On Religion. I need to clarify, on further reflection, a statement I made. I am a Calvinist in so far as I firmly believe three of the five main tenets of Calvinism: total depravity, unconditional election, irresistible grace. I believe in free will only in the human world. Human depravity makes coming to Christ though free will impossible. Irresistible grace, the work of the Holy Spirit, is the only way a human ever looks to Jesus. Election makes it clear that some will be saved and others lost. Who they are is known only to God. The work of the church is to preach and live the gospel so those who are called can hear. The rest is up to God. Having said that, the book Life of Pi by Yann Martel illustrates the spiritual nature of humans and the “lostness” of those who are not called and are not regenerate. Holding to Hinduism, Islam, and Romanism, the Christianity described here, is not possible for someone truly regenerated by the Holy Spirit. Now what would have happened had Pi been introduce to Christianity through the gospel that says Jesus is the Way, not the institutional church, and repentance is required not just water sprinkled on the head we can not know, but I believe had the author been introduced to Jesus this way his story might have taken a different path. Pi would not have practiced elements of three religions, and the one God in his boat would have been a true source of help and comfort through his ordeal. Then having said all this, I stand on the statement by Charles Spurgeon in his Treasury of David, an exposition on the Psalms, many names will be erased and added to OUR Book of Life when we finally see the real Book of Life in to which God Himself has recorded the names of His children.

On Books. The Last Patriot by Brad Thor is a spectacular read. Historically and factually accurate, and the author at the end tells us were he strays from fact to fiction. It makes me want to read more about Thomas Jefferson. The Shack by William P. Young is another story altogether. Apparently it is very popular and very controversial. I did not know this when I read it and found it a fascinating story. My one thought on the controversial nature of the book is that it stretches how we think about God. It stretches our imagination out of our finite human limits and challenges us to think beyond our typical images that are based in our human experience. At any rate, I am going to reread it with pen in hand and will see what I think on the second pass.

On Politics or News from the rabbit hole. The stock market has closed below 11,000 today. That’s good/bad news. I think it should be below 10,000 but as a measure of confidence in the economy it is clearly not good. On the other hand, the mess with Fannie and Freddy is a complete disaster. It is another leftover from the ‘30s for which we are still paying. Thank you, FDR. Nancy Polosi was asked directly how to get out of the energy crisis and she replied that we needed to find alternatives. I think that alternatives are fine for cities and industry even, but our automobiles are simply not going to run on anything else for years to come. I intended to drive mine until the wheels feel off. So we still need to drill, drill, drill.