Weekend Links 12-8-17

A few items of interest for your weekend reading:

Author Stephen Mansfield explores the reasons why evangelicals so enthusiastically supported President Trump. His analysis is well worth reading. Also related: why Trump and other similar candidates are causing a crisis of faith among evangelicals.

Kevin DeYoung weighs in with Ten Questions to Ask for Voting in a Two Party 
System.

In the wake of recent sex scandals a great reminder that our hope is not in man.

Albert Mohler explains why Christians should support the death penalty. Be sure to read all the way through as his article carefully explains exactly when and why it should be supported.

Is this one of the greatest moments in the history of film? Probably. Now I need to go watch this again.

"Mary Poppins" is a Subversive Critique of Modernity. No, really, it is.

Want to be more productive? Stop doing these three things.

Finally, here is one song that is a must at Christmas:

Daily Links 3-7-14

Here are a few links to help start your weekend off right: the importance of inerrancy, reading with your eyes shut, more on buying your way onto the bestseller list, and more.

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Dr. Albert Mohler discusses a new book on inerrancy in an enlightening interview. Here's his take on the importance of inerrancy for a robust pulpit ministry:

It makes all the difference in the world. It may not appear at first that it necessarily would, because there are a lot of preachers in this day and age who reject the inerrancy of Scripture and still feel like they have something to say. No doubt, they still have something to say, but that’s really not the issue. The issue is: what are we able to tell people the text of Scripture is and what is its demand upon us? The question is not whether the preacher has something to say, but whether God is going to say something through the preacher and through his Word. And, if the preacher has any question whatsoever about the truth status of the Word of God, it will inevitably shift to the preaching. The shift from “I’m going to preach the Word” to “I’m going to find something in this witness worthy of my attention and preaching.”

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The SAT is about to go through some pretty dramatic changes. The big news is that the essay requirement will disappear. Also the fact that they are willing to partner with Khan Academy to provide free prep materials is pretty big news, too.

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Reading with your eyes shut: a collection of audiobooks for kids. I would also add the following titles to this list: A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket (read by Tim Curry), The Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer (read by Nathaniel Parker) and Framed by Frank Cottrel Boyce (read by Jason Hughes).

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Good news for bloggers: Getty Images is allowing their library of photographs to be used for free.

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This is interesting: why highly successful people crave mistakes.

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As if I didn't have enough things on the Internet to waste my time on: a website that allows you to virtually play the best golf courses in the world for free.



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Homeschooling for higher education: a proposal that makes a whole lot of sense (Hat tip: Glenn Reynolds)

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A review of the new Roku streaming stick. I don't know how well this works but I love my Roku.

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Following up on yesterday's story, five reasons that it's wrong to buy your way onto the bestseller list. Some good food for thought here.

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Growing up in North Carolina as a Tar Heel fan and as a student at UNC, Dean Smith was a hero to Tar Heels everywhere. His basketball teams were a joy to watch for many reasons. Sadly, Coach Smith is battling dementia. This article at ESPN provides some insight into what life is like these days for the man folks called Coach.

Daily Links 2-11-14

In today's edition: the myself I was yesterday, what Al Mohler and Jay-Z have in common, the most significant spiritual decision, and more.

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What Al Mohler and Jay-Z have in common. You might think not much but they do share one common trait:

Dr. Al Mohler is the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. His interests appear to include: reading, classical music, ties, and world affairs.  

Jay-Z is one of the most prolific rappers of the last decade.  Jay is known for his platinum albums, flashy lyrics, Illuminati allegations, and being a hip-hop mogul. 

Yet, these two men share a common skill.  Although these men have pursued radically different goals, and have vastly different worldviews, these men have the unique ability to raise up leaders. They both share a reputation for identifying promising talent and then putting time, energy, and resources into developing these future leaders with the hope that one day they will go on to do great things. 

Be sure to read the whole thing.

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Timeless time management lessons from Winston Churchill. I'm finding it more and more effective to apply just these sorts of lessons and not allow myself be distracted by the sheer number of things that I have to do.

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Our most significant spiritual decision. We made a similar decision sixteen years ago when our second daughter was born. Although we weren't in the same position as this couple I can heartily agree this was one of the best decisions we ever made.

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A collection of 12 essential quotes from Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Related: if you haven't read Eric Metaxas' excellent biography Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy you should.

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The Myself I Was Yesterday - Tim Challies on men and friendship:

In my adult life I have been blessed with some dear and intimate friends. I have come to depend on them in some way, to rely on their counsel, to covet their prayers, to savor the times we spend together, to miss them when we are apart—in short, to love them, and to enjoy the very things I was told I should not enjoy.

But it has not come easily. It has taken a commitment from them to push past my defenses and it has taken effort from me to see that this is okay. It has required fighting against the tide, so to speak, bringing truth to bear against old errors. And biblical truth really does counter than ugly nonsense that claims that men shouldn’t have close friendships, that they should not be committed to one another, that they should never say, “I love you.” 

But I have found, and am finding, that friendship is worth the fight. It is worth the fight in finding men with whom I genuinely enjoy spending time and with whom I love to share experiences, but even more, it is worth the fight in finding men who will make me a better man.

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Some helpful tips for taking control of your e-mail inbox. If you're like me, e-mail can be overwhelming. But applying these tips will help you take control of it rather than it controlling you.

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This is a startup I could support: you design your own guitar and they will build it for you.

Daily Links 2-7-14

Good morning! Here are a few links to start off your weekend: debating creationism, time to stop Facebook lurking, the importance of writing letters by hand, and more.

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Earlier this week, the Creation Museum hosted a debate between co-founder Ken Ham and Bill Nye. In case you missed the debate, here's a great recap from Dr. Albert Mohler on what was discussed.

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It's time to stop Facebook lurking:

For all of the good it’s done in connecting us all, Facebook has redefined the way we think about community in a singular way: It’s turned us into a culture of lurkers.

Where actual community requires that its members compromise and meet certain social requirements (like listening, interacting, being in relationship), Facebook allows users to join a community on their own terms. With its filters, search tools and editing powers, it’s turned community into a product that can be customized by its customers. 

We see, react and share only what we choose to. And, there’s nothing preventing us from standing on the sidelines and just lurking into lives we’re not involved in. 

Real community is predicated on two-way communication: The delivery of information and feedback. Though social media applications like Facebook have plenty of tools that enable back-and-forth discussion, scanning a newsfeed and checking out profiles turns community into a consumer experience: It distills conversations into one-way updates, that are filtered into easy-to-consume streams.

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This week also saw the conclusion of series three of the popular BBC program Sherlock. Here's why we love the show so much. After the final episode concluded, I was left wanting to see more. That's what good television will do.

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Tim Challies on the new book The Gospel at Work:

The Gospel at Work is a new book from Greg Gilbert and Sebastian Traeger and its big idea is this: You work for the king, and this changes everything. No matter what you do, your work has value because you are doing it for the Lord and who you work for is far more important than the details of what you do. This means that there is no such thing as a meaningless job and no such thing as a job that is insignificant. 

Much of the book is structured around two of the ways that we can allow our work to become sinful. Each represents an extreme. For some the temptation is idleness at work while for others the temptation is idolatry of work. Some hope to find their significance and worth in the work they do so that work becomes “the primary object of our passions, our energy, and our love. We end up worshiping our job.” But then others “can slip into being idle in our work. When we fail to see God’s purposes in our work, we don’t really care much about it. We fail to give any attention to it, or we despise it and generally neglect our responsibility to serve as if we are serving the Lord.” And, sadly, both of these extremes are celebrated in our culture. 

The challenge of The Gospel at Work is to avoid those extremes, and the way to do that is to work out the implications of the gospel in what you do.“ If you are a Christian, we want to challenge you to begin connecting the reality of what God has done for you in Christ to your job, thinking carefully about how this applies to and changes the way you think about your work.”

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Brett McKay (from The Art of Manliness) on the importance of writing letters by hand:

In our hyper-connected world, with its text messaging and its Facebooking and its Twittering, the good, old-fashioned handwritten letter has nearly become extinct. Which is a shame because when it comes to sharing one’s true thoughts, sincere sympathies, ardent love, and deepest gratitude, words traveling along the invisible digital superhighway will never suffice. Why?

Because sending a letter is the next best thing to showing up personally at someone’s door. Ink from your pen touches the stationery, your fingers touch the paper, your saliva seals the envelope. Something tangible from your world travels through machines and hands, and deposits itself in another’s mailbox. The recipient handles the paper that you handled and they see your personality and individuality conveyed in your handwriting. 

So what keeps folks from taking advantage of the marvels of letter writing? Laziness, primarily. But I also think there’s an intimidation factor in play. Thanks to Ken Burns documentaries in which talented voice actors read eloquent 19th century correspondences, a misguided belief has formed that if you’re going to write a letter by hand, it needs to be filled with ponderous gravitas. Both roadblocks can be eliminated with a bit of preparation and education.

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Six ways to salvage an unproductive day. I've had my fair share of those.

Daily Links 1-31-14

In today's edition: Common Core and reading, faithful thinking, Sherlock and male friendship, ditching social media, and more.

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Lost in the debate over Common Core standards is that they inhibit teachers' ability to instill a love for reading in students:

How did you develop a love for reading?

Ask George Saunders, Barry Hannah, or Andrea Barrett. For each of these writers, their love for reading was realized in a K-12 classroom. For Maya Angelou, it’s thanks in part to Miss Kirwin, a “brilliant teacher” at the George Washington High School in San Francisco. For John McPhee, it’s thanks in part to Olive McKee, an English teacher he had for three years. Of course, you don’t have to look to lauded authors. Most readers, writers, and book-lovers can point you to a moment in their educational journeys where a love for reading was inspired in them by a passionate K-12 teacher. 

However, the ability of schools and teachers to foster a love for reading in students is under assault in today’s educational climate. We live in a time of high-stakes accountability, where quantifiable metrics, namely standardized test scores, are used to judge students, teachers, and schools. Now, we are faced with the Common Core, new standards in Math and English Language Arts that are sweeping the nation. Incentivized by billions in federal grant dollars, 45 states are adopting the Common Core, with some states rolling out their implementations over the last two school years and other states waiting until next school year. 

With these new standards come new tests, namely the Smarter Balanced assessment and PARCC, which are expected to take up to 10 hours for students to complete every year, starting in third grade. These tests will dominate students and teachers’ lives and turn many engaging classrooms into test prep zones. This myopic focus on testing places an extraordinary burden on students and teachers — such an extreme focus detracts from students’ educational experiences and greatly impedes schools and teachers’ ability to foster a love for reading in all students.

This should matter not only to students, parents, and teachers, but to publishers, writers, readers, and booksellers across America. If we want reading to flourish as a pastime and a serious pursuit, schools must be able to devote the necessary time and resources toward reading for pleasure.

Hat tip: Book Riot

The problem with putting so much emphasis on standardized tests as a measure of educational progress is that curriculum then is tailored towards teaching to the test rather than actually educating the child.

The other major flaw in such programs is the inherent desire to treat students as a homogeneous group. As we have discussed here before every student is different and so it should not be unreasonable to think that their education should be tailored to the needs and the learning style of the student.

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Seven observations on church discipline from Thom Rainer. These are some good thoughts on an important topic.

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Sherlock as an example of male friendship. The author is probably overstating it a bit that it's the best example ever but it is certainly a very good example of what male friendship should look like.

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A collection of unique town slogans you are unlikely to see anywhere else.

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Dr. Albert Mohler on developing a Christian worldview:

A robust and rich model of Christian thinking—the quality of thinking that culminates in a God-centered worldview—requires that we see all truth as interconnected. Ultimately, the systematic wholeness of truth can be traced to the fact that God is himself the author of all truth. Christianity is not a set of doctrines in the sense that a mechanic operates with a set of tools. Instead, Christianity is a comprehensive worldview and way of life that grows out of Christian reflection on the Bible and the unfolding plan of God revealed in the unity of the Scriptures. 

A God-centered worldview brings every issue, question, and cultural concern into submission to all that the Bible reveals, and it frames all understanding within the ultimate purpose of bringing greater glory to God. This task of bringing every thought captive to Christ requires more than episodic Christian thinking and is to be understood as the task of the church, and not merely the concern of individual believers. The recovery of the Christian mind and the development of a comprehensive Christian worldview will require the deepest theological reflection, the most consecrated application of scholarship, the most sensitive commitment to compassion, and the courage to face all questions without fear. 

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Secrets of creative success: an interview with Cheers writer Rob Long.

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Food for thought: quitting social media. These are all valid points to consider. Like anything else, you need to be wise in how you use it (if at all). 

Daily Links 1-14-14

In today's link roundup: how Malcolm Gladwell returned to faith, what we might not notice while watching Downton Abbey, know your Bible translations, and more.

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Malcolm Gladwell shares his journey on a return to faith while writing his latest book David and Goliath:

When I was writing my book David and Goliath, I went to see a woman in Winnipeg by the name of Wilma Derksen. 

Thirty years before, her teenage daughter, Candace, had disappeared on her way home from school. The city had launched the largest manhunt in its history, and after a week, Candace’s body was found in a hut a quarter of a mile from the Derksen’s house. Her hands and feet had been bound. 

Wilma and her husband Cliff were called in to the local police station and told the news.

Candace’s funeral was the next day, followed by a news conference. Virtually every news outlet in the province was there because Candace’s disappearance had gripped the city. 

“How do you feel about whoever did this to Candace?” a reporter asked the Derksens. 

“We would like to know who the person or persons are so we could share, hopefully, a love that seems to be missing in these people’s lives,” Cliff said. 

Wilma went next. “Our main concern was to find Candace. We’ve found her.” She went on: “I can’t say at this point I forgive this person,” but the stress was on the phrase at this point. “We have all done something dreadful in our lives, or have felt the urge to.” 

I wanted to know where the Derksens found the strength to say those things. A sexual predator had kidnapped and murdered their daughter, and Cliff Derksen could talk about sharing his love with the killer and Wilma could stand up and say, “We have all done something dreadful in our lives, or have felt the urge to.” Where do two people find the power to forgive in a moment like that?

Be sure to read the whole thing.

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Dr. Albert Mohler warns us to not miss the larger story that was taking place during the time of Downton Abbey which is not being fully portrayed on screen.

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A handy graphic guide to Bible translations.

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Word games: 7 words that came about because people kept saying them wrong.

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One writer's list of the 30 best period dramas of the last 30 years. Since we watch more than our fair share of these, here are our favorites from this list  in no particular order (we haven't seen all 30 listed);

Sense and Sensibility
Daniel Deronda
Bleak House
The Young Victoria
Wives and Daughters
Little Dorrit
Pride and Prejudice
North and South

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How wealthy was George Washington? Historians at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation try to answer this question.

Daily Links 1-7-14

A daily roundup of links of interest from the web. In today's edition: how to jumpstart your journaling, alternate covers for books, building a library of literary classics, and more.

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A guide to jumpstarting your journaling. This article is chock full of great ideas how to get started on keeping a journal. If you've never tried it before I highly recommend it.

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Some artistically reimagined book covers. These are pretty amazing.

A reimagined cover for Ray Bradbury's classic novel Fahrenheit 451.

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An illustrated guide to buying classic books (even if you're on a tight budget). The best thing about some of these collections is that they can easily purchased to help decorate your bookshelves and make them look nicer even if you don't intend to read the books.

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Dr. Albert Mohler offers some great suggestions on how to become a more effective and prolific reader.

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There is a Calvinist revival going on in evangelical churches and The New York Times takes notice with a remarkably good article.

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The results of Baseball Hall of Fame voting will be announced soon but before we get to that we can look at a list of 50 best players not currently in the Hall.

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From Art of Manliness, a terrific article on how to gain the respect you deserve at work.

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How to build the perfect snowman.

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 11-1-13

Happy Friday! Here's a super-sized roundup of links for your weekend reading pleasure. The Right Stuff 30 years later, benefits of procrastination, separation of church and state, marriage and religious freedom, and much, much more.

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Last week, Dr. Albert Mohler addressed the students and faculty at Brigham Young University on the critical issue of marriage and religious freedom. An excerpt:

The moral revolution we are now witnessing on the issue of homosexuality is without precedent in human history in terms of its scale and velocity. We are not looking at a span of centuries, or even the length of one century. This revolution is taking place within a single human generation. 

I would argue that no moral revolution on this scale has ever been experienced by a society that remained intact, even as no moral revolution of this velocity has yet been experienced. We can now see more clearly where this revolution began. It is virtually impossible to see where it ends. 

But, for the first time in the experience of most Americans, the moral revolution revolving around marriage, the family, and human sexuality is now clearly becoming a religious liberty issue. The rights of parents to raise their children according to their most basic and fundamental theological and moral convictions are now at stake. Courts have ruled in some jurisdictions that parents cannot even “opt out” their children from sex education driven by moral revisionism. Legislatures in California and New Jersey have made it illegal for mental health professionals to tell minors that there is anything wrong with homosexual sexuality, orientation, or relationships. Parents are put on notice. How long will it be before the moral authority of the secular state is employed to allow children to “divorce” their parents? How long before the logic of sexual revolution and sexual self-expression leads to parents being told what they must allow and facilitate with their own children when it comes to sex, gender, and sexual orientation? The logic of moral change by legal coercion is already fully on display in many modern legal debates. How long will a respect for parental rights and religious liberty hold back the flooding river of this moral revolution?

Read the whole thing.

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A 95 year old World War II veteran who was a POW of the Burma Railway (made famous in The Bridge on the River Kwai) has come forward to tell his story. This is a fascinating account and I'm glad he decided to write a book. I hope it will be available here in the U. S.

Procrastination is a bad thing - or is it? Perhaps it doesn't necessarily need a cure.

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Seven obstacles to enjoying Sabbath rest. By the way, I disagree with the premise that it's not a mandate for Christians. I believe that the creation account from Genesis 1 as well as the Ten Commandments makes it clear that it is mandated.

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A historical examination of why we separate church and state (Hat tip: Acton Institute Power Blog)

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It's been thirty years since The Right Stuff first appeared on movie screens. Here's a look back at the film that helped Hollywood shake its "Vietnam Syndrome".

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The first automated library in the U. S. has opened in Norman, Oklahoma. It's kind of a Redbox for books. While on one hand this seems like a neat idea, I am not sure that I'm comfortable with the idea of not being able to browse for books.

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In defense of Disney princesses:

Disney movies aren’t telling girls that they should limit their aspirations to becoming princesses (although young women sometimes do become one, so be ready); they are teaching them to adopt the values of Disney princesses: kindness (Snow White), compassion (Ariel), intelligence (Belle), humility (Cinderella), courage (Merida), and determination (Tiana), among others. These are worthy attributes for boys as well as girls, but the point is that Disney isn’t steering girls toward being future trophy wives – it’s promoting values that make you a decent person, regardless of your career or lack thereof.

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It's Friday. Trevin Wax has some advice on what you should be saying at the end of the work week.

I'm writing this post on a Friday. It's been a frantic week, with a higher-than-usual number of meetings to attend, decisions to make, content to create, and people needing a response.

When I leave my office this afternoon, I will be leaving behind an inbox full of emails awaiting response.

There are editorial tasks I hoped to cross off my list this week. Unfortunately, they have risen in defiance of my careful agenda and have chosen to stubbornly persist into next week's to-do list.

hen I leave, I'll have my laptop bag strapped on my shoulders, but it's all the stuff I carry around in my mind that will weigh me down. The blogs to write, curriculum to edit, writers to enlist, the teams I lead, the contacts I need to make...

And like I do every week, I will whisper to myself as I walk out the door: And God saw that it was good.

Daily Links 10-29-13

Links of interest rounded up daily. In today's edition, the nanny state strikes again, advice from a father to son, twenty years of leadership, and more.

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Dr. Albert Mohler reflects on twenty years as president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. It hasn't always been an easy road. (Hat tip: Challies)

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Advice from a father to son:

I encourage you, my son, to be a conservative but not in the narrowly political sense. Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats embody the fullness of true conservatism, and I have no desire here to give you partisan advice. I want to draw you to something deeper, a way of life that is grounded in essential truths about God, man, and society.

The true conservatism I would steer you toward begins with a foundational truth that is revealed to us in the Bible but which has always struck me as the height of common sense: namely, that we were made in God’s image but are now fallen. The first part is the ground of all human dignity and intrinsic worth. Apart from it, we are nothing more than great apes with no ultimate claim to specialness. The second part is the reality check, the reason why we need laws and limits, checks and balances. 

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Reason #4,378 to homeschool: A school district tells a mother she has to provide a doctor's note in order to pack her child's lunch. No kidding. (Hat tip from my lovely wife, via Free Republic)

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Who was the first African-American major league baseball player? If you answered Jackie Robinson, you would be wrong.

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Neil Gaiman on getting children to read:

The simplest way to make sure that we raise literate children is to teach them to read, and to show them that reading is a pleasurable activity. And that means, at its simplest, finding books that they enjoy, giving them access to those books, and letting them read them. 

I don't think there is such a thing as a bad book for children. Every now and again it becomes fashionable among some adults to point at a subset of children's books, a genre, perhaps, or an author, and to declare them bad books, books that children should be stopped from reading. I've seen it happen over and over; Enid Blyton was declared a bad author, so was RL Stine, so were dozens of others. Comics have been decried as fostering illiteracy.

It's tosh. It's snobbery and it's foolishness. There are no bad authors for children, that children like and want to read and seek out, because every child is different. They can find the stories they need to, and they bring themselves to stories. A hackneyed, worn-out idea isn't hackneyed and worn out to them. This is the first time the child has encountered it. Do not discourage children from reading because you feel they are reading the wrong thing. Fiction you do not like is a route to other books you may prefer. And not everyone has the same taste as you.

Well-meaning adults can easily destroy a child's love of reading: stop them reading what they enjoy, or give them worthy-but-dull books that you like, the 21st-century equivalents of Victorian "improving" literature. You'll wind up with a generation convinced that reading is uncool and worse, unpleasant. We need our children to get onto the reading ladder: anything that they enjoy reading will move them up, rung by rung, into literacy. (Also, do not do what this author did when his 11-year-old daughter was into RL Stine, which is to go and get a copy of Stephen King's Carrie, saying if you liked those you'll love this! Holly read nothing but safe stories of settlers on prairies for the rest of her teenage years, and still glares at me when Stephen King's name is mentioned.).

Read the whole thing.

Hat tip: Book Riot

Daily Links 10-22-13

Churches are too busy, churches aren't preaching the Bible, C. S. Lewis' marriage, and more in today's roundup of links.

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Last week's Strange Fire conference caused quite the stir if my Twitter feed is any indication. People on both sides of the spiritual gifts issue were weighing in on the conference. Since I haven't studied the issue thoroughly I haven't taken a position. In fact, I spent the last several days wondering why this was being made an issue at this particular time and whether John MacArthur had committed a serious error in hosting this conference. Tim Challies offers his observations from the conference and I have to say that while it has not really helped me settle on a position on the issue of spiritual gifts it does at least shed some light on why this conference was so important and so timely.

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Most churches are too busy, according to Dr. Thom Rainer:

Most churches—more than eight out of ten—are busy. Too busy. These churches need to slim down their plethora of programs, activities, and ministries. They need to go on a busyness diet.

Dr. Rainer goes on to outline seven reasons churches need to reduce their busyness. If you are a church leader you would be well served to read the entire article and consider how your church can reduce its level of activities.

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Dr. Albert Mohler wrestles with the question of why so many churches hear so little of the Bible:

“It is well and good for the preacher to base his sermon on the Bible, but he better get to something relevant pretty quickly, or we start mentally to check out.” That stunningly clear sentence reflects one of the most amazing, tragic, and lamentable characteristics of contemporary Christianity: an impatience with the Word of God.

The sentence above comes from Mark Galli, senior managing editor of Christianity Today in an essay entitled, “Yawning at the Word.” In just a few hundred words, he captures the tragedy of a church increasingly impatient with and resistant to the reading and preaching of the Bible. We may wince when we read him relate his recent experiences, but we also recognize the ring of truth.

Galli was told to cut down on the biblical references in his sermon. “You’ll lose people,” the staff member warned. In a Bible study session on creation, the teacher was requested to come back the next Sunday prepared to take questions at the expense of reading the relevant scriptural texts on the doctrine. Cutting down on the number of Bible verses “would save time and, it was strongly implied, would better hold people’s interest.”

As Galli reflected, “Anyone who’s been in the preaching and teaching business knows these are not isolated examples but represent the larger reality.”

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Politically charged social media interactions can hurt your witness for Christ:

You can't blurt at a people and reach a people at the same time. This is true no matter how satisfying it feels to add your voice to the political rants on social media.

In the current political climate in our nation, with shutdowns and blame, I have watched the volume grow and the civility shrink.

I believe in the importance of civility for civility's sake. Yet, I think it goes even further than that if you are a Christian who wants to reach those disconnected from the church. In other words, I believe the way we handle political issues has a missional implication. So a few days ago, I posted this thought to Facebook (and a shorter version on Twitter):

"Statistically, the unchurched lean heavily Democrat. So—and I know it's just me talking crazy now—if you want to reach the unchurched, maybe constant Facebook/Twitter posts about how stupid Democrats are might be a bad idea."

The post was shared hundreds of times on both social media outlets and appeared to draw a largely positive response, so I thought it may be appropriate to elaborate a bit on this idea and why it's so important.

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A new biography of C. S. Lewis paints an inaccurate picture of his marriage to Joy Davidman according to this article. 

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Should Christians Send Their Children to Public School?

Dr. Albert Mohler poses an interesting question in this artice at Answers in Genesis:

Should Christian parents send their children to the public schools? That question has emerged as one of the most controversial debates of our times. And yet, every family must come to terms with the issues involved in the public school debate—and fast.

Most parents already know that a great deal is at stake in this question. We start with the affirmation that it is parents who bear responsibility for the education of their children. God will hold every parent accountable for the decisions we make about our children and the context, as well as the content, of their education (Deuteronomy 6:1–26; Ephesians 6:1–4). In the truest sense, Christians understand that every home is a church, a government, and a school—the first church, the first government, and the first school that a child will come to know. The duty of Christian parents to raise their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord cannot be delegated to anyone else—not to the state, not to the schools, and not even to the church.

Dr. Mohler goes on to trace the history of public education and helps us understand why it is increasingly difficult for Christian parents to send their children to public schools. His conclusion is compelling:

Many fine teachers and administrators serve in the public schools, and many Christians serve among them. In some parts of the country, the public schools still operate in some sense as community schools under local control. And yet, this is already not the case for the vast majority of schools and communities, and the handwriting is on the wall for the rest.

Is public school an option? For Christians who take the Christian worldview seriously and who understand the issues at stake, the answer is increasingly no. The number of Christian parents coming to this conclusion increases each year. We can understand the nostalgia that many Christians hold about the public schools. I spent every minute of my school life from the first grade to high school graduation in a public school. And yet, I saw the ideological transformation of the schools before my own eyes. Long ago, the public schools entered a Brave New World from which no retreat now seems possible.

Be sure to read the entire article.

Daily Links 9-24-13

Things you won't find on a playground anymore, how to remove yourself from the internet, the war on men, and more in today's links.

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Here are a list of 11 things you don't see on the playground any more. How did we ever survive our childhood

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Want to delete your internet accounts? Just Delete Me is designed to help you how to remove yourself from the internet.

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Dr. Albert Mohler has a fascinating interview with Dr. Helen Smith about her book Men On Strike. Here's her take on why men are going on strike against college:

I have a chapter in the book called “The College Strike.” And maybe that’s almost beyond what’s happening. Because what’s happening is men are just not making it into college. Right now it’s about 57% women, 43% men, and that’s growing where they think in the next ten  years it could be as many as 60% women going to college. One of the reasons for that is younger men in the elementary school grades often having failing grades, they often don’t do well, a lot of boys can’t read or don’t do well in those areas. And they’re disconnected from schools because schools in some sense over the last forty to fifty years have become places that are much more suitable for girls than they are for boys. And we worry so much about what girls need and how we make that happen. Like if we see that girls are lagging behind in science we immediately say okay we have to do something; we have to find books that girls like to read; we have to find a way to teach girls that will make them want to go into science or make them want to understand math better. But we don’t look at boys and we don’t say okay these boys can’t read; what can we do? And a lot of boys are sitting in schools and they’re told to stay quite. We’ve taken away recess, and Christina Hoff Sommers talks about this in her book The War on Boys, she talks a lot about what young men are facing in this country and how we don’t have any competition in schools. We have done away with dodge ball, we’ve done away with recess, and boys are sort of left sitting there and being handed books written by Toni Morrison or other female writers that sometimes they really can’t connect to. The saddest thing to me is that I’ve talked to boys around the country and one of the things a 14 year old boy said to me was that he wanted to start a boy’s group in his school. And he said that not one male teacher or female teacher in his school in New York City was brave enough to help him start that club. But they just said you know we can’t do that because they didn’t want to have an all-boys club in the school, whereas there are a million all-girls clubs, a Latino club, there’s an African-American club, but they can’t have a boys’ club. And I talk about that some in the book about there was one southern school that did start a men’s law group in a law school. And they were able to successfully do that. So I talk to men in the book about how do you go about reclaiming some of that space. And some of that can be worked out, but some of it is some of the schools they just will not allow that type of thing.

Read the whole thing. Or you can listen to the podcast here.

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Now this looks tasty: how to make your own gourmet bacon. (Hat tip: Fine Dining Lovers)

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Baseball history: film of Babe Ruth's called shot



Hat tip: John Thorn

Daily Links 8-29-13

Your daily dose of links to start your day off right.....

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10 Easy Ways to Save Money Tonight.  These are some great suggestions. I wish I had thought of them.

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10 really cool food trucks (hat tip Neatorama). I love the idea of food trucks a lot. Unfortunately we don't have them where we live. But I wouldn't hesitate to partake of any of these trucks' offerings.

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How to Make the Perfect Cup of Coffee (hat tip Instapundit). Now I knew it took effort (certainly much more than I put into it each morning) but I had no idea just how much of an exact science this is.

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The Content of Our Character. Yesterday marked the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" Speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D. C. Dr. Albert Mohler offers some reflections on what the speech means to Christians fifty years later. Here is an interesting tidbit that I didn't know about the speech that speaks to Dr. King's great gifts as an orator:

Interestingly, the most famous words of his speech were not included in his manuscript. King had arrived in Washington the day before and had prepared his speech in a room at the famous Willard Hotel. In The Dream: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Speech that Inspired a Nation, author Drew D. Hansen provides parallel texts of Dr. King’s manuscript and of his actual words. When he reached the pinnacle of his oratory, King simply departed from his prepared text and launched his speech into history.

“I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.”

Dr. King spoke of a dream “that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.” And he spoke personally: “I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.”

Who to Follow on Twitter - Pastoral Edition

When I first started blogging nearly ten years ago one of the things I noticed was how many pastors were embracing this new medium. It makes a lot of sense as the Internet is a good medium to share teaching whether by audio, video or written form. So it should come as no surprise that there are pastors who embrace Twitter as part of their overall social media presence. Some use it to publicize their blogs while others simply share Scriptures or other thoughts. Here are a few of my favorite pastors to follow:

1. Timothy Keller (@timkellernyc)

Pastor of Redeemer Church in New York City and author of numerous books, Keller is preaching the gospel in one of the toughest cities in America for Christians to live. He's a leading reformed pastor and is currently in very high demand on the conference circuit. Like several of the pastors I will list here he is able to share nuggets of truth that will get you to think about your life and relationship to Christ.

2. John Piper (@JohnPiper)

He's the founder of Desiring God Ministries and another prolific author. For a guy who just retired from the pulpit this spring he sure stays busy. He's still doing a lot of writing and teaching which makes him an interest person to follow. He will also link to a lot of other pastors and teachers as well which is another really good reason to follow him.

3. Kevin DeYoung (@RevKevDeYoung)

He is pastor of University Reformed Church in Lansing, Michigan. He's also another of the growing number of Reformed pastors on the Internet. He also blogs at The Gospel Coalition and is worth frequently checking.

4. Mark Dever (@MarkDever) 

He is the Senior Pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC and founder of 9 Marks Ministries which is devoted to the development of healthy churches. He is also one of the founders of Together for the Gospel. He is a prolific tweeter and his writings have been of tremendous encouragement to me in my previous roles in church leadership.

5. Albert Mohler (@albertmohler)

Technically speaking, he's not (currently) a pastor. Dr. Mohler is president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He is another principal leader behind Together for the Gospel and also is associated with 9 Marks. Dr. Mohler is also a prolific blogger and hosts a daily radio program addressing current issues from a Christian world view.

6. Tim Challies (@challies)

Tim is an associate pastor with Grace Fellowship Church in Toronto. However, I have had the opportunity to get to know him more through his blog. He is one of the smartest guys among Reformed thinkers that I know of. He's also the most prolific reader I have ever seen as he publishes book reviews at a staggering rate. In fact, I am usually searching his blog first to see whether he has read a book before deciding to tackle it myself.

Previous entries in this series:

Who to Follow on Twitter - Let's Eat!

Who to Follow on Twitter - Don't Know Much About History

Election Reflections

Like many other folks, I was up late last night watching the results come in. While I am disappointed in the outcome I am still proud to live in a country that allows its citizens to freely choose its own leaders. We should never take that freedom for granted. I'm working on a much longer essay on my thoughts and observations on the election and what it means as we move forward. For now, I'll recommend two excellent articles I saw posted today from Albert Mohler and Joel Rosenberg. I was talking with a friend last night who suggested that perhaps God is chastising his people here in America the same way he did the nation of Israel when they were disobedient in the Old Testament. Perhaps that is true. I do know for certain that God ordains who He wants to lead us and therefore He must have a purpose that will be served with President Obama's re-election. Finally, I couldn't help but think of this speech from the late Chuck Colson. He summed it up much better than I ever could:

"Where is the hope? I meet millions of people that tell me that they feel demoralized by the decay around us. Where is the hope? The hope that each of us has is not in who governs us, or what laws are passed, or what great things we do as a nation.

The Rise of Homeschooling

A new report from the U. S. Department of Education National Center for Education Statistics shows a dramatic rise in the number of students that are being educated at home. Dr. Albert Mohler provides some details from the report:

Homeschooling was the choice of families for 2.9 percent of all school-age children in the United States in 2007, involving 1.5 million students. By comparison, in 1999 only 850,000 children were homeschooled. By 2003, that number was up to 1.1 million. This report indicates significant jumps in homeschooling as compared to other educational options. In fact, the report reveals that the actual number of American children whose parents choose homeschooling for at least part of their education exceeds 3 million. According to the report, 1.5 million children are exclusively homeschooled while another 1.5 million are homeschooled for at least part of the school week.

At this point, the picture grows even more interesting. When parents were asked why they chose to homeschool their children, 36 percent cited a desire to provide children specifically religious or moral instruction. After that, 21 percent of parents pointed to concerns about the environment of schools, 17 percent cited dissatisfaction with educational quality in the schools, and 14 percent cited "other reasons." Among those "other reasons" was a concern for more family time together.

Higher numbers of parents with college educations and greater family incomes are now homeschooling. This trend points to the fact that homeschooling is increasingly the option of first choice for many parents. This pattern is also revealed in increasing numbers of college students, primarily young women, who indicate that they desire a college education so that they will be better equipped in years ahead to be homeschooling parents.

It's no great surprise to me that there has been such a tremendous rise in the number of families choosing to homeschool. In the nine years we've been homeschooling we've seen exponential growth among our homeschool community.

But the most crucial points in Dr. Mohler's essay come at the end of the post:

Homeschooling is now a major force in American education, and Christian parents have been in the vanguard of this movement. For many Christian parents, homeschooling represents the fulfillment of the biblical mandate for parents to teach their children. These parents deserve our respect, our support, our advocacy, and our prayers. This movement is a sign of hope on our educational horizon, and a phenomenon that can no longer be dismissed as a fringe movement.

As president of a seminary and college, I can attest to the fact that questions about the educational aptitude of homeschooled students are now settled. These students can hold their own as compared to students from all other educational backgrounds. One other fact speaks loudly to me concerning their education. Most of the homeschooled students I meet at the college and graduate levels indicate an eager determination to homeschool their own children when that time comes.

Education cannot be reduced to statistics, but the trends revealed in this new report from the Department of Education deserve close attention. In our day, education represents a clash of worldviews. Increasingly toxic approaches to education (or what is called education) drive many schools and many school systems. In that light, the fact that so many Christian parents are taking education into their own hands is a sign of hope. As this new report makes clear, we should expect homeschooling to be a growth industry in years ahead.

It's encouraging as a homeschool parent and as a Christian to see a prominent pastor and seminary president embrace the choice that thousands of families make. Homeschooling is not easy and families who make this choice often face derision and ridicule from both friends and families. Those who make the choice to educate their children at home (either full-time or part-time) should be applauded and respected for making this choice. While not everyone will agree that it is the best choice for their own family it's important that those who don't homeschool respect those who do and vice versa.

The War on Fathers

Dr. Albert Mohler has an interview posted today with Dr. Stephen Baskerville, author of Taken Into Custody: The War Against Fatherhood, Marriage, and the Family. Be sure to check it out.