Daily Links 9-26-13

The darker side of Peter Pan, money and marriage, pocket notebooks, what the next generation considers normal, youth in church and more in today's links.

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J. M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan, had a sad life. Neatorama has the complete story. Although Barrie faced a lot of tragedy, his story of the boy who never grew up has brought joy to countless children over the years.

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This seems a little obvious: pooling your money leads to a happier marriage.

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This is a fascinating article: the six hours aboard Air Force One following the assassination of President John Kennedy. (Hat tip: Stephen Mansfield)

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This is cool: the pocket notebooks of 20 famous men.

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We're doing youth a disservice by segregating them from the rest of the congregation:

Simply put, we do teens a disservice when we segregate them from the life of the church. When we build youth ministries that don't fold students into the life of the congregation, the unintended consequence is a future of empty pews. Pew Research reports that 20- to 30-year-olds attend church at half the rate of their parents and one-fourth the rate of their grandparents. These young adults were teens a decade or two ago, and many of them were active in youth ministries. As result, many today ask what we can do to reverse this
regrettable trend, wondering how to get formerly churchgoing youth "back" into church. In my view, we must engage students in the life of entire congregations. Then and only then can we model and shape a biblical view of the church as we entrust the faith from one generation to the next.

We've always made it a point to try to worship together in a family. I can remember once visiting in a church and almost getting into a heated argument because we wanted our children with us rather than the rest of the youth. This article makes an excellent point and is well worth reading.

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The Mindset List helps understand what the current generation defines as "normal". It's a surprising list.

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How one pilot's sweet tooth helped to defeat communism.

Daily Links 9-19-13

Picking worship songs, the despised Nook, and more in today's roundup of links.

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Picking the Right Key For Your Congregation. As any worship leader will tell you, one of the trickiest things is figuring out the right key to sing songs in that will be comfortable for everyone. This article has some good tips for worship leaders to follow.

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Last week's shareholder meeting at Barnes and Noble was not a pleasant affair. Part of the problem is that the Nook is not well liked. One shareholder said this: “Look, no one is happy with Nook, we know we need a new e-reader strategy but it’s not easy when you look at [the competitors] we’re up against.”  (hat tip Book Riot)

For what it's worth, I prefer the Kindle.

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No time for a cup of coffee? No worries. Soon you will be able to spray caffeine on your skin.

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Here's the latest chapter in the ongoing war on boys: how to make school better for boys. Given this is from the woman who wrote the book on this subject it's worthy of your attention.

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The complete guide to making money in your spare time. There are plenty of options depending on how much effort you want to put into it.

Daily Links 9-3-13

Discounts, grammar, literature, beer and Nutella all in today's links. Enjoy.

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From Lifehacker, Top 10 Tricks to Get Discounts on Almost Anything. Just as an aside, last week I canceled my cable television and satellite radio services (mostly to save money). In both cases the customer service reps tried to offer me substantial discounts to stay with them. If I could have afforded it they might have been deals to consider. If you think you're paying too much for a service it's worth seeing if the provider will offer you a discount to stay with them. Chances are they probably will.

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One girl took her love for Nutella and turn it into, well this:

Hat tip: Neatorama

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17 famous literary characters that were originally called something else.

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Sorting out the thorny affect vs. effect problem.

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Who says a little alcohol doesn't help get the creative juices flowing? Ten things that were created over a couple of beers.

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.”