Favorite New Things in 2008

1. The new MacBookPro
2. Tweetdeck
3. iPhone
4. 30 Boxes
5. Cambridge Pitt Minion ESV
6. MaxximoJo’s Coffee Shop
7. Brooks Adrenaline GTS
8. Moleskine City Guides
9. Pandora
10. MobileMe
11. Home Field Advantage in the Playoffs

Favorite Books of 2008

1. Stress of Her Regard (newly restored edition) by Tim Powers
2. Practical and Pious by A.C. Cheyne
3. Truths We Confess by R.C. Sproul
4. Punic Wars and Culture Wars by Ben House
5. A Prodigal God by Tim Keller
6. The King Alfred Saxon Tales Tetrology by Bernard Cornwell
7. The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
8. Tales from the Perilous Realm by J.R.R. Tolkien
9. The Reason for God by Tim Keller
10. What’s So Great About the Doctrines of Grace by Richard Phillips
11. The Living Church by John R.W. Stott

Titans in the Pro-Bowl

1. Albert Haynesworth
2. Kevin Mawae
3. Cortland Finnegan
4. Chris Johnson
5. Michael Roos
6. Chris Hope
7. Keith Bulluck, alternate
8. Rob Bironas, alternate
9. Ahmard Hall, alternate
10. Michael Griffin, alternate
11. Kerry Collins, alternate

Books I Try to Read Every Year

1. The Holy Bible (Through-the-Bible-in-a-Year)
2. Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening or Chambers’ My Utmost
3. Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton (January)
4. Lectures on Calvinism by Abraham Kuyper (January)
5. Oxford Book of English Verse by Arthur Quiller-Couch (Selections)
6. The Letters by Thomas Chalmers (Selections)
7. The Collected Verse by Arthur Quiller-Couch (Selections)
8. This Singing World by Louis Untermeyer (Selections)
9. Lectures to My Students by C.H. Spurgeon (Summer)
10. The Golden Booklet of the Christian Life by John Calvin (Summer)
11. All Things Considered by G.K. Chesterton (Yuletide)

Favorite Yuletide Traditions

1. Lessons and Carols Service
2. Negotiating the Gift Limit with Karen
3. Ministry Leadership Christmas Party
4. Kugelhupf Coffee Cake
5. Gethsemane Farms Fruitcake
6. Old Homemade Christmas Ornaments
7. Candy Canes at the Christmas Eve Service
8. Feast of the Innocents: Pro-Life Sunday
9. Habitrot, St. Jude, and Resolution Runs
10. A Big, Late, Scrumptious Christmas Morning Breakfast
11. Titans in the Playoffs

An Eleventary Twictionary

1. Twitter: A popular social networking site; a cross between a text-message and a blog; sometimes referred to as a "micro-blog."
2. Tweets: The 140 character posts on Twitter.
3. Follows: Folks who have chosen to follow your posts or folks you've chosen to follow.
4. Retweet: A request to tweet again whatever you just posted.
5. Tweeple: Twitter People; the folks who use Twitter.
6. Twits: Folks who actually understand the technology and culture of Twitter.
7. Tweetup: An online meeting of Twitter friends.
8. Hashtags: A method of tagging content associated with a specific event, topic, or group.
9. Twurl: An online program to shorten and post a url to Twitter.
10. Twitpic: An online program to post a photo to Twitter.
11. Tweetdeck: A management system to sort through categories of follows.

Still Crazy After All These Years (Old Standbys)

1. My Levenger Briefcase (15 years and counting)
2. ESV (7 years and counting)
3. An Office in Downtown Franklin (17 years and counting)
4. The Titans in Nashville (10 years and counting)
5. My Aeron Chair (9 years and counting)
6. Lamy Fountain Pens (15 years and counting)
7. Moleskine Journals (17 years and counting)
8. Macs (20 years and counting)
9. Pappas Brothers Restaurants (27 years and counting)
10. Body Shop for Men (19 years and counting)
11. My Chevy Truck (8 years and counting)

Upcoming Hollywood Sci-Fi Remakes

1. Robocop directed by Darren Aronofsky
2. The Terminator starring Christian Bale as John Connor
3. When Worlds Collide produced by Steven Spielberg
4. Ghostbusters reprised by the original cast, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson
5. Buck Rogers directed by Breck Eisner
6. Creature from the Black Lagoon also directed by Breck Eisner and starring Bill Paxton
7. West World a remake of the late Michael Crichton’s classic
8. Frankenstein Mary Shelley's horror tale retold by director Guillermo Del Toro
9. Forbidden Planet produced by Ben Silver
10. Illustrated Man from director Zack Snyder and screenwriter Alex Tse
11. Dune from actor and director Peter Berg

Bookish Temptation

"Where's human nature so weak as in the bookstore?" --Henry Beecher

An Eleventary Thanksgiving

1. Jacksonville Jags
2. Cincinnati Bengals
3. Houston Texans
4. Minnesota Vikes
5. Baltimore Ravens
6. Kansas City Chiefs
7. Indianapolis Colts
8. Green Bay Packers
9. Chicago Bears
10. Jacksonville Jags
Oops! New York Bretts
11. Detroit Lions

Dan Gylberd on Thanksgiving

"We don't ever take our adversities for granted--only our blessings."

No Eleventary Today

1. Jacksonville Jags
2. Cincinnati Bengals
3. Houston Texans
4. Minnesota Vikes
5. Baltimore Ravens
6. Kansas City Chiefs
7. Indianapolis Colts
8. Green Bay Packers
9. Chicago Bears
10. Jacksonville Jags
Ouch! New York Jets

The John Quincy Adams Doctrine

"Any man who actually wants to be president, probably isn't qualified."

The Ronald Reagan Doctrine

"Government isn't the solution to our problem. Government is the problem."

New Comenius Book

David Vaughan interviewed Benjamin Kuras about his new book, Restoring Comenius.

Current Eleventary Reading

1. Tales of the Perilous Realm by J.R.R. Tolkien
2. Restoring Comenius by Benjamin Kuras
3. What’s So Great about the Doctrines of Grace by Richard Phillips
4. A Christian Worldview ed. by C.N. Willborn
5. The Messiah and the Psalms by Richard Belcher
6. Christ and Culture Revisited by D.A. Carson
7. Seeking a Better Country by D.G. Hart and John Muether
8. Twelve Challenges Churches Face by Mark Dever
9. John Calvin by Williston Walker
10. The Stress of Her Regard by Tim Powers
11. Revolutions in Worldview ed. by Andrew Hoffecker

Prattlers

"What great men do, the less will prattle of." --William Shakespeare

Edmund Burke's Example

"Example is the school of mankind; they'll learn at no other."

Win Ugly

"The Tennessee Titans may win ugly. But, they win." Mike Ditka

Romans 5:20

"Where sin abounded--grace did much more abound!" Praise unto Christ!

Post-Election Commitments

1. Pray more. 1 Thessalonians 5:17
2. Listen first. James 1:19
3. Work harder. Colossians 3:23
4. Serve others. Galatians 6:9
5. Defend life. Proverbs 24:11-12
6. Grumble less. James 5:9
7. Do justice. Amos 5:24
8. Love mercy. Micah 6:8
9. Walk humbly. Proverbs 15:33
10. Rejoice always. 1 Thessalonians 5:16
11. Trust Jesus. Revelation 19:6

Revelation 19:6

"Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, rules and reigns!"

Star Wars Wisdom

"So this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause." --Senator Amadilla

What an Endorsement!

Says movie star, Josh Hartnet, of Obama: "He’s a rock star."

Election Day Humor

A great bumper sticker seen today: "Obama 2008: Carter's Second Term."

And Thus, the Reformation

"Hier stehe ich. Ich kann nicht anders. Gott helfe mir. Amen."

New York's 26.2

“It’s like a Cecil DeMille movie." Alberto Salazar on NYC's Marathon

Oilers As a Kid; Titans As an Adult

Lifetime fan: from Houston's "Luv ya Blue" to Nashville's "Code Blue."

Umberto Eco the Book-Sniff

"How I love the smell of book ink in the morning."

Smothering Ideology

Durch Vernunfteln wird Poesie vertrieben. "Ratiocination drives Poetry away." --Johann Goethe

Nefarious Nice

"The enemies of the truth are always awfully nice." --Christopher Morely

McCain on Obama

"He has always been in the left lane of American politics."

Richard Steele on Contentiousness

"Undue controversies scorch up all true love and zeal, grieving peaceability."

Watts Eleventaried

From all dwelling below the skies
Let the Creator's praise arise.

Let the Redeemer's name be sung
Through lands, by every tongue.

Adore and tremble, for our God
He is a consuming fire.

Jesus shall reign where'er the sun
Does its successive journeys run.

To Jesus endless prayer be made,
Endless praises crown His head.

His name like sweet perfume shall rise
With every morning sacrifice.

Blessings abound where'er He reigns;
Prisoners leap and loose their chains.

Weary find eternal rest,
And all who suffer want are blest.

And infant voices shall proclaim
Their early blessings on His name.

Let every creature rise and bring
Honors peculiar to our King.

Angels descend with songs again,
And earth repeat the loud amen!

When We Knew the VP Debate Was Over

"It's nice to meet you. Hey, can I call you Joe?"

A Little Integrity

"A little integrity is better than any career." Ralph Waldo Emerson

From Psalm 55: A Lament

My heart is in anguish; terrors have fallen upon me here.

Fear and trembling have come upon me, and horror overwhelms me.

Oh, that I had dove's wings! I'd fly away and rest.

Yes, I'd wander far away; I would lodge in the wilderness.

I'd hurry to find shelter from the raging wind and tempest.

It's not an enemy who taunts me--then I'd bear it.

It's not an adversary who betrays me--then I'd hide away.

But it is you: my equal, my companion, my familiar friend.

We used to take sweet counsel together--walking within God's house.

Evening and morning, I cry: Oh that God would save me.

Surely the Lord will hear and redeem my soul in safety.

Bill Thinks Palin's "Hot" (Sort of)

"I come from Arkansas, I get why she's hot..." Bill Clinton

Chalmers and the Professional "Weaker Brothers"

"We must stand against the diseased touchiness of our modern age."

Avast, Me Hearties!

Yo ho ho! Today's the International Talk-Like-a-Pirate Day!

Carlyle’s “Shot-Rubbish” Quip

“Confusion piled on confusion to the utmost horizon’s edge: obscure twilight."

Holy Rood Day

Rood is the Medieval English word for the Cross of Christ.

Thoughts on Obama's Speechifying

1. A pack of bosh.
2. As empty and remote as the mountains of the moon.
3. Fodder for a grand nefariology.
4. Like circling with Dante the sulfurous realms—only not as fun.
5. Playing CSI with history’s most malignant, vicious ideas.
6. Ascending a soapbox to announce I-am-you-and-you-are-me-and-we-are-all-together-joo-joo-ga-joob profundities.
7. Nonsense on stilts.
8. Hare Krishna logic.
9. Yakkety-yak, don’t talk back.
10. The magic of logogoggery and logocide
11. Sixties jabberwocky.

Emerson's Homage

"The greatest homage we can pay truth--is to use it.

Go

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After the Speech

I want a Sarah Barracuda bumper sticker for my pickup truck.

Mike Huckabee on the Media

They've been "tackier than a costume change at a Madonna concert."

Why Palin Has Energized the Base

1. She’s solidly pro-life--without waffling, wiggling, or wavering.
2. She has walked the walk in the midst of deep adversity.
3. She is a genuine Evangelical Christian.
4. She has an impressive record of getting things done.
5. She is an able administrator with solid executive experience.
6. She is a tireless campaigner--with, you know, that "hockey mom," "pit bull," and "lipstick" thing going on.
7. She is a winsome, substantive, and natural speaker.
8. She has an extraordinary intellect.
9. She has a life, a family, a great story, and a sense of humor.
10. She is a Washington outsider--but, she’s not a crank.
11. She’s a she.

Noonan's Advice to McCain

"If you make us laugh we spread your line for free."

Ah! Weddings!

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Why I Read Political News

It is important to keep up with horrifically bleak current events.

Favorite Productivity Tools

1. Twitter
2. Twitterific
3. SnipURL
4. PageOnce
5. GrandCentral
6. MobileMe
7. Blogger
8. Wikipedia
9. StudyLight Interlinear
10.ESV Bible
11. 30 Boxes

My Spurgeon Favorites

1. Morning and Evening
2. Treasury of David
3. The Soul Winner
4. Flowers from a Puritan’s Garden
5. Chequebook of Faith
6. The Golden Alphabet
7. All of Grace
8. John Plowman’s Talk
9. Salt Cellars
10. Quivers for My Arrows
11. The Downgrade Controversy

The Storied Question

"All great stories begin with the question, 'What if . . .'" Rudyard Kipling

Chesterton's Probity

"Intent on its very ending, they're ignorant of its very beginning."

An Eleventary Life

One God, five solas, one helpmeet, three kids, and two grands.

Teddy Roosevelt on Service

"Merciful service gives itself rich, but selfish isolation hoards itself poor."

Have Mercy

“Mercy is two hearts tugging at one load.” Sarah Orne Jewett

A Life of Faith

"The motives to a life of faith are infinite." Samuel Johnson

Arthur Quiller-Couch's Vision

"Now, with visions of redemption I walk against the crowd." Q

Good Intentions

"The streets of hell are paved with good intentions." Mark Twain

Someone Else's 11 Words

Once upon a time, George Grant was born on July 24th.

T.S. Eliot on Gadgets

“New technologies will often only produce tumid apathy with no concentration.”

Culture War

Attacks on great cultures come first through the denigration of language.

Top Summer Reads (So Far)

1. Heroes, Paul Johnson
2. Living Church, John Stott
3. Seeking a Better Country, D.G. Hart and John Muether
4. Solomon Among the Postmoderns, Peter Leithart
5. 100 Cupboards, N.D. Wilson
6. Respectable Sins, Jerry Bridges
7. Sword Song, Bernard Cornwell
8. Twelve Challenges Churches Face, Mark Dever
9. A History of the World in Six Glasses, Tom Standage
10. Richard Baxter and Converstion Timothy Beoucher
11. Christ and Culture Revisted, D.A. Carson

Godly Associations

Tis better to be alone than in bad company.” George Washington

Reforming Vision

“Regardless of how large, your vision is too small.” Thomas Chalmers

A Different Scherrerism (11x Harder)

A Scherrerism

"I need to get in shape so I can die healthy."

Andre Gide's Guide to Discovery

"One doesn't discover new lands without first losing sight of shore."

Blaise Pascal's Credo

Presently, we know of His existence, in glory, of His nature.

Reality Check

Credo in unum Deum Patrem Omnipotentem, factorem omnium visibilium atque invisibilium.

Mark Twain on Fear and Courage

"Courage is resistance to fear; it's fear's mastery not its absence."

Sinesthesia

An artificial form of social anesthesia—another name for cable TV.

Ecclesiastes 3:22

Man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot.

At Runnymede

Forget not,
After all these years,
The Charter signed
At Runnymede.

Priestly Warfare

"Put on the whole armor of God, that you may stand."

St. Barnabas Day

Barnaby Bright,
Barnaby Bright:
The longest day
And the shortest night.

Samuel Johnson on "Home"

“To be happy at home is the end of all labor.”

11 Bookshops in London

1. Hatchard’s
2. Stanford’s
3. Cecil Court
4. Charing Cross Road
5. Blenheim Crescent
6. Blackwell's
7. Foyle’s
8. Tabernacle Bookshop
9. Waterstone’s
10. Forbidden Planet
11. Murder One

11 Places to Eat in London

1. Southwark Borough Market
2. Konditor & Cook
3. Fish!
4. West Cornwall Pasty
5. Wagamama’s
6. Pret a Manger
7. Tudor Rose
8. Anchor & Hope
9. Le Pont de la Tour
10. Shepherd Market
11. The Republic of Texas

11 Places to Shop in London

1. George Trumper’s
2. Cecil Court
3. Fortnum & Mason
4. Southwark Borough Market
5. Hamley’s
6. Covent Garden
7. Jermyn Street
8. Carnaby Street
9. Neal’s Yard
10. Old and New Bond Street
11. Burlington Arcade

11 Places to See in London

1. Southwark Cathedral
2. St. James Piccadilly
3. British Museum
4. British Library
5. National Portrait Gallery
6. St. Pancras Station
7. St. Paul’s Cathedral
8. Westminster Abbey
9. Cabinet War Rooms
10. Victoria Station
11. St. Bartholomew the Great

11 Day-Trips from London

1. Chartwell
2. Hever Castle
3. Cambridge
4. Oxford
5. Ely Cathedral
6. Brighton Pavilion
7. Greenwich
8. Lewes
9. Hampton Court
10. Wembley
11. Lavenham

Library #1

Library #2

Library #3

Library #4

Library #5

Library #6

Library #7

Library #8

Library #9

Library #10

Library #11

Garden View #1

Garden View #2

Garden View #3

Garden View #4

Garden View #5

Garden View #6

Garden View #7

Garden View #8

Garden View #9

Garden View #10

Garden View #11

George Washington's Maxim

“Government is not reason; it is not eloquence--it is force.”

Virtues and Vices

This month's TableTalk examines the seven deadly sins and their opposites.

Louise Cowan and Mediocrity

"The opposite of love is not hate; instead, it is mediocrity."

Anti-Semantic

The inability of Postmodernists to define the terms of any debate.

Academentia

The pathogenic moral and intellectual epidemic ravaging most college campuses today.

Bing Says...

If you haven't read The Reason for God you should, immediately.

Luther at Worms

"Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen."

11 Reasons to Run the Half

1. It's so much fun. The atmosphere, support, and camaraderie are incomparable.
2. It's incredibly hard. It challenges your physical, mental, and emotional resolve.
3. It's healthy. It builds endurance, strength, and fortitude like nothing else.
4. It's an effective way to raise financial support for favorite charities.
5. It's a dramatic way of setting a good example for others.
6. Crossing the finish line offers one of the best feelings imaginable.
7. You'll think you're Superman--at least, after recovering a few days.
8. The Galloway Method makes it possible for anyone to train well.
9. Even with less than optimal training though, a half is doable.
10. Still, less than one percent of us will ever do it.
11. But, if I can do it, I know you can too.

11 Until the Half

In eleven days I'll be running the Country Music Half Marathon.

Solas

Sola Scriptura. Sola Fide. Sola Gratia. Solus Christus. Soli Deo Gloria.

Novel Favs

1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
2. The Man Who Was Thursday, G.K. Chesterton
3. Rasselas, Samuel Johnson
4. The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco
5. Falling, Colin Thubron
6. Possession, A.S. Byatt
7. The Four Men, Hilarie Belloc
8. Anubis Gates, Tim Powers
9. The Last Coin, James Blaylock
10. Greenmantle, John Buchan
11. The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe

Creedalism

We believe in the one holy Church—both visible and invisible.

Translation

The word "catholicam" literally means "universal" or "one" or "the only."

Explanation

Six words emphasize exclusive catholicity: the, one, both, visible, and, invisible.

Of an Age

Tradition contentedly wears its grizzled beard;
Nostalgia strains at perpetual adolescence.

A Killing Kindness

"The enemies of the truth are always awfully nice." Christopher Morely

Practical Wisdom

"Nine-tenths of wisdom is being wise in time." Theodore Roosevelt

Deez, Demz, Doz

Is there a hole in the heart of the Democratic Party?

Faith Under Fire

At his martyrdom, Thomas Cranmer cried, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."

A Few of My Favorite Things

1. Parish Life
2. Reformational Worship
3. Cafe Tejas
4. L'Hotel du Canal St. Martin
5. Grands: D and E
6. Stephensdomplatz
7. Shelf Life
8. Biblical Preaching
9. St. Andrews
10. Architectural New Urbanism
11. HEM

Chesterton's Maxim

"If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly."

1721: The Brandenburg Concertos

Johann Sebastian Bach completed six masterful concerto compositions on this day.

Matthew 28:7

Go tell His disciples that Jesus has risen from the dead!

"You have won, Galilean!"

With his final, dying breath, Julian the Apostate cried, “Vicisti, Galilaee!”

Ordo Salutis

1. Election
2. Predestination
3. Outward Call
4. Inward Call
5. Regeneration
6. Faith
7. Repentance
8. Conversion
9. Justification
10. Sanctification
11. Glorification

That Sacred Head

Would He devote that Sacred Head for sinners such as I?

John 3:16

God so loved the world that He gave His only Son.

Country Music Marathon

Want to sponsor my King's Meadow Endurance Team in Nashville's marathon?

Nashville Metros

My son-in-law, Nolan, is now in minor league soccer!

San Juan Capistrano Day

Today the swallows return to San Juan Capistrano Mission in California.

Hebrews 2:9

By the grace of God He has tasted death for everyone.

Revelation 1:6

Glory and Kingship be His forever and ever. Amen and amen.

St. Patrick's Breastplate

I bind unto myself today the strong Name of the Trinity.

By invocation of the same: Three in One; One in Three.

Hosannah!

Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord.

Eleven? How?

Only eleven words, lists, links, notions, or categories are allowed. Ever.

Credo

I believe in God: Almighty Father, Only Son, and Holy Spirit.

Eleven? Why?

1. I love Abraham's Blog. Mine is therefore both imitation and memesis.
2. Eleven's half of twenty-two; maybe less than half as smart.
3. It's a number with both complexity and simplicity, elegance and symmetry .
4. It isn't ten or twelve. Nor is it three or seven.
5. It is short enough to impose a kind of rhetorical economy.
6. It's a fine editing device for prolific logophiles just like me.
7. It's a less-is-more strategy to get creative juices flowing.
8. It's Chestertonian: off-beat but not really off-the-beaten-path.
9. It's a puzzle. It's a garden of words. It's delectable didactae.
10. It's a way to say what I ought to say today.
11. It's a personal lectionary of grace, discipline, beauty, goodness, and truth.

Micah 6:8

What the Lord God requires of us: justice, mercy, and humility.

Eleventary

Too little time, but too much for nine. Eleven's just fine.