Steve Reinemund at Redeemer - A CEO's Views on a Life in Business

Tim Keller wrote a book

Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York, writes to his church that, yes, he has written a book that will be available in February. It is called The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism. The link above explains the need for the book.

You can pre-order it.

If you are unfamiliar with Keller, you can check out the message he gave at John Piper's 2006 national conference.

Nat'l terror center head quits for health

"The time has come for me to go ashore," retired Vice Adm. Scott Redd said in a note to his "shipmates" at the center Wednesday.

Willow Creek Repents?

"Our dream is that we fundamentally change the way we do church. That we take out a clean sheet of paper and we rethink all of our old assumptions. Replace it with new insights. Insights that are informed by research and rooted in Scripture. Our dream is really to discover what God is doing and how he’s asking us to transform this planet."
Read the whole thing

White House Press Gaggle, 10/18/07

The National Counterterrorism had an announcement today. Vice Admiral Scott Redd has told the President that he plans to resign. This is a man who has had 40 years of government service. He has served his nation with distinction. The National Counterterrorism Center is part of the Director of National Intelligence operation; it plays a crucial role in protecting us from terrorist attacks. And we certainly wish Vice Admiral Redd all the best, and thank him for his commitment to serve.

Tragically Widening the Grounds of Legitimate Divorce, by John Piper

The October issue of Christianity Today carried an astonishing article on divorce and remarriage by David Instone-Brewer. What makes it especially amazing is that CT simply published it as if it were faithful to Scripture, with no counterpoint, and used the phrase on the cover “when to separate,” not “whether to separate”—even though Jesus said, “What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate” (Mark 10:9).

To put it bluntly, the implication of this article is that every marriage I am aware of could already have legitimately ended in divorce. I knew I disagreed with Instone-Brewer’s position. I wrote three chapters on marriage and divorce and remarriage in What Jesus Demands from the World and considered Instone-Brewer’s views more fully at that time. But I did not expect to read this astonishing extension of the divorce license. It is, in our context of easy divorce and cavalier covenant-breaking, tragic....

Read John Piper's Response to Instone-Brewer's Article in Christianity Today.

To Stop One Tooth From Aching, by C.S. Lewis

It may be asked whether, faint as the hope is of abolishing war by Pacifism, is there any other hope. But the question belongs to a mode of thought which I find quite alien to me.

It consists in assuming that the great permanent miseries in human life must be curable if only we can find the right cure; and it then proceeds by elimination and concludes that whatever is left, however unlikely to prove a cure, must nevertheless do so.

Hence the fanaticism of Marxists, Freudians, Eugenists, Spiritualists, Federal Unionists, Vegetarians, and all the rest.

But I have recieved no assurance that anything we can do will eradicate suffering. I think the best results are obtained by people who work quietly at limited objectives, such as abolition of the slave trade, of factory acts, or tuberculosis, not by those who think they can acheive universal justice, or health, or peace.

I think the art of life consists in tackling each immediate evil as well as we can. To avert or postpone one paticular war by wise policy, or to render one paticular campaign shorter by strength and skill or less terrible by mercy to the conquered and the civilians is more useful than all the proposals for universal peace that have ever been made; just as the dentist who can stop one toothache has deserved better of humanity than all the men who think they have some scheme for producing a perfectly healthy race.

Redd at whitehouse.gov

NY Times: Counterterrorism Leader to Resign

Statement by the DNI on VADM Redd's Resignation

DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Washington, DC 20511
October 17, 2007
Statement by the Director of National Intelligence Mr. Mike McConnell

“Vice Admiral Redd's service as the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center has been vital to the conduct of our nation's war on terror. His leadership of the nation's counterterrorism mission has been critical in safeguarding the Homeland and protecting our interests from terrorist attacks. During these past two and a half years, his steady hand has guided NCTC through challenging and rewarding times. I know his decision to step down was difficult as he has selflessly served his country for almost 40 years. On behalf of the Intelligence Community, I want to thank Scott, his wife Donna, and their family, for their service in and commitment to this noble cause.”

After Comments, U.S. Terror Chief Resigns

NCTC spokesman Carl Kropf said Redd's decision to leave was "absolutely not" related to his comments, and that he had not been pressured in any way to step down.

In a statement released this afternoon, Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell thanked Redd for his service. "I know his decision to step down was difficult," McConnell said. A spokesman for his office said there was "no pressure whatsoever" on Redd to resign.

Bill Cosby and Alvin F. Poussaint, M.D. on Meet The Press

White House Civil War

Never mind

Terrorism center chief resigns, citing chronic knee problems

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The head of the National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC), retired Adm. Scott Redd, has told his staff that chronic knee problems are prompting him to step down.

In a written statement to the staff, Redd said he reluctantly submitted his letter of resignation to President Bush, to be effective Nov. 10. He indicated he needs to undergo long-delayed surgery that he "could no longer neglect."

NCTC spokesman Carl Kropf said Redd needs total knee replacement on both legs, and the terrorism chief believed the surgery, recovery and rehabilitation would keep him away from the job too long. As a retired admiral, Redd felt that if the "captain was not on the bridge, someone else needs to step up," Kropf said. --From National Security Producer Pam Benson (Posted 2:07 p.m.)

Terror-Fighting Center Chief Steps Down

Vice Adm. John Redd John Redd listens during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing on 'Confronting the Terrorist Threat to the Homeland: Six Years after 9/11' on Capitol Hill in Washington, September 10, 2007. Redd, the head of the U.S. agency responsible for analyzing intelligence on terrorism and developing counterterrorism strategies, announced his resignation on Wednesday. (Jim Young/Reuters)

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Retired Vice Adm. John Scott Redd said he is stepping down next month to have a long-delayed surgery and spend more time with his five grandchildren and the rest of his family.

U2's 'Joshua Tree' Blooms Again

Gossip more powerful than truth, researchers say

"We show that gossip has a strong influence... even when participants have access to the original information as well as gossip about the same information," the researchers wrote in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences..."People only saw the gossip, not the past decisions," he said in a telephone interview. "People really reacted on it."..."Rationally if you know what the people did, you should care, but they still listened to what others said," he said. "They even reacted on it if they knew better."

What's So Great about Christianity?

The Importance of News...or lack of it

Iran's al Qaeda: If the Revolutionary Guards aren't terrorists, who is?

The Rise of the Religious Left

One Man's Tale of Tribulation, by C.S. Lewis

My own experience is something like this: I am progressing along the path of life in my ordinary contentedly fallen and godless condition, absorbed in a merry meeting with my friends for the morrow or a bit of work that tickles my vanity today, a holiday or a new book, when suddenly a stab of abdominal pain that threatens serious disease, or a headline in the newspapers that threatens us all with destruction, sends this whole pack of cards tumbling down.

At first I am overwhelmed, and all my little happinesses look like broken toys. Then slowly and reluctantly, bit by bit, I try to bring myself into the frame of mind that I should be in at all times. I remind myself that these toys were never intended to possess my heart, that my true good is in another world and my only real treasure is Christ. And perhaps, by God’s grace, I succeed, and for a day or two become a creature consciously dependent on God and drawing its strength from the right sources. But the moment the threat is withdrawn, my whole nature leaps back to the toys: I am even anxious, God forgive me, to banish from my mind the only thing that supported me under the threat because it is now associated with the misery of those few days. Thus the terrible necessity of tribulation is only too clear. God has had me for but forty-eight hours and then only by a dint of taking everything else away from me.

Let Him but sheathe that sword for a moment and I behave like a puppy when the heated bath is over–I shake myself as dry as I can and race off to reacquire my comfortable dirtiness, if not in the nearest manure heap, at least in the nearest flower bed. And this is why tribulations cannot cease until God either sees us remade or sees that our remaking is hopeless.

Reds round-up on hiring of Dusty Baker

Brennaman: Baker a solid choice Veteran broadcaster Thom Brennaman dismissed popular criticisms of Dusty Baker -- that the new Reds manager has mishandled pitchers -- and called such comments “unfair.”

Did Reds hire Pied Piper? By hiring Dusty Baker, the Reds not only got an experienced manager, they may have a magnet for free agents. "A number of players…called me about coming to Cincinnati. I can attract players to come here,” Baker said today.

Baker wants to keep some coaches Dusty Baker said Monday that he expects some of the Reds coaches to return next season.

In defense of Dusty Dusty Baker is known as a players' manager. "I love Dusty," Reds radio announcer Jeff Brantley, who played for Baker in 1993, said Sunday. "I'd play for Dusty anytime." But the choice has already drawn criticism from some Reds fans.

Reds breaking new ground With Dusty Baker managing the Reds, Cincinnati becomes the only city in the country with African-Americans in head coaching positions of an MLB team and an NFL team.

Mackanin is open to a return Pete Mackanin got the call Saturday night. Wayne Krivsky told him that Dusty Baker was going to be the next manager of the Reds.

The List: Reds managers A look at Cincinnati's managers since 1900.

COMMENTARY Onscreen: Norman Podhoretz

Norman Podhoretz’s World War IV: The Long Struggle Against Islamofascism is now available at bookstores everywhere. Drawing on Podhoretz’s seminal essays in COMMENTARY, World War IV addresses the most serious topic of our time—the battle against global Islamist terror—with its author’s customary force, wit, clarity, and courage. See below for our interview with Podhoretz about his book.

Is Industry-Funded Science Killing You? The overrated risks and underrated benefits of pharmaceutical research "conflicts of interest"

The 4 Boneheaded Biases of Stupid Voters

Cherry Garcia and the End of Socialized Medicine

The new pharmacopoeia offers people too much knowledge and control for one-size-fits-all health care to cope with.

The New Girl Order

Six years into the war, is U.S. safer?

Six years into the war, is U.S. safer?

Joel Osteen and the Glory Story: A Case Study

Info-Techno Sabbath: Unplugging the God of Information Technology

In China, a Lake’s Champion Imperils Himself

This is the third in a series of articles and multimedia examining the human toll, global impact and political challenge of China's epic pollution crisis.

• Video: Lake Tai’s Environmental Warrior
• Audio Slide Show: A Lake In Crisis
• Expert Roundtable: Submit a Question

As China Roars, Pollution Reaches Deadly Extremes

By JOSEPH KAHN and JIM YARDLEY

The speed of China’s rise as an economic power is unprecedented, as is the scale of its problems.

• Video: The Real Cost
• Interactive Graphic: Mapping the Impact
• Audio Slide Show: The World’s Smokestack
• Translation: Text (pdf) | Audio (mp3)

Beneath Booming Cities, China’s Future Is Drying Up

By JIM YARDLEY

Groundwater levels are dropping around China, as development taps a finite water supply.

• Video: Sending Water North
• Interactive Graphic: Where Water is Scarce
• Translation: Text (pdf) | Audio (mp3)

The Pleasures of God, by John Piper

Listen to John Piper's message from this evening on the pleasures of God. (Update: The video is posted now, too.)
You can now listen to John Piper's 2nd message from the conference going on now in Sacramento. (Update: Video is posted.)
Listen to John Piper's 3rd message. (Update: Video is posted.)
Listen to the last session of this conference, a Q & A time with John Piper.

Remarkable Rockies' magic number is "64"

Kyle Blakeman, who attended ThunderRidge High School, played football but also loved baseball. (Photo courtesy Blakeman family)

Achtung Baby: Meditations on Love in the Shadow of the Fall

Achtung Baby: Meditations on Love in the Shadow of the Fall (33 1/3) by Stephen Catanzarite

60 Minutes, Osteen, and Horton

Michael Horton will be on 60 Minutes tomorrow night, October 14. White Horse Inn has the information here.

I also noticed that Westminster Seminary California has a collection of article from Horton written after his interview with 60 Minutes. It is titled, “Joel Osteen and the Glory Story: A Case Study.” You can find the collection here, which includes these articles:

• Joel Osteen and the Glory Story
• What Ever Happened to Sin?
• Are You in God’s Story?
• Suffering and a Theology of Glory
• Doesn’t God Want Us to be Happy?

The extended version of the October 14 broadcast of the White Horse Inn is available for free download!


The October 14th broadcast of 60 Minutes will be available for viewing for several weeks at cbsnews.com.

Feel free to download and share this edition of The White Horse Inn. On this program, Michael Horton begins by evaluating the popular message of televangelist Joel Osteen, and then moves to a larger discussion of the true nature of the Christian gospel. In addition to the regular White Horse Inn panelists, Michael also talks with Dr. D.A. Carson about his work with the newly formed Gospel Coalition.

Related Articles from the archives of Modern Reformation Magazine

The following articles from past issues of Modern Reformation, while not directly about Joel Osteen, take issue with the theology that he popularizes, trace the history of this theology, and provide steps to take for those who wish to recover biblical Christianity in our age.

Whatever Happened to God?
by James M. Boice

The Pelagian Captivity of the Church
by R.C. Sproul

The Promise-Driven Life
by Michael Horton

The Crisis of Evangelical Christianity: Reformation Essentials
by Michael Horton

Prosperity Preaching: Deceitful & Deadly
by John Piper

To Good to Be True:
Finding Hope in a World of Hype
By Michael Horton

In Too Good to be True the message is not that we can be happier, healthier, wealthier, smarter, or more successful if we just "give Jesus a chance." Instead of this unfailingly upbeat message, which eventually leaves us without much sustenance in times of real crisis, we need a view of God, ourselves and the real world that can give us real anchors when life's storms hit hardest.

Perspectives:

CP1100 - What's Wrong with the "Word-Faith" Movement?

CP1101 - Does God Have Faith?

CP1102 - Can We Have Whatever We Say?

CP1103 - Touching God's Anointed

CP1104 - Does God Always Heal?

CP1105 - Are We "Little Gods?"

Articles

JAW755-1 - What's Wrong With The Faith Movement (Part 1): E. W. Kenyon and the Twelve Apostles of Another Gospel

JAW755-2 - What's Wrong With The Faith Movement (Part 2): The Teachings of Kenneth Copeland

DF030 - The Misunderstanding Of Faith

DH018 - Healing: Does God Always Heal?

DH022 - Is There Healing In This Application?

DP060 - The Atonement of Christ and the "Faith" Message

DP061 - Freedom from the Faith Movement

DP065 - The Untouchables: Are 'God's Anointed' Beyond Criticism?

DP076 - Faith In Faith Or Faith In God?

DP077 - Growing Dangers in the Positive Confession Faith Teachings

JAT260 - Answering Questions about Televangelists

Book Reviews:

DP069 - A Summary Critique: Welcome, Holy Spirit (Review of Welcome Holy Spirit by Benny Hinn)

DN010 - Three Summary Critiques (Reviews of It’s All in the Playing by Shirley MacLaine, The Reincarnation Sensation by Norman L. Geisler and J. Yutaka Amano and The Health and Wealth Gospel by Bruce Barron)

JAO170 - A Summary Critique: Promoting The Gospel Of Self-Esteem (Your Best Life Now: Seven Steps to Living at Your Full Potential by