HogueThe10th's weblog

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last modified Oct 26, 2007 at 11:24

Saturday, December 25, 2004

Christian Literature

Looking for a good Christian bookstore?

Then I heartily recommend Barnes and Noble, and I'm not joking. My experience is that secular bookstores tend to offer better selections of Christian literature than mainstream Christian bookstores, such as LifeWay. For instance, if you want to find a good biography on Thomas Aquinas or other significant figures in church history, you'll probably find it at B&N, but I'm willing to bet that the vast majority of biographies at LifeWay are about today's famous Christians (like actors and athletes). It's lamentable that LifeWay overlooks great Christian literature and sells cheap "inspirational" books instead.

I do recommend, if you're in the Jackson, MS, area, the Reformed Theological Seminary Bookstore. If you're interested in perusing online, then check out goodtheology.com and pcanet.org.

132300 | posted by HogueThe10th at 10:41 | 1 Speak Friend and Enter

Tuesday, December 14, 2004

Good news for movie renters

I read today from msnbc.com that beginning January 1, 2005, Blockbuster will no longer be charging late fees for overdue rentals. Although there will still be three-day rentals, week-long rentals, etc., the store will allow a week-long grace period if you don't get your movie in on time. After the grace period, I'm not entirely clear on what happens, but still, in the end the good news is that we at least get a week longer to watch our Blockbuster movies. No doubt other movie-rental chains will follow suit in order to compete. Blockbuster itself is reacting to the recent competition presented by online movie sites like NetFlix.com.

131306 | posted by HogueThe10th at 20:23 | 8 Speak Friend and Enter

I'm back, with a few thoughts

Sorry to all you faithful HogueThe10th readers who have found no updates to the weblog in quite a while. I should be able to devote more attention here now that I've begun Christmas break. Yes, that's right--upon finishing my last final exam on Saturday, my ninth semester of college came to a successful end. Only one more remains until I become a graduate.

It was a good semester, and I thank God for it. However, it was rather tightly scheduled and stressful at times, and as it was drawing to a close, I apparently began to experience anxiety attacks. Two of them. (So says the doctor at LSU, whose diagnosis I feel is probably correct.)

The experience shook me up quite a bit, but I share it because God used it to bless me by showing me my need to depend on him. During the late hours of Saturday and Sunday nights, I seriously wondered if I was going to die, and in the midst of my shaky faith, that thought caused me a lot of fear. The doctor that I saw on Tuesday (of last week) told me that anxiety attacks could be caused by stressful situations and he wanted me to see a counselor to see if I needed to get something off my chest.

Instead, I stumbled providentially upon Keith, the minister of the campus ministry RUF. We talked about what might be causing me stress (other than the intense semester, that is), and I mentioned that I had had thoughts of death on my mind at different times in the last few months. I'm very aware that I'm 24, that college is drawing to an end, and that I'm not entirely certain what I'm doing with the rest of my life. So maybe that was part of what was causing me anxiety; who can say for sure? It was probably a number of factors. Keith remarked that even though the culture we live in resists thinking about death, it is actually a good thing for us to consider our mortality. Christians are called to live well and to die well. We've must learn to do both. So I pray that if my time to die comes, I will honor Christ as I pass away.

I know this isn't exactly a cheery post, but thoughts on mortality intensify our knowledge of our dependence upon Christ, as well as the need to live well. I'm therefore thankful for what God called me to experience.

131301 | posted by HogueThe10th at 20:07 | 5 Speak Friend and Enter