This and That 12-31-11

Does Anyone in the Media Read the Bible? – “[George] welcomed visitors with large-print messages on the walls. ‘Be not inhospitable to strangers, lest they be angels in disguise,’ was one, quoting Yeats.”  Yeats!? Did you catch that? I choked on my toast. Did the Times actually just say that “Be not inhospitable to strangers, lest they be angels in disguise” was from Yeats? Unless I had fallen down a rabbit hole, that quote was from the Bible. It’s from Hebrews 13:2 and it’s quite famous. If you didn’t catch it, don’t feel too badly, because you are probably not The New York Times. You are probably not America’s “paper of record”, proud owner of 106 Pulitzer Prizes in Journalism — more than any other newspaper. You probably don’t have squadrons of fact-checkers on your payroll.  I still couldn’t believe what I’d just read, so I kept reading, looking for some explanation. There was none. I then shook the paper to make sure I was reading an actual newspaper, and not, say, an email forward from an aged friend. Nope. This really was the New York Times, the Old Grey Lady, whose motto was “All the News that’s Fit to Print.” And let’s face it, if W.B. Yeats was the real author of the Bible’s “Book of Hebrews,” that really would be big news! – Eric Metaxas

Bible Reading Plans for 2012 – There are lots of ways to read the Bible in a year, and I won’t try to capture all of them. But here are numerous options, in no particular order. You may want to look through it and see what you think would work best for you. – Justin Taylor

Social Media, the Reformation, and the Power of Blogging – Similarly, in our day, the last five to ten years has seen the internet, and blogging in particular, unite those discontented with the problems of Christian fundamentalism. No longer can pastors mold and shape their congregation’s opinion about anything without fear of having their facts checked by a quick Google search. The internet brings us closer to the world of ideas, and closer to other Christian communities too. No longer is John MacArthur some distant radio personality that our pastor warns us about — we can download his messages online and realize that his ministry isn’t as dangerous as our fundamentalist pastor has warned. – Bob Hayton

Since When Is Dick Morris Our Standard for a Patriot? – Dick Morris is the man who gave us Bill Clinton… Then, when Bill Clinton was in his first term as a President, and when the prospect of losing the re-election was real, Dick Morris was appointed to lead the campaign. (Remember Clinton-Gore’96?) While in the campaign, Dick Morris was having an affair with a prostitute, possibly also inviting her to his conversations with the President to impress her. Then, after the scandal was publicized, Morris turned against his own friend, and spent the rest of his political career throwing mud on the Clintons. The “man who has Clinton’s ear” was also described by BBC as the “most ruthless political consultant in the US.” …  He said that no true patriot would vote for Ron Paul. – Bojidar Marinov

Ask RC:  What Now? – A commitment to God’s goodness in calling Denise home, a commitment to God’s goodness in taking her from us, does not put mourning out of bounds. Jesus Himself wept just moments before He knew He would call Lazarus out of that tomb. I am not in the least ashamed of my tears. We mourn, but not as those who are without hope (I Thessalonians 4:13).  We do not fail in our work because we are mourning. We do not fail in our mourning as we work. We beautify each with the other. We will do both in accordance with our convictions. We mourn and we work with hope, knowing that all that we do for the kingdom will withstand that great conflagration of wood, hay and stubble. – R.C. Sproul, Jr