Friends at Answers in Genesis sent along the following:

As the highly acclaimed Creation Museum of Answers in genesis turns the corner on its second year, it expects to see the 720,000 visitor cross the threshold any day now, a testament to the museum’s continued ability to attract guests and attention for its more than 70,000 square feet (and growing) of hi-tech, top-quality exhibits.

“We enter our third year excited about the growing opportunities the museum provides for reaching people with the creation gospel message,” founder Ken Ham said. “We believe God is using us to make a difference in our post-Christian culture, and we will continue to do everything we can to help believers defend the Word of God, from the very first verse.”

There is much reason to celebrate the successful operation and growth of this ministry that shows the absolute necessity of affirming the divine creation of all things.

…

Londoners gathered last week at the Royal Geographic Society to hear philosopher Roger Scruton and others debate the idea that Britainers are growing indifferent to beauty (or already are).

Here is a review of Scruton’s new book, Beauty.

Here is the Guardian news piece about the debate.

Here is a Guardian editorial about the debate, with these closing lines:

“The optimists are right in their observation that trade and commerce have spread access to wonderful things wider than ever before through society. Beauty has been democratised. But the pessimists are right to point out that a by-product of that process is commodification. A consumer society knows the price of everything, but the value of nothing, which is, of course, the classic definition of a cynic.

And what is the antidote to cynicism? As the audience at the Royal Geographical Society found, it is remembering that, all around us, we never lose sight of beautiful things.”

…

I read this piece today in the New York Times. It seems there is a “Missouri Model” of juvenile justice that is getting attention for good results.

VonErrick celebrated his 14th birthday last year by committing a daylight carjacking, beating the driver to the ground. With a long record of truancy, assault, and breaking and entering, he was sent to a state group home - the same home that his two older brothers passed through after their own scrapes with the law.

Both of those brothers are out now. Tory, 16, has A grades and plans to attend college. Terry, 20, has a job and has had a clean record for four years. VonErrick was recently released and immediately started high school.

The brothers say they benefited from confinement in the Missouri juvenile system, which emphasizes rehabilitation in small groups, constant therapeutic interventions and minimal force.

Juvenile justice experts across the nation say that the…

When my sons heard the “A-Rod did ‘roids” story on the radio, my eleven-year old said, “I sure am glad Albert Pujols never took steroids.”

Ditto.

Today’s Wall Street Journal has a good op-ed piece by Thomas Frank, “Wall Street Mocked American Values.”

Frank talks about the demise of niche periodicals devoted to helping the really rich figure out how to spend their money “properly, conspicuously, flamboyantly.”

Reading Frank’s piece theologically, one can hear echoes of Augustine, speaking about God: “Thou hast made us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee.”

Consumption, even in the extreme, can only provide distraction, not delight.

Frank writes:

One does not get the sense that its trader readers aspired to live this way because they were jolly bon vivants. Quite the opposite. At one point it its intermittent pursuit of the best possible record player, for example, Trader Monthly described what it claimed to be a $300,000 turntable as “a huge middle finger to everyone who enters your home.”

If you didn’t understand why someone would want to greet their guests…

A friend sent this along - a commercial that has been playing on some outlets on Black Entertainment Television:

You don’t need this New Testament, but if you get your hands on one, I promise that you will enjoy it.

It is a facsimile of William Tyndale’s 1526 New Testament, the first English Bible translated from the original languages. Take a look at the photo below to get an idea of the excellent production quality - very clear type and excellent color.

Tyndale biographer David Danell offers an introduction to this New Testament, bringing us into the dangerous world of Tyndale - a martyr for the Christian faith and the freedom of access to Scripture in one’s own language.

Tyndale believed the Bible could and should be available in every man’s own tongue. He knew the outcome of Bible transmission would be spiritual renewal, famously saying, “The boy that driveth the plough shall know more of the Scripture than an educated man.”

This publication of Tyndale’s New Testament provides great opportunity to talk to your…

USA Today has a story out today (Thursday) analyzing results released today from the latest Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

“Most American religious believers, including most Christians, say eternal life is not exclusively for those who accept Christ as their savior, a new survey finds.

Of the 65% of people who held this open view of heaven’s gates, 80% named at least one non-Christian group — Jews, Muslims, Hindus, atheists or people with no religion at all — who may also be saved, according to a new survey released today by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.”

The “including most Christians” part is a symptom of the rampant doctrinal confusion that abounds within Christianity today.

I suggest that the folks the article calls “most Christians”, the ones who believe that salvation outside of Christ is possible - they should at least be consistent and make a…

Newsweek gave us a lot to talk about this week with Lisa Miller’s “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage.”

In summary, Miller argues:

(1) If the Bible is your kind of book, take a closer look and you’ll find that it actually affirms gay marriage.

(2) If you’re not into the Bible, that is o.k. too because who needs an ancient book of stories telling we modern folks how to regulate our sex lives.

With news pieces like Miller’s, who needs the editorial page?

The Sunday Times published a column by Daisy Goodwin titled “Bringing Up Baby Too Fast.”

In the article she laments two trends -

(1) Parents who strip their children of their childhood, even their infancy:

“My objection to the Heelarious shoes and all the baby Tod’s, miniature biker jackets, tiny Ray-Bans and baby Birkin bags (yes, really) is more to do with what they represent: a perverse desire to end childhood before it has even begun. I wouldn’t be surprised if the purchasers of Heelarious shoes are also buying Baby Einstein flash cards and taking their toddlers to art appreciation classes or mini-manicure sessions.”

(2) Adults who either refuse to grow up, or revert back to their childhood:

“But somewhere around the age of 20, these miniature adults become babyish – big kids who have no desire to do “adult” things like leaving home, getting married, doing their own laundry and wearing lace-up shoes. …Look at the leagues of…