In a few weeks www.ateamblog.com will take you to an entirely different place. We're packing up our bags and moving on to a bigger and better site. The sequel to The A-Team will go live May 18th. Until then, you can follow our progress on Twitter.

Casper the Friendly Ghost.  The title seems a bit like an oxymoron.  Ghosts, after all, are not friendly.  The same is often said of John Calvin.  He was the "tyrant of Geneva."  He was the father of the "frozen chosen."  However, according to Dr. Robert Godfrey, President of Westminster Seminary California, Calvin was a lot more like Casper than we think. 

In his address at the "Calvin's Legacy" Conference this past weekend, Dr. Godfrey shows us how Calvin was actually quite warm and friendly toward his friends and those whom he ministered to in Geneva.  Theodore Beza, Calvin's student and successor, said of the Reformer, "In the common course of life, there was no man more pleasant.  In him all men may see a beautiful example of Christian character."  This side of Calvin comes out most strikingly in his letters, especially as he tried to ease tensions and solve disputes between the Lutheran and Reformed churches of Europe.  When launching polemics against Rome, Calvin could be quite harsh.  But when dealing with the struggling churches of the Reformation, even when Calvin disagreed with them, he was a shining example of moderation and flexibility, and showed a great passion for the unity of the body of Christ.

Read the live blog notes from Dr. Godfrey's lecture here. 

I don't remember many companies giving out free items just for voting in past elections, but this time around there's a growing list of freebies available if you show your "I Voted" sticker.

+ Free star shaped Krispy Kreme donut
+ Free 12 oz. coffee at Starbucks
+ Free chicken sandwich from Chick-Fil-A
+ Happy hour prices all night at the Daily Grill and a free happy hour appetizer
+ Free scoop of ice cream at Ben & Jerry's from 5pm-8pm
+ Pat & Oscars are offering 20% off dine-in orders
+ New customers receive 20% off Pizza Hut orders placed online

Dailydeals.com lists a few others I haven't heard of, likely since they're not in California:

+ Free coffee at Eat'n Park
+ Free taco at California Tortilla
+ Free "Vote America Meal" (3pc chicken tenders, fries, and drink) at Shane's Rib Shack

Some of the more "interesting" ones:

+ Free tattoo removal treatment at New Look in TX
+ Free car wash at Haddad's in PA
+ Free bus service in VA

For those who have only seen John Piper preach in one coat, this weekend at the Desiring God conference Mark Driscoll gave him a new one:

MSNBC ran an interesting article on the nastiness of anonymity on the internet.

Last weekend's GodBlogCon was a great finale. There will be a conference next year, but it will have a renewed vision and name. Coordinator Dustin Steeve offered some reflections on the past few years.

Scriptorium Daily has posted the audio of last weekend's GodBlogCon. I especially recommend Ken Myer's talk.

Those who are wondering about what happened to Joe Carter, you can check out his writings at Culture11.

Obviously I didn't have the best camera for this, but here's a video mix I put together from the Blue Angels show a few weeks ago in Cleveland:

That be right mateys, today be that day of the year when we talk like pirates. Why? All I know is the last scurvy dog who asked that question now lives in Davy Jones locker. So ye best be talkin' like a pirate!

Here be a song to put ye in the mood. So grab some rum and sing along!

I'll be speaking at a C.S. Lewis conference here in Southern California this Saturday. Those in the area will want to check out the happenings. A flyer is available in PDF. Here are the details:

James Spiegel, author of Gum, Geckos, and God, is going on a book blog tour beginning today. The blog tour features 13 blogs and 15 bloggers on 12 posting dates.

Below is the schedule for this blog tour:

July 21 - Spunky Homeschool
July 22  - Beauty from the Heart
July 23 - At a Hen’s Pace
July 24 - A Holy Experience
July 25 - Family Voice
July 28 - Ted Wins
July 29 - In a Mirror Dimly
July 30 - Oversight of Souls
July 31 - Christians in Context
August 1 - The A-Team Blog
August 4 - Embarking
August 5 - Challies.com

Check out www.gumgeckosandgod.com for more details on the Gum, Geckos, and God by James Spiegel.

James and his wife have also started blogging at http://wisdomandfollyblog.com.

This is the third in a series of videos on Eckhart Tolle and Oprah and their New Age cult put together by Richard Abanes. You can see the others here. I do recommend the book we just were talking about in my interview with Abanes... A New Earth, An Old Deception: Awakening to the Dangers of Eckhart Tolle's #1 Bestseller.

The U.S. Senate has decided that it's losing too much money (our money, by the way) feeding itself, so it's privatizing its restaurants. Priceless quote: "And the Senate that knows it can't even run a restaurant will soon vote to have the government run health care."

There's a new apologetics radio show called "In the Public Square." It's hosted by John Snyder, formerly of apologetics.com. It's podcasted and worth checking out.

Those in the So. Cal. area this weekend will want to check out a one-day conference this Saturday the 19th: "Crucial Issues for Christians." It's free at First Southern Baptist Church of Downey from 1pm to 8pm. RSVP is required at 800-922-4748. Here's the schedule:

1:00 PM—2:00 PM - Doug Eaton—Postmodernism and the Emergent Church
2:30 PM—3:30 PM - Lindsay Brooks—Aesthetics and the Christian
4:00 PM—5:00PM - Christopher Neiswonger - The New Atheism
5:00 PM—6:30 PM - Dinner Break -A light Dinner will be served.
6:30 PM—8:00 PM - Donald McConnell - The Sanctity of Life

"The stage was set, the lights went down and in a suburban Japanese primary school everyone prepared to enjoy a performance of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The only snag was that the entire cast was playing the part of Snow White. For the audience of menacing mothers and feisty fathers, though, the sight of 25 Snow Whites, no dwarfs and no wicked witch was a triumph: a clear victory for Japan's emerging new class of “Monster Parents." For they had taken on the system and won. After a relentless campaign of bullying, hectoring and nuisance phone calls, the monster parents had cowed the teachers into submission, forcing the school to admit to the injustice of selecting just one girl to play the title role." (Source: Times of London) The reminds of a post I wrote a few years ago about teachers changing the ink color they use for corrections from red to purple.


Ever worry about what your friends and family will do without you after you're raptured (assuming they're not saved)? Wish you could leave them a personal message or other important documents? Worry no more! For $40 a year "You've Been Left Behind" will store those documents for you, and in event of a rapture, will send them to email addresses you provide. Ain't that handy?

Eckhart Tolle has been selling New Age teaching for years, but recently it really took off when Oprah gave him a huge spotlight. Millions have been buying into his teaching and not enough Christians have been saying something about it. Thankfully, Marica Montenegro has written a great article online explaining what Tolle is teaching and where it goes wrong: A New Earth, Ancient deception: An evaluation of Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose. I'll be interviewing Richard Abanes regarding his new book on Tolle in the next month or so.

A few months ago I thought to myself, "I wonder if there's ever been a switch-pitcher?" Switch-hitting is a useful talent- just imagine how great switch pitching would be! From what I could find out, there's only been one switch-pitcher to pitch in the major leagues, and it was only one game (I'm not sure why since it sounded like he did well). But yesterday, MLB.com posted a video of a guy currently in the minors: What happens when a switch-pitcher faces a switch-hitter? It'll sure be fun to see him in the majors some day!