1. A Georgetown student was mugged and explains why he feels he deserved it.

“Not once did I consider our attackers to be “bad people.” I trust that they weren’t trying to hurt me. In fact, if they knew me, I bet they’d think I was okay. They wanted my stuff, not me. While I don’t know what exactly they needed the money for, I do know that I’ve never once had to think about going out on a Saturday night to mug people. I had never before seen a gun, let alone known where to get one. The fact that these two kids, who appeared younger than I, have even had to entertain these questions suggests their universes are light years away from mine.”

2. The latest edition of Themelios, the academic journal of The Gospel Coalition, is out. There are a number of worthwhile articles and reviews within.

3. Even if you don't read the whole edition of Themelios, here is my review of a brief biography of John Chrysostom:

“Sometimes biographers ruin a good story in the telling. They try to cram every detail of the subject’s life into the book and address every theory about his life, conspiracy or otherwise, that has ever been proposed. This approach often leads to biographies that are informative but not enjoyable. Thankfully, Earl Blackburn has avoided that pitfall in his biography of John Chrysostom. The purpose of this biography is to give readers a view of a major figure in church history in a manner which both delights and instructs. This book deserves full marks on that score.”

4. Some cold, hard, awful facts about the pornification of American culture from Ed Stetzer:

“Each second in the U.S. $3,075 is spent on porn. In that same second 28,000 Internet viewers are looking at porn. Even more staggering is the fact that every 39 minutes an adult sex video is being produced.”

5. How is religion passed down across generations? Kevin DeYoung offers one explanation.

“Intact families do better than families with divorce, and religious homogenous parents are more successful than parents in interfaith marriages. Warm, affectionate parents -– the kind kids admire and look up to — do better than cold, distant parents. And these parents do better with the support of grandparents.”