One of the features I enjoy on some of my favorite blogs is a periodic summary of interesting things they are reading. After all, if you enjoy reading a blog, and value their thoughts and insights, it makes sense that you might well be interested in the things they find interesting. And so, I will begin an irregular weekly feature regularly on a sporadic basis every seven days or so, or whenever.

It’s my hope that both my regular readers will find this enlightening, educational and entertaining.

Cool tools I have stumbled across will also be on the docket, as will useful or interesting new sites.

And being a narcissist, I will also include some of my own previous posts which are lying in the digital dustbin, blowing off the cobwebs of some prior bloviations for old times’ sake.

So here goes:

♦ hitchens is not Great: As some of you may know, Christopher Hitchens has written a book entitled god is not Great. Now, I have a great deal of respect for Hitch, who like a lonely prophet cries out in the in the vast intellectual desert of the Left, seemingly alone understanding the stakes at hand in our struggle against the evil of Islamic fascism. Hitch is a very smart dude — and also an outspoken atheist, which indicates he’s not nearly as smart as he thinks he is.

So you owe it to yourself to check out Mark D. Roberts’ slapdown of ol’ Hitch in his series of posts on the book. See what Hitchens’ knowledge of church history and biblical scholarship looks like after being processed through a Cuisinart. Top with whipped cream, a cherry, and serve cold.

Apologetics at its very best (HT: Hewitt).

♦ Disputed Sovereignty: Richard John Neuhaus, the editor-in-chief over at First Things, has a transcription of a recent sermon to the military chaplains at the National Cathedral. Excellent discourse on the moral challenges of being a Christian minister at war. Key quote:

We are servants of a disputed sovereignty. In the responsorial psalm we declared, “God mounts his throne to shouts of joy.” Christ has ascended his throne, but his rule is challenged by rival thrones. For us who believe, St. Paul says in today’s second lesson, it is the fact that Christ rules “far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion.” But the principalities and powers of the present age still rage against his rule. We are the servants of a disputed sovereignty.

Check it out.

♦ In the Cool Tools Department: One major problem I have in life is time — not enough of it, that is. Being a physician is more than a full-time job, which seriously cuts into the gadzillion other things I enjoy doing, or which are important, and just need to get done. I’m beginning to utilize the GTD (Getting Things Done) approach (popularized by David Allen), although I’m not quite compulsive enough to really master it (actually, I spend so much time looking at GTD sites and tips that I have trouble, well, getting things done…)

This week I stumbled across a remarkable tool in my search for organizational Nirvana, called Backpack. Backpack is a web-based tool for creating To Do lists, project pages, idea buckets, and a host of other extraordinarily useful capabilities. It’s a breeze to master, intuitive, lean & mean interface — the first such web-based tool which you will want to use for getting your life under control. I could spend an hour describing its features and uses, but won’t — if you need to get your life together (organizationally, at least), try it out and be amazed.

♦ From the Dustbin: And closing with a blast from the past, here’s a lengthy, but hopefully worthwhile, meditation /essay of mine, on sitting down for a cuppa’ Joe with God, called The Prayer of Java.

Take care, God bless, and have a great Sunday.