I would recommend the 180 movie to you. I can’t say that I “learned” anything, but it was thought-provoking in a variety of ways.

The ESV has quietly made changes to more than 275 verses in the text. That’s a good start.

I am a fan of the traditional model of education and not much of a fan of distance “education.” I tend to suspect that the schools want money and the students want it easier. That makes it a “win-win.” DTS professor Jeffrey Bingham gives a thoughtful explanation for why education is best done in person.

I wish I could write a full post in response to “Why You and I Could Not Write the Book of Revelation.” There are some good thoughts here but I’d like to say more.

I mentioned one 2012 Holy Land calendar before, but there’s now another Lands of the Bible calendar available in some retail stores (e.g., Hobby Lobby), as well as Amazon ($11). I really like it. (Probably my favorite ever, as I essentially chose all the photos and was not limited to Israel.)

When the longtime senior pastor of a large Baptist church around the corner from our house committed suicide last week, I was wishing I had a classroom.

I more than doubled my knowledge about the ampersand from this visual guide.

My friend Austen really likes the book Son of Hamas.

Randy Alcorn’s booklet on Sexual Temptation is available for free download.

If you memorize Scripture regularly, you don’t need to read this.

The NIV 2011 has moved Selah from the text to the footnotes. I would disagree both with the NIV and Hamilton.

They ‘ve made a lot of progress cleaning up Sendai after the tsunami (photo comparisons).

Amazon has 100 Christmas albums for $5 each. An older one that I’ve always liked is by Michael W. Smith.

Daniel Pipes: I predict that in 5-10 years the American effort in Iraq (and, similarly, in Afghanistan), with all those expenditures and lives lost, will have been for naught.

What will punctuation look like in the future? The WSJ tries to predict.

It’s too bad we ‘ll never see a TV interview about homosexuality go like this.

An Israeli intelligence expert explains why the Gilad Shalit story is a massive failure in intelligence.

I’ve heard of getting hit by a deer while driving a car, but I’ve never seen one getting hit by a deer while riding a bike.

Gilad Shalit was delivered today from five years of captivity. He was a prisoner who did not see the sunlight for 1,941 days. Though I’m not in Israel and I have not lived in Israel for four years now, I feel a great relief and joy at Gilad’s homecoming. I imagine that it must be many times greater for those who have lived so much closer to the hellish reality.

As I think about the rejoicing, it calls to mind Jesus’s parable of the lost sheep. When the shepherd found the lost one, he called his friends and neighbors together and said, “Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.” Jesus said, “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent” (Luke 15:6-7).

As great as the rejoicing is today in Israel to see this loved one return home, so much greater is the rejoicing in heaven when one turns from his sin and embraces Christ. This comparison helps me to understand the nature of the heavenly rejoicing. I think I’ve tended in the past to compare it more with the rejoicing of a birthday party. The rejoicing over Gilad and over repentant sinners is so much more sober and profound.

Parenting by Prayer – the thesis of this brief post is that you should talk less and pray more.

I thought it was helpful to get a little insight into how movies are rated. But I can’t say I’m encouraged.

The Mayo Clinic has seven tips for better sleep.

I enjoyed reading John Piper’s Think. I could envision requiring it for college students. (See my previous comments and quotations here.) This month the audiobook is free. (And it is currently only $3 for Kindle.)