Vyacheslav Volodin is who Franklin Graham met with in March 2019. He has been sanctioned by the US and EU since 2014 for the Ukraine invasion. Volodin spews lies—suggesting Germany poisoned Alexei Navalny and that those arrested for the Capitol violence are political prisoners.
Franklin Graham said he believed Trump about Trump's questioning of the results of the election and then Graham said that the violence at the Capitol was from Antifa.
On why dieting and exercise and trying to look good and be fit and thin may not have as much to do with excellence as having a paunch, serving others, taking walks, and eating meals with people.
I have been reading about diets and people trying to lose weight. Apparently almost any diet "works" the first two weeks if you haven't been eating carefully.
BUT then it is slow (and therefore harder to stay with).
AND regular bingeing on deprivation hurts your body long-term.
From a Christian perspective, trying to "look good" is not really something we're supposed to be focused on. We are specifically told in the New Testament not to worry about nice clothing, fashionable hairstyles, jewelry, or impressive physical exercise.
Five thoughts on New Year's Resolutions: 1. There are so many good habits we could implement but there are too many for anyone to do all of them well. (See my list in the thread below). So we should be gracious with ourselves and others.
2. The vast majority of our resolutions get drowned out by the noise of life. Life defies discipline and clarity. Life defies planning and organization.
3. As I see the struggles with alcohol and depression, and reports of suicide, and deaths from covid-19, I'm reminded that getting through everyday life—eating, working, relationships, cleaning up, functioning, adulting, surviving—is something to be grateful for.
Regarding the latest @CTmagazine cover story, christianitytoday.com/ct/2021/januar… my colleagues Jeannine Brown and Mark Strauss @BethelSeminary are on the NIV Bible translation committee. (Yes, Wayne Grudem taught undergraduates at @BethelU from 1977-1981, as did John Piper from 1974-1980).
- Millard Erickson taught at @BethelSeminary from 1969-1984.
- Tom Schreiner also taught at Bethel Seminary from 1986-1997.
Greg Boyd taught theology to undergraduates at Bethel University for 16 years from 1987-2003. He founded Woodland Hills Church in 1992. reknew.org/2018/06/podcas…
After finishing the helpful, and highly acclaimed, "Jesus and John Wayne" by @kkdumez, I'm thinking about the style of the book from a publishing perspective—what has made this book so successful?
- It is brief and dense so it is efficient. That is, readers get a feeling that they are learning quickly. It has been diligently edited to be concise. It keeps the attention of the reader used to reading Twitter or watching YouTube or The Crown or listening to podcasts.
- There is less analysis in the sense of "on the one hand, on the other hand." Instead of telling, there is showing—with example after example, and quote after quote. The effect is the takeaway that this Christian masculinity was not just one person but an ideological movement.
1. Ryan Burge argues that evangelical leaders have little influence on the political beliefs of the masses of evangelicals. I disagree. But evangelical leaders have generally not spoken out about politics, which has led to a vacuum that Fox News filled.
2. I love the work of Ryan Burge but I am not convinced that evangelical leaders do not influence the rank and file. 3. From the 2004-2020 exit polls, about 16-24% of white evangelicals voted for the Democratic presidential candidate. 74-81% voted for the Republican.
4. Some leaders of some evangelical organizations voted for the Democrat. 5. It does not follow that these evangelical leaders who voted for the Democrat are not influential on the politics of the white evangelicals who voted Republican.