• Writing with Banana Peels: Humor Principles, Practices, and Pratfalls is now available! (Read Table of Contents, sample chapters and endorsements, and of course, buy a case for family and friends!)
But wait, there’s more at jameswatkins.com!
• I’m now on YouTube with three of my favorite sketches as well excerpts from talks at American Christian [...]
Brand spankin’ new articles
• A case for women in ministry
• Government offers bailout to churches going under
• Internet preferred source of news 5 to 1 over newspapers
• Jon & Kate plus fate
• Michael Jackson: Brilliant and bizarre
• Life’s VCR
• This week’s light touch for heavy times: “In this world you will have trouble”
Pic: Top ten signs you had a bad Christmas
Inside this issue
Heavy topics
• New look, new attitude
• Know your Palestinian players
Light touch
• Top ten signs you had a bad Christmas
• The 365 Days of Christmas
• My annual predictions for the new year
• Finely-aged believers
• And more!
New look, new attitude
JamesWatkins.com is sporting a new [...]
My friend, Dennis Hensley, and I wrote the devos for The Cure, the American Bible Society’s Contemporary English Version of the Bible for students.
The 52 full-color devotionals tackle current issues that teens are facing in today’s world. It includes the Old Testament and New Testament as well as 12 introductory pages on why the Bible [...]
I’m up to my mustache in a deadline, but I’m taking a quick break for a few rants on . . .
Connecticut connects same-sex couples
On October 10, the Supreme Court of Connecticut ruled same-sex unions legal. This week, a lower court finalized the decision and gay couples began marrying. After California voters banned same-sex unions, [...]
Seth Godin’s new book Tribes is changing the face of “marketing.” Here are some of his main points from his one-hour online lecture:
Crowds v. Tribes
Crowds have little in common. They can be bought.
Tribes (church, work, community, etc.) have something in common (a cause, message, connection) Cannot be bought, but must be invested in.
Three [...]
I was at the Indianapolis Christian Writers Conference Friday, so too busy for a “Random Rant Friday” post. Instead, some Monday musings:
The state of publishing
I sat in a fascinating brainstorming session on “The Future of Publishing” moderated by Keith Drury. Look for more electronic publishing, shorter books and articles, customized books and text books for [...]
Mike Gene has a great article on assessing all the heated arguments between now and election day—or anytime. Here are excerpts and main points from The 10 Signs of Intellectual Honesty:
When it comes to just about any topic, it seems as if the public discourse on the internet is dominated by rhetoric and propaganda. People [...]
(Use the “comment” section to suggest a caption. Lots of possibilities!)
Polling the polls
The only polls that count are those on election day, but that hasn’t stopped the pollsters!
While virtually every poll shows Senator Barack Obama in the lead, his percentage over Senator John McCain is all over the map as suggested by an interesting [...]
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