The Boy Next Door

The Boy Next Door: "The three main characterizations are a little thin. The story starts with Betty waiting for her brother Robin to return home from boarding school, and since her cousin Lucy is also due to arrive the same day, Betty is excited at finally having someone to play with! In the usual Blyton fashion, ages are quickly established, in this case with Betty thinking to herself, 'Robin's eleven, Lucy is ten, and I am nine.' Both Betty and Lucy are almost like hangers-on, not integral to the plot in any way. Robin starts out being a bit of a snot, by shunning Betty's enthusiasm to see him and announcing that 'it will be dull with only two girls to play with.' Robin warms to Lucy when he sees she's brought her dog Sandy (after all, a Blyton book wouldn't be complete without a pet of some kind—although the Secret series managed quite well without any regular pets at all)."

The Treasure Hunters

The Treasure Hunters: "When Jeffery, Susan and John are told that their mother and father are going away for a few weeks, because their mother is feeling under the weather and needs some 'strong sea-air,' the children find themselves shipped off to Granny and Granpa's. But it's all good news. Jeffery, the eldest of the three children, remembers the old house well—he says it's the sort of place all kinds of things have happened, and 'anything might still happen.' Susan has been there too, but hardly remembers it, while John, the youngest, has never been there at all. And so, with very little fuss, the children are packed up and ready to go."

The Treasure Hunters by Enid Blyton

The Treasure Hunters by Enid Blyton: "The story begins with news that Jeffrey, Susan and John are going to stay at their Granny's and Grandpa's home, Greylings Manor, as their parents were going away to the sea-side, so that Mummy could get some 'strong sea air', recommended by the doctor."

Blogger in Draft: The Blogger Template Designer

Blogger in Draft: The Blogger Template Designer: "Go to http://draft.blogger.com/ to log in to Blogger in Draft. (If you’ve never been there before, Blogger in Draft is just like regular Blogger, except with new, in-development features like this one.) Click on your blog’s “Layout” link to go to the Layout tab. The link to the Template Designer is at the end of the row of sub-tabs."

Book Aunt: Enter Three Witches...

Book Aunt: Enter Three Witches...: "Who are the best—or rather worst—witches of all time in children's literature? Obviously, we have to turn to fairy tales to get started."

SUZANNE MOORE: Jon Venables is serving life, whether he's in jail or not | Mail Online

SUZANNE MOORE: Jon Venables is serving life, whether he's in jail or not | Mail Online

Are There Secular Reasons? - Opinionator Blog - NYTimes.com

Are There Secular Reasons? - Opinionator Blog - NYTimes.com: ". . . the secular vocabulary within which public discourse is constrained today is insufficient to convey our full set of normative convictions and commitments. We manage to debate normative matters anyway — but only by smuggling in notions that are formally inadmissible, and hence that cannot be openly acknowledged or adverted to."

Christians in Context: from orthodoxy to orthopraxy.: Evalutating the Charismatic Movement in its 50th Year

Christians in Context: from orthodoxy to orthopraxy.: Evalutating the Charismatic Movement in its 50th Year

What’s the buzz | bidorbuy blog

What’s the buzz | bidorbuy blog: "Here are a few helpful hints for those who get overwhelmed by Buzz:

* Stay away from fellow-Buzzers who are popular and likely to have a large following.
* If a particular thread gets too chatty and annoying, silence it: choose Mute from More Actions menu in Gmail. To mute a post from within Buzz, choose Mute this post from Comment drop-down menu.
* To kill Buzz altogether, go to the bottom of your Gmail account and look for turn off buzz link. Click it to opt out of Buzz updates and hide the Buzz link permanently."

Julia Duin: My book is finally out!

Julia Duin: My book is finally out!: "'Days of Fire and Glory: The Rise and Fall of a Charismatic Community' is about one of the most gifted leaders of the charismatic movement and the newspaper reporter who unwittingly unearthed his secret.

Millions of evangelical Christians who lived through the Jesus movement and the charismatic renewal of the 1970s and 1980s wish to process what happened them in the early days of their faith. Some even moved into Christian community households to replicate the pattern of the early church in Acts 2."

Accidental Historian: Breaking the Master Narrative, Part 3

Accidental Historian: Breaking the Master Narrative, Part 3

DOS print USB Windows printers

DOS print USB Windows printers: "Why DOSPRN?
Nowadays, many laser and inkjet printers have powerful features but cannot print simple text accurately. Besides, some inexpensive printers (the so-called win-printers) can not print in text mode (dos print mode) at all."

Reclaiming the Mission � Why is the Emergent/Missional Church So White?: Soong-Chan Rah’s Next Evangelicalism and Why It Doesn’t Go Far Enough (in Exposing White Western Cultural Captivity)

Reclaiming the Mission � Why is the Emergent/Missional Church So White?: Soong-Chan Rah’s Next Evangelicalism and Why It Doesn’t Go Far Enough (in Exposing White Western Cultural Captivity): "Indeed most sociologists (see Peter Berger’s article here) would agree that the great majority of the spreading church in Asia, Latin America and Africa is driven by some version of prosperity gospel and charismatic experiential Christianity. It is a version of Christianity that I would argue is indisputably tied to the Western values of individualism, consumerism and materialism."

The Missionary Who Wouldn't Retire | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction

The Missionary Who Wouldn't Retire | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction: "Lesslie Newbigin, born 100 years ago today, launched a new career at age 66 by calling Western churches to act like they were in the mission field.
Krish Kandiah | posted 12/08/2009 10:07AM"

What Does "Burning A Feed" Mean? | GeneaBloggers

What Does "Burning A Feed" Mean? | GeneaBloggers: "The question of “what does it mean to burn a feed?” may seem very basic to most genealogy bloggers but I bet when you first started your blogging habit, you had much the same puzzled look as I did when I first heard of 'burning a feed.'"

The Western Confucian

The Western Confucian: "Said the architect of 9/11, four years before the attack, 'A reaction might take place as a result of US government's hitting Muslim civilians and executing more than 600 thousand Muslim children in Iraq by preventing food and medicine from reaching them' — The Osama bin Laden interviews. (Cf. Clinton's secretary of state on those '600 thousand Muslim children' — 'We Think the Price Is Worth It'.) The terrorist continued, 'So, the US is responsible for any reaction, because it extended its war against troops to civilians.' That's what 'aggressive policies' get us."

Letter from Hardscrabble Creek: 'Cultural Appropriation' is not a Religious Issue

Letter from Hardscrabble Creek: 'Cultural Appropriation' is not a Religious Issue

Contact Online Weblog: Book Review - Days of Fire and Glory

Contact Online Weblog: Book Review - Days of Fire and Glory: "Her book traces the journey of Graham Pulkingham, an Episcopal priest who led Church of the Redeemer, one of the nation's fastest growing and most vibrant churches in a Houston slum and left a legacy that lasts to this day. He held thousands spellbound with his Gospel preaching and influenced millions with his daring vision of a compelling, charismatic Christianity made visible by a system of worldwide communities. Yet, Pulkingham hid from his followers a dark double life that he at first resisted, then secretly pursued and finally allowed to twist his personal theology into a gordian knot of accommodation and self-deceit and finally death."

Nouslife: Health Care International

Nouslife: Health Care International: "If a picture is worth a thousand words ...."

VICTORIA_CONCORDIA_CRESCIT

VICTORIA_CONCORDIA_CRESCIT: "Review: 'Exploring Ecclesiology: An Evangelical and Ecumenical
Introduction' (Brad Harper and Paul Louis Metzger, 2009).

Here's a good textbook for a basic course in 'Ecclesiology 101' (or what
used to be called 'Church, Ministry and Sacraments' back in my seminary
days). Though written 'densely' in text-book fashion (a few good
stories, lots of Bible texts, with some useful quotes and endnotes) it
would also comprise an excellent study-guide for church leaders."