Daily Links 1-22-14

In today's edition: the sinner's prayer, a theological toolbox, Sherlock returns, doing hard things, and more.

*****************

Relevant Magazine asks whether the Sinner's Prayer is biblical. The short answer is no. The much longer answer which the article provides is that our focus on the sinner's prayer dilutes the power of the gospel by diminishing the much larger story of how God is at work.

*****************

A Theological Toolbox that every pastor (and for that matter, every Christian) ought to have. I have used the theological triage tool that he references in the article time and time again. It's been an invaluable resource for us especially given some of the issues we have faced over the past few years.

*****************

In honor of the return of Sherlock earlier this week, here is a collection of terrific swag.

A Sherlock themed messenger bag

*****************

Continuing the introvert/extrovert discussion: 7 Ways Extroverts Can Help Introverts and 6 Lessons Extroverts Can Learn from Introverts.

*****************

Why are pastors pulling so many stunts?  Part of it has to done with churches focusing more on entertainment than teaching Scripture.

*****************

19 hard things you need to do in order to be successful. This is a good list to keep in mind.

*****************

Daily Links 1-13-14

Good morning! Here is a collection of links to help start your week off right. In today's edition: Brothers Grimm fairy tales come to life, redesigning World War II London, school wasn't canceled in 1882, and more.

*****************

A neat collection of photographs that make you think you've stepped into one of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales:

Photo by Kilian Schönberger 

*****************

Buyer beware: 17 ways stores make you spend more money. Good stuff to keep in mind while shopping.

*****************

Neat History: how wartime London was redesigned to fool German bombers during World War II.

This lamp post was repainted black and white (among other things) to fool German bomber crews.

******************

10 pieces of cool Jane Austen swag.

Jane Austen coasters

****************

A story from Laura Ingalls Wilder's These Happy Golden Years (second to last in the Little House series) proves that we have all gone soft when it comes to dealing with cold weather. (Hat tip: Challies)

****************

Point-counterpoint: Thom Rainer offers 7 tips for introvert leaders while Ed Stetzer responds with his own 3 tips for extrovert leaders.

Daily Links 10-31-13

Catching up with the Robertsons, don't follow your passion, why introverts make good leaders, plus a couple of bonus Halloween links in today's post.

*****************

Leave it to Si Robertson to succinctly state what is wrong with the world: "It ain't gun control we need; it's sin control." He made this statement in a lengthy profile of the Robertson clan of Duck Dynasty fame that appears in the current issue of Men's Journal. The whole article is worth reading. (Hat tip: The Blaze)

*****************

Darius Rucker first hit it big as frontman for Hootie and the Blowfish. But he's gone on to have a successful career in country music, too. The video below is a perfect example of his music. Be sure to watch carefully for some special cameos (and make sure to watch all the way to the end).



*****************
Dilbert creator Scott Adams has some advice on how to be successful: don't follow your passion:

For most people, it's easy to be passionate about things that are working out, and that distorts our impression of the importance of passion. I've been involved in several dozen business ventures over the course of my life, and each one made me excited at the start. You might even call it passion. 

The ones that didn't work out—and that would be most of them—slowly drained my passion as they failed. The few that worked became more exciting as they succeeded. For example, when I invested in a restaurant with an operating partner, my passion was sky high. And on day one, when there was a line of customers down the block, I was even more passionate. In later years, as the business got pummeled, my passion evolved into frustration and annoyance. 

On the other hand, Dilbert started out as just one of many get-rich schemes I was willing to try. When it started to look as if it might be a success, my passion for cartooning increased because I realized it could be my golden ticket. In hindsight, it looks as if the projects that I was most passionate about were also the ones that worked. But objectively, my passion level moved with my success. Success caused passion more than passion caused success.

Hat tip: Lifehacker

***************

Readers can save the world! Not really, but reading is good for you according to our friends to the north.

***************

Four things introverts do that make them effective leaders. This is an interesting read. (Hat tip Adrian Warnock)

***************

Five myths of leadership. I have to admit I have heard every single one of these and thought they were all true. (Hat tip Vicki Whiting)

***************

It can now be revealed that Disney's Imagineers tested the Haunted Mansion special effects on the night cleaning crew:

Hat tip: Neatorama

****************

Today marks the 75th anniversary of Orson Welles' War of the Worlds broadcast. You can listen to the entire broadcast here. Welles' sign-off was priceless:

"This is Orson Welles, ladies and gentlemen, out of character to assure you that “The War of The Worlds” has no further significance than as the holiday offering it was intended to be. The Mercury Theatre’s own radio version of dressing up in a sheet and jumping out of a bush and saying Boo! Starting now, we couldn’t soap all your windows and steal all your garden gates by tomorrow night …so we did the best next thing. We annihiliated the world before your very ears, and utterly destroyed the Columbia Broadcasting System. You will be relieved, I hope, to learn that we didn’t mean it, and that both institutions are still open for business. So goodbye everybody, and remember the terrible lesson you learned tonight. That grinning, glowing, globular invader of your living room is an inhabitant of the pumpkin patch, and if your doorbell rings and nobody’s there, that was no Martian …it’s Halloween!"

Daily Links 10-18-13

Introverts, tinkering, stay-at-home moms, traits of wildly successful people,

****************

This is hilarious (and true)::

Hat tip: Stephen Mansfield

****************

When you don't know where to start, just tinker.

[A] funny thing often happens when you “just” start setting up and tinkering: you forget about the big, intimidating picture, and start taking small actions that will actually more the project forward. You begin by tweaking and tinkering, and before long, your imagination sparks into life and you’re happily absorbed in the work. You’ve started in earnest without even noticing it.

*****************

It's time to stop denigrating mothers who stay at home to raise their children:

The people who completely immerse themselves in the tiring, thankless, profoundly important job of raising children ought to be put on a pedestal. We ought to revere them and admire them like we admire rocket scientists and war heroes. These women are doing something beautiful and complicated and challenging and terrifying and painful and joyous and essential. Whatever they are doing, they ARE doing something, and our civilization DEPENDS on them doing it well. Who else can say such a thing? What other job carries with it such consequences?

It’s true — being a mom isn’t a “job.” A job is something you do for part of the day and then stop doing. You get a paycheck. You have unions and benefits and break rooms. I’ve had many jobs; it’s nothing spectacular or mystical. I don’t quite understand why we’ve elevated “the workforce” to this hallowed status. Where do we get our idea of it? The Communist Manifesto? Having a job is necessary for some — it is for me — but it isn’t liberating or empowering. Whatever your job is — you are expendable. You are a number. You are a calculation. You are a servant. You can be replaced, and you will be replaced eventually. Am I being harsh? No, I’m being someone who has a job. I’m being real.

If your mother quit her role as mother, entire lives would be turned upside down; society would suffer greatly. The ripples of that tragedy would be felt for generations. If she quit her job as a computer analyst, she’d be replaced in four days and nobody would care. Same goes for you and me. We have freedom and power in the home, not the office. But we are zombies, so we can not see that.

*****************

Five traits of wildly successful people:

I have a crazy idea: success isn’t just about hard work. We hear about hard work all the time—it’s what Olympic champions talk about when they get to the top of the podium and it’s what the media credits as the sole force behind entrepreneurs. But there has to be something else in the equation of obtaining unimaginable success. What other traits tipped the odds in favor of the world’s most successful people?

The actual traits will surprise you.

*****************

25 reasons regular church attendance is important.

*****************

Mike Rowe has been preaching the value of hard work. Now he's funding a new scholarship program to help students develop skills for jobs currently available in the United States:

Mike Rowe, formerly of Dirty Jobs, appeared on TheBlaze TV’s “Wilkow!” Thursday night to discuss his exciting new scholarship program, the mikeroweWORKS Scholarship Fund. The goal is to get high school seniors ready to enter the workforce with the skills they need to land the jobs that are available in the U.S. — the key word being available.

“The jobs right now that we have available, people don’t seem to want — and it makes no sense because we’re lending money we don’t have to kids who can’t pay it back to train them for jobs that no longer exist,” Rowe told TheBlaze TV’s Andrew Wilkow.

Each mikeroweWORKS scholarship is worth $15,000 on average — a nice chunk of change. However, any high school senior interested in the program must first take the “S.W.E.A.T. Pledge” (Skills and Work Ethic Aren’t Taboo) and make a case as to why they are deserving of the scholarship in the form of a video.

“If your not willing to sign it, this particular pile of free money is probably not for you,” Rowe said.

*****************

A fun list of 11 book sequels you probably didn't even know existed.

Daily Links 9-27-13

Harnessing the power of introverts, the dangers of busyness, how a 1940's actress helped develop wireless technologies we enjoy today, and more in today's link roundup.

*****************

One the best books I have read lately is Susan Cain's Quiet: The Power Of Introverts In A World That Can't Stop Talking. This article neatly summarizes her findings in the book and how businesses can apply its lessons.

*****************

Three dangers of busyness. This looks like it's going to be a great book.

*****************

Some fascinating facts about Walt Disney World that you may not know.

*****************

Did you know that a 1940's Hollywood star helped make wireless technologies possible? It's a fascinating story.

*****************

Recreating Ernest Hemingway's hamburger recipe. (Hat tip: Food Riot). I have to say that this looks delicious and may be well worth a try.

*****************

Victor Davis Hanson on the decline of college:

For the last 70 years, American higher education was assumed to be the pathway to upward mobility and a rich shared-learning experience. Young Americans for four years took a common core of classes, learned to look at the world dispassionately, and gained the concrete knowledge to make informed arguments logically.

The result was a more skilled workforce and a competent democratic citizenry. That ideal may still be true at our flagship universities, with their enormous endowments and stellar world rankings. Yet most everywhere else, something went terribly wrong with that model. Almost all the old campus protocols are now tragically outdated or antithetical to their original mission.

Be sure to read the whole thing.

Daily Links 9-17-13

Work, misspelled cakes, introverts, switching careers, and more in today's link roundup.

**********************

Five encouragements for your work.

**********************

Why do baseball teams bunt so much? And is it effective? (The short answer is no)

**********************

When spelling names on cakes goes horribly wrong. (Hat tip Neatorama)

**********************

"I'm an introvert, and I don't need to come out of my shell." I couldn't agree more. Also, his points on homeschooling are dead on.

**********************

This just goes to show that it's never too late start over in your career: 10 People Who Switched Careers After 50 and Thrived.


**********************

What's the Difference Between Women Preaching and Women Blogging? There is a difference. I think the author is right on the money in her analysis of this issue.

***********************

The real life inspirations behind Disney Princesses.

***********************

Finally, a little Cubs humor:

Are You An Introvert or Extrovert?

It's been a hot topic in the news lately along with spawning bestselling books such as Susan Cain's excellent book Quiet: The Power of Introverts In a World That Can't Stop Talking (which I highly recommend). But what actually qualifies someone to be classified as an introvert? What are the qualities that reflect an introverted personality? Here's an excellent inventory of the signs that you may be an introvert. (hat tip: The Wardrobe Door) The bottom line is that there is no shame in being an introvert. In fact, if you have those tendencies (and I know that I do) the best thing you can do is embrace the fact that you are introverted and learn how to manage life in light of the toll that social interaction will take on you.

How to Care for an Introvert

Hat tip: Stephen Mansfield

Friday Tweet Roundup 8-16-13

It's Friday and time for another roundup of links of interest that I tweeted about this week. Be sure to follow me on Twitter for the latest.

26 problems only introverts would understand. Yes, this post speaks to me.

Some good tips on writing and speaking for introverts.

Who knew that churches had spies? They found out some interesting things in looking over churches.

Seven expectations of every church member. If more churches set these expectations of their members they would be a lot healthier.

How the temperance movement almost killed root beer.

Lou Gehrig was called the Pride of the Yankees. By contrast Alex Rodriguez can be called the Disgrace of the Yankees.

Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice marks its 200th anniversary. Austen addiction is alive and well. 

Film and fashion collide: The suits of James Bond.

Today marks the beginning of a Michigan man's quest to visit all 30 major league parks in 30 days to raise money for leukemia and lymphoma research. His website is here if you want to support him.

Disney songwriting legends Richard Sherman and Alan Menken reflect on their careers.

Here's a great list of books to read with your child before they are 12 years old.

Did you hear the one about the time a cat was sent through pneumatic tubes? It's a true story

Then there were the time(s) Disney animators plagiarized themselves.

Attention Whovians: you can use Google Maps to view inside the TARDIS.

One thing you never, ever do is run on Yasiel Puig. This throw is insane. What's more amazing is the play at third isn't even close.

That's it. Have a great weekend.

Friday Tweet Recap 8-9-13

Here's a roundup of interesting things that I found on the web and tweeted this week. Quite a boatload of links in today's edition. Be sure to follow me on Twitter for the latest:

A historian makes a case for examining the forgotten presidents.

10 signs you might be a Jane Austen addict. This link should in no way imply that I think any of the women in my household should be classified as addicts.

Two different stories on finding love and both of them are unusual: From Wrong Number to Wedded Bliss and From Hashtags to Holy Matrimony.

For some, college is not worth the debt. More and more, this is something that families have to consider before sending their kids off to school.

"How did you like the sermon?" is the wrong question to ask because sermons are not for liking.

6 Commonly Held Misconceptions about Introverts.

10 reasons parents need a date night (with helpful explanations for the kids).

A fascinating survey of book lovers. Some the stats in this survey are really surprising.

I was sorry to hear this news. I hope they will change their minds.

10 things that "Yahweh" means. I honestly didn't know this.

What strengthens and weakens integrity - it's the small choices that count.

Eric Metaxas argues that cultural elites are the next great unreached people group. He makes a very compelling case.

A controversy has arisen over the word "wrath" in a hymn. Timothy George explains the problem. And Thom Rainer has some insight on what this says about evangelism and the church.

A surprisingly positive New York Times profile of the business practices of Christian companies.

Dispelling 12 common myths about Calvinism.

In honor of the announcement of the 12th doctor, 8 pieces of Doctor Who tea swag.

This is one of the rarest things you will see in baseball: a one pitch strikeout.

Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees received a well-deserved 211 game suspension from Major League Baseball. For those unfamiliar with the story, Yahoo Sports' Jeff Passan has an excellent timeline of how this came to pass.

More on Rodriguez: the reason why MLB needs to enforce the rules regarding drug use.

Here's one of the best baseball promos I have ever seen: Vin Scully for ESPN Sunday Night Baseball.

It's been 25 years since the first night game at Wrigley Field. Some recollections from those who were there.

Reclaiming excellence as a Christian virtue.

Some wonderful and weird places for bookstores.

Here's a great case of suburban renewal: abandoned Wal-Mart turned into America's largest library.

That's it. Have a great weekend!

Friday Tweet Recap 8-2-13

Here's a roundup of links of interest from my Twitter feed from the past week for your weekend enjoyment:

The U. K. is taking steps to block pornography on the Internet. Should the U. S. do the same?

Last week I proposed stiffer penalties for PED use in baseball. According to this article, some players are on board with the idea.

A heartwarming profile of life in the village of Cooperstown.

Modesty is the new sexy. It's not about wardrobe. "Modesty has to flow from the wellspring of our selves."

This is a great story: A golfer withdraws from a tournament that he's leading forfeiting a potential $1 million dollar payday to be with his wife who is giving birth.

Why guys love Kate Middleton. (Hint: it's not just because she's attractive)

Think you couldn't homeschool? Read this confession of a reluctant homeschool mom.

This is a useful article: An Introvert's Guide to Introverts.

More on Introverts: Justin Lathrop reviews Susan Cain's excellent book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking and makes some good points on why introverts make great leaders. I'm just about finished reading Cain's book and it is a terrific read.

Among CIA museum’s prizes, an American love letter on Hitler’s stationery.

This is cool: A one sentence summary of each of Screwtape's letters.

It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World - The Greatest Slapstick Comedy Ever? You bet!

If you're reading this, it's already too late. 

That's it. Have a great weekend.

Friday Tweet Recap

It's Friday and that means another recap of articles that I shared on Twitter this week that caught my attention.

Modesty is an issue that has worked its way back into the public discussion. Most of the time when we talk about modesty we discuss it in the context of what women wear. But there is another side of modesty that is worth examining. Meanwhile, an actress turned designer caused quite a stir when some of her comments regarding modesty went viral.

I'm sure that if I put some of these time management principles into practice I would be a lot more productive. Seems like I spend more time reading stuff like this than implementing it.

One of my favorite blogs to read is Art of Manliness and it seems like every week there are multiple posts I could share. The highlight of this week is this post on character, its 3 true qualities and how to develop it

This really struck a chord for me. I can really relate to this post on how to be social as an introvert.

It pays to be widely read. Here's a guide to reading the Christian classics.

I suppose we are long past the point where we can expect media to be unbiased. But the lengths they will go to in advocating a position are downright shameful as we saw this week.

Constitutional law alert: an actual Third Amendment case and what it could mean to you. It will be fascinating to see how this one turns out.

Does God give you more than you can handle? The answer is, of course, yes. That's the point.

That's it. Have a great weekend!