Daily Links 4-29-14

In today's roundup: chocolate is good for you, bookplates from famous libraries, how to destroy a church, and more.

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

Destroy a Church in 4 Steps. Tim Challies digs into 2 Timothy 4 and shows how a church can easily self-destruct. Sadly, this is the type of thing that is happening all too frequently among churches in America.

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

Another thing that unfortunately has become all too common: pastor scandals. But as this article points out, a full and public repentance is the best way to move forward.

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

I totally agree with this: it's time to kill the media stereotype of incompetent fathers.

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

A gallery of bookplates of 31 famous men.

The bookplate of Sherlock Holmes' creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

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

Science once again proves what we know: chocolate is good for you.

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

Are we expecting too much or too little from the church?

I am convinced that many professing Christians are simultaneously expecting too much and too little from the church. We are now in something of a “tail wagging the dog” scenario. Many people have expectations so church leaders aim to accommodate them. If one church won’t meet their preferences they can go to another. This becomes a significant long-term problem.

The church’s role is really quite simple: to make and train disciples. If we do this then we will create a culture where friendships grow out of the gospel rather than in spite of it. Other programs will see their rightful place in the life of the Christian. As Christians we should all work together to raise the gospel flag above the other markers of identity and heartily salute it then we would be well on our way.

Read the whole thing.

Daily Links 12-11-13

A daily roundup of interesting things found on the web. In today's edition: two perspectives on preventing an affair, ghostwriters, pastors who write books, thoughts on modesty, and more.

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

Two different perspectives on preventing an affair. First, Tim Challies shares some thoughts from a recent conference. Then the Christian Pundit weighs in with a female's perspective. Both of them make an important point: as with any other temptation, it is important to be proactive in dealing with sin. Thus it is best to have a strategy for dealing with temptation when it arises. (Related recommended resource: Hedges by Jerry Jenkins).

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

This is an interesting infographic:



Source: TopMastersInEducation.com

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

This is an interesting take on modesty and an attempt to debunk some of the myths surrounding it. I'm always fascinated to hear a woman's perspective on this issue.

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

Aaron Armstrong shares a few thoughts on the dangers of ghostwriting. I was not aware how common a practice this is in evangelical circles. In a related post, Kevin DeYoung has a few words for pastors who write. Two quotes worth highlighting:

There is nothing wrong with being a writer first, but that’s simply not the calling of a pastor. I need to be a faithful preacher and a caring shepherd before I am a good writer. I’m very fortunate to have a church that values study and supports me in my writing. But I owe it to them, and to my calling as a pastor, to make sure that I do not become an author who pastors a church on the side.

Agreed. I wonder about pastors who are prolific writers and how they can manage to churn out books and shepherd a church at the same time.

Then there is this:

Whether in sermons or in print, it’s not okay for pastors to take credit for something that is not theirs. Granted, the lines can be blurry. But that doesn’t mean the line doesn’t exist. And just because it feels like the sin of sloth more than the sin of theft doesn’t make it less of an error.

Having personally encountered this situation I can tell you that this is a huge problem. Our churches need to be holding our pastors accountable to prepare their own sermons.

Daily Links 11-12-13

Your daily roundup of interesting items from the web. In today's edition: the disappearance of the gentleman athlete, choosing a study Bible, ending the worship wars, and more.

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

Emily Esfahani Smith argues that the gentleman athlete has disappeared (hat tip: Glenn Reynolds).

On a related note, Bobby Jones is another very gifted athlete that also epitomized what it meant to also be a gentleman athlete. His story is wonderfully documented in Mark Frost's excellent book The Grand Slam. Jim Caviezel also portrayed Jones in the movie Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius which is one of my favorites.

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

Aaron Armstrong is encouraging folks to get serious about Bible study. The first place to start is picking the right Bible. More specifically, picking a study Bible. There are lots of good tips here on how to pick the right Bible for you.

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

Thom Rainer believes there are signs that the worship wars are coming to an end. I especially agree with his second point regarding the resurgence of hymnody.

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

What Shark Tank can teach us about capitalism. While I don't get to see this show often the few times I have watched it I have found it compelling television.

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

Is all sin the same to God? According to Tim Challies, the answer is yes and no.

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

Here's a handy chart of kitchen weights, measures and more.

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

Kevin DeYoung offers ten errors to avoid when talking about sanctification and the gospel:

With lots of books and blog posts out there about law and gospel, about grace and effort, about the good news of this and the bad news of that, it’s clear that Christians are still wrestling with the doctrine of progressive sanctification. Can Christians do anything truly good? Can we please God? Should we try to? Is there a place for striving in the Christian life? Can God be disappointed with the Christian? Does the gospel make any demands? These are good questions that require a good deal of nuance and precision to answer well. 

Thankfully, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. The Reformed confessions and catechisms of the 16th and 17th centuries provide answers for all these questions. For those of us who subscribe to the Three Forms of Unity or to the Westminster Standards this means we are duty bound to affirm, teach, and defend what is taught in our confessional documents. For those outside these confessional traditions, there is still much wisdom you can gain in understanding what Christians have said about these matters over the centuries. And most importantly, these standards were self-consciously grounded in specific texts of Scripture. We can learn a lot from what these documents have to teach us from the Bible.

Daily Links 10-23-13

In today's roundup of interesting things from the internet: an abandoned library, strengthening your writing, a how-to of the day, and more.

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

Has texting destroyed proper spelling? I hope not.

I never took the home study course, but the texts and tweets and emails I send today are full of plz and thx and u and w and &, and that's true as well for most of the messages I get. I write coupla and wanna and lmk. i'm also -- the horror -- a lower case kind of guy. Many people rail against this as a degradation of language and a vandalizing of culture. I'm not one of them. I think it's efficient, occasionally ingenious, unpretentious and fun.

But I have my limits. Articles, resumes, professional work -- standard English only, please. In domains like that, I'm a hawk on spelling, grammar and punctuation. If you don't know the difference between your and you're, its and it's, affect and effect, I'm rigidly intolerant. I let myself get away with murdering the English language in an email, but for a job applicant I treat it like a capital crime.

The prescriptive case for standard English has always made sense to me. Good grammar, proper punctuation and correct spelling improve communication. Not only do they clarify the sending and receiving of messages, they clarify the thinking that goes into those messages. Plus there's a cultural argument: Language is constitutive of identity, and if the rules of language erode, the identity erodes.

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

This is just......sad.(Hat tip: Book Riot)

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

Settling the debate on who designed the famous shower scene from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. Well, sort of.

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

10 words you should cut from your writing.  This list probably could be longer but it's a good start.


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

How-to of the day: a primer on darts. While this is only a guide to playing one particular variation of darts it's still a handy guide.

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

Having a messy desk isn't such a bad thing after all. Makes me feel better about the condition of my own desk. (Hat tip: Blogging Theologically)

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

The (flawed) logic of the second glance. And it's not just a guy thing.

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

The power of the word no:

Learning how to say no is one of the most useful skills you can develop I found, especially when it comes to living a more productive and healthy life.

Saying no to unnecessary commitments can give you the time you need to recover and rejuvenate. Saying no to daily distractions can give you the space you need to focus on what is important to you. And saying no to temptation can help you stay on track and achieve your health goals. In fact not being able to say no, is one of the most biggest downfalls that successful entrepreneurs claim as their own key mistakes.