Archive for the ‘Faith’ Category
Tuesday, December 27th, 2011
December 24, 2011
Christmas Wishes!
Here are a few Christmas wishes for 2011.
1. To Albert Pujols: I hope that all the money makes up for the fact that you had the opportunity to be the greatest sports icon in the most positive and rabid baseball town (Philly is more rabid, but negative) in the world. You left because they did not respect you?!?!?! C’mon man! They loved you. Good luck with this in an invented place. Coal for you!
2. To Jimmy Rollins: Love for you in the city of brotherly love. May your commitment to stay be as blessed as possible. Maybe another ring under the tree?
3. To Wendell Berry: Recently reading some of your best paragraphs. Brilliant! May you have a quiet and peaceful day with your family gathered round…and a good walk through a familiar and thick woods.
4. To Peter Leithart: Your blog is a blessing to read, but I fear that you might be reading, thinking, and writing too fast. You’re both and inspiration and a mystery. My wish for you is a long night’s sleep. Enjoy.
5. To the United States: A new government. This one is broken and its pettiness (on both sides) is making me sort of dread opening the paper in the morning. We borrow 40% of every dollar we spend. 40%!!!! We need an intervention. Hope it comes in 2012.
6. To my faculty and staff: Good work this year. Sleep soundly over break.
7. To my students: Drink deeply from the fountains of life. Christ Himself is the deepest fountain. Love God first with all your heart and do whatever you please with all of your heart!
I am going to try to go without my computer for a few days—this will feel like Linus without a blanket. See you in the New Year!
Posted in Culture, Faith, Family, Politics | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 20th, 2011
Recently, I finished the last few files for Omnibus VI. Omnibus is a six year pattern of working through the great books. It is extensive (but not comprehensive—after you are done there are plenty of other books that you should be reading). I have been working during the last 10 years on creating curriculum for the project serving as the managing editor of the project. I also wrote a few chapters in each volume. Volume VI is the last volume, so now, some would say, the project is over. (I am glad that I will not be writing quite as much and that I can broaden my reading.) (more…)
Tags: Christianity, Classical Education
Posted in Education, Faith | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 30th, 2011
Some recent questions arose concerning our 4th grade play. Typically, we have done Macbeth (a substantial, but revised, version for kids). Sometimes parents have some concerns with the choice of Macbeth. There are two root concerns, but they end in one questions: “Is Macbeth really appropriate for 4th graders?” To parse it, the concerns are: “Can 4th graders really handle Shakespeare’s content academically?” The second, and usually loudest, concern is: “Is this play—full or murder, intrigue, and sin—appropriate for 4th graders?” In this brief space I will attempt to answer both of these concerns.
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Tags: Christianity, Classical Education, Veritas Academy
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Monday, November 28th, 2011
Brian Wallace’s story in the paper today is a demonstration of the great problem of having the government involved in education. Here is the story:
Brain Wallace’s article
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Tags: public education
Posted in Education, Faith, Local News | No Comments »
Thursday, November 17th, 2011
Here is a neat video from Douglas Wilson concerning why Christians should write and what they should write about:
Douglas Wilson Video
Tags: Classical Education
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Tuesday, November 15th, 2011
On Veterans Day, we have a special commemoration with the 5th through 12th grade students reflecting on those serving presently in our armed forces and those who have laid down their lives for our freedom. This year, Sgt. Malcolm West spoke to the students. Malcolm is a friend and I prayed for him during his tour in Iraq. His daughter, Edith, was born while her daddy was away at war. Here is the speech:
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Tags: Veritas Academy
Posted in Faith, Local News, Military | No Comments »
Monday, October 31st, 2011
Celebrating or not celebrating Halloween is an issues that sometimes divides Christians—particularly as our culture goes increasingly haywire thinking that somehow we can blend evil things (vampires and zombies) into the lives of the young with no ill effects. I have been an advocate on both sides of the issue (though not at the same time). I say now “let each be fully convinced in his own heart” of his own practice. I would, however, say that our cultural practice of Halloween celebrating is getting darkened and more vile. If you are going to celebrate Halloween, you should read this article by James Jordan (who has recently be called by some serious smart people “the most important Christian writer of the 20th century” besting C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien):
Concerning Halloween by James Jordan
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Tuesday, September 27th, 2011
I wanted to send along this short video (three minutes) from Michael Horton. He is a prolific author, Christian leader, and the founder of the popular Christian radio broadcast “The White Horse Inn”
Here is his take on classical Christian education:
Tags: Christianity, Classical Education
Posted in Education, Faith | No Comments »
Thursday, August 11th, 2011
At the beach I also finished the interesting book Growing Up Amish by Ira Wagler (who, it should not be shocking, grew up Amish). It was enjoyable and informative. The church where I serve as an officer—All Saints Church in Akron—has been blest to have a few new attenders that are coming from the Amish community. This is not something that I expected, but it has been a wonderful blessing. I read the book to know more about the situation these people are facing. I am not sure how much the book taught me concerning this (my Amish friends are anything but typical), but it was an enjoyable read. I also dined with my post-Amish friends on Sunday and they affirmed that the book has a lot of truth about what many Amish deal with when they choose the life and when they reject it. (more…)
Tags: Amish
Posted in Faith, Family, Local News | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, July 26th, 2011
As more details of the Norway tragedy come out, we should brace ourselves for another round of pummeling. The mass murderer is being described as a fundamentalist Christian. I would imagine that MSNBC is already beating the drums about right wing extremism. Here are a few thoughts . . . .
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Posted in Faith, World Events | 1 Comment »
