Learn less and work more, the importance of sound theology, value of the mundane, reflecting on the career of Mariano Rivera, and more in today's roundup of links.
******************
An Australian tycoon has some simple advice: learn less and work more. (Hat tip Mike Rowe)
******************
What we believe matters:
Ideas are powerful, something we tend to forget in this postmodern age. They can be the fertile seedbed for love and relationship, or they can be a toxic, suffocating brew. For instance, if you believe that a friendly overture is a ploy to use you sexually or financially, this relationship will not bloom. Instead, if you believe that this overture is sincere and caring, there is a much better chance that something will blossom out of it.
The same is true regarding our beliefs about God. Mega-church pastor, Carlton Pierson, had believed that God was eager to throw people into hell, and the best protection against this was going to church. Pierson had placed his faith in an unbiblical, unloving god. Consequently, he rejected this unappealing god in favor of the other extreme – an utterly non-just god who will bring everyone to heaven, without any consideration of their lifestyle.
What we believe about God determines our relationship with Him. There are certain beliefs that undermine this relationship. Paul mentioned one of them – self trust:
· Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision [to become a Jew and to keep the law, partially trusting in your good deeds to get you into heaven], Christ will be of no benefit to you. And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law. You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. (Galatians 5:2-4)
Paul warned that if Christ is just one of several objects of our trust, we are not trusting in Him at all! Why such harsh words? Why is it so wrong for the one who trusts in Christ to also trust that his good deeds have secured him a place in heaven? Isn’t God overly picky and demanding?
If relationship and love depend upon right ideas/beliefs, then our Lord has every reason in the world to insist that we understand certain realities.******************
Romans 8:38 means everything works together for good. Even the mundane.
******************
10 really cool Etsy stores for book lovers.
******************
This baseball season marked the end of the storied career of Mariano Rivera. Here are some reflections from one fan about what he meant to them. (Hat tip: Challies)
******************
Three questions to wrestle with while choosing worship songs.
******************
There's now scientific evidence of the effects of addiction to pornography:
Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart once famously wrote that while “hard-core pornography” is hard to define, “I know it when I see it.” Most of us would agree.
But what about addiction to pornography? Can we know this when we see it? For years people have debated whether we can actually become addicted to pornography. Yet the effects of sexual addiction—defined as “obsessive sexual behavior regardless of the growing negative consequences for the person or their relationships”— are hard to miss.
According to Patrick Carnes of the Gratitude Program at Pine Grove Behavioral Health and Addiction Services in Mississippi, perhaps eight percent of adult men and three percent of adult women become sexually addicted at some point in their lives, and many of them become addicted through pornography.
For those who demand detailed, scientific evidence of a malady we see every day, well, now we have it. Cambridge University scientists say that compulsive porn users show the same kind of changes to the structure of their brains as those addicted to alcohol or drugs.
*******************
Here's a recipe for book envy: Libraries of the rich and famous. What's striking to me is the wealth of books that these folks own. Also the libraries are just plain cool.
******************
Recently, three blind swimmers accomplished an unusual feat: they escaped from Alcatraz.
A trio of visually impaired swimmers from Phoenix, Ariz., made history this morning when they dove into the chilly San Francisco Bay and braved the waters to successfully escape Alcatraz.
Nineteen-year-old Katie Cuppy, 17-year-old Max Ashton and 25-year-old Tanner Robinson finished the 1.5-mile open-water swim from Alcatraz Island to the foot of the Hyde Street Pier in San Francisco today, according to the Foundation for Blind Children’s Twitter account.
This was the first time blind and visually impaired teammates competed in the 2013 Alcatraz Invitational Swim, a Foundation for Blind Children news release said.
The swimmers have been outspoken that their decision to swim at the 18th Annual Alcatraz Invitational was to tackle the idea that vision loss is just a diagnosis, not a disability.
“I kind of want to prove that blindness isn’t a barrier,” Cuppy told the Arizona Daily Sun. “Blindness isn’t the end of the world.”
Hat tip: Right Field
