Tag: race

Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 45

On Fridays I share articles/resources I have found helpful recently in thinking about broader cultural, societal and theological issues. Be sure to see the explanation and disclaimers at the bottom.

This week there are a few more links than normal. Enjoy!

  1. New Evidence On When The Bible Was Written: Ancient Shopping Lists (Isabel Kershner, New York Times): “One of the longstanding arguments for why the main body of biblical literature was not written down in anything like its present form until after the destruction and exile of 586 B.C. is that before then there was not enough literacy or enough scribes to support such a huge undertaking. But if the literacy rates in the Arad fortress were repeated across the kingdom of Judah, which had about 100,000 people, there would have been hundreds of literate people, the Tel Aviv research team suggests.” — also check out the AP/Guardian on this.
  2. Is Porn Immoral? That Doesn’t Matter: It’s a Public Health Crisis (Gaile Dines, Washington Post): “After 40 years of peer-reviewed research, scholars can say with confidence that porn is an industrial product that shapes how we think about gender, sexuality, relationships, intimacy, sexual violence and gender equality — for the worse…. just as the tobacco industry argued for decades that there was no proof of a connection between smoking and lung cancer, so, too, has the porn industry, with the help of a well-oiled public relations machine, denied the existence of empirical research on the impact of its products.”
  3. Facebook Employees Asked Mark Zuckerberg If They Should Try To Stop A Donald Trump Presidency (Michael Nunez, Gizmodo): “Facebook has toyed with skewing news in the past. During the 2008 presidential election, Facebook secretly tampered with 1.9 million user’s news feeds. An academic paper was published about the secret experiment, claiming that Facebook increased voter turnout by more than 340,000 people. In 2010, the company tampered with news feeds again. It conducted a 61-million-person experiment to see how Facebook could impact the real-world voting behavior of millions of people. In 2012, Facebook deliberately experimented on its users’ emotions.  The company, again, secretly tampered with the news feeds of 700,000 people and concluded that Facebook can basically make you feel whatever it wants you to.”
  4. I Was A Closeted Christian At The Pentagon (Matthew Spence, Washington Post): “I feared how coming out as a practicing Christian would define me. I worried that my bosses, peers and subordinates might associate me with American officials who have spoken of U.S. military engagements in the Middle East as ‘crusades’ or with the Islamic State’s declaration of holy war. I feared that talking about my faith would detract from the logic of my arguments. And, as a relatively young person in a senior position, I needed every scrap of credibility I could claim.”
  5. Why Jesus’ Skin Color Matters (Christena Cleveland, Christianity Today):  “While Christ the Lord transcends skin color and racial divisions, white Jesus has real consequences.”
  6. Houston police officer presents a few “double-edged sword” scenarios regarding body cameras (reddit): unintended consequences are always difficult to predict.
  7. Was It Wrong To Hack and Leak the Panama Papers? (Tyler Cowen, blog): surprisingly stimulating.
  8. Onward Christian Soldiers: In the Era of Trump-Style Politics, Evangelical Voters Are Not a Monolith (Julie Lyons, Houston Press): this is a very insightful and data-rich article.
  9. The Tensions Threatening the Future of Religious Freedom Law (Kelsey Dallas, Deseret News): this is a very good summary of the current state of religious freedom legislation.
  10. Christianity and Korea (Dave Hazzan, The Diplomat): “Evangelical zeal to send missionaries to places most others would never go – including Afghanistan, Iraq, Jordan, and Yemen – have caused headaches for the government. In 2007, after ignoring the government’s advice, 27 Korean missionaries to Afghanistan were kidnapped by the Taliban, and two were killed. In 2009, the Korean foreign ministry warned Korean Christians to stop missionizing in Arab countries, fearing it was making Koreans terrorist targets.”9
  11. Kinda Random

Why Do You Send This Email?

In the time of King David, the tribe of Issachar produced shrewd warriors “who understood the times and knew what Israel should do” (1 Chron 12:32). In a similar way, we need to become wise people whose faith interacts with the world. I pray this email gives you greater insight, so that you may continue the tradition of Issachar.

Disclaimer

Chi Alpha is not a partisan organization. To paraphrase another minister: we are not about the donkey’s agenda and we are not about the elephant’s agenda — we are about the Lamb’s agenda. Having said that, I read widely (in part because I believe we should aspire to pass the ideological Turing test and in part because I do not believe I can fairly say “I agree” or “I disagree” until I can say “I understand”) and may at times share articles that have a strong partisan bias simply because I find the article stimulating. The upshot: you should not assume I agree with everything an author says in an article I mention, much less things the author has said in other articles (although if I strongly disagree with something in the article I’ll usually mention it).

Also, remember that I’m not reporting news — I’m giving you a selection of things I found interesting. There’s a lot happening in the world that’s not making an appearance here because I haven’t found stimulating articles written about it.

Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 42

On Fridays I share articles/resources I have found helpful recently in thinking about broader cultural, societal and theological issues. Be sure to see the explanation and disclaimers at the bottom.

  1. Jesus of Nazareth, Whose Messianic Message Captivated Thousands, Dies at About 33 (Sam Roberts, Vanity Fair): What would Jesus’ New York Times obituary have looked like? Clever, well-done, and Good Friday appropriate.
  2. Anatomy of Doubt (Ira Glass, This American Life): this is an amazing, disturbing story. There are companion print pieces as well, but listen to the podcast. 
  3. Do We Still Need Prisons? (Paul Kirby, Volteface): this article by David Cameron’s former director of public policy is full of creative ideas. Two related thoughts worth pondering: the Bible never commands a government to build prisons, and Jesus said He came to set the prisoners free.
  4. How well online dating works, according to someone who has been studying it for years (Roberto Ferdman, Wonkblog): this an interview with a Stanford prof.  “It’s kind of superficial. But it’s superficial because we’re kind of superficial; it’s like that because humans are like that. Judging what someone else looks like first is not an attribute of technology, it’s an attribute of how we look at people. Dating, both modern and not, is a fairly superficial endeavor.”
  5. A Dialog On Race and Speech at Yale (Conor Friedersdorf, The Atlantic): the columnist has a very insightful email interchange with a Yale undergrad.
  6. Banning Credit Checks Harms African-Americans (Tyler Cowen): “In states that passed credit-check bans, it  became easier for people with bad credit histories to compete for employment. But disproportionately, they seem to have elbowed aside black job-seekers.” — read a more thorough summary at Wonkblog.
  7. A cluster of voices speaking about the religious freedom case recently argued before the Supreme Court:
    • Stanford professor Michael McConnell’s take on the oral arguments: “At a time of rising divisiveness and polarization, it would be greatly calming if the Court could unite in this case to protect the rights of many with absolutely no injury to anyone else, or to the public good.”
    • Religious Freedom Deserves Deference: Our View Editorial Board, USA Today): “To imagine that non-profits whose very existence is tied to religion do not deserve more deference than for-profit businesses is quite a stretch.”
    • Little Sisters, Big Case (Russell Moore, The Hill): “Over 100 million Americans don’t have health plans that must offer the government’s drugs. The government exempts big businesses such as Exxon and big municipalities such as New York City, and does so just to reduce administrative inconvenience for these entities. The government even exempts itself, refusing to require the U.S. military—the nation’s largest employer—to provide the same drugs they want to force the Little Sisters of the Poor to provide.”
  8. Quick Links

Why Do You Send This Email?

In the time of King David, the tribe of Issachar produced shrewd warriors “who understood the times and knew what Israel should do” (1 Chron 12:32). In a similar way, we need to become wise people whose faith interacts with the world. I pray this email gives you greater insight, so that you may continue the tradition of Issachar.

Disclaimer

Chi Alpha is not a partisan organization. To paraphrase another minister: we are not about the donkey’s agenda and we are not about the elephant’s agenda — we are about the Lamb’s agenda. Having said that, I read widely (in part because I believe we should aspire to pass the ideological Turing test and in part because I do not believe I can fairly say “I agree” or “I disagree” until I can say “I understand”) and may at times share articles that have a strong partisan bias simply because I find the article stimulating. The upshot: you should not assume I agree with everything an author says in an article I mention, much less things the author has said in other articles (although if I strongly disagree with something in the article I’ll usually mention it).

Also, remember that I’m not reporting news — I’m giving you a selection of things I found interesting. There’s a lot happening in the world that’s not making an appearance here because I haven’t found stimulating articles written about it.

Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 40

On Fridays I share articles/resources I have found helpful recently in thinking about broader cultural, societal and theological issues. Be sure to see the explanation and disclaimers at the bottom.

  1. The KKK, White Power, and Racism (Chi Alpha’s Driving Diversity blog): “I woke up a little after midnight unable to sleep. On Facebook, an African American student from one of our Chi Alpha groups messaged me asking for my prayers and help. The KKK is handing out flyers in his town (more flyers).“
  2. An Evangelical Movement Takes On Climate Change (Tik Root, Newsweek): “Appalled, Keys founded a nonprofit called Jesus People Against Pollution in 1992, and for more than two decades that’s been her mission. She calls it her ‘kingdom assignment’ from God.“
  3. Defining Evangelicals In An Election Year (Anderson and Stetzer, Christianity Today): “The desire to survey white evangelicals to determine their political interests inadvertently ends up conveying two ideas that are not true: that ‘evangelical’ means ‘white’ and that evangelicals are primarily defined by their politics…. Broken out by ethnicity, 29 percent of whites, 44 percent of African Americans, 30 percent of Hispanics, and 17 percent of people from other ethnicities have evangelical beliefs.” Related: The Myth of the Evangelical Trump Voters (Darren Guerra, First Things): “the anti-Trump vote amongst all evangelicals in the country might reach 80–90% once non-Republican primary voters are accounted for.” 
  4. This Is A Good Story About Growing Up Evangelical (Laura Turner, Jezebel): “It is rare to hear someone in mainstream media acknowledge that they are glad to be or have been evangelical, even though about a quarter of Americans are evangelical.” The author is John and Nancy Ortberg’s daughter and is on staff with City Church in San Francisco.
  5. Remembering India’s Christian Martyrs Should Be a Church Priority (Thomas Allen, Crux): “In August, 2008, hostility toward the Christian “other” exploded in Kandhamal, leaving roughly 100 people dead, thousands injured, 300 churches and 6,000 homes destroyed, and 50,000 people displaced, many of them forced to hide in nearby forests where more died of hunger and snakebites.”
  6. The Obama Doctrine (Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic): This is really long. Fascinating, but for political junkies only.
  7. As promised in the meetings, some sources to corroborate my claims about the beneficial impact of missions: The Defender of the Good News, Questioning Lamin Sanneh (an interview at Christianity Today), Sanneh’s books Translating the Message: The Missionary Impact On Culture (BV2063 .S23 1989), Abolitionists Abroad : American Blacks and the Making of Modern West Africa (DT476.S26 1999) and Disciples of All Nations: Pillars of World Christianity (available on reserve at the circulation desk and also available online), the works of Rodney Stark such as How The West Won (CB245 .S715 2014, also available online), The Triumph of Christianity (BR145.3 .S73 2011),  For The Glory of God (BL221 .S747 2003) and, of course, the article I always allude to: The Missionary Roots of Liberal Democracy (Woodberry, American Political Science Review)
  8. Quick Links:

Why Do You Send This Email?

In the time of King David, the tribe of Issachar produced shrewd warriors “who understood the times and knew what Israel should do” (1 Chron 12:32). In a similar way, we need to become wise people whose faith interacts with the world. I pray this email gives you greater insight, so that you may continue the tradition of Issachar.

Disclaimer

Chi Alpha is not a partisan organization. To paraphrase another minister: we are not about the donkey’s agenda and we are not about the elephant’s agenda — we are about the Lamb’s agenda. Having said that, I read widely (in part because I believe we should aspire to pass the ideological Turing test and in part because I do not believe I can fairly say “I agree” or “I disagree” until I can say “I understand”) and may at times share articles that have a strong partisan bias simply because I find the article stimulating. The upshot: you should not assume I agree with everything an author says in an article I mention, much less things the author has said in other articles (although if I strongly disagree with something in the article I’ll usually mention it).

Also, remember that I’m not reporting news — I’m giving you a selection of things I found interesting. There’s a lot happening in the world that’s not making an appearance here because I haven’t found stimulating articles written about it.

Past emails are archived at http://glenandpaula.com/wordpress/category/links (you can also sign up to receive them at that site)

Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 39

On Fridays I share articles/resources I have found helpful recently in thinking about broader cultural, societal and theological issues. Be sure to see the explanation and disclaimers at the bottom.

  1. This is the research paper behind the story I shared in my sermon this week: Spontaneous Human Speech Mimicry By A Cetacean (Current Biology), a readable summary is The Whale Who Talked (Nature) and to hear it yourself, here is a one minute YouTube video about Noc. (the video describes his voice as kazoolike, which is apt).
  2. How The Church Helps Black Men Flourish In America (Wilcox and Wolfinger, The Atlantic): “The black church’s success validates the cultural arguments made by conservatives and the structural arguments made by liberals regarding race in America.”
  3. Who Are The Gay Evangelicals? (Molly Worthen, NY Times):  “In an era when gay marriage is legal and a range of gay Christians are modeling different ways to reconcile sexuality and faith, are the decisions of young believers like Lanira Postell still a result of coercion and confused self-hatred? I asked her what she thought about those liberal critics who might think so. ‘I understand where they’re coming from, that to them what I’m doing doesn’t make any sense,’ she said. ‘That’s why being a Christian is not common. It’s weird. It is unnatural for me to deny myself what I desire, but I do it because of the love of God.’”
  4. Are You A Feminist If You Always Let Him Pay? (Amanda Fitzsimmons, Elle): definitely not written from a Christian perspective. I found it fascinating throughout and insightful at points. “…of all the myriad reasons I’ve entertained as to why a guy didn’t call me or a friend back (and, believe me, I’ve not lacked for creativity in this area), the fact that we didn’t offer to pay the bill never once occurred to me.”
  5. As the election draws ever closer, some stimulating content:

Why Do You Send This Email?

In the time of King David, the tribe of Issachar produced shrewd warriors “who understood the times and knew what Israel should do” (1 Chron 12:32). In a similar way, we need to become wise people whose faith interacts with the world. I pray this email gives you greater insight, so that you may continue the tradition of Issachar.

Disclaimer

Chi Alpha is not a partisan organization. To paraphrase another minister: we are not about the donkey’s agenda and we are not about the elephant’s agenda — we are about the Lamb’s agenda. Having said that, I read widely (in part because I believe we should aspire to pass the ideological Turing test and in part because I do not believe I can fairly say “I agree” or “I disagree” until I can say “I understand”) and may at times share articles that have a strong partisan bias simply because I find the article stimulating. The upshot: you should not assume I agree with everything an author says in an article I mention, much less things the author has said in other articles (although if I strongly disagree with something in the article I’ll usually mention it).

Also, remember that I’m not reporting news — I’m giving you a selection of things I found interesting. There’s a lot happening in the world that’s not making an appearance here because I haven’t found stimulating articles written about it.

Past emails are archived at http://glenandpaula.com/wordpress/category/links (you can also sign up to receive them at that site)

Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 36

On Fridays I share articles/resources I have found helpful recently in thinking about broader cultural, societal and theological issues. Be sure to see the explanation and disclaimers at the bottom.

  1. The Weight of Glory (C.S. Lewis): this is a PDF of the 9 pages of thoughtful goodness I referenced in my sermon this week. It was originally preached as a sermon and then printed in a theology magazine. Related: see the C. S. Lewis Doodle YouTube channel — it’s really good!
  2. Leave China, Study In America, Find Jesus (Han Zhang, Foreign Policy) — “U.S. universities are the first places that hundreds of thousands of educated young Chinese are exposed to different religious ideas, and invited to consider them freely. Sensing an opportunity, on-campus Christian fellowships and churches have gone out of their collective way to help those fresh from China.”
  3. Uncovering the Assemblies of God’s Black Heritage (Darrin Rodgers, Vital Magazine): the Assemblies of God is Chi Alpha’s sponsoring denomination and the group with which I am ordained. Some neat anecdotes here.
  4. Why Nepal Has One of the World’s Fastest Growing Christian Populations (Danielle Preiss, NPR): my favorite bit, “a team were also in Nepal in October helping rebuild the earthquake-damaged house that belongs to the family of Sumitra Pariyar, a young woman who believes she was healed from paralysis and seizures by her acceptance of Christ.” I find the choice of words funny: she “believes” she was healed from paralysis by Christ. I’m pretty sure she knows whether she was paralyzed or not. How about “a young woman who says she was healed from paralysis and seizures by her acceptance of Christ.” That’s just better journalism.
  5. Religious Freedom Keeps Us Strong (Barack Obama, Religion News Service): yes, this is by President Obama. The thing I am most pleased about is his use of the phrase “freedom of religion” as opposed to the much less expansive “freedom of worship.”
  6. What A Super Bowl Ad Reveals About Our Abortion Culture (Russell Moore, personal blog): this went in a different direction than I assumed it would. Recommended.
  7. Some humor:

Why Do You Send This Email?

In the time of King David, the tribe of Issachar produced shrewd warriors “who understood the times and knew what Israel should do” (1 Chron 12:32). In a similar way, we need to become wise people whose faith interacts with the world. I pray this email gives you greater insight, so that you may continue the tradition of Issachar.

Disclaimer

Chi Alpha is not a partisan organization. To paraphrase another minister: we are not about the donkey’s agenda and we are not about the elephant’s agenda — we are about the Lamb’s agenda. Having said that, I read widely (in part because I believe we should aspire to pass the ideological Turing test and in part because I do not believe I can fairly say “I agree” or “I disagree” until I can say “I understand”) and may at times share articles that have a strong partisan bias simply because I find the article stimulating. The upshot: you should not assume I agree with everything an author says in an article I mention, much less things the author has said in other articles (although if I strongly disagree with something in the article I’ll usually mention it).

Also, remember that I’m not reporting news — I’m giving you a selection of things I found interesting. There’s a lot happening in the world that’s not making an appearance here because I haven’t found stimulating articles written about it.

Past emails are archived at http://glenandpaula.com/wordpress/category/links

Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 31

In the time of King David, the tribe of Issachar produced shrewd warriors “who understood the times and knew what Israel should do” (1 Chron 12:32). In a similar way, we need to become wise people whose faith interacts with the world.

To that end, on Fridays I’ve been sharing articles/resources I have found helpful recently in thinking about broader cultural and societal issues (be sure to see the disclaimer at the bottom). May these give you greater insight, so that you may continue the tradition of Issachar. Past emails are archived at http://glenandpaula.com/wordpress/category/links

Without further ado, I give you the interesting things:

  1. Reading The Whole Bible in 2016: A FAQ (Gospel Coalition, Justin Taylor): How much time each day would it take you to read the entire Bible in a year? “There are about 775,000 words in the Bible. Divided by 365, that’s 2,123 words a day. The average person reads 200 to 250 words per minute. So 2,123 words/day divided by 225 words/minute equals 9.4 minutes a day.” This article is full of good advice for what could be the best commitment you make all year. Do it!
  2. I’m Thinking It Over (The American Conservative, Alan Jacobs): this is really good advice for social media. Bonus: it name-drops a legendary Stanford professor. Reading this article made me feel good about not sending this email out over Christmas break.  🙂
  3. Can You Glorify God As An Economist? (Christian Post, Napp Nazworth): tl;dr yes.
  4. Across The Race Divide (Gospel Coalition, Kevin DeYoung) — somewhat long but worthwhile. Difficult to excerpt in a way that won’t tempt you pigeonhole the piece.
  5. Can Hobby Lobby Buy The Bible? (The Atlantic, Joel Baden and Candida Moss): the framing is alarmist, some of the claims about textual criticism are dubious, but the article is quite engaging. The allegations of artifact smuggling seem mostly the byproduct of naivete to me and I hope they prove to be so. The authors are professors at Yale and Notre Dame.
  6. The Quixotic Adventures of Roy Moore (The Atlantic, Matt Ford) — I was most interested by the beginning of the fifth paragraph: “While that may be technically correct…”  Heh. I think the best journalism on this was actually done by The Montgomery Advertiser. It blew away the NY Times, NPR, etc by actually interviewing people with differing opinions. If you want the story, read Moore Targets Same-Sex Marriage (Brian Lyman, Montgomery Advertiser).
  7. Quick Links (shorter pieces):

Disclaimer

Chi Alpha is not a partisan organization. To paraphrase another minister: we are not about the donkey’s agenda and we are not about the elephant’s agenda — we are about the Lamb’s agenda. Having said that, I read widely (in part because I believe we should aspire to pass the ideological Turing test and in part because I do not believe I can fairly say “I agree” or “I disagree” until I can say “I understand”) and may at times share articles that have a strong partisan bias simply because I find the article stimulating. The upshot: you should not assume I agree with everything an author says in an article I mention, much less things the author has said in other articles.

Also, remember that I’m not reporting news — I’m giving you a selection of things I found interesting. There’s a lot happening in the world that’s not making an appearance here because I haven’t found stimulating articles written about it.

Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 24

News News News 98/365In the time of King David, the tribe of Issachar produced shrewd warriors “who understood the times and knew what Israel should do” (1 Chron 12:32). In a similar way, we need to become wise people whose faith interacts with the world.

To that end, on Fridays I’ve been sharing articles/resources I have found helpful recently in thinking about broader cultural and societal issues (be sure to see the disclaimer at the bottom). May these give you greater insight, so that you may continue the tradition of Issachar. Past emails are archived at http://glenandpaula.com/wordpress/category/links

Without further ado, I give you the interesting things:

  1. I heard a moving Radiolab episode: Gray’s Donation. If you’ve never listened to Radiolab before, I highly recommend the episodes Colors and Oops. If you’re into podcasts, check out a list of thoughtful Christian podcasts I compiled a while back.
  2. ’A Tour of Burned Churches’ Explores Race, Resilience, and Religion in America (Huffington Post, Christopher Mathias): an interview with a podcaster about a series he did on the burning of black churches in America. I have not listened to the series, but the interview was good.
  3. Data about Adults Who Do Not Believe In God (Pew Forum) — one of the charts makes me think of a funny clip about atheism as white privilege [the whole thing is worth watching, but you can jump to the sound bite at 5:45]. There is a good summary of some of the takeaways at GetReligion. On a related note, there is a study in Current Biology: The Negative Association Between Religiousness and Children’s Altruism Across The World. The comments on reddit are interesting (more interesting to me than the study itself).
  4. A somewhat contrarian piece: Liberals Are Losing The Culture War (Molly Ball, The Atlantic). A semi-response piece: This Isn’t A Culture War, It’s A War On Culture (The Federalist, David Harsanyi).
  5. File under sad: The State Department Turns Its Back on Syrian Christians and Other Non-Muslim Refugees (National Review, Nina Shea)
  6. The story I alluded to in my sermon: How Prop 47 Helped One Man Keep His Job (KQED,  Sara Hossaini). This is an illustration of what justification involves — a legal decree that exempts you from penalties the law would otherwise apply (when I quote stuff in my sermon I try to remember to share it here).
  7. Quick Links:

Disclaimer

Chi Alpha is not a partisan organization. To paraphrase another minister: we are not about the donkey’s agenda and we are not about the elephant’s agenda — we are about the Lamb’s agenda. Having said that, I read widely (in part because I believe we should aspire to pass the ideological Turing test and in part because I do not believe I can fairly say “I agree” or “I disagree” until I can say “I understand”) and may at times share articles that have a strong partisan bias simply because I find the article stimulating. The upshot: you should not assume I agree with everything an author says in an article I mention, much less things the author has said in other articles.

Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 13

In the time of King David, the tribe of Issachar produced shrewd warriors “who understood the times and knew what Israel should do” (1 Chron 12:32). In a similar way, we need to become wise people whose faith interacts with the world.

To that end, on Fridays I’ve been sharing articles/resources I have found helpful recently in thinking about broader cultural and societal issues (be sure to see the disclaimer at the bottom). May these give you greater insight, so that you may continue the tradition of Issachar. Past emails are archived at http://glenandpaula.com/wordpress/category/links

  1. From the provocative-but-not-fully-explained department: Marissa Johnson, Part of a New, Disruptive Generation of Activists (Nina Shapiro, Seattle Times): turns out that Marissa Johnson (the Black Lives Matter activist famous for disrupting a Bernie Sanders speech) attends an evangelical church and studied theology in college. Fascinating profile, although it leaves me with many questions.
  2. From the friends-in-high-places department: The Late, Great Stephen Colbert (Joel Lovell, GQ): Colbert has deep faith, and it really comes out in this interview. It’s long, so if you just want the faith bit search for the phrase “He lifted his arms as if to take in the office” and start reading there.
  3. From the spiritual insight department:
    • Faithfulness in College Is “Life-Wide” (Stephen Lutz, Gospel Coalition): what good does it profit a person to get a 4.0 and lose their soul? This one comes recommended by an alumnus.
    • Keep Your Enthusiasm In Check (George Wood, personal blog): very short but helpful. The author is the leader of the Assemblies of God, the group which sponsors Chi Alpha (and which I am ordained by).
  4. From the people-of-this-world-are-shrewd department: Effective Altruism: Where Charity and Rationality Meet (Tyler Cowen, NY Times): there is nothing overtly Christian about this piece, but the subject should be of great interest to Christians. We are called to give to spread the gospel and help the poor — and the Church can do better at both.
  5. From the politics-and-the-pulpit department: Ten Things To Remember As the Presidential Campaign Season Gets Into Full Swing (Kevin DeYoung, personal blog): DeYoung is a well-known pastor and author. Points 6, 7, and 8 are especially good.
  6. From the unexpected bedfellows department: Scalia Gets It Pretty Much Right (Stanley Fish, Huffington Post): I share this mostly because famed postmodern (or anti-foundationalist) theorist Stanley Fish is one of the most unlikely defenders of the famed originalist Justice Scalia I can imagine. The world is an odd place. Be sure to read the follow-up Respond To The Column That Was Actually Written.

Disclaimer

Chi Alpha is not a partisan organization. To paraphrase another minister: we are not about the donkey’s agenda and we are not about the elephant’s agenda — we are about the Lamb’s agenda. Having said that, I read widely (in part because I believe we should aspire to pass the ideological Turing test and in part because I do not believe I can fairly say “I agree” or “I disagree” until I can say “I understand”) and may at times share articles that have a strong partisan bias simply because I find the article stimulating. The upshot: you should not assume I agree with everything an author says in an article I mention, much less things the author has said in other articles.

Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 12

In the time of King David, the tribe of Issachar produced shrewd warriors “who understood the times and knew what Israel should do” (1 Chron 12:32). In a similar way, we need to become wise people whose faith interacts with the world.

To that end, I share articles/resources I have found helpful recently in thinking about broader cultural and societal issues (be sure to see the disclaimer at the bottom). May these give you greater insight, so that you may continue the tradition of Issachar. Past emails are archived at http://glenandpaula.com/wordpress/category/links

  1. From the too-close-to-home department: The Coddling of The American Mind (Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt, The Atlantic): the thesis of this essay is that a “campus culture devoted to policing speech and punishing speakers is likely to engender patterns of thought that are surprisingly similar to those long identified by cognitive behavioral therapists as causes of depression and anxiety.” This is a long piece but is worth reading even if you suspect it will infuriate you. There is some insightful commentary on Reddit arguing that it’s not students who have changed but administrators.
  2. From the race-and-religion department: A Year After Ferguson, Have White Christians Learned Anything? (Russell Moore, Washington Post)
  3. From the contemporary events department:
  4. From the ISIS department:
  5. From the eat-your-wheaties department: Want ‘Sustained Happiness’? Get Religion, Study Suggests (Sarah Pulliam Bailey, Washington Post): if you have the desire, check out the original study in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Disclaimer

Chi Alpha is not a partisan organization. To paraphrase another minister: we are not about the donkey’s agenda and we are not about the elephant’s agenda — we are about the Lamb’s agenda. Having said that, I read widely (in part because I believe we should aspire to pass the ideological Turing test and in part because I do not believe I can fairly say “I agree” or “I disagree” until I can say “I understand”) and may at times share articles that have a strong partisan bias simply because I find the article stimulating. The upshot: you should not assume I agree with everything an author says in an article I mention, much less things the author has said in other articles.

Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 11

In the time of King David, the tribe of Issachar produced shrewd warriors “who understood the times and knew what Israel should do” (1 Chron 12:32). In a similar way, we need to become wise people whose faith interacts with the world.

To that end, I share articles/resources I have found helpful recently in thinking about broader cultural and societal issues (be sure to see the disclaimer at the bottom). May these give you greater insight, so that you may continue the tradition of Issachar. Past emails are archived at http://glenandpaula.com/wordpress/category/links

  1. I am at a conference in Florida with spotty internet service, so there will be fewer items than normal this week (largely items from previous weeks I’ve been holding in reserve). Here are three quick insights from the conference that have stood out to me:
    • Poor leaders seek attention, great leaders pay attention,
    • You need both the power of God and the presence of God in your life. The power of God appears in a moment, but the presence of God is something we constantly pursue. We freak out when we are in an area with no cell phone coverage. We should be at least that desperate for the presence of God.
    • Don’t hunt for greener grass — it’s probably just a septic leak anyway.
  2. From the eastern affairs department:
  3. From the every-tribe-tongue-and-nation department:

Disclaimer

Chi Alpha is not a partisan organization. To paraphrase another minister: we are not about the donkey’s agenda and we are not about the elephant’s agenda — we are about the Lamb’s agenda. Having said that, I read widely (in part because I believe we should aspire to pass the ideological Turing test and in part because I do not believe I can fairly say “I agree” or “I disagree” until I can say “I understand”) and may at times share articles that have a strong partisan bias simply because I find the article stimulating. The upshot: you should not assume I agree with everything an author says in an article I mention, much less things the author has said in other articles.