Jason Mccool > Recent Status Updates

Just finished reading about the Remonstrants and the Synod of Dort. I'm really enjoying this historical tour of theology.

Two good forewards by Joel Beeke and John MacArthur. Interesting history of "precalvinism" from Augustine up through scholastic debates. About to start the Reformation era in Chapter 2. Relatively easy reading and a good balance of depth of footnotes (not just obscure citations for deeper research, but also helpful explanations).

Mrs. D'Amato has an engaging, conversational writing style (although rather informal, profane, and disorganized). But so far, she ignores the elephant in the room: what is the unborn child & is killing him or her justified? She admits multiple times her unease with abortion in nursing school, as well as when seeing a 2nd trimester abortion, and yet she perseveres in her obstinate support of abortion. Very sad.

Heartbreaking read & only 2 chapters in. The author's cynicism is a real turnoff. I always want to read the opposing side, but so far this makes the abortion side out worse than the prolife side ever could.

This really has been a fascinating book. Whether you look at the human body from a structural, mechanical, electrical, or computer science engineering perspective, it's just mind-blowing the complexity & genius of the design.

Some overlap in some of the essays, but all good reminders of the timelessness of what Neil Postman wrote 4 decades ago.

Just finished reading about the extraordinarily complex but brilliant design of the human ear. I think people would be more skeptical of evolutionary fairy tales if they understood the immense design inherent in their own body.

It's a really good message for a wealthy, consumer culture to read. Even in this chapter of life where I don't have as much discretionary income as in the past, Burroughs still helps me appreciate all that I do have.

A real gem of a book. Burroughs is insightful in his observations of the human condition & humble & pastoral in his tone, even with 4 centuries separation from us. "Lightly edited" for readability, this is a great series of classic works of the Puritans. This one is especially applicable to those of us living in an affluent culture.

Berlinski applies a razor-sharp wit to the frequently condescending atheists who ironically look down on the religious from positions supported by thin air. His candid (quite blunt) observations of that ungrounded view are refreshingly direct.

Good stuff. A lot that should probably be obvious, but like most obvious, common sense observations, it takes someone pointing them out before we really see them, I suppose.

Really fascinating deep dive into the systems engineering of the human body.

I like that Cal offers several variants of deep work routines.

What can I say? I am that knowledge worker with attention fragmented by a thousand distractions, struggling to focus, frustrated by lack of progress on anything, to whom Cal is writing. The rare times that I have felt like I really accomplished something useful were exactly what Cal calls deep work. But they're never consistent. So Cal's already convinced me of the book's main premise. Now to implement.