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

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Garden View #1

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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.