Weekend Links 12-15-17

A roundup of interesting links for weekend reading:

I've been reading a lot of crime fiction lately particularly from the Golden Age of Crime Fiction in Britain (think Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers and G. K. Chesterson, for example). Naturally then this book is of great interest to me and appears to be must reading for anyone interested in the genre.

This is surprising: it's a good thing to stockpile more books than you'll ever actually read.

It's time to be honest about men. And about human nature.

Comedy doesn't need to mean anything. It's okay for it to just be silly. 

"We should not assume that doing what is best for one's country is always synonymous with doing what is best." Fascinating insight into the Netflix series The Crown.

This is a fun fact:

Full story here. Video here. 

I can relate to this: Why I Can No Longer Call Myself an Evangelical Republican.

Russell Moore: “American evangelicalism is old and sick and weak, and doesn’t even know it.”

This is fun: 20 Calvin and Hobbes comics to get you into the Christmas spirit.

History lesson: the true story of the women who became codebreakers during World War II.

Finally, a little something you'd probably hear playing at our house this time of year: 

Daily Links 2-6-14

In today's links: was a Christian film a victim of bias, how to become a professional author, how Christians should engage culture without falling into the fundamentalist trap, and more.

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I previously noted that Alone Yet Not Alone was honored with an Oscar nomination for best song. But not long after the film was honored the Academy decided to rescind the nomination based on the efforts by the song's producer to lobby Academy members for votes. But his behavior does not seem to be all that different from many other producers. This begs the question whether the film was really victim of some anti-Christian bias in Hollywood.

Related: the producer of Schindler's List says the Oscars are bigoted. Perhaps there is something there after all.

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There's been an ongoing discussion in evangelical circles about how to properly engage the culture and how much we can safely engage before running the risk of sin. Now, Aaron Earls weighs in with some further observations as well as a word of caution for all concerned.

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A good read from Relevant Magazine: the most damaging attitude in our churches.

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Seven ways to judge the effectiveness of your church. Notice that none of these are how many people show up for Sunday morning services.

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Some advice on becoming a professional author from Dave Barry. Hilarious.

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Loads of surprises to be found in these special edition LEGO sets. Fun stuff.

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Daily Links 12-24-13

Good morning! Here are a few links to brighten your day: how A Charlie Brown Christmas almost didn't get made, being offended, male friendship and the lost art of conversation, and more.

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It's a safe bet that if A Charlie Brown Christmas was being pitched to television executives today there is no way the program would get made. A brief look at the special's history explains why.

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On being "offended":

No one has a right not to be offended. Sometimes there are questions of such importance that we are compelled to engage in public discussion knowing that it will be upsetting to do so. Imagine how you would feel if someone suggested that you shouldn't be allowed to argue for positions with which they disagree simply because they are incapable of controlling their emotions.

Indeed.

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A library designed to look like a bookstore:

Wow.

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Speaking of libraries, one Ohio library unearthed quite a surprise: a first edition of A Christmas Carol was in their collection.

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A collection of 12 epic reading rooms:

I want one.

Hat tip: Book Riot

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Why we sing Auld Lang Syne on New Years' Eve.

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A wonderful piece from Acculturated on male friendship and the lost art of conversation:

Men tend to take more time to reach the good depths of conversation, the deep personal stuff that women can plumb to in a few minutes. This is why I believe that one of the factors leading to the erosion of male friendships is that our digital culture doesn’t allow men the time necessary to truly talk to each other, and thus get to know and love each other. I went to high school at an all-boys Prep school in the 1980s, and while a lot of the usual male traits were evident at the place – drinking, girl chasing, sports obsession – there was also the cultivation of conversation. We didn’t have cell phones. We would routinely stay up all night talking, especially in the summer when we would spend weekends at the beach. It was in such conversations that deep bonds were forged. You might start out the night with jokes and sports and girl talk, but as the hours passed you’d move into the heavier stuff: God, the meaning of life, what you live for, what makes you cry. A particularly vivid memory is when a popular kid was killed in a drunk driving accident. After the funeral a bunch of us went up to the roof of an apartment building where his family lived and stayed up all night talking. There was no bleeping iPhone, no constant texting to interrupt the rhythm of the journey ever deeper into a genuine and non-sexual intimacy. It just took us longer to deal with the heavy stuff than the girls, who were more in touch with their emotions.

Daily Links 12-20-13

Some interesting links for your weekend reading: America and the culture of vulgarity, combating legalism, why men don't listen, and more.

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Interesting thoughts on the coarsening of American culture from Dr. Albert Mohler:

The collapse of the barrier between popular culture and decadence has released a toxic mudslide of vulgarity into the nation’s family rooms—and just about everywhere else. There is almost no remote corner of this culture that is not marked by the toleration of vulgarity, or the outright celebration of depravity. 

Lee Siegel has seen this reality, and he doesn’t like it. “When did the culture become so coarse?,” he asks, adding: “It’s a question that quickly gets you branded as either an unsophisticated rube or some angry culture warrior.” 

Siegel wants us all to know that he is neither unsophisticated nor a culture warrior. In his recent feature essay in The Wall Street Journal, “America the Vulgar,” Siegel recites his cultural bona fides. As he relates, “I miss a time when there were powerful imprecations instead of mere obscenity—or at least when sexual innuendo, because it was innuendo, served as a delicious release of tension between our private and public lives.” 

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Dealing with the problem of legalism:

The “L” word. It’s one of the ugliest of all words: legalism. Defined as the idea that we can earn right standing with God, it does violence to the glorious gospel of Christ. It says, “No, sorry, it’s not enough,” to the substitutionary atoning work of Christ. It confuses the way to forgiveness, it tarnishes the gospel of grace, it lays up heavy burdens that no one can carry, it crushes hope, and fuels despair. It declares that man possesses finesse to propitiate the just wrath of God due our sin. For that, legalism is deadly and must be opposed at every level. Paul called it another gospel whose proponents are condemned (Gal 1:8-9).

Consequently, labeling something/one legalistic ought to be done with caution. To bring the charge is to say that this thing or person is in danger of propagating an unsavable system and trampling the cross of Christ. So if we label something legalistic, we better thoroughly understand the gospel, the definition of legalism, and what exactly is happening with what we are labeling as legalistic. Otherwise, we are sinning by erroneously labeling something in opposition to the cross of Jesus Christ.

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Kevin DeYoung has some tough questions for those he refers to as the semi-churched:

This is one of those posts I've wanted to write for awhile, but I wasn't sure how to say what I think needs to be said. The danger of legalism and false guilt is very real. But so is the danger of disobedience and self-deception.

I want to talk about church members who attend their home church with great irregularity. These aren't unchurched folks, or de-churched, or under-churched. They are semi-churched. They show up some of the time, but not every week. They are on again/off again, in and out, here on Sunday and gone for two. That's the scandal of the semi-churched. In fact,Thom Rainer argues that the number one reason for the decline in church attendance is that church members don't go to church as often as they used to. 

We've had Christmas and Easter Christians for probably as long as we've had Christmas and Easter. Some people will always be intermittent with their church attendance. I'm not talking about nominal Christians who wander into church once or twice a year. I'm talking about people who went through the trouble of joining a church, like their church, have no particular beef with the church, and still only darken its doors once or twice a month. If there are churches with membership rolls much larger than their average Sunday attendance, they have either under-shepherds derelict in their duties, members faithless in theirs, or both.

I know we are the church and don't go to church (blah, blah, blah), but being persnickety about our language doesn't change the exhortation of Hebrews 10:25. We should not neglect to meet together, as some are in the habit of doing. Gathering every Lord's Day with our church family is one of the pillars of mature Christianity. 

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Matt Walsh has some observations on why guys don't listen and what we can do about it.

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House plans from classic novels:

More novels featured at the link.

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A collection of vintage ads for libraries and reading:

Daily Links 10-25-13

In today's roundup of links: origins of Star Trek, pitfalls of our celebrity culture, why restarting your computer is the easiest way to fix problems, and more.

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Willie Nelson once sang "Mama, don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys." Now it might be more appropriate to say, "Don't let your babies grow up to be celebrities."

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Star Trek only ran for three years on television but became an instant legend. The irony is that it wouldn't have made it on air at all if it hadn't been for a rather unlikely producer: Lucille Ball.

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Most people know that performing a complete restart on your computer or other electronic device is often the easiest way to fix a problem. Why is that?

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Why we overestimate the power of technology and underestimate the power of words:

Many experts assume that Amazon’s social recommender system is its killer feature. But what exactly about this feature makes it a killer? 

What — in fact — is the magic sauce of Amazon? 

Sure, there is some predictive value in keeping track of many different variables. There always is. It’s probably Amazon’s best kept secret. But I am guessing it’s not only a secret for people outside of Amazon.

If you would ask me what the most persuasive ingredient is of the sauce, I would say it’s copy.
The smartest algorithms make sure you get to see products that you love (to buy). A recommendation engine knows what you really want, what you really really want. Computing thousands of variables is the key to predicting consumer behavior. Right? 

Nah, I don’t buy it. The black box probably does have an impact, but I know for sure that the copy does.

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Play with your food! Some amazing food art:

More here.

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Daily Links 10-10-13

Build your own beverage station, whether testing measures educational accomplishment, Amazon destroying literature, and more in today's roundup of links.

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This is a cool idea:

The best part? The materials all came from Target.

Hat tip: Food Riot

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Is Amazon destroying serious literature? One novelist thinks so. I'm not so sure about that.

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10 Old English words you should be using. Personally, I'm fond of mugwump.

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What if Disney characters had Instagram accounts?

One common critique I hear of education reform is its heavy reliance on standardized tests to measure outcomes. But does testing really accomplish anything? I don't think so.

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Making the case for engaging the culture:

We, you and me and everyone else alive, do theological thinking every day. It’s just that some people do it more consciously than others. That doesn’t mean they do it better, but they are at least more intentional and aware of it.

We’re also all affected by culture, and unless you’re Amish and therefore I’m not entirely sure how or why you’re reading this right now, you interact with pop culture every single day of your life. Thus, it makes great sense for us to take these two everyday realties and acknowledge their deep and important connection. Notice I didn’t say bring them together. That’s important here. These are not two realities that need to be brought together. They already are overlapping, interacting, and informing each other all the time. Theology, spirituality, culture….they mingle as one. 

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An interesting list of 10 things you should know about goals.

Daily Links 9-25-13

Where to find the best burgers, why men aren't singing in church, Babe Ruth getting plunked, pitfalls of modern technology, and more in today's link roundup.

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When I lived in Raleigh, North Carolina years ago I used to frequent a little dive of a burger joint that had some of the best burgers that I have ever tasted. I was happy to discover they are still in business (and still very reasonably priced). So, if you're in the Raleigh area and you want a great burger you have to visit Char-Grill. You will not be disappointed. (Hat tip: Serious Eats)

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I hadn't noticed this but I wonder if it's true that men have stopped singing in church. (Hat tip: Challies)

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A little baseball history: How Babe Ruth brushed off getting plunked.

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I am ashamed to say I can totally relate to this:

This morning I awoke to discover I had no internet access. I don’t mean that after a leisurely breakfast and shower I eventually sat down to my computer and couldn’t get online. I mean I literally “awoke to discover” it, because the first thing I did when my eyes opened was to grab the cell phone from my night stand and check my emails. My inability to do so immediately left me as agitated as a junky in need of a fix, highlighting for me just how addicted I, like countless others, have become to being perpetually connected to the outside world through my phone.

Except that it doesn’t really connect me at all; if anything, my phonedisconnects me from the outside world. Yes, it links me to a multiverse of information and distractions. But there is something about experiencing the world through the addictive central portal of a smartphone that creates a psychological and spiritual distance from the experience and from the world itself.

Read the whole thing.

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I'm not sure whether any of these tips would really be effective, but here are 25 productivity secrets of successful historical figures.

Chivalry Is (Mostly) Dead

First there was the case of Joel Northrup, the kid that refused to wrestle a girl and was roundly lambasted in the press as a result. Then a middle school student is suspended for opening a door for a woman. At first blush the two stories may not seem related. But there is a connection. In both cases, young men are punished for demonstrating respect towards women.

As a father of two girls, I have trained them to expect men to treat them with respect (including but not limited to opening doors or having the decency not to wrestle them).

Rather than punishing these young men for showing respect towards women we should applaud them. Frankly we'd all be better off if young men would demonstrate respect to women - even if they don't ask for it.

Dispatches from the Heartland

Why is it that people are standing up against government policies? Why have the tea parties taken off in popularity? And why is it that both parties, Democrats and Republicans alike, appear to be disconnected from their constituents? Perhaps it's because politicians don't understand what's going on in Middle America, the heartland where values and principles seem to be far different from those of the urban centers of both coasts. Salena Zito takes a look at one such town and finds an America quite different from what Washington thinks it ought to be. And that's not a bad thing at all.

Kids With Intact Families Who Go To Church Most Likely To Do Best

In a case where social science once again affirms common sense, a new study shows that kids who grow up in two parent homes and also go to church have the fewest behavioral problems (Hat tip: Gene Veith):

Children living with both biological parents or adoptive parents who attend religious services regularly are less likely to exhibit problems at school or at home, a new analysis of national data shows.

The study by psychologist Nicholas Zill, the founder of Child Trends, and statistician Philip Fletcher found that children in such a situation -- when compared to children not living with both parents and not attending religious services regularly -- are 5.5 times less likely to have repeated a grade and 2.5 less likely to have had their parents contacted by the school because of a conduct or achievement problem.

Additionally, intact families who have regular religious participation (defined as at least weekly or monthly) are less likely to report parental stress and more likely to report a "better parent-child relationship," the analysis, which focused on families with children ages 6-17, says.

The study, co-released by the Family Research Council and more than 30 state family councils as part of FRC's Mapping America project, was based on interviews in 2003 with parents of more than 100,000 children and teens by the National Center for Health Statistics for the National Survey of Children's Health.

The data "hold[s] up after controlling for family income and poverty, low parent education levels, and race and ethnicity."

"An intact two-parent family and regular church attendance are each associated with fewer problem behaviors, more positive social development, and fewer parental concerns about the child's learning and achievement," Zill and Fletcher wrote. "Taken together, the two home-environment factors have an additive relationship with child well-being. That is, children who live in an intact family and attend religious services regularly generally come out best on child development measures, while children who do neither come out worst. Children with one factor in their favor, but not the other, fall in between ...."

The authors said that children in an intact religious family "are more likely to exhibit positive social behavior, including showing respect for teachers and neighbors, getting along with other children, understanding other people's feelings, and trying to resolve conflicts with classmates, family, or friends."

Pat Fagan, the director of FRC's Center for Family and Religion, said the study should impact social policy.

"Social science data continue to demonstrate overwhelmingly that the intact married family that worships weekly is the greatest generator of human goods and social benefits and is the core strength of the United States," he said in a statement. "Policy makers should strongly consider whether their policy proposals give support to such a family structure. Children are not the only beneficiaries but also their parents, families, communities, and all of society."

Wanted: Real Men

Where have all the real men gone? Where are the men who will take a stand for something? Or will be responsible for their own actions? Protect their family? Be the hero?

If you're like me, you know that such men are hard to find. That's in large part because most men today are a shadow of the men that God designed them to be. Men have been emasculated for years by radical feminism. Our country is paying the price for real men not being around to step up and lead. Families are suffering because real men aren't there to lead them. Churches are becoming weaker because real men haven't stepped up to take charge.

Thankfully, there is hope for men. Author and talk show host Kevin McCullough not only has identified the problem but provides practical solutions in his new book The Kind of Man Every Man Should Be: Taking a Stand for True Masculinity.

The rise of what we now commonly think of as feminism in the 1960s was actually a drastic departure from the classic definition of feminism as it had been commonly understood. As Mr. McCullough argues, the goal of classic feminism was equality between sexes. The goal of radical feminism is sameness.

Taken to its logical conclusion, radical feminism has caused a blurring of the gender roles between men and women. As a result, men are left unsure of who they should be and what their proper role in society actually is. The radical feminists have stripped away men's identity in their effort to achieve sameness between the sexes.

But God did not design men and women to be the same. He did design them to be equal in worth in His kingdom. At the same time, he provided distinctive roles for each sex. Our culture has worked hard to try to remove those distinctions. The result is mass confusion especially among men.

Mr. McCullough, however, doesn't simply make cultural observations in laying out the problems that men face. To his credit, he shares openly how he has been directly affected by his own struggle to understand what it means to be a man of God. His honesty about his own failings is both startling and refreshingly honest. By being willing to open up and offer a glimpse into his own past he brings a sense of authenticity to the problem.

Having thoroughly documented the problem, he then progresses to offering practical solutions. He very neatly encapsulates each idea in a simple slogan that is easy to remember (e.g. "Believe With Certainty", "Act With Clarity", "Fight With Tenacity", to name a few). These action steps help the reader understand how they can practically apply the principles outlined in the book. As with the first half of the book, he again relies in large part on personal experiences to illustrate his points.

When I first received this book, I was anxious to dive right in. I found myself wanting to immediately apply everything I was learning from the book. Little did I know it at the time but the opportunity would arise to put things I was learning into practice immediately. In that respect, this was a timely book for me as I didn't realize until I was done how much I needed to read it.

While this book is primarily written for men, it's also a great book for women. By reading this book, women can get a better idea of what God desires for men to be. It allows women to encourage the men that are in their lives. For a single woman, it gives a great portrait of what they should be looking for in a man.

I highly recommend this book especially to men everywhere. If you are a father and you're raising a son, this is a book you will want to read with him. It's the kind of book that you will want to read with a highlighter in hand ready to mark up the pages. It's also the kind of book that can be read over and over again and still having something fresh for you to learn.

The Kind of Man Every Man Should Be: Taking a Stand For True Masculinity is one of the most important books I've read in a long time. Mr. McCullough should be congratulated for having the courage to write this book. It's a message that men (and women) everywhere need to hear. I'm thankful for this book and can't wait to dive into it again. It has changed my life and I'm sure it could change yours, too.

Click here to listen to my interview with Kevin McCullough.