While Vero, Isa & I were driving [read = very slowly moving] through traffic up the 101 on Sunday to visit my mom in Port Hueneme, we saw not just one, but several drivers like this one in their cars.
Even after reading the article in the Economist, I’m not sure if this represents a step forward or something to be wary of.
“Idolatry is committed not merely by setting up false gods, but also by setting up false devils.”
G.K. Chesterton
I read this quote in Richard Mouw’s post on False Teachers and False Teachers. In it he warns that:
We want to oppose false teachers because they do not teach things that are true. But if in our attempts to defeat them we play fast and loose with the truth, by attributing to them things that they don’t in fact teach and if we don’t really care whether we have it exactly right or not then we have become false teachers: teachers of untruths!
Continuing on, he says: (more…)
This post “Bourne Again” from God’s politics on the Bourne Ultimatum only confirms how much I like the whole trilogy.
I got this reminder from the email group for my local Boyle Heights Neighborhood Council:
NOTE: This is a public service announcement…..pass it along to allyour friends.REMINDER….9 days from today, all cell phone numbers are being released?to telemarketing companies and you will start to receive sales calls. YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THESE CALLS.
To prevent this, call the following number from your cell phone: 888-382-1222. It is the National DO NOT CALL list. It will only take a minute of your time. It blocks your number for five (5) years. You must call from the cell phone number you want to have blocked. You cannot call from a different phone number. HELP OTHERS BY PASSING THIS ON TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS.
It take about 20 seconds.
I called it. It really did just take 20 seconds.
I think the WSJ has a thing against the practice of “mainstreaming” in special education, but there is also some valid concern raised by this article. I think it has less to do with mainstreaming and more to do with funding & real educational accountability, but read the article and give me your thoughts.
We haven’t gotten that stage yet with Isa, but based on what we’ve experienced so far in terms of BS & hoop-jumping, I can only imagine what the next stage is like to perform on.
For all of the hits that I’ve gotten on this story from people looking for a good CT scan of the brain, I thought this article - Blossoming Brains - was an interesting read.
Today started our 2nd annual GLA Divisional Staff Conference, which will last until Thursday. I was just starting my sabbatical last August, so this is my first year with this conference. I’m really enjoying it.
The focus of this year’s conference is Leadership Development. One of the “pre-course” assignments for the conference was to read Leighton Ford’s book - Transforming Leadership. Good book. Below are my top 10 quotes and my top 7 leadership lessons from the book. (more…)
“For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind.
But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy.
And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.”
- James 3:16-18
Some folks talk a lot, but don’t have much to say.
Not this guy.
I just saw an interview (on KTLA Morning News) of Dr. Michael Eric Dyson - Professor of Theology, English and African American Studies at Georgetown University - promoting his book “Know what I mean? - Reflections on Hip-Hop” Based on the interview, I’m going to get my hands on his book.
I must be onto something, since someone else is writing a entire book on my ideas. 
Peter Lim - Assistant Professor of the History of Christianity at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee - is currently writing a book entitled Xenophobia to Philozenia: A Trinitarian Theology of Immigration. He is quoted in several recent articles about the New Sanctuary Movement (read their pledge), including (more…)
In the Sunday LA Times Opinion, there was a commentary - Keep adoption assistance - about some possible changes (read: reductions) to the assistance for families with special needs adoptions.
Of course, money isn’t the reason parents adopt. And for children who require around-the-clock care for medical conditions such as seizures or routine needs such as bathing, even the highest rate may not cover all expenses, particularly if a parent stops working full time. Still, the loss of aid money could make families think twice about adopting children with the most severe disabilities.
I wish that weren’t true, but considering how many children wait for adoptive families, reducing anything that provides assistance for the most vulnerable is sad.
Flying under the radar of other record breaking moments, I’m getting close to the magical number of posts on this blog. And most remarkable in this era of performance enhancement, I’ve been chasing this mark while being totally steroid free. And no grand jury investigation will overturn my great accomplishment. Even if Bud Selig doesn’t acknowledge my accomplishment, I know its real.
I was recently re-reminded about the StrengthsQuest material that I had been introduced to a few years back. It is some great material for thinking about personal and professional development. The StrengthsQuest™ or the Clifton StrengthsFinder,
measures 34 themes of talent determined by The Gallup Organization as those that most consistently predict outstanding performance. The greater the presence of a theme of talent within a person, the more likely that person is to spontaneously exhibit those talents in day-to-day behaviors.
Focusing on natural talents helps people build them into strengths, and enjoy personal, academic, and career success through consistent, near-perfect performance.
For me (more…)
“Job is not a patient man, at least not in the usual sense of the word. He is rather a rebellious believer. His rebellion is against the suffering of the innocent, against a theology that justifies it, and even against the depiction of God that such a theology conveys.” Gustavo Gutierrez - author of On Job: God-Talk and the suffering of the innocent
“In Hell, all is self-righteousness.”William Blake
“No wonder that the well-installed like to speak about the triumphant Christ, while the poor and the lowly prefer to speak about suffering, flagellated, and crowned with thorns Jesus of Nazareth! One justifies power and glory while the other assures us that the God of life is with us in suffering and struggles.”Rev. Virgilio Elizondo - Notre Dame Professor of Pastoral and Hispanic Theology
readings and such:
• In today’s LA Times Opinions section - You’re adopting who?”: This guy recounts a lot of things we’ve heard. And shoots off some of the witty responses I’ve sometimes felt like sharing.
• effective urban ministry IS rocket science: I think Rudy is definitely onto something here.
• Same name, different sources - The True cost of Illegal Immigrants & The True cost of Illegal Immigration nobody knows & Paying their way and then some: Even though you get the idea, they’re worth reading.
“If Christ is followed only because his gifts are great and his threats are terrible, he is not glorified by his followers.
A defective lord can offer great gifts and terrible threats. And a person may want the gifts, fear the threats, and follow a lord whom they despise or pity or find boring or embarassing in order to have the gifts and avoid the threats.
If Christ is to be glorified in his people, their following must be rooted not mainly in his promised gifts or threatened punishments, but in his glorious Person.”
John Piper, When I don’t Desire God.
