Jason Locke's Blog

Okay, so what do you think about Harry Potter? We've had believing (as in Christian) friends who thought they were evil books because of the witchcraft. We've had many other believing (as in Christian) friends who had no trouble reading them or allowing their children to read them. I can certainly understand both perspectives, though I have personally come down on the latter side. The upcoming movie will undoubtedly make tons of money for the producers and for J.K. Rowling. Not that she needs any more. She is already fabulously wealthy. I just discovered that the finale will be in two parts. The first comes out at Thanksgiving. The second will be in cinemas next July. The movie trailer is below. When Harry Potter first became popular, I remember thinking of it as nothing more than a glorified kids book series. I didn't understand the rage. My wife was the first in our family to read one of them. I probably started paying attention to them about halfway through the ...

Do you know what it feels like to live in misery? Specifically, I am asking about the pain of mental and spiritual anguish. Do you know the pain of living a life that is falling apart? Here are some scenarios that you might have experienced: Do you know what it feels like to live in the midst of major financial insecurity? Have you seen debts piling up so high and so fast that you just knew there was no way out? Or do you know what it feels like to be in a marriage that seems to be falling apart? Have you replayed ongoing arguments in your mind and in your life with your spouse? Have you felt the pain in your heart just grow and grow until you went practically numb Or have you felt the pain of being maligned and slandered by others? Or have you had a dark secret come to the surface that brought intense humiliation and rejection? Have you been caught in a web of bitterness, believing that everyone is out to get you? If you stop and think about life, you realiz...

A tiny group of (Christian?) radicals on the outskirts of Gainesville, Florida, has grabbed the world's attention. Should they go ahead with their plan to burn copies of the Koran on Saturday? Their act is supposedly to mark the anniversary of the Twin Tower bombings. They portray their actions as a prophetic act against a false religion (Islam). Sadly, this 50-member church fails to realize that its own actions reveal it to be a false church. A great posting on this subject comes from Michael Gorman. He has hit the nail on the head. I encourage you to read his post by clicking here . Such attention-grabbing groups do not have the mind of Christ. By seeking out glory, this church cannot expect more than this desired attention as its reward. In the process, however, these extremist groups drag down the name of Jesus and soil the reputation of legitimate churches. Even good churches are far from perfect. But this Florida group is not an imp...

Remember these words, "You're grounded! No going out with your friends for a week!" Those used to be killer words when I was growing up. (Not that I heard them, mind you.) Today, those words would be applauded or even laughed at. Kids don't want to or need to go out. They "hang out" with their friends in the virtual world of online and texting. Home is the domain where social networking and virtual reality takes hold. Many kids actually WANT to stay home. So a new form of grounding is here. It's called digital grounding. This modern form of grounding involves taking away kids' cell phones or computer access. And for most kids, it's a far more potent punishment than the old style. For more on this subject, see the following excellent article in Sunday's Washington Post. Click http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/05/AR2010090503836.html  to read it.

A brief homemade clip from Mountaineer Field in December 2008, my last time to attend a WVU game. I think they played South Florida and won in an ugly, low-scoring game. I do love college football. Need I say more?

Freeways make transportation easier for us humans. They are signs of progress that most of us welcome. They tend to increase commerce and decrease travel time. Freeways seem to have their downsides, too. First, they are very expensive. Second, they seem to increase automobile travel & some think this leads to increased pollution. A third critique of freeways is that they make changes to ecosystems, sometimes making it difficult for species to move freely. If you need proof of this, just drive the interstates in Pennsylvania in a couple months. You'll see dead deer (as in roadkill) EVERYWHERE. It's kind of disgusting, not to mention dangerous. In Wales, highway developers have come up with a unique solution to this ecosystem problem. Their beloved dormice are already an endangered species, and a new freeway threatened to further decimate the critters. These dormice apparently live entirely in trees. So when they chopped down the trees and laid asphalt, they knew they ...