Ronald Reagan, C.S. Lewis, and the Evil Empire

Just watched this clip of Ronald Reagan's amazing "Evil Empire" speech.  For those in my generation who have never watched the real thing, watch it! :)

A Dialogue on the Modern Age

The Modern motioned to the Cosmos and turned to his friend, The Clown. 

"What say ye?"

"What say you, you mean," he replied.

"I was going for dramatic effect," said the Modern. "A question has more weight when asked with older words."

"But clarity, my dear fellow, is the most important thing about a question."

"I thought it was the answer."

"Every question is an answer."

The Modern paused. "I'm not sure that makes sense."

"The better the question, the more one knows the answer already."

"Tell that to the scientists."

"There are a few in my line of work," the Clown replied.

Great Speech by Geert Wilders on the Future of Europe

"The Failure of Multiculturalism and How to Turn the Tide"

Signore e signori, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends of the Magna Carta Foundation, molte grazie. Thank you for inviting me to Rome. It is great to be here in this beautiful city which for many centuries was the capital and the centre of Europe's Judeo-Christian culture.

Together with Jerusalem and Athens, Rome is the cradle of our Western civilization - the most advanced and superior civilization the world has ever known.

As Westerners, we share the same Judeo-Christian culture. I am from the Netherlands and you are from Italy. Our national cultures are branches of the same tree. We do not belong to multiple cultures, but to different branches of one single culture. This is why when we come to Rome, we all come home in a sense. We belong here, as we also belong in Athens and in Jerusalem.

It is important that we know where our roots are. If we lose them we become deracinated. We become men and women without a culture.

A Paradisal Bookstore

I love bookstores. When I hear that Barnes and Noble has fallen on hard times, my heart aches. The bookstore is perhaps the one place in the shopping and entertainment experience where I feel most at home. Nothing thrills me more than browsing books I will never buy on the upshot that I might find that one classic I've been hoping to see in print.

Of all the bookstores I've ever been to, Full Circle Bookstore is certainly the best. Situated in the heart of Oklahoma City, it is not the place you would expect to find in flyover country. Bookstores like this with a love of fine editions, beautiful displays, classic works, and warm atmosphere are a rare treasure. Here are some pictures of Full Circle for those of you who haven't had the opportunity to experience the joy firsthand.

The Heart of Paradise: A Fairy Tale

Once upon a time there was a boy who was born by a river. His world was small and the river was life. It's muddy banks, swirling waters, and raucous roar marked his daily existence. But his imagination, which was great, always dreamed of the course beyond the bend, and though he never ventured onto the river, he often waded downstream until his feet no longer touched bottom.

But the river wasn't his only source of happiness. Across it, high atop a strong beautiful mountain, stood a white tower that ascended into the clouds. Emerald ivy grew along its contours and a wall protected it from outsiders. The boy sometimes went there and played in the garden within the wall. He told others of his discovery, but though he had always found the door in the wall open, they would call him a liar with a look. The door was always locked to them.

A Bit Of Humor

Some time ago, I had a conversation with a dear friend of mine who was discovering the martial art of Aikido. Aikido, as some of you may know, is a martial art that uses the force of the opponent against himself. My friend explained to me that the Atonement might be seen in the light of Aikido. Jesus, he pointed out, used the power of Death against itself in order to defeat it. Aikido, in a sense, was like "Jesus Karate", the way of the perfect Master.

Going home that night, the phrase "Jesus Karate" kept stirring in my small brain, and as it stirred, flashes of insight enlightened my feeble mind. A script, as it were, appeared in letters of flaming gold, and I quickly transcribed the vision I had seen pass in front of me. This is what I recorded:

The Proud God?

There has been a great deal of debate in recent years over the question of the Atonement, specifically the question of which idea or model of the Atonement is, in fact, the primary Biblical perspective. There is no need to go into the history of this debate here, though it is a fascinating topic in its own right.

What concerns me is the primary difference between penal substitution and its detractors (who are, as with any revolutionary group, driven by a variety of ideas). There have been many criticisms of penal substitution that might pass for an overarching fault line, but speaking on a personal level, I believe that there is one distinction in the current models of penal substitution that, as it happens, is the central barrier between the idea's acceptance and rejection.