Fernando Ortega

JAVELINAS Maximiliano “Maxi” Cervantes groaned as he pulled up to a detour sign somewhere in the southern Arizona desert.

JAVELINAS
open.substack.com/pub/ferndigg...

On Thanksgiving Day, I like to reread this passage from William Bradford's "History of Plymouth Plantation. The Pilgrims/Puritans are much scorned today, but I find their devotion to the Word of God and to one another quite inspiring. No human collective has ever been without sin.

Happy thanksgiving, everyone. I hope you spend the day surrounded by loved ones. Ruby and I were up late making pies. They look pretty good to me. I'll let you know in a few hours! Top one is pumpkin, and deep-dish apple pie in the skillet.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your loved ones, Dr. Moore. I appreciate all you do.

Tulsi Gabbard’s history with Russia is even more concerning than you think One expert says her views are ‘so wildly fringe that her potential appointment as DNI is genuinely alarming’, Richard Hall and Andrew Feinberg write

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

Maybe he’s referring to man-made walls?

Cave painting and petroglyphs come to mind …

Advent is near. I argue in my book (second-best selling of all my books, but not very influential so far!) that it is the duty of the church to resist premature Christmas promotion, 99% commercial in its origin and power. A rigorous Advent can be our liturgical and personal resistance.

Me too, Winn. I love their album called Lux. Have you heard it?

Holy mackerel - how beautiful! What a gorgeous recording. It’s a little more lush and full than the Voces8 version, at least to my ear.

YouTube video by The Cliburn Yunchan Lim 임윤찬 – MOZART Piano Concerto No. 22 in E-flat Major, K. 482 – 2022 Cliburn Competition

This young fellow was the youngest ever 1st place winner at the Van Cliburn competition in 2022. Here's one of his audition pieces - Mozart Piano Concerto #22 in Eb. Give it a listen. And be on the lookout for Yunchan Lim! He & others like him are the future of piano.

youtu.be/P9eEbEfEqoU?...

YouTube video by Voces8 - Topic Praetorius, Sandström: Es ist ein Ros entsprungen

Here's some beautiful winter music for you. It's the slowest and maybe the most beautiful rendition of Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming I've ever heard. The whole album is beautiful and I highly recommend it . . .

youtu.be/D4X-gl9a96M?...

Welcome to Diane Langberg!

Ah. I have friends up there who also checked in safe. What a wild storm! I'm glad you're okay. And storms aside, I love that part of the country more than any other place.

I don't even know what ALT tags are, that's what a dunce I am. I will look into it. Thanks.

Do you live up there, Judson?

Uh . . . What’s 10+0?

Yeah - where the heck is that guy? He didnt attend the MMA fight with Trump yesterday. That would have been interesting, no? What is it with Trump and cage fights?

I sat next to one such person on a long flight yesterday. She seemed impervious to all the nasty looks she was getting. I honestly think she was unaware of how loud her iPhone was, and it was LOUD! I escaped by putting my earbuds in and listening to Nirvana.

I just read in the NYT that social media is abruptly going to the right. I speculate that Bluesky can become a home for Christian conversation where evangelicals like me (passionate about doctrine but socially aware) can work on the fault line where left and right can speak kindly to each other.

Yay! I’m so glad.

I'm right there with you - just completely done with politics. The problem is that Trump never lets us rest as he is ramping up his never-ending parade of buffoonery. It will doubtless be more exhausting, deflating, stress-inducing than his first term. Maranatha!

RAFAEL NADAL
He officially retired today and I'm going to miss him - the brightest and best tennis player for so many years. He has been a fantastic role model for the younger players coming down the pike - a true gentleman in the sport. I wish him every success in whatever comes next in his career.

Fernando Ortega is here. I just saw theologian Fred Sanders commending this new album this week.

The admirable Russell Moore and his colleagues are producing an overhaul of the magazine *Christianity Today* as part of a project to interpret the gospel across rigid boundaries.

This is a male Northern Flicker. I took the photo in my backyard. They’re one of my favorite woodpeckers.

HA!

Baby saber-toothed cat mummy found in Siberia with intact skin, fur and toes is ‘mind-blowing,’ scientists say | CNN A mummified ice age cub discovered in Siberia is exceptionally preserved, providing the first view of what saber-toothed cats looked like and clues about their hunting style.

One of these things killed my grandma. That’s how old she was!

www.cnn.com/2024/11/18/s...

This. A beautiful collection of songs. Exactly what we need right now.

Thank you John!