Good Reads

• Is That God Talking? I still remember how startled I was when a young woman I was interviewing told me God had spoken to her, audibly.

• Why is history important for Christian leadership? Pop culture may be obsessed with the pope’s red shoes, but Christian leaders can’t live entirely in the present. Christians should move toward the future without letting go of the past.

• Lack of sleep blights pupils’ education: Sleep deprivation is a significant hidden factor in lowering the achievement of school pupils, according to researchers carrying out international education tests.

• Is Bad Doctrine Sin? I suppose that I want bad doctrine to always be sin. That way, it is easy for me to explain why people don’t agree with me. If we are not on the same page theologically, the answer is simple: they are in sinful rebellion to the truth.

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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.

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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.

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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