Safe Haven

I like to stop by my friend Peter G. Klein's group blog, Organizations and Markets . I'm a hack and an amateur in economics, and more than that, I do an injustice to those words. But I love Peter's willingness to stand up for economic freedom and sound economics. Anyway, there was this exchange in the comments on a post thanking Steve Jobs : C. Ahlstrom | 8 October 2011 at 7:42 pm “Neither Steve Jobs nor Bill Gates nor Linus Torvalds nor anyone else decided what products we all should use and made us use them.” Actually, Bill Gates did… just try going to a store and buying a Mac or Linux box. The actions of Microsoft are well documented. Of course, Steve Jobs offered an alternative for those who wish to pay a lot more for their hardware, and Linus Torvalds offered an alternative for those willing to risk their warranty and install an alternative operating system. For that, I thank them (especially Linus). But only a small percentage of people are willing to go ov...

I love Andrew Preslar. And not in the general way we're supposed to love all Christians. I mean, he's awesome. I'm sure we could find tons of stuff to argue about, and for all I know, he'd be a horrible roommate or whatever. We've only met once, on one trip, but I'm pumped we became friends. The way he approaches life and discussion and faith just inspires me. Anyway, I'll stop gushing now. I made my way to the interwebs this morning, and I found his Facebook status. It says something I guess I wanted to say but couldn't, and I think it captures what many converts from Protestantism feel about a fundamental unfairness in the way others attempt to understand "why they did it." I give it here to you: Several weeks ago, Reformed theologian Michael Horton wrote a series of article [sic] "explaining" and criticizing the motives of persons who convert to Catholicism, and challenging key teachings of the Catholic Church. I don't mind t...

One of the best things about looking at the question of whether the Catholic Church is the one Christ founded is that with respect to the Reformation, the claim on both sides is essentially the same: "We have the true continuity with the patristic faith." Since it's the same, it can be tested against the data. What it reveals is that the Protestant reading of pre-Reformation history makes it almost impossible to identify what orthodoxy is, much less a principle for distinguishing orthodoxy and error. Sola Scriptura is a disaster precisely because it makes the ultimate interpreter of all questions of faith the self, though admittedly it is claimed that the Holy Spirit is. You can't sever the link between the visible ecclesiastical authority and the man (which is what the Reformational ecclesiolology does) without losing the dogmatic principle itself, at least when applied beyond the self. You can see the man playing out the scenario in his head: "Well, my church...

Invariably, when there is a political post on Facebook from a prominent Christian leader, one or more people chime in with something like, "Bravo on your evenhandedness! God is not a member of one political party!" And everyone salutes themselves for their superior piety, especially over all those committed partisans, who are too passionate one way or the other to "get it." Well, you know what? Ideas have consequences. If one political party stands directly opposite to Christian morality, reason, and the common good, it's not my job to write glowing pieces about how it's all really OK. I don't promise to speak in measured tones about those things, as some Christian duty of misplaced civility. The bottom line is this: If the Democratic Party remains committed to abortion, the promotion of homosexuality, and the blurring of the line between Church and state, such that the Church doesn't really exist, and essentially the takeover of everything in Americ...

It's 6:32 PM right now, as the tag will show. "Ribbon In The Sky" is playing in the background. I'm in some kind of mood, an oddly romantic mood. I say "oddly" because I don't have anyone to romance, on the record. Off the record, and after a beer or so, I'll probably gush like a deep chest wound about someone or other. I hate it when that happens. What an otherwise useless day! I wrote one sentence of an article I'm working on; as long as I get it (a draft) and the piece about Taylor Swift finished by the end of the week, we'll call it a win. I'm learning the hard way that I have to give projects a pretty wide berth in order to succeed. For my Master of Theological Studies degree, I get all the assignments at one time each month, and they are due at the same time. I realized that I was setting unrealistic goals for completing assignments, in a sense. I'd think, "Oh, I need 6 hours to get that done" when I really needed 24 ...

5 Keys To A Successful Life 5. Don't willingly believe lies. The father of lies is always busy, trying to convince you and I that we're not lovable in any sense. God does the exact opposite, especially in Jesus Christ. 4. Seek forgiveness. First, seek it from God. Then others. Then give it. Work at it. You might mess up bad enough that someone you love walks away from you. They might even say things that aren't true in their pain. Let it go. You have to come to know that what you would do for them has nothing to do with what they do for you. If you don't know this, start over. 3. Pray. How else are you gonna talk to God? Not to mention all the brethren in the intermediate state who have pleased God in an extraordinary way. Trust me, you need all the help you can get. 2. Sing. You don't have to do it for other people, nor must you be good. Also, it need not be happy. But if the rocks would cry out to declare God's glory, maybe we should do it, too. Don...

A friend of mine has been accused of something horrible. Heinous. It's the sort of thing you never get your reputation back from, even if it isn't true. Even though I have gotten to know him, and the whole thing has the ring of someone accusing Mother Theresa of greed, I admit I have strongly considered the possibility of its truth. I'm compelled by harsh reality to prepare myself for that outcome. To be perfectly honest, even though I'm the biggest optimist I know, I have a little voice that says, "Trust no one." It may well be the voice of the evil one himself, for all I know. But you don't live these 32 years without admitting in all frankness that the voice has a point. This friend is prominent and important, so there is no shortage of opinions on the thing. But today I was shown again how the Scripture comes alive in the Catholic Church--for good and ill--in a special way. A woman approached me, asked me if I would be seeing so-and-so, and I replied ...