Good Reads

• How labels like ‘black’ and ‘working class’ shape your identity: Social labels aren’t born dangerous. There’s nothing inherently problematic about labeling a person “right-handed” or “black” or “working class,” but those labels are harmful to the extent that they become associated with meaningful character traits.

• When Christians become a ‘hated minority’: We’ve heard of the “down-low” gay person who keeps his or her sexual identity secret for fear of public scorn. But Sprigg and other evangelicals say changing attitudes toward homosexuality have created a new victim: closeted Christians who believe the Bible condemns homosexuality but will not say so publicly for fear of being labeled a hateful bigot.

• Rogue Philosopher, Great Communicator: 200 years after his birth, in ways that are not always immediately apparent, Kierkegaard still matters.

• When We Hate What We Love: Unplugging alone was not a remedy to relationship, to productivity, or to much of anything else.

Continue Reading…

don't mess with father and son day

Good Reads

• You Can’t Pack Everything Into Your Sermon: Just like a Dad has to break it to his little girl that she cannot bring 7 stuffed animals and 4 dollies, so to the preacher needs to break it to himself that he can’t bring every good quote that Tim Keller has ever said about the gospel. For the sake of your family, you have to leave some stuff behind.

• Why Isn’t Servant Leadership More Prevalent? With servant leadership, a leader’s primary role is to serve employees. Everyone from Lao-Tzu to Max De Pree thinks this a wonderful model. Why then, asks Professor Jim Heskett, is this style so rare among CEOs?

• Are Christian Statistical Researchers Like Jesus, the Pharisees, or Oliver Stone? There’s nothing new about people’s claiming that they’re like Jesus while other people are not (see “Historical Jesus, Quest for the”), but a stroll through the annals of Christian History shows us that whenever these episodes arise, the most interesting thing to watch is how people wind up defining the person and work of Jesus. Invariably, the temptation when deciding who among us is the most like Christ is to stack the deck beforehand by defining Christ in ways that make Him most like me.

• Why You Should Not Listen to Me: Influence. It’s a funny thing. It’s inescapable–someone will always be perceived to have it or not have it, to either use or misuse it.

Continue Reading…

In case you missed anything, here are our top posts from the last month. We had a great time exploring our personalities (introversion and extroversion), my upcoming transition to the doctoral program at Wheaton College, the nature of heresy, and the relationship between the mind and worship. All in all, it was a good month!

• I’m Just Not Wired That Way

• Digging for Doctoral Students

• I’m Not Wired That Way Either: The Extrovert’s Excuse

• I’m a Heretic, You’re a Heretic, Wouldn’t You Like to Be a Heretic Too?

• Shut Up and Worship

Good Reads

• The Socially Acceptable Sin: It’s everywhere in our society and churches, yet almost never talked about.

• The Complementarian Woman: Permitted or Pursued? permit. It is a word women in complementarian settings hear with some frequency, and how our male leaders use it shapes our ability to contribute to church life.

• Isolated in America: I wonder if social isolation — not extremist religion or Chechen roots — explains the two brothers who set off bombs during the Boston Marathon, killing three and wounding more than 170.

• Foster a Culture of Gratitude: Research on gratitude and appreciation demonstrates that when employees feel valued, they have high job satisfaction, are willing to work longer hours, engage in productive relationships with co-workers and supervisors, are motivated to do their best, and work towards achieving the company’s goals.

Continue Reading…

the perfect birthday card note

Good Reads

• Wanted: An Adult Faith in a Youth Culture: I want a church where I know and feel that the adults are in charge, where wisdom trumps enthusiasm, where historical perspective is considered, where depth is valued as much as breadth, where stories have shaped us for generations.

• There Are No Saints Online: Hate is a source of acknowledged pleasure. Hate-watching. Hate-listening. Hate-reading. These are all things that you, your friends, and your neighbors, not monsters, likely do. We deliberately expose ourselves to objects of contempt to stoke inner outrage in order to enjoy the release of fury.

• The innovation of the early American church: Although it is commonplace today for Christians to create organizations that tackle social problems, that approach was an innovation in the American Protestant church, says one of the nation’s top church historians.

• The Place of Blogs in Academic Writing: In this post I attempt to tackle a complex but increasingly important question: Should writers cite blog posts in formal academic writing (i.e. journal articles and books)? Unfortunately, rather than actually tackle this question, I find myself running sporadically around it. At best, I bump into the question a few times, but never come close to pinning down an answer.

Continue Reading…

Good Reads

• The Lost Boys Give Back: The Lost Boys of Sudan are a group of thousands of young men from Sudan who fled the violence of their villages and lived in refugee camps for years before they were relocated to the United States, Australia, and other nations. After the cease-fire in 2005, many of them are looking homeward, and using the education and skills they’ve learned to help those who remain in Sudan.

• Heaven Won’t Be Boring: If you lack a passion for heaven, I can almost guarantee it’s because you have a deficient and distorted theology of heaven (or you’re making choices that conflict with heaven’s agenda). An accurate and biblically energized view of heaven will bring a new spiritual passion to your life.

• The Benefits of Church: One of the most striking scientific discoveries about religion in recent years is that going to church weekly is good for you. Religious attendance — at least, religiosity — boosts the immune system and decreases blood pressure. It may add as much as two to three years to your life. The reason for this is not entirely clear.

• The Mystery of Original Sin: We don’t know why God permitted the Fall, but we know all too well the evil and sin that still plague us.

Continue Reading…