Daily Links 4-14-14

Here's a roundup of links to help you start the week of right. In today's edition: the difference between successful and unsuccessful people, the man who stumbled on Hell, the idolatry of modesty, and more.

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Here's an interesting list of 16 differences between successful and unsuccessful people. Lots of good advice in this post. (Hat tip: Neatorama)

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The amazing history of the Choose Your Own Adventure books.

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Increasingly, folks are having issues with food. Here's some useful advice on how to determine whether foods are making you sick.

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The headline says it all: the man who stumbled on Hell. The true story of Lieutenant John Randall, the first Allied soldier to arrive at Bergen-Belsen. (Warning: graphic and disturbing images in the article)

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15 things we have to explain about Lynyrd Skynyrd's Sweet Home Alabama.

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The top 10 words that will help you win at Scrabble. (Hat tip: Book Riot)

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How should Christians deal with the issue of modesty? We should be careful not to make modesty into an idol:

Because promiscuity is so prevalent today, we in the Church have reacted by elevating modesty to unhealthy proportions. We jump too quickly into behavior modification and don’t realize that most of our modesty campaigns are actually borderline legalism. 

One rule in particular that “Christian” schools, universities and clubs like to enforce is the “skirt test.” It usually involves the woman getting on her knees to see if the skirt touches the ground, which if it does, it’s deemed acceptable.

My question though is what are we doing in that moment? Is the gospel being exalted, or are we heaping shame and condemnation on them? 

The fact that she is on her knees for the test couldn’t be more symbolic of submission, power, shame and guilt. The trouble, however, is that while modesty standards are set up to not make women’s bodies an object, it is in fact doing that very thing. 

Highlighting the girl’s dress in front of everyone, and telling her she should dress a certain way because she doesn’t want “to make the men stumble” is simply making her an object.

In the Body, we need to realize using men’s sin and lust issues as the reason why a woman should dress a certain way is actually making her just as much an object than if she were to dress promiscuously.

Read the whole thing.

Daily Links 3-14-14

Daily links returns after an unexpected hiatus just in time for the weekend. In today's post: how the internet has changed the church, the Great Depression and Scrabble, advice from barbers, and more.

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The internet turned 25 this week. So here are 25 ways the internet has changed the local church.

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A collection of often misquoted movie quotes.

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Neat History: How one World War II pilot shot down a plane with a handgun.

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If it wasn't for the Great Depression, we wouldn't have Scrabble.

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The basics of tea:

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Four strategies for defeating busyness. I really needed to hear this advice this week.

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Advice on manhood from eight neighborhood barbers.

Daily Links 11-7-13

How the Internet affects your brain, an update in the war on boys, calling vs. career, and more in this morning's roundup of links.

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How the internet is rewiring your brain. This is both fascinating and scary at the same time. (Hat tip: Stephen Mansfield)

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The latest story in the continuing war on boys via Christina Hoff Somners:

Being a boy can be a serious liability in today’s classroom. As a group, boys are noisy, rowdy and hard to manage. Many are messy, disorganized and won’t sit still. Young male rambunctiousness, according to a recent study, leads teachers to underestimate their intellectual and academic abilities. “Girl behavior is the gold standard in schools says psychologist Michael Thompson. “Boys are treated like defective girls.”

These “defective girls” are not faring well academically. Compared with girls, boys earn lower grades, win fewer honors and are less likely to go to college. One education expert has quipped that if current trends continue, the last male will graduate from college in 2068. In today’s knowledge-based economy, success in the classroom has never been more crucial to a young person’s life prospects. Women are adapting; men are not.

Hat tip: Nancy Pearcey

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John Ortberg on calling versus career:

American society does not talk much about calling anymore. It is more likely to think in terms of career. Yet, for many people a career becomes the altar on which they sacrifice their lives. Benjamin Honeycutt, a historian who specializes in the history of work at the University of Iowa, notes that work has become our new religion, where we worship and give our time. As people’s commitment to family, community and faith are shrinking, they begin to look to their careers to provide them with meaning, connectedness, identity and self-esteem.

A calling, which is something I do for God, is replaced by a career, which threatens to become my god. A career is something I choose for myself; a calling is something I receive. A career is something I do for myself; a calling is something I do for God. A career promises status, money or power; a calling generally promises difficulty and even some suffering – and the opportunity to be used by God. A career is about upward mobility; a calling generally leads to downward mobility.

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A cool collection of Scrabble themed gifts.

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A fascinating list of 10 celebrities who also were spies.

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It's not our job to "police" other Christians:

In my experience as a Christian and Preacher, you would think that any disagreements, arguments, or debates I'd have would be with the non-Christian, the atheist, or those from other religions, but not true. It seems anytime I've had a disagreement with someone over Christianity it is always a fundamental or legalistic Christian who feels it's their mission and life's work to be God's police to the world. 

These types of people make it their personal mission in life to prove others wrong, be right, argue, debate, belittle, name-call, and look down on those who do not line up with them whether doctrinally, theologically, denominationally, or other church or faith issues.  It's a mind-set of either you are for me or against me.  You either agree with me or you are a liberal, heretic, sodomite, watered-down, ignorant, stupid, (add you own description here), I've been called a lot.  The sad thing is I don't like to argue(really!), but some folks can't seem to understand that, their whole faith system is made up of proving others wrong, being right, and making a point to "police" Christians.