Punch Lines and Ironies

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So I used to be a pretty diehard classical music fan, as many people can attest. 🙂 “What…it was written after 1900? It must be no good.” But I’ve grown to appreciate modern music, much to my own surprise. And more surprising than that, one of my favorite artists is a contemporary Christian musician, Chris Rice. I have very little respect for the contemporary Christian music scene…it just seems like in trying to please everyone they have lost the best of both secular and Christian music. My impression is that they write second-class music that’s supposed to sound like secular…

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Liberty Defined by Ron Paul

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I purchased this book soon after it came out, just because, well, it is by Ron Paul who is of course plain awesome 🙂 But then I procrastinated on reading it because I felt like since it is an introduction to libertarian philosophy, I probably wouldn’t learn anything new from it. But it was on my “need to read” pile and since I have some other heavier reading to do, I decided to just go for it. So… I would highly recommend Liberty Defined for anyone, regardless of your background in libertarianism, or lack thereof. Ron Paul’s disadvantage in the…

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Agenda for the Week

So after living somewhat in denial for a couple days, I’m facing up to all the work I need to do this week. I go through the “there’s so much I don’t even want to think about it…hey, why don’t I watch a movie!” phase but eventually will come out of it with this determination that I absolutely must conquer all my tasks. The plan for the week is to: – Read 3 chapters of J.C. Ryle’s Holiness per day, which means I’ll finish it on Sunday. – Read Ron Paul’s Liberty Defined. Hoping to do that today so I…

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Obedience, Not Success

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I like to peruse a few theological websites on Sundays in order to catch up on the recent posts and happenings in the Reformed circles. I ran across this article at Ligonier.org, Should Christians Refuse to Pay Taxes When They Are Used to Finance Abortions? by R.C. Sproul Jr.  This is a topic I often think about so I was curious to hear new thoughts on it. I have struggled with the thought of knowing my money is going to used for something that is immoral. This bothers my conscience. I find it hard to imagine standing before God and reconciling it….

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Avoiding the Question

I was listening to NPR today because my classical radio station wasn’t coming in, and that was the only other option, besides Rush Limbaugh, which, although it may be hard to believe, is even worse to listen to than NPR. So the host was interviewing this NPR political correspondant who has covered news from Congress for about 10 years and is now leaving to develop a new project. They were discussing the situation in Washington right now, gridlock, party conflicts, etc…and one of the comments was, “Washington is broken. And we need to figure out how to fix it.” And…

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Wandering — But Not Lost

So in case you were concerned that I had dropped off the face of the earth…I have not. I have felt that way on occasion, but it was only a temporary sensation. In trying to describe my life for the last few months, I am reminded of Tolkien’s famous quote, “All those who wander are not lost.” To sum it up briefly, I’ve had some interesting ramblings across this earth, both physically and metaphorically. But the main lesson I’ve learned, or relearned recently is 1) God is in control of all things and 2) God is a good God. We…

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Inspiring Quotes

“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me. I am a free human being with an independent will.” Charlotte Bronte   “Many consider the arts to be the ‘extra’ of our lives, an embellishment that is mere leisure…What many consider extra, and even wasteful, may come to define our humanity.” Makoto Fujimura     “All men’s miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone.” Pascal     “I am not afraid they’ll stamp me flat. Grass stamped flat soon becomes a path.” Blago Dimitrova     “The silence of these infinite spaces frightens me.”…

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Review of Ligonier National Conference 2012, Part 1

Most of my readers are probably familiar with the Mises Institute and their Austrian Scholars Conference. However, the Ligonier Conference I attended this past weekend fits into a little different category. It is a conference put on by Ligonier Ministries of Orlando, Florida. It is named Ligonier because the whole thing started about 40 years ago in Ligonier Pennsylvania. It is a center of Reformed theology and teaching. Most of the people involved with it are Presbyterian and while I’m a Reformed Baptist, we agree on many other points of doctrine. My church, Grace Reformed Baptist, uses some of their teaching…

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Review of Austrian Scholars Conference 2012

This was my first time attending ASC. Since I won’t be able to attend Mises U this year, I decided to try ASC instead. I really liked it. Why? As appropriate for an Austrian Scholars Conference, it was more scholarly than Mises U. For instance, at almost every meal during the event, everyone at the table would end up talking about economics, philosophy, politics, etc…in some kind of serious way. I don’t remember this happening at Mises U, although maybe I just didn’t sit at the right tables. 🙂 I felt like I was getting the inside scoop on everything…

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A Tale of One Procrastinator

This is rather ludicrous. I have A Tale of Two Cities on my desk, right next to my computer, with my bookmark inserted at the end of Chapter 1, and although January 31st is looming ever closer, instead of picking it up and plodding through Dickens, I’m blogging. Like, I never blog unless I have absolutely nothing else to do or unless there is some earth-shattering thing to say. But suddenly this evening it is of immense importance that I blog, even to the point of abandoning Dickens for the sake of blogging. So instead of reading a book, I’ll write…

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