Sunday, January 16. 2011
The Alpha course was developed in response to people who wanted to have the opportunity to investigate the claims of the Christian faith.
Over ten weekly sessions, including a day or weekend away, guests hear the claims of the Christian faith. After the presentation, course attendees have a chance to question what they heard and discuss the validity of the claims. The support of all the major Christian denominations has enabled the Alpha course to spread rapidly around the world. Today, Alpha is run in over 160 countries and has been translated into more than 100 languages. Courses can also be found in many contexts including churches, homes, workplaces, military bases, colleges, schools, and prisons.
There are many reasons why people enjoy attending the Alpha course. For some it’s the no pressure, non-judgmental atmosphere, others enjoy building relationships with new friends, while others appreciate the chance to discuss deep questions of life that they don’t otherwise get the chance to ask.
WHAT HAPPENS AT ALPHA?
Each Alpha course begins with a meal or refreshments providing a chance to relax and get to know others. There is then a short talk, which looks at a different aspect of the Christian faith each week. This is followed by a time of discussion in small groups of about 10 people. Everyone is welcome to contribute their opinion, ask questions and discuss with the rest of the group.
Alpha courses run in a wide variety of locations and at different times of the day. Courses vary in size, from one small group meeting in a home, to hundreds of people in a larger venue. Some courses are held over morning coffee or during a lunch hour, though most are evening courses, typically lasting 2 hours. Whatever the course size, people tend to remain in the same small groups for the duration of the course so they can get to know each other, continue discussions and deepen friendships.
The whole course usually lasts for 10 weeks, with a day or weekend away about half way through. The emphasis is upon exploration and discovery in a relaxed and informal environment.
The Alpha course consists of a series of talks addressing key issues related to the Christian faith.
TOPICS
Week 1: Who is Jesus?
Week 2: Why did Jesus die?
Week 3: How can we have faith?
Week 4: Why and how do I pray?
Week 5: Why and how should I read the Bible?
Week 6 Full Day: Who is the Holy Spirit? What does the Holy Spirit do? How can I be filled with the Holy Spirit?How can I make the most of the rest of my life?
Week 7: How does God guide us?
Week 8: How can I resist evil?
Week 9: Why & how should we tell others?
Week 10: Does God heal today?
The course curriculum is the book Questions of Life by Nicky Gumbel. Each talk reflects one of the chapters from this book.
Please note: There is no obligation to attend all ten sessions.
WHAT THE PRESS SAYS
The New York Times
"A novel approach to Christian education that has been catching on nationwide."
Madeleine Bunting, The Guardian
"What Alpha offers, and what is attracting thousands of people, is permission, rare in secular culture, to discuss the big questions - life and death and their meaning.“
The Express London
" Alpha makes Christianity relevant to modern life."
Los Angeles Times
“Alpha helps people navigate through Christianity.”
WHAT PAST GUESTS SAY
Anthony: "I didn’t expect the warm welcome I received, the interesting discussions or the lack of pressure to speak in the small groups that followed. I found that I could express any doubts about Christianity, and that my opinions would be respected. If I had an issue with something, I had a forum to voice it with no need to apologize."
Rebecca: “Our church was offering this course and my husband and I thought it would be a great opportunity for us to share in this spiritual journey. We go to church with our two kids, say our prayers, etc. but something was missing. We wanted to find out what was missing.”
Cynthia: I decided to take the Alpha course because I was unsure what it was I believed. I needed something to fill the empty place in my life. I started attending Alpha to seek answers to those basic questions about my faith and who God was.”
Heather: “I was the typical 20 something who had attended church as a child, but once I became an adult I stopped going. When I returned to church I felt like something was missing in my life. The Alpha course helped me understand more about God.
Image from Arcimboldo's Feast for the Eyes
IBM's Watson Machine: It's a tight race between man and machine
Maine Governor Tells NAACP to “Kiss My Butt”
Stuxnet update: No surprises here. It is a cyber-bomb.
J Post: How Hamas stays in power
Governor Awesome on political discourse
Alcohol and the Origins of the First Amendment
Legal Ins on death taxes
Wiz on Who bears the guilt of the Tucson shootings?
Prof B: How SOX Contributed to the Financial Crisis
Can Our Last International Advantage Withstand the Dodd-Frank Act?
Jeb to GOP: How to Appeal to Hispanics
Wkly Std: The Times Loses It - Sense and nonsense about Tucson.
NRO: Hail to the Chair - Reince Priebus has his work cut out for him.
Michelle: Blame Righty: A condensed history
Ace debates on Lawrence Tribe
Reb on Dr. Sanity's piece: Socialist delusion.
What I take from her piece is that socialism thrives on greed and envy as much as capitalism but it requires belief that greed and envy will disappear when the evils of capitalism are done away with. Unfortunately for socialists what they supposedly hope will appear is a version of homo sapiens that has yet to walk the earth. Socialism adores the idea of The New Man who rises or is forced or guided to rise above his former base self to take a seat in the realms of heavenly perfection. At least, that’s the theory. Believe in the perfectibility of man and it’s a trifle to believe in socialism and all the pleasures of collective life, even though it’s quickly demonstrated that this means widespread misery.
WSJ: Chris Christie's Year to Deliver - The governor has proven you can take on government unions and survive. Now he has to get real pension reforms.
NER: Food Crises are Caused by Overpopulation
Carpe: America's Ridiculously Large $15T Economy
Psalm 40:1-11
40:1 I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry.
40:2 He drew me up from the desolate pit, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.
40:3 He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD.
40:4 Happy are those who make the LORD their trust, who do not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after false gods.
40:5 You have multiplied, O LORD my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you. Were I to proclaim and tell of them, they would be more than can be counted.
40:6 Sacrifice and offering you do not desire, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required.
40:7 Then I said, "Here I am; in the scroll of the book it is written of me.
40:8 I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart."
40:9 I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; see, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O LORD.
40:10 I have not hidden your saving help within my heart, I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation.
40:11 Do not, O LORD, withhold your mercy from me; let your steadfast love and your faithfulness keep me safe forever.
Saturday, January 15. 2011
Probably cooler than they should be. Better enjoy your cold ones while you can. Apocalypse is on the way.
 It's the time of year for some Country Pie.
I am continuing to clean up my image closet. Feel free to use 'em or steal them. It's another good stash. Can't recall where they all came from, but any of them that were used here were properly attributed.
Don't let them go to waste. Recycling makes Gaia smile.
More random and informative images, toons, and charts below the fold -
Continue reading "Another random image dump: Fun pics and valuable and interesting charts and graphs"
 Some call it Red Flannel Hash. With two eggs sunny-side up on top, and some ketchup or some hot sauce, it can't be beat for a winter breakfast.
This recipe is good, if a bit too complicated. Here's a simpler Southern version, with gravy of course (in the South, they even put gravy on top of gravy).
I don't mind the canned version at all, fried first in butter. Yes, it smells (and looks) a bit like canned dog food, but I am part dog.
 Mechanical engineering: Simple animation to explain complex principles
Clean Comedy: Henry Cho
Pajamas: Once Again, Progressives Prove Willing to Politicize Everything
Mankiw posts a good video to show students while teaching about index funds and the efficient markets hypothesis
Update on Norwegian young radicals:
The radicals also have a hefty sense of entitlement. They do not request things -- they demand them. They are perpetually shocked, indignant, and concerned about something. Their shock, indignation, and concern is most frequently directed at Racism, Poverty (which they are demanding – demanding! – be Made History), War, and all the other Important Causes. These evils, they reckon, are best controlled by expanding the State, dismantling what remains of the European heritage, and empowering left-wing internationalist institutions like the EU and the UN. Like China's Maoists the Gen-Y radicals pursue a perpetual, institutionalized revolution in which all humanity is subsumed into isms, ologies, and bureaucratic duckspeak.
Roger Simon: The Sixties Were Violent, Not Today
Prelutsky: The Bloodthirsty Left
Powerline: Lincoln on the blood libel of 1860
How Al Qaeda stays in business
The Muslim Brotherhood Path to Victory
Good idea or not? Obama to ease travel restrictions to Cuba, allow more U.S. cash to island. I think it's OK. The Castro thugs will be dead soon, anyway.
Half of US states now suing to stop Obamacare
The Emperor of Ice Cream
Call the roller of big cigars,
The muscular one, and bid him whip
In kitchen cups concupiscent curds.
Let the wenches dawdle in such dress
As they are used to wear, and let the boys
Bring flowers in last month's newspapers.
Let be be the finale of seem.
The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.
Take from the dresser of deal,
Lacking the three glass knobs, that sheet
On which she embroidered fantails once
And spread it so as to cover her face.
If her horny feet protrude, they come
To show how cold she is, and dumb.
Let the lamp affix its beam.
The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.
1922. Bio of the late-blooming Hartford insurance exec here.
Friday, January 14. 2011
This pic from Retriever:
These from Gwynnie, an autumn ago:
From Chicago Boyz last summer: Is “Liberal Guilt” a Myth?
Freedom House says it is.
Political freedom has always been a rarity, and a great inconvenience for governments.
"The other line always moves faster."
Everybody
Thursday, January 13. 2011
Re Grand Central Station: "It's bloody gorgeous." As I was walking around late this afternoon, making my rounds, a Brit couple, rightly perceiving me to be a friendly, approachable, and respectable bloke, asked where where they might find a cab. We were near Grand Central, so I suggested they try the main exit from the station. Usually some cabs there. "Seen the inside of the station?" I asked. Well, this nice, refined older couple followed me in through the side door and down the escalator to check it out. I hope they found a cab or, as Brits are wont to do, found a cozy nook for a drinky. I did recommend the Campbell Apartment for a good cocktail, which many people do not know about.
As a country boy who lived in the city for around 6 years in younger days, I still get a rush of energy and inspiration just by visiting for a day or two. And that is despite the fact that, most places I go, you cannot smoke a ceegar indoors thanks to the sanctimonious jerk Nanny Bloomberg.
More pics from today, below the fold -
Continue reading "Pics: Hanging out around midtown"
HDV video for sports. Mount it on your helmet, your hat, or whatever. The GoPro.
Watch the sample ski helmet-mounted vid on their site. Great stuff.
Another one of those depressing marriage quizzes: The Sustainable-Marriage Quiz.
Is it the job of a marriage to sponsor "personal growth?" That sounds very 1960s. I think it is adolescent to think of marriage as an answer to life's questions, challenges, and dilemmas. A loyal and committed companion and partner is what it is.
When a man makes up his mind without evidence, no evidence disproving his opinion will change his mind.
Robert A. Heinlein, 1978 (h/t, Vanderleun)
Re Cultural Literacy: She asked for it..., the comments were good fun. Thanks, y'all. She enjoyed noting them very much. She watched Seven Beauties last night, That movie was too much for me delicate sensibilities, regardless of Giannini's performance.
Are you familiar with the McSweeny's site? Apparently lots of folks are, but it's new to me.
Verbing? I don't approve of it.
Why Paul Theroux cannot write an autobiography
How many people can the earth support?
The Idea of "Affordable Housing": Memphis
The Vegas IRA: Gambling on Wall Street v. Gambling in Las Vegas (h/t Betsy)
Dr. Sanity: FASCIST PIGS, FANATICAL IDEOLOGUES, AND DELUSIONAL ILLNESS
Insty: HAVE YOU NO DECENCY, SIR?
For EPA, climate tough in Senate
Corn asserts When It Comes to the Rhetoric of Rage, the Right Has the Edge
Twittering Why didn't they kill Palin instead
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED… Death Threats Against Sarah Palin at Unprecendented Level
My Name is Betsy. I'm a Killer
From Coyote:
We libertarians cringe when presented with a “national tragedy” like the shooting of Gabriella Giffords. Not because we are somehow more or less sensitive to vilence and loss of life, but because we begin bracing for the immediate, badly thought-out expansion of state power that nearly always follows any such tragedy, whether it be 9/11 or Columbine or Oklahoma City or even Pearl Harbor. Those looking to expand the power of the state, and of state officials, make their greatest progress in the emotional aftermath of a such a tragedy. These tragedies are the political equivilent of the power play in ice hockey, when defenders of liberty find themselves temporarily shorthanded, and those wishing to expand state power rush to take advantage.
Protein: We know who you are and we know what you’re trying to do. Morons.
Reason: Beware Bipartisan School Reform - If everybody on the Hill is happy, Americans probably shouldn't be.
Surber: Require youths to listen to Rush
Wednesday, January 12. 2011
From Assisted Suicide at Tablet:
The Arabic word taqqiya is frequently used to denote the kind of dissimulation practiced by Muslims in the Middle East. Westerners tend to abuse the term, as if any Muslim who lies, for instance, about a car robbery, was practicing taqqiya, when he’s just trying to avoid arrest as any other suspect would. Taqqiya is a doctrine particular to the Shia, a Muslim minority who, because they have had much to fear over the last millennium from their more numerous Sunni neighbors, are permitted to lie under duress about their real religious sentiments. The concept, however, is a useful reminder that this is a part of the world where saying the wrong thing to the wrong person can be costly.
Nonetheless, Westerners are very sensitive to the idea that some cultures do not value truth-telling in the same way that we do. For reporters it can be embarrassing if your beat is to cover, say, the Palestinian Authority, since the bulk of your work is taking dictation from frequently malevolent fabulists and having to pass it off as though you were interviewing someone actually worth speaking to. But the convention of our press corps is to treat the utterances of Muamar Qaddafi with the same respect due the prime minister of Canada. To fact-check an entire political culture is beyond the pale of Western journalism, so instead we pretend that Arab societies respect the truth as much as we do, for to say otherwise is to sit in judgment over another culture.
Unfortunately, there is no getting around the fact that societies where the truth is just one among many possible narratives are going to fare worse than societies where truth is valued.
Aways use your enemy's hand to catch a snake.
Persian Proverb
Major snow dump overnight - lost power for a while, lost my links. I'll post this, instead:
Giffords Shot: Now, A Word from Our Gun Control Sponsors…
Rhode Island Governor Bans State Officials from Talk Radio
Dem Congressman: If Violent Rhetoric Didn't Cause This Shooting -- It Will Cause Next One!
Dr. Torrey: A Predictable Tragedy in Arizona - We emptied state mental hospitals starting in the 1960s without providing adequate treatment alternatives.
And "Dr." Matthews
Video: Slain girl’s father says attack the price of “a free society”
OK, that's enough of today's items on the shooting. The original news story should have been "paranoid pothead goes on shooting rampage."
But within hours of the news report, people began to exploit the sad story for their own purposes. Twisting the facts, inventing false narratives, "letting no crisis go to waste" (not that this represents a crisis). It's like Tawana Brawley all over again, the flat-out lie which Al Sharpton rode to seemingly perpetual fame and fortune. Propaganda designed to create a consensus view, or at least a thinkable view regardless of the facts. A snow job:
snow job
n
Slang chiefly US and Canadian an instance of deceiving or overwhelming someone with elaborate often insincere talk
Even the worthy Dr. Torrey did it, above. This kid would not have been hospitalizable, much less long-term hospitalizable, against his will, anywhere in the US. Well, I might be wrong about that: apparently he had been making death threats.
The only sane comment I saw this morning was the slain girl's father. He gets it. Well, this guy gets it too, at Am Thinker via Lucianne, The Media Has Declared War:
Newsrooms and hospitals have one major thing in common: the "hush" is the loudest thing anyone ever hears. The "hush" is the moment when normal activity stops cold for an announcement of major events that will entirely reshape any usual activity. While both newsrooms and hospitals stop on that kind of news -- and then, following it, race into a whirlwind of overdrive -- the similarities end there.
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Comments:
In the crosshairs of the trigger-happy MSM: Sarah Palin
In the crosshairs of the trigger-happy MSM: the 1st Amendment
In the crosshairs of the trigger-happy MSM: anyone who defies the imposition of socialism in America
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Otherwise, the blizzard of exploitation is disheartening, if not sickening.
It's a winter wonderland out there; a perfect day to be 6 or 7 years old.
Tuesday, January 11. 2011
 A Bird Dog pup (pupette, actually) has asked me to help her fill out her college education by listing some things she ought to know and read, but cannot fit into her college schedule as she has mapped it out.
Music to a Dad's ears, of course. Father knows best.
Well, I will just focus on one piece of her request here and now (because it went well beyond entertainment - this is just the fun part). She is a theater rat and reads plays daily for fun. She knows most of Shakespeare pretty well, and loves Pinter too (!). But she says her knowledge of films prior to her era is very limited. "What films should I know?," she asks. (I call them movies because I am a knuckle-dragging clinger.)
Ain't it great when the youths acknowledge their ignorance?
I told her I had once, for fun, made a list of my 100 essential movies (and I am not much of a movie fan), but it went away when my ancient Mac died ten years ago. Naturally, my list had some John Wayne, Gone With The Wind, Bridge Over The River Kwai, Swept Away, Streetcar, Waterfront, Mr. Blandings, Wonderful Life, the hideously painful Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, some James Bond and some WC Fields, Citizen Kane, Days of Wine and Roses, some Jack Lemmon like 7 Year Itch, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, Harvey, Billy Budd, the Alistair Sim Christmas Carol ( which she has seen countless times), and, as one item, all of Charlie Chaplin. I don't want to try to make my list again, and, for a person who is more of a reader than a movie person, I got well over 100 with my list of basic flicks.
If you google "100 essential movies of all time," you can get all sorts of obscure lists by critics. She did take the time from her Christmas-break reading and ski trips to New Hampshire and constant NYC trips to watch Amarcord today, which definitely is on my list.
Man, that movie is rich in memorable imagery, and as Italian as anchovies in olive oil.
So help me out. What's on your essential movies-to-see-to-be-culturally-literate list? (please do not feel that you need to list 100!).
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