Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 1

[this was an email I sent to the students in Chi Alpha @ Stanford]

In the time of King David, the Bible says that the tribe of Issachar produced shrewd warriors “who understood the times and knew what Israel should do” (1 Chron 12:32). That’s a worthy goal — to understand our times and know how to live wisely in them. We need to learn how our faith interacts with the world.

To that end, I’m going to try something: for the next few weeks I’ll send out three to five articles/resources I have found helpful in thinking about national, global and theological issues (be sure to see the disclaimer at the bottom). My hope is these readings nudge you into continuing the tradition of Issachar. If these emails are well-received then they may become an ongoing thing.

So here’s the first batch:

  1. The Spiritual Shape of Political Ideas (Joseph Bottum, The Weekly Standard): many modern political ideas are derived from Christian theological concepts.

  2. What ISIS Really Wants (Graeme Wood, The Atlantic): the key to understanding ISIS is understanding their faith, particularly their eschatology. A takeaway for Christians — your eschatology matters (so get it right).

  3. Evangelical Protestants Are The Biggest Winners Whenever People Change Faiths (Leah Libresco, FiveThirtyEight): this is the most interesting take I’ve seen on the Pew Forum study that filled the news recently. If current trends continue until they reach an equilibrium point, then evangelicalism will become the largest religious identity in America (followed by either the religiously unaffiliated or the Mormons depending on whether fertility is factored in).

  4. God’s Forever Family: The Jesus People Movement in America (Larry Eskridge, Oxford University Press): a scholarly history of an oft-overlooked Great Awakening — the Jesus People revival among the hippies. It is full of delightful anecdotes, including this charmer: one couple “began to talk to their friends about Jesus and even went so far as to name their dog ‘Repent’ so they could stand in the city’s parks and shout the canine’s name and their message at the top of their lungs.”  (p 148). The book is available online through Stanford’s library system — the link will take you right there.

Suggestions for a better title / articles to consider / best day to send the email on / etc. are welcome, as is feedback on the idea as a whole.

Disclaimer

Chi Alpha is not a partisan organization. To paraphrase another minister: we are not about the donkey’s agenda and are not about the elephant’s agenda — we are about the Lamb’s agenda. Having said that, I read stuff (and may therefore share stuff) from all over the ideological map. I read widely in part because I aspire to pass an ideological Turing test and more generally because I do not believe I can fairly say “I agree” or “I disagree” until I can say “I understand.” I encourage you to adopt a similar perspective.

Also, for the first few installments I’ll probably reach farther back than normal for some articles that stand out in my memory. As time goes on I imagine the links will become more and more recent.

Do You Geek Out When There’s A New Episode Of Radiolab? Thoughtful Christian Podcasts

Podcast BearI love podcasts. I listen to them every day as I bike to and from campus. I listen to them in the gym as I work out. I listen to them whenever I drive somewhere and there is no one else in the car.
There are a ton of Christian podcasts out there, but most of them are sermonic. Nothing against sermons — I preach a lot of them and listen to even more. I even podcast my sermons. But there are so many sermons podcasted that it can be hard to find some of the other Christian gems that are out there.
So if you’re into podcasts and are into Jesus, here are a few to consider adding to your list.
Thinking In Public with Al Mohler
http://www.albertmohler.com/category/thinking-in-public/
Dr. Mohler is the president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. In this podcast, he interviews interesting people about theological and cultural issues.
Unbelievable?
This weekly radio show from the UK features Christians and non-Christians in dialog. They usually bring in amazing people and the host is good at helping each person put their arguments forward effectively. The episodes feel long to me, but I still come back to it over and over again.
The Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast
This one is more ministry related. Highly successful pastor Andy Stanley explains principles of leadership in a helpful way. This is one of my favorites.
This is a roundtable discussion about theological topics with intelligent and well-informed people. Sometimes it gets a little confusing because their voices are hard to tell apart, but it is nonetheless worthwhile.
Research On Religion with Anthony Gill
Dr. Gill is a professor of political science at the University of Washington. This podcast is pretty academic and can be dry at times, but the best episodes are fascinating. Two good ones to start with:

Race and Grace in a Broken World

UPDATE 12/4/2014: Last night was our first Chi Alpha gathering since the Ferguson non-indictment — the same day as the NYC non-indictment. As a prelude to the sermon, I gave a more comprehensive take on race and the gospel. If you’re interested, check out the first few minutes of xastanford.org/sermons?sermon_id=52

I emailed this to the students in my ministry earlier today and they seemed to find it helpful. I share it in the hope that it will also prove useful to you.

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I know many of us are reflecting on racism and justice this week. As a follower of Jesus, I encourage you to remember that the journey Christians are on is a journey alongside “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language.”

Why should we remember that fact? Because it reminds us that racial unity is one of the outcomes of the gospel. Christ brings people together by drawing them to Himself.

So I urge you to think in a Christian way about these issues. Here are some resources to stimulate you.

IF YOU WANT TO ENGAGE WITH SOMETHING BRIEF

If you are wondering where the church has been in the midst of all of this, the answer is front and center. I mention this because it is frequently overlooked:
http://www.getreligion.org/getreligion/2014/11/25/what-role-did-clergy-play-during-ferguson-chaos-if-you-looked-for-them-they-were-there

Thabiti Anyabwile has some useful things to say in this eight minute video. He is speaking before the grand jury’s decision was revealed. If you want to read more of him, he blogs at http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/thabitianyabwile/.

White Christians in particular will find Ed Stetzer’s thoughts helpful —  http://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2014/november/decision-in-ferguson-how-should-evangelicals-respond.html

IF YOU WANT TO DIG DEEP

If you have more time this Thanksgiving break and want to go beyond reading an article or two, pick one of these books and dive in:

  • Bloodlines: Race, Cross, and the Christian (John Piper) [like many (all?) of Piper’s books it is free on his website as a PDF — http://www.desiringgod.org/books/bloodlines )
  • From Every People and Nation: A Biblical Theology of Race (J. Daniel Hays)
  • Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America (Emerson and Smith) [this book is quite critical of the church — it is painful but helpful reading]

May you have a blessed Thanksgiving, and may the Lord continue to heal this broken world.

 

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This is the sort of stuff I hear from students at Stanford. Interesting.

Listening to Young Atheists, Lessons for a Stronger Christianity

When a Christian foundation interviewed college nonbelievers about how and why they left religion, surprising themes emerged. 

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This never occurred to me, but it makes a lot of sense.

Our government will end up thwarting tech innovation and balkanizing the web

…Google Glass + NSA PRISM essentially amounts to a vision in which a foreign country is suddenly going to be flooded with American spy cameras. It seems easy to imagine any number of foreign governments having a problem with that 

…

This is a very interesting read, especially because most people who talk about internet porn are either absolutely convinced that it is addictive or are adamantly insisting that it is not.

Was I Actually ‘Addicted’ to Internet Pornography?

Addiction isn’t a term to be thrown around lightly. But some argue that it’s possible to become neurologically dependent on porn. 

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The closing anecdote is chilling.

You commit three felonies a day

In a book called Three Felonies A Day, Boston civil rights lawyer Harvey Silverglate says that everyone in the US commits felonies 

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I wonder if this is true of other disciplines as well. How interesting.

Academic economics is more winner-take-all than you might think

John P. Conley and Ali Sina Onder write (pdf): We study the research productivity of new graduates of top Ph.D. programs in economics.  We find that class rank is as important as departmental rank as predictors of future research productivity. 

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I really do wonder if our society’s legal structure is untenable. There comes a point when there are so many laws that people are forced to ignore or disobey that people must begin to disparage the law more generally. We are certainly there in some people’s minds — how long until contempt for the legal system undermines our ability to function as a society?

No One is Innocent

I broke the law yesterday and again today and I will probably break the law tomorrow. Don’t mistake me, I have done nothing wrong. I don’t even know what laws I have broken. Nevertheless, I am reasonably confident that I 

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Indirect validation of the church planting assessment process.

Google Interview Questions

The famous Google interview questions? They don’t work. Here’s Laszlo Bock, senior vice president of people operations at Google: On the hiring side, we found that brainteasers are a complete waste of time. How many golf balls can you fit into an