Monday, December 25, 2006

Essence of Christmas

"The real meaning of Christmas" is a phrase you notice in a lot of movies, TV shows, and other places where the "real meaning" is usually something different and up to the person saying the phrase as well as up to each individual to decide on his or her own.

There is only one real meaning of Christmas, though, and as it pertains to this one real meaning, I've long been mesmerized by something John Stott wrote somewhere (probably in The Cross of Christ)...

"The essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting Himself for man."

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Good News for Birmingham (If you already live here)

"Birmingham Housing Market in Nation's Top 10"
...according to Fortune Magazine. Of course, while the prices may keep going up, I haven't seen any of those 'For Sale' signs coming down. It seems rather frozen (the only thing frozen in these summer-esque temps.)

Monday, December 18, 2006

Religion and Harvard

Read Charles Halton's post on the place of religious education at Harvard at awilum.com.

Sunday, December 17, 2006

Relativism Personified

Time Magazine's Person of the Year: You

"If you choose an individual, you have to justify how that person affected millions of people," said Richard Stengel, who took over as Time's managing editor earlier this year. "But if you choose millions of people, you don't have to justify it to anyone."

In other words, we're all just wonderful and in our own ways, we deserve it. Doesn't this make light of everyone who has been Time's Person of the Year before?

Does that mean that they've won it again?

Can I put this on my resume?

Building a Better Birmingham

Building a Better Birmimngham: A cooperative government could save the region

This article in The Birmingham News by John Rouse communicates several of the positives that would entail a regional merger of some sort for the benefit of the entire area. As the population of Birmingham proper continues to decline, Rouse points out that the combined population of the smaller cities surrounding Birmingham is greater than most cities in the South.

As a transplant to Birmingham, I've had a hard time putting my finger on the exact problem that has created such a divided area. Is it racism? Is it economic divisions? Is it just a passivity in planning? I'm not sure, but I tend to agree with most of what Rouse writes here and consider myself a supporter of a merged government of some sort even though I outside the "less desirable" city limits of Birmingham.

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Birmingham: Culture Capital of the Known World

NYTimes: Birmingham Has a Lot on Its Plates These Days

In this ultra-flattering article, lots of great places to eat mixed with a few back-handed compliments...

Taste an excerpt:

"And tucked amid the hills (mountains, the natives call them) of the South Side, there is a whimsical fountain in which a ram in shirtsleeves reads to an audience of attentive critters, presiding over Five Points South, the nucleus of the culinary revolution."

The reality of living in Birmingham is that there are a slew of fine restaurants that only the upper 1% can afford. The rest of us drop in on one occassionally when a drug rep foots the bill.

Coming Soon...Colby's Top 100 Mexican Restaurants in Birmingham

Coming Next...Colby's Top 100 BBQ Restaurants in Birmingham