Worth Reading - 12/5

1. Is a Facebook post worth the death penalty? Some information on the internet censorship in Iran, including the video that earned several individuals a sentence of 91 lashes:

“A 30-year-old blogger and photographer has been sentenced to death in Iran for “insulting the prophet of Islam” on Facebook, drawing renewed attention to the country’s notorious human rights record.”

2. Here is my post at the Institute for Faith, Work and Economics, on how the clarity of Scripture helped return a sense of vocation to all Christians:

“Given the connection between the clarity of Scripture and a return of the doctrine of vocation, it should come as no surprise that the development of the sacred/secular divide in vocation began with a drift in the understanding of the ability for all people to interpret Scripture. ”

3. Liberia has decided to hold its scheduled democratic elections despite the threat of Ebola. This article (and the accompanying NPR interview) discuss that. More significantly, they interview a woman so convinced by the Prosperity Gospel of divine protection, she rejects the notion of being concerned over the disease. This is one of the chief dangers of the Health and Wealth gospel:

“Munah Krah is dancing, too. She is a member of the opposition party, which is sponsoring the event. She says she is not afraid of Ebola.

”Because I know I am protected by God,” she says.

Krah believes even if she weren’t washing her hands, she’d still have divine protection — but, at the same time, she is washing her hands.”

4. Amazon reviews can be helpful. Sometimes they can be hilarious. If you need a belly laugh, check out the reviews of these items in the Amazon market place:

           Hutzler 571 Banana Slicer

           An 85" TV, for $40,000 (with free shipping)

5. The Wall Street Journal has some recommendations for you to stop wasting everyone's time at work:

““A small handful of people are really off the charts,” says Chantrelle Nielsen, head of customer solutions at VoloMetrix. In studying more than 25 companies, VoloMetrix has found executives who consume more than 400 hours a week of colleagues’ time, “the equivalent of 10 people working full-time every week just to read one manager’s email and attend his or her meetings,” she says.”

Worth Reading - 12/3

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.”

Worth Reading 12/2

1. A brilliant but tragic obituary. 

“Purmort, Aaron Joseph age 35, died peacefully at home on November 25 after complications from a radioactive spider bite that led to years of crime-fighting and a years long battle with a nefarious criminal named Cancer, who has plagued our society for far too long.”

2. A graphic representation of language family trees.

“When linguists talk about the historical relationship between languages, they use a tree metaphor. An ancient source (say, Indo-European) has various branches (e.g., Romance, Germanic), which themselves have branches (West Germanic, North Germanic), which feed into specific languages (Swedish, Danish, Norwegian).”

3. Trevin Wax shares some of Chesterton's thoughts about the absurdity of injustice.

“In order that men should resist injustice, something more is necessary than that they should think injustice unpleasant. They must think injustice absurd; above all, they must think it startling. They must retain the violence of a virgin astonishment.”

4. Joe Carter explains some of the important info about human trafficking and modern slavery.

“There are more slaves today than were seized from Africa in four centuries of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. In fact, there are more slaves in the world today than at any other point in human history, with an estimated 21 million in bondage across the globe.”

5. USA Today covers homeschooling. Evidence that it isn't just a fundamentalist movement anymore:

“While home-schooling has its merits, it is not for the faint of heart. There is paperwork to keep track of and it is a major time commitment for parents. Then there is the added expense of providing study materials and field-trip opportunities, none of which are subsidized by the property taxes parents pay.”

Worth Reading - 12/1

1. A tribute to life and death on the occasion of the loss of an elderly grandmother. This is a beautiful read.

2. Have you ever wondered why books are organized into chapters? From the New Yorker, here is an explanation.

3. Forbes discusses how Amazon is giving a headache to many brick and mortar stores through their pricing schemes.

Saturday Links - 11/29/2014

1. Given C. S. Lewis' popularity, it is easy to forget some of the places his ideas were out of step with contemporary evangelicalism.

2. Are political progressives mistaken in believing the mid-term elections were not really about their policies?

3. Dan Darling from the ERLC comments on making gratitude our first language.

4. Nathan Finn reviews a new book by Jamin Goggin and Kyle Stroble, Beloved Dust, which emphasizes spiritual disciples. Worth a look.

5. In honor of your weekend Christmas decorating efforts, here is Clark Griswold lighting his Christmas lights.

Weekend Reading - 11/28/2014

1. Joe Carter points out we should be thankful for low cost food.

2. Dylan Pahman argues that religious freedom and economic liberty are closely related over at Public Discourse.

3. The link between Baptists and the Pilgrims. From Baptist Press. Featuring some quotes from the forthcoming book by Nathan Finn and co.

4. Elise Amyx over at The Institute for Faith, Work, and Economics considers the question of shopping on Thanksgiving day.

5. Another  opinion on the blackness of Black Friday, from Josephe Sunde at Acton. This is an interesting thought and worth a look.

Worth Reading - 11/24/14

1. My review of Daniel Heimbach's Book, Why Not Same-Sex Marrriage over at The Gospel Coalition.

2. Time assets and debts. This is a new way of looking at tasks and projects in your life. H/T Trevin Wax.

3. The story of a French atheist becoming a theologian from Christianity today.

4. Time magazine recently published a short article on William Jennings Bryan, who was famous for his role in the Scopes trial. They note that he was largely opposing the logical outworkings of Darwinian evolution, particularly social Darwinism. In the end they don't give him enough credit, but it is a more balanced treatment than he usually gets and it is worth a read.

5. A Saturday Night Live skit on an Executive Order, a play off of the School House Rocks short animated film that covers the life of a Bill.

Weekend Links

1. Here are 15 of the worst Christian book covers of 2014.

2. A scene from Trains, Planes and Automobiles in preparation for safe Thanksgiving travels.

3. Continuing with the Thanksgiving/Family theme, here is an old post from The Art of Manliness on establishing positive family traditions.

4. Over at Public Discourse, Elise Italiano considers what education should look like and whether the 1:1 ratio between students and electronic devices is the best way to construct a classroom.

5. Why do successful people seem to wear the same thing day in and day out? Simplicity.

Worth Reading - 11/21/2014

1. The Habits of Highly Productive Writers. Some observations in The Chronicle of Higher Education about people that get writing projects done.

2. My post from yesterday at the Institute for Faith, Work, & Economics on biblical wisdom for dealing with conflict in the workplace.

3. At First Things, George Weigel claims there is a direct relationship between Vatican II and the fall of the Berlin Wall. It is an interesting read tying in theology, history, and politics.

4. Over at the Acton Institute, Elise Hilton comments on some of the issues of reproductive technology in relation to children's rights.

5. Read Russell Moore's take on President Obama's executive order on "Immigration Reform."