If You're Happy and You Know it...

Isaiah 52:7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns."

What could be happier than calling sinners to repent and delivering the sweet forgiveness of sins?

Top 10 Happy Jobs




HT: Veith, again.

Oh Where, Oh Where have the Democrats Gone?

The always-worth-your-time-to-read Albert Mohler:
Democrats used to be Pro-Life.

Evidently, some still are:
Democrats for Life

HT: Veith

Pastors' Roundtable

Actually, it's more of a square table.

It's rhyme time.

Hey kids, don't have sex until you're married, or you'll end up dressing like the people in this video.

Chaperone


This was on the True Love Waits compilation, released sometime in the early 90s. There might be a more effective way to communicate the message (like, say, the 6th Commandment). Maybe...

Drawing People In?

Here's a thought-provoking article from the Internet Monk. And here are Lutheran reactions to that article at Paul McCain's blog. But the idea of Evangelicals looking for churches that feel like churches got me thinking.

If George Barna released a study that concluded that including the Lord’s Supper in a worship service was guaranteed to drive people away from the church, what would you do? If Thom Rainer studied 1,000 unchurched people and found that every single one of them was driven away from a church because the church advocated infant baptism, how would that affect the location of your baptismal font? If you had scientific proof that preaching Christ crucified would keep people from coming back to your church (or never coming in the first place), would you change the content of your sermons?

While the article is encouraging, I think it misses the point. We don’t embrace the liturgy of the church because it draws people in any more than we use Sacraments as ways to draw people in the door. The Sacraments are there because the Lord has given them to us. If they bring people in the door, great. If they drive people away, screaming in terror, vowing never to set foot in our churches ever again, we still must receive them.

If people want to return to churches where the history of the church is not denigrated, where the rhythm of the church year is repeated annually, where the liturgy is the same week after week, where sermons are preached in pulpits, where pastors dress like pastors and not baristas, great. God’s Word and Sacraments will be here for them. But if another study 10 years from now reveals a trend back toward pop-evangelicalism, God’s Word and Sacraments, wrapped in the holy liturgy, will still be here, doing what they always do: delivering forgiveness, life, and salvation.

More Dean Pictures

Evidently Picasa caps an album at 500 pictures. Huh. Click the picture for Album # 2.

Bowl Picks

Every year, my parents put together a pool of the college bowl games. Every year, I lose, even when I make my picks carefully. Maybe I never won because I never asked Jesus whom He would pick (WWJP?). So, a little prooftexting, a little fudging, and here are my picks for this year. I expect to lose this year, too.

All justifications in ESV unless otherwise noted…

Eagle Bank - Wake Forest Demon Decons over Navy (Rev. 18:17-18)
New Mexico - Fresno State Bulldogs over Colorado State Rams (Ex. 29:15-22)
St Petersberg - S Florida Bulls over Memphis Tigers (Ps. 22:12)
Las Vegas - Arizona over Brigham Young (Gal 1:8)
New Orleans - S Miss Golden Eagles over Troy Trojans (Mt 24:28 (KJV))
Poinsettia - TCU Horned Frogs over Boise St Broncos (Ex 8:2-8; 15:1)
Hawaii - Hawaii Golden Rainbows over Notre Dame(Rev 10:1 )
(alternate selection, based on the modern meaning of a rainbow: Notre Dame, Lev. 18:22)
Motor City - Fla Atlantic Owls over Central Michigan Chippewas (Is. 34:11, 15; Lev. 11:13-18)
Meinecke - W Virginia Mountaineers over NC Tarheels (Jdg 9:36)
Champs - Fla State Seminoles over Wisconsin Badgers (Prv 30:26)
Emerald - Miami Hurricanes over California Golden Bears (Ps 83:15)
Independence - Louisiana Tech Bulldogs over N Ill Huskies (Is 56:11)
Papa Johns - NC State Wolfpack over Rutgers Scarlet Knights (Rev. 17:3-4)
Alamo - Missouri Tigers over Northwestern Wildcats (1 Cor 10:24)
Humanitarian - Nevada Wolf Pack over Maryland Terrapins (Ac 20:29)
Holiday - OK State Cowboys over Oregon Ducks (Hab 1:8)
Texas - W Michigan Broncos over Rice Owls (Jer 8:16)
Armed Forces - Houston Cougars over Air Force Falcons (Job 28:7)
Sun - Pittsburgh Panthers over Oregon State Beavers (Hos 11:10)
Music City - Vanderbilt Commodores over Boston College Eagles (Lam 4:19)
Insight - Kansas Jayhawks over Minnesota Golden Gophers (Is 34:11)
Chick fil A - Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets over LSU Tigers (Is 7:18)
Outback - S Carolina Gamecocks over Iowa Hawkeyes (Mk 9:47)
Capital One - Michigan St Spartans over Georgia Bulldogs (Mt 15:26 or Is. 56:10)
Gator - Nebraska Cornhuskers over Clemson Tigers (Is 17:5 (KJV))
Rose - USC Trojans over Penn State Nittany Lions (Dan 6:22)
Orange - Cincinnati Bearcats over Va Tech Hokies (2 Ki 2:23-24)
Cotton - Texas Tech Raiders over Mississippi Rebels (Is 1:28)
Liberty - Kentucky Wildcats over E Carolina Pirates (Ex. 20:15)
Sugar - Utah Utes over Alabama Crimson Tide (Ps 106:9)
International - Connecticut Huskies over Buffalo Bulls (Jer 50:27)
Fiesta - Texas Longhorns over Ohio State Buckeyes (Dt 33:17)
GMAC - Tulsa Golden Hurricanes over Ball State Cardinals (Rv 8:3-5)
BCS - Oklahoma Sooners over Florida Gators (Heb 13:18-19)

Here are better suggestions for Biblically victorious mascots:
Dumb Asses: 2 Pe 2:16 (KJV)
Lambs: Rev 17:14