• Rachel Jankovic has a post about 10 ways to love your kids.

Reading

• This thought from John Piper (via Tony Reinke’s blog) on reading is great.

Foreign Policy

• The title of this article from Foreign Policy says it all, Obama administration using loophole to quietly sell arms package to Bahrain. And this is despite the fact that even Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton has admitted “that Bahrain’s government continues to commit human rights violations”. According to the update at the end of the article, the administration appears to be slightly backtracking on this one, although this plan has not been totally repudiated–but merely “paused” because of apparent backlash.

Theology

• Ian Clary has a great post called Luther Dipped, showing some severe problems with Luther’s view of baptism. I love the quote “he was a good Reformer, but he was not an exegete”. So true!

• Ian Clary as posted links to audio from a church history conference Carl Trueman spoke at in Calgary Grace Church in Calgary, Alberta. Clint Humfrey also participates. I have only listened to two of the talks, but so far so good!
• Kevin DeYoung has a great short post about the importance of nuances in our theology. I think it is contains a very valuable corrective to common pitfalls if we take the things he says to heart.

Reading

• This post, How To Read, is probably worth reading.

Foreign Policy

• Thing’s aren’t looking so great in “liberated” Libya
• This article on Time World asks Obama some hard questions on Afghanistan
• This chart shows how American injuries/deaths have increased in Afghanistan during Obama’s time in office.

Technology

• Google has released Google Public Alerts. Looks like a good tool for crisis weather conditions!

• The Reformed Forum has an excellent discussion of sanctification with Kevin DeYoung and Rick Phillips.
• Michael Haykin has a book coming out that looks fantastic, The Reformers and Puritans As Spiritual Mentors.
• John Piper recommends 14 books if you want to start reading The Puritans. I’ve read 4 out of 14.
• John Piper’s book Bloodlines is available for free download in PDF format.

Music

• Fans of Robbie Robertson of The Band will find this interview that Peter Mansbridge did with him interesting.

Reading and Writing

• The Atlantic has posted about 9 books about reading/writing for the New Year.

Literature

• Christopher Hitchens’ last article for Vanity Fair was published, and it is an article on Charles Dickens. David Hanglund builds on some related thoughts in When Dickens Met Dostoevsky (Maybe) for Slate.

I used to be subscribed to the Mars Hill Audio Journal. I am not longer subscribed, but I still think very highly of this audio publication and would highly recommend it.

In November, Ken Myers, who puts together these journals, suffered from a heart attack. However, he has subsequently returned to full health and returned back to work and volume 110 has just been released. This volume looks particularly good, and so I decided I would highlight some of its contents in case anyone is interested.

Volume 110 – Part One:

• Kevin Belmonte, on how G. K. Chesterton embraced a “defiant joy” in spite of the cynical pessimism of many of his contemporaries.
• David Lyle Jeffrey & Gregory Maillet, on why Christians cannot afford to regard literature as a mere entertaining diversion.
• Mark Noll, on what motivates anti-intellectualism among Christians and why it is a theologically indefensible prejudice

Volume 110 – Part Two

• Alan Jacobs, on W. H. Auden’s understanding of the vocation of “poet” and on the spiritual and historical background to Auden’s 1947 book-length poem, The Age of Anxiety
• Jonathan Chaplin, on the outlines and sources of the social and political thought of Herman Dooyeweerd and on his understanding of the relationship between theology and Christian philosophy

This looks like really good stuff! Every single one of these segments should be fantastic.

(Mars Hill Audio journal offers a gift subscription option, just in case any fanatical All Things Expounded readers just feel constrained to give…. I’m joking.)

The overlap in their answers (as well as the diversity) has been fascinating. Here is an index of works/authors cited from A to F.

Keep in mind, this cites all references in any context (with no indication as to whether they are positive or negative).

• Adams, Richard [John Dekker]

• Watership Down [John Dekker]

• Alcott, Louisa May [Heather Weir, Kara Dekker]
• Little Women [Heather Weir]

• Alexander, Lloyd [Vincent Cancilla]
• The Chronicles of Prydain [Vincent Cancilla]

• Andrews, Lancelot [Sheila Kurian]
• Sermons [Sheila Kurian]

• Aquinas [Darren Jansen]

• Aristotle [Darren Jansen]

• Auden, W. H.  [Ian Clary]

• Augustine [Heather Weir, Sheila Kurian, Amanda Patchin, Darren Jansen]
• City of God [Heather Weir, Sheila Kurian, Darren Jansen]

• Austen, Jane [Heather Weir, Amanda Patchin, Olga Lukmanova]
• Pride and Prejudice [Heather Weir, Sheila Kurian]
• Emma [Amanda Patchin]
• Sense and Sensibility [Sheila Kurian]

• Averintsev, Sergei [Olga Lukmanova]

• Berry, Wendel [Mark Nenadov]

• Bakhtin, Mikhail [Olga Lukmanova]

• Banville, John [Sheila Kurian]
• Dr. Copernicus [Sheila Kurian]

• Barnes, Julian [Olga Lukmanova]
• The Sense of An Ending [Olga Lukmanova]

• Beckett, Samuel [Vincent Cancilla]
• Waiting for Godot [Vincent Cancilla]

• Bloom, Harold [Michael Plato, Mark Nenadov]

• Bondi, Roberta [Sheila Kurian]
• To Pray and to Love [Sheila Kurian]

• Bonhoeffer, Dietrich [Olga Lukmanova]
• Life Together [Olga Lukmanova]

• Boswell, James [John Dekker]
• Life of Johnson [John Dekker]

• Bronte, Charlotte [Amanda Patchin]
• Jane Eyre [Amanda Patchin]

• Bronte Family [Michael Plato, Bob Walton]

• Brown, Dan [Sheila Kurian, Olga Lukmanova]
• The Davinci Code [Olga Lukmanova]

• Bulgakov, Mikhail [Mark Nenadov]
• Master and Margarita [Mark Nenadov]

• Buechner, Fredrick [John Dekker]
• Lion Country [John Dekker]

• Bunyan, John [Mark Nenadov, Clint Humfrey]
• The Pilgrim’s Progress [Clint Humfrey]

• Burnett, Frances Hodgson [Sheila Kurian]
• The Secret Garden [Sheila Kurian]

• Byatt, A.S. [Heather Weir]
• Possession [Heather Weir]

• Calderon, Pedro [Vincent Cancilla]
• Life Is a Dream [Vincent Cancilla]

• Calvin, John [Darren Jansen]

• Camus, Albert [Ian Clary, Michael Plato, Mark Nenadov]

• Cavanaugh, William [Sheila Kurian]
• Being Consumed [Sheila Kurian]

• Cervantes, Miguel [Michael Plato]
• Don Quixote [Michael Plato]

• Chaucer [Vincent Cancilla]

• Chekhov, Anton [Mark Nenadov, Olga Lukmanova]

• Chesterton, G.K. [Ian Clary, Olga Lukmanova, Michael Plato, Mark Nenadov, John Dekker, Bob Walton]
• Manalive! [Ian Clary, Olga Lukmanova]
• Father Brown stories [John Dekker, Olga Lukmanova]
• Orthodoxy [Olga Lukmanova]

• Childs, Brevard [John Dekker]
• Introduction to Old Testament as Scripture [John Dekker]

• Christie, Agatha [Olga Lukmanova]

• Cleave, Chris [Olga Lukmanova]
• Little Bee [Olga Lukmanova]

• Conrad, Joseph [Bob Walton, Vincent Cancilla]

• Coren, Michael [Mark Nenadov]

• Cummings, E. E. [Sheila Kurian]

• Dante [Heather Weir, Olga Lukmanova, Vincent Cancilla]
• The Divine Comedy [Heather Weir]

• Davies, Robertson [Michael Plato]

• Dawkins, Richard [Darren Jansen]

• Defoe, Daniel [Mark Nenadov]
• Robinson Crusoe [Mark Nenadov]

• Dickens, Charles [Ian Clary, Michael Plato, Bob Walton, Vincent Cancilla]

• Dillard, Annie [John Dekker]
• An American Childhood [John Dekker]

• Donne, John [Michael Plato, Sheila Kurian]

• Dostoevsky, Fyodor [Ian Clary, Olga Lukmanova, Mark Nenadov, John Dekker]
• Brothers Karamazov [Mark Nenadov, John Dekker]
• Crime and Punishment [Ian Clary]

• Doyle, A.C. [Mark Nenadov]

• Dragojlovic, Goran [Mark Nenadov]

• Durant, Will [Darren Jansen]
• The Story of Philosophy

• Durrell, Gerald [Sheila Kurian]
• My Family and Other Animals [Sheila Kurian]

• Dyachenko, Marina [Olga Lukmanova]

• Dyachenko, Sergei [Olga Lukmanova]

• Dylan, Bob [Sheila Kurian]

• Eliot, George [Ian Clary, Michael Plato, Bob Walton]
• Middlemarch [Michael Plato]

• Elliot, T.S. [Sheila Kurian]

• Endo, Shusaku [John Dekker]
• Wonderful Fool [John Dekker]

• Forster, E.M. [Sheila Kurian]
• A Room With A View [Sheila Kurian]

• Frost, Robert [Sheila Kurian]

• Frye, Northrop [Michael Plato]

• George Macdonald’s Diary of an Old Soul is up on Librivox

Foreign Policy

• This article is a disturbing account of the impunity 8 Marines have been given in deliberately slaughtering civilian men, women, and children in Iraq in 2005.
• Veronique de Rugy at Mercatus has a really nice visual depiction of U.S. military spending verses the rest of the world.
• The Electronic Frontier Foundation has an article about the U.S. Government’s call for censorship of Twitter in matters of national security.

Parenting

• Douglas Wilson posted 10 reasons why your kids might think you are no fun (for fathers).

Copyright

• This article shows that if pre-1976 copyright laws were still in place great books such as C.S. Lewis’ The Magicians Nephew,  Evelyn Waugh’s Officers and Gentlemen, and Tolkien’s The Return of the King would be in the public domain by now.

• The Telegraph has an article about something most of us probably already know, but it is good to reiterate it. Regular access to books at home has a big impact on a child’s education.

Politics

• National Review has an article on Rick Santorum’s big government conservatism.
• CNN has an article on some of the conservative criticism that is coming against Romney.

Foreign Policy

• Some questions that should be asked before bombing Iran.
• The Sunni population in Iraq is not very happy about the imposed Shiite government that has been placed over them.

Miscellany

• Ever lost a wedding ring? This story is simply remarkable!!! (carrots may be the new “gold” crop)

• Michael Haykin posted the top 7 books he’s read in 2011.
• Adam Parker lists the books he’s read in 2011.
• Kara Dekker lists the books she’s read in 2011.
• John Dekker lists the books he’s read in 2011.
• Ian Clary has a list of his 2011 reads too.

New Years Thoughts

• I enjoyed Nancy Wilson’s New Years thoughts on contentment.

Foreign Policy

• Tibor Machen has an interesting, hopeful post about Cuba’s future.

Politics

• Rick Santorum’s support of Arlen Specter over Pat Toomey seems to be a thorn in his side at this moment in terms of getting people to believe he is a consistent social and fiscal conservative (especially since Specter is “pro choice” and has been labeled “Pork Spender of the Year”).  Santorum has described this as a “political” move (whatever that means). Also see the L.A. Times coverage of this.

Humor

• This is a pretty brilliant commercial.

Plain Weird

• Apparently zoos are using Skype and iPads…for the animals to communicate with animals from other zoos

• Kara Dekker reviews Suprised By Oxford

Theology

• Justin Taylor posted on Why and How To Read Calvin’s Institutes

Foreign Policy

• So, apparently Obama is sending $30 billion worth of F-15 fighter jets and “assorted weaponry” to the tyrannical Saudi Arabian government that has the death penalty for apostasy from Islam and witchcraft.
• Also, Obama is sending $11 billion worth of fighter jets, battle tanks, and other arms to a totalitarian Iraqi government, whose leader is trying to build a one-party Shiite dominated system.
• I wonder why the Middle East is so unstable?….

• Greg Wilbur’s wonderful My Cry Ascends: New Parish Psalms is going for $4.99 for Digital Download at Amazon

Politics

• So, apparently Rick Perry is suing to get on the Virginia GOP ballot.
• Norman Horne wrote Can a Christian Be A Libertarian? for The Washington Post
• Tibor Machen has a critique of BBC’s coverage of American politics.
• This video is pretty interesting in regard to Ron Paul and race, especially as many on the Left and Right try to smear Ron Paul as a supposed racist (even though he’s explicitly stated and practiced the exact opposite).

Oh, Canada

• Did you know that Canada is shipping weapons grade uranium to the U.S.?

Technology

• Joe Abbate has a summary list of Python web frameworks

Wildlife

• How would you like to find one of these in your pool?

• John Piper’s When I Don’t Desire God is free in audio book format until December 31.

Literature

• Marilynne Robinson has an article in the New York Times about what literature owes the Bible
• Apparently James Dobson is delving into science fiction. Yikes!
• Those interested in Silmarillion and Tolkien would find this article interesting

Film

• Ben Witherington writes on the new Sherlock Holmes film

Politics

• Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry didn’t qualify for the Virginia GOP Primary Ballot
• U.S.A. Today reports about the 2.5 million voters who have left the Republican and Democrat parties since 2008.
• John R. MacArthur wrote an article for Harpers, President Obama Richly Deserves To Be Dumped. John opens by saying “As evidence of a failed Obama presidency accumulates, criticism of his administration is mounting from liberal Democrats who have too much moral authority to be ignored.”.

• The Economist has an interesting post, How Luther Went Viral, talking about Luther’s use of social media in the Reformation

Literature

• Ray Van Neste has a review of Brian Godawa’s speculative retelling of the story of Noah, Noah Primeval: Chronicles of the Nephilim Book
• The Ludwig Von Mises Institute has an article on The Market For Literary Products
• Fans of The Hobbit and Tolkien will be interested to see the trailer for The Hobbit, if they haven’t already.

Foreign Policy

• It is interesting to see this little clip of (even) Bill O’Reilly finding Romney to be a little too gung ho about bombing Iran. Or maybe he was just granting a contrary view? In any case, O’Reilly is right, bombing Iran would be opening a a whole new can of worms.
• In 2004-2007, the U.S. made 42 drone strikes on Pakistan. Now, in 2010-2011, it has made 188. The estimate given of deaths due to drone strikes in 2011 is somewhere between 378 and 536.

Local Stuff  (Essex County / Windsor, Ontario)

• Snowy Owls sometimes fly south when the lemmings are scarce. According to a naturalist Tom Preney, over the last few weeks, Snowy Owls have been making their appearances in the Leamington area, just about 20 minutes away from my house.

• Bob Walton, a Reformed Baptist elder and long-time high school teacher, has posted extensive notes on classic literature. It includes the likes of Dickens, Waugh, Pasternak, Umberto Eco, Orwell, Lewis, Milton, Sartre, Shakespeare, Eliot, Tolstoy, Twain, Lewis, Huxley, etc.

Theology

• Trevin Wax has a good post Your Podcast is Not Your Pastor

Politics

• According to Public Policy Polling, Ron Paul is leading in Iowa

Miscellany

• Denise, the wife of R.C. Sproul Jr. has gone to meet her maker. Douglas Wilson has some memorial thoughts
• Kim Jong-il also went to meet his maker (the Economist also covered this). Wikipedia ha a fantastic list of Kim’s honorary titles. Personally, my favorite is 령도자가 갖추어야 할 풍모를 완벽하게 지닌 친애하는 지도자 (translated as “Dear Leader, who is a perfect incarnation of the appearance that a leader should have”).
• According to the Economist, releases from prisons in 2010 have exceeded admissions for the first time since 1977.
• The Economist has run a feature on Christopher Hitchens

- Mark Dever in 12 Challenges Churches Face