn/sarah-palins-big-obama-li_b_156975.html

    And by the way, Hamas is – unfortunately – the legitimately elected government of Gaza. As a result of elections that the US promoted.

  • Iowaguy

    Here’s another example of the basic dishonesty and lack of integrity of your conservative of the year.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/geoffrey-dunn/sarah-palins-big-obama-li_b_156975.html

    And by the way, Hamas is – unfortunately – the legitimately elected government of Gaza. As a result of elections that the US promoted.

  • Iowaguy

    Here’s another example of the basic dishonesty and lack of integrity of your conservative of the year.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/geoffrey-dunn/sarah-palins-big-obama-li_b_156975.html

    And by the way, Hamas is – unfortunately – the legitimately elected government of Gaza. As a result of elections that the US promoted.

  • http://caffeinatedthoughts.com Shane Vander Hart

    @Cesar – thanks for stopping by. Great post with some good ideas on dating – happy to link to it!

    @M. Hovda – I guess I haven’t heard much on his view on the climate change debate, I’ll have to look into that. But having spent some time around him before the Iowa Caucuses I can assure you that he understands that politics won’t save us, Jesus will.

    @Iowaguy – You are right, they were democratically elected. They are still a terrorist organization. There will be no piece in that region while Hamas is in power. Hard to seek peace with somebody who doesn’t want to acknowledge your right to exist.

    Regarding the link – it lost me when it talked about a turkey being executed. I mean come on! That’s crazy. The “lie” that this post addresses didn’t happen. She didn’t blame Obama for the smears against her. I went back and listened to the video again. She was pointing out a double standard as far as the media is concerned. No one blamed Obama for that.

    Where is this “trashing” of Caroline Kennedy? All she said was that she would be interested in how the press treats her – period. She said nothing about her qualifications. I think this guy was reading things into this interview that simply wasn’t there.

  • http://caffeinatedthoughts.com Shane Vander Hart

    @Cesar – thanks for stopping by. Great post with some good ideas on dating – happy to link to it!

    @M. Hovda – I guess I haven’t heard much on his view on the climate change debate, I’ll have to look into that. But having spent some time around him before the Iowa Caucuses I can assure you that he understands that politics won’t save us, Jesus will.

    @Iowaguy – You are right, they were democratically elected. They are still a terrorist organization. There will be no piece in that region while Hamas is in power. Hard to seek peace with somebody who doesn’t want to acknowledge your right to exist.

    Regarding the link – it lost me when it talked about a turkey being executed. I mean come on! That’s crazy. The “lie” that this post addresses didn’t happen. She didn’t blame Obama for the smears against her. I went back and listened to the video again. She was pointing out a double standard as far as the media is concerned. No one blamed Obama for that.

    Where is this “trashing” of Caroline Kennedy? All she said was that she would be interested in how the press treats her – period. She said nothing about her qualifications. I think this guy was reading things into this interview that simply wasn’t there.

  • http://www.caffeinatedthoughts.com Shane Vander Hart

    @Cesar – thanks for stopping by. Great post with some good ideas on dating – happy to link to it!

    @M. Hovda – I guess I haven’t heard much on his view on the climate change debate, I’ll have to look into that. But having spent some time around him before the Iowa Caucuses I can assure you that he understands that politics won’t save us, Jesus will.

    @Iowaguy – You are right, they were democratically elected. They are still a terrorist organization. There will be no piece in that region while Hamas is in power. Hard to seek peace with somebody who doesn’t want to acknowledge your right to exist.

    Regarding the link – it lost me when it talked about a turkey being executed. I mean come on! That’s crazy. The “lie” that this post addresses didn’t happen. She didn’t blame Obama for the smears against her. I went back and listened to the video again. She was pointing out a double standard as far as the media is concerned. No one blamed Obama for that.

    Where is this “trashing” of Caroline Kennedy? All she said was that she would be interested in how the press treats her – period. She said nothing about her qualifications. I think this guy was reading things into this interview that simply wasn’t there.

  • http://thesimplepastor.blogspot.com Phil Whittall

    Your comment after no3 is not on target. Plenty of governments talk to terrorist groups and not just ones elected as Iowa guy pointed out. British government talked with the IRA and led to peace, the Spanish government talked to ETA and led to a ceasefire (broke down later), in Africa when governments talk to rebel (terrorist groups) peace is often the outcome, civil war is usually the alternative. When there was white rule in South Africa, Mandela was in jail for terrorism and they talked. Talking is often the road to breaking deadlock.

    Phil Whittalls last blog post..Getting things done

  • http://thesimplepastor.blogspot.com Phil Whittall

    Your comment after no3 is not on target. Plenty of governments talk to terrorist groups and not just ones elected as Iowa guy pointed out. British government talked with the IRA and led to peace, the Spanish government talked to ETA and led to a ceasefire (broke down later), in Africa when governments talk to rebel (terrorist groups) peace is often the outcome, civil war is usually the alternative. When there was white rule in South Africa, Mandela was in jail for terrorism and they talked. Talking is often the road to breaking deadlock.

    Phil Whittalls last blog post..Getting things done

  • http://thesimplepastor.blogspot.com Phil Whittall

    Your comment after no3 is not on target. Plenty of governments talk to terrorist groups and not just ones elected as Iowa guy pointed out. British government talked with the IRA and led to peace, the Spanish government talked to ETA and led to a ceasefire (broke down later), in Africa when governments talk to rebel (terrorist groups) peace is often the outcome, civil war is usually the alternative. When there was white rule in South Africa, Mandela was in jail for terrorism and they talked. Talking is often the road to breaking deadlock.

    Phil Whittalls last blog post..Getting things done

  • http://caffeinatedthoughts.com Shane Vander Hart

    Phil,

    I see your point, however, wouldn’t you agree that there is a difference between political terrorism/rebels and Islamic terrorism?

    IRA wanted Northern Ireland’s independence, the Basques would like independence from Spain, etc. Hamas wants to destroy Israel. I know there are moderate Palestinians that they need to talk to, but Hamas is hard to deal with.

  • http://caffeinatedthoughts.com Shane Vander Hart

    Phil,

    I see your point, however, wouldn’t you agree that there is a difference between political terrorism/rebels and Islamic terrorism?

    IRA wanted Northern Ireland’s independence, the Basques would like independence from Spain, etc. Hamas wants to destroy Israel. I know there are moderate Palestinians that they need to talk to, but Hamas is hard to deal with.

  • http://www.caffeinatedthoughts.com Shane Vander Hart

    Phil,

    I see your point, however, wouldn’t you agree that there is a difference between political terrorism/rebels and Islamic terrorism?

    IRA wanted Northern Ireland’s independence, the Basques would like independence from Spain, etc. Hamas wants to destroy Israel. I know there are moderate Palestinians that they need to talk to, but Hamas is hard to deal with.

  • http://www.backtotheconstitution.org Andrew Biddinger

    A cow tax???? lol. Wow! :-) I Loved that one Shane.

    Andrew Biddingers last blog post..The Huckabee Report – ABC Radio Network’s New Show

  • http://www.backtotheconstitution.org Andrew Biddinger

    A cow tax???? lol. Wow! :-) I Loved that one Shane.

    Andrew Biddingers last blog post..The Huckabee Report – ABC Radio Network’s New Show

  • http://www.backtotheconstitution.org Andrew Biddinger

    A cow tax???? lol. Wow! :-) I Loved that one Shane.

    Andrew Biddingers last blog post..The Huckabee Report – ABC Radio Network’s New Show

  • M.Hovda

    Regarding Mike Huckabee, I like Mike Huckabee. And I’m sure if he was pressed publicly or privately, he would say that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. I’ve run Marathon’s and willcontinue to run marathons to loose weight so has Huckabee. But I don’t want a government sponsered ur fat programs for people and kids. which he has pushed. First of all we are all made in the image of God. If we have THE GOVERNMENT have a ur fat program on top of the secularized pop it’s great to be sexy and thin, that’s just too much. As to Climate Change, I believe Huckabee wanted to have an issue that he could get traction with “Moderates” I’m not saying he was trying to be disengenous. I like the practicality and concern for the enviroment that Gov. Palin displays.

  • M.Hovda

    Regarding Mike Huckabee, I like Mike Huckabee. And I’m sure if he was pressed publicly or privately, he would say that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. I’ve run Marathon’s and willcontinue to run marathons to loose weight so has Huckabee. But I don’t want a government sponsered ur fat programs for people and kids. which he has pushed. First of all we are all made in the image of God. If we have THE GOVERNMENT have a ur fat program on top of the secularized pop it’s great to be sexy and thin, that’s just too much. As to Climate Change, I believe Huckabee wanted to have an issue that he could get traction with “Moderates” I’m not saying he was trying to be disengenous. I like the practicality and concern for the enviroment that Gov. Palin displays.

  • M.Hovda

    Regarding Mike Huckabee, I like Mike Huckabee. And I’m sure if he was pressed publicly or privately, he would say that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. I’ve run Marathon’s and willcontinue to run marathons to loose weight so has Huckabee. But I don’t want a government sponsered ur fat programs for people and kids. which he has pushed. First of all we are all made in the image of God. If we have THE GOVERNMENT have a ur fat program on top of the secularized pop it’s great to be sexy and thin, that’s just too much. As to Climate Change, I believe Huckabee wanted to have an issue that he could get traction with “Moderates” I’m not saying he was trying to be disengenous. I like the practicality and concern for the enviroment that Gov. Palin displays.

  • http://thesimplepastor.blogspot.com Phil Whittall

    Shane, certainly Hamas currently hold an extreme position – the question is will talking encourage them to move from that position or will ignoring them just make them harden their position. There was peace in Northern Ireland for years before the IRA actually declared an end to their war. It’s not an easy question but we should be careful in why we decide not to talk to some democratically elected governments but talk to non-democratically elected governments. We talk with N.Korea, China, the old Soviet Union – it’s just a murky old world. And you have to say that not talking to them isn’t exactly getting us anywhere is it…there’s no question for deals to be done Hamas will have to give up some hardline grounds. But if we don’t talk that will never happen

    Phil Whittalls last blog post..Getting things done

  • http://thesimplepastor.blogspot.com Phil Whittall

    Shane, certainly Hamas currently hold an extreme position – the question is will talking encourage them to move from that position or will ignoring them just make them harden their position. There was peace in Northern Ireland for years before the IRA actually declared an end to their war. It’s not an easy question but we should be careful in why we decide not to talk to some democratically elected governments but talk to non-democratically elected governments. We talk with N.Korea, China, the old Soviet Union – it’s just a murky old world. And you have to say that not talking to them isn’t exactly getting us anywhere is it…there’s no question for deals to be done Hamas will have to give up some hardline grounds. But if we don’t talk that will never happen

    Phil Whittalls last blog post..Getting things done

  • http://thesimplepastor.blogspot.com Phil Whittall

    Shane, certainly Hamas currently hold an extreme position – the question is will talking encourage them to move from that position or will ignoring them just make them harden their position. There was peace in Northern Ireland for years before the IRA actually declared an end to their war. It’s not an easy question but we should be careful in why we decide not to talk to some democratically elected governments but talk to non-democratically elected governments. We talk with N.Korea, China, the old Soviet Union – it’s just a murky old world. And you have to say that not talking to them isn’t exactly getting us anywhere is it…there’s no question for deals to be done Hamas will have to give up some hardline grounds. But if we don’t talk that will never happen

    Phil Whittalls last blog post..Getting things done

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