And death i think is no parenthesis

I have been thinking a lot about world poverty lately, and even more so since I started reading Jeffrey Sachs's truly wonderful book, The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time . Sachs starts out by giving a general overview of the world's condition. He has some pretty heavy things to say about all of the needless dying from fully treatable diseases. Common themes throughout the book: We can eliminate extreme poverty by 2025 Traditional arguments about why poor countries are poor (e.g. corrupt leadership) are too simplistic. The UN programs are the means for achieving economic progress. Poor countries are in a poverty trap that they cannot escape without foreign aid. The health situations in sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia are inexcusable and are keys to explaining why these areas cannot escape poverty. The Bush administration, and the Western world, generally is neglecting it's responsibility and making terrible decisions. A little under a third of the b...

I've been compiling a list of desirable traits to look for in a wife. Hopefully, I won't use this list as a cut-and-dried litmus test (e.g. "Well, you met criteria #1-32 and #34-49, but you didn't quite cut #33... sorry."). Rather, my goal is to get into the habit of thinking seriously about girls' character traits and personality. I think too often guys are too shallow in deciding whether or not a girl would make a decent wife. For example, I think many guys have these criteria: 1) The girl is cute 2) The girl gives me attention 3) The girl can make me laugh If these three are met, the girl is determined by the guy to be a "nice girl" and a "good person" and he gives himself permission to pursue her affection. Don't get me wrong - these three things aren't bad things to look for, but if left by themselves they leave too much room for disaster. So, I went outside the other night and though long and hard about what virtues to look fo...

Well, I've returned from the great state of Oaxaca, Mexico. I made some big decisions while I was down there. God showed me that I should cease my college activity and go directly to missionary training school, after which I will probably go to Saudi Arabia to evangelize among the Muslims. Just Kidding. Actually, the trip was very exciting. Unlike last year, we stayed at the base every night and didn't venture out into any of the neighboring Mixteco villages. Rather, we ministered from the nearby market town of Tlaxiaco. My team, consisting of 7 guys, dug a water well in the middle of a cornfield for a lady named Margarita. The work was good, and the guys I was working with had a terrific attitude about it. It was also really cool getting to know some of the youth group from Westbrook Baptist Church, who I traveled with. During testimony night, one of the kids, D.L., had prepared a 6-page testimony that pleasantly surprised me. In it, he outlined how he thought Christians were ...

New House Finally we are moved into the new house near Hutchinson. In addition, we have a buyer for the old house. Things are working out nicely. I'll post pictures sometime soon. The Fourth of July I was very excited to be home for the 4th of July celebrations this year. Sterling prides itself in its holiday festivities for this event. Unfortunately, a series of complicated events moved the festivities to the weekend. The fireworks were supposed to be on the evening of the fourth, but torrents of rain rebuked that idea. Luckily, I have friends who are prepared to spend hundreds of dollars on their own personal stash and invite me to partake in the explosions thereof. My dad came down from Wichita, so I got to spend a couple of days with A Serrated Edge: A Brief Defense of Biblical Satire and Trinitarian Skylarking This short work by Douglas Wilson proved highly entertaining and moderately helpful, not only in explaining why it's right to make fun of people, but why modern evan...