{"id":7750,"date":"2025-08-01T14:10:31","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T21:10:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/?p=7750"},"modified":"2025-08-01T14:10:31","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T21:10:31","slug":"things-glen-found-interesting-volume-515-go-deep-in-community-plus-missionaries-with-shotguns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2025\/08\/01\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-515-go-deep-in-community-plus-missionaries-with-shotguns","title":{"rendered":"Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 515: go deep in community, plus missionaries with shotguns"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-4396\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=300%2C300&#038;ssl=1\" alt width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=768%2C768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=1024%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=1200%2C1200&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?w=2048&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?w=1680&amp;ssl=1 1680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 85vw, 300px\"><\/a>\n\n    On Fridays I share articles\/resources about broad cultural, societal and theological issues. Be sure to see the explanation and disclaimers at the bottom. I welcome your suggestions. If you read something fascinating please pass it my&nbsp;way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Things Glen Found Interesting<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list simple-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.frontporchrepublic.com\/2025\/06\/compound-interest-in-an-attention-economy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Compound Interest in an Attention Economy<\/a> (Austin Carty, Front Porch Republic): \u201cThe prevailing logic of twenty-first century American culture suggests that the pursuit of new experience is, <em>in and of itself<\/em>, a necessary form of capital without which one is ipso facto barred from the possibility of living a rich life. But my own experience, corroborated by many of the people I\u2019ve talked with, suggests that the pursuit of new experience is, just as often as not, the <em>cause<\/em> of our despair not the cure; for to keep shifting attention from one thing to the next is almost always to <em>drain<\/em> one\u2019s spiritual and mental and emotional bank account, not to deliver a meaningful return. Meanwhile, contra popular opinion, there is something life-giving about rooting oneself in a single community\u2014about investing ourselves in a mutual fund, so to speak\u2014and watching the investment slowly grow at compound interest.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/global-development\/2025\/jul\/27\/a-computer-a-radio-a-drone-and-a-shotgun-how-missionaries-are-reaching-out-to-brazils-isolated-peoples\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u2018A computer, a radio, a drone and a shotgun\u2019: how missionaries are reaching out to Brazil\u2019s isolated peoples<\/a> (John Reid and Daniel Biasetto, The Guardian): \u201cMissionary activity now threatens 13 of the 29 isolated peoples that Brazil officially recognises as definitively confirmed, according to the federal prosecutor\u2019s office.\u201d&nbsp;<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This was actually a pretty encouraging article overall, despite the use of language like \u201cthreatens.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Trending thoughts about&nbsp;Gaza:&nbsp;<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thefp.com\/p\/the-price-of-flour-shows-the-hunger-crisis-in-gaza-israel-war-hamas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Price of Flour Shows the Hunger Crisis in Gaza<\/a> (Amit Segal, The Free Press): \u201cDiscussing these findings, <em>The Free Press<\/em>\u2019s Haviv Rettig Gur highlighted Spitzer\u2019s key challenge in convincing Israelis that Gaza is indeed facing a hunger crisis: \u2018It\u2019s hard to convince Israelis of that because literally everything said to them for 22 months on this topic has been a fiction.\u2019&nbsp;\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thefp.com\/p\/matti-friedman-is-gaza-starving-searching-for-truth-in-information-war\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Is Gaza Starving? Searching for the Truth in an Information War.<\/a> (Matti Friedman, The Free Press): \u201cOver the years, Israelis have been accused of fake massacres and rapes. The country\u2019s actions are lied about almost daily by people describing themselves as journalists, analysts, and representatives of the United Nations, often using statistics that are themselves untrue. For people here in Israel, the constant barrage of libel\u2014like the more literal barrages of rockets\u2014is simply a fact of life. After years of this, average Israelis do what people do when confronted with lunatics on the New York subway: They tune it out.\u2026 a senior figure in the Israeli military told one of my colleagues at the end of last week that while there isn\u2019t mass starvation as claimed by pro-Hamas propaganda, Gaza really is on the brink this&nbsp;time.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/07\/26\/opinion\/israel-hamas-gaza-starvation.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">How Israel\u2019s War Became Unjust<\/a> (Ross Douthat, New York Times): \u201c\u2026Israel has made a strategic choice, trying to separate food distribution from a system that it argues Hamas was exploiting for its own purposes. But if your strategic choice leads to children dying of starvation when the food is available to feed them, then a civilized nation has to make a different choice \u2014 even if that makes things easier for its enemies to some degree.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/thedispatch.com\/article\/marriage-vows-public-private-institution\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Till Words Do Us Part<\/a> (Leah Libresco Sargeant, The Dispatch): \u201cClassically, the marriage vows are not about the particular couple standing at the altar\u2014they\u2019re about the institution the couple is choosing to enter. Classical vows (for better, for worse, etc) have lasted with only minor revisions for a thousand years. They are intended to suit every couple, uncustomized, and they enumerate the promises that must be kept for a marriage to be a marriage. But customized vows frequently mingle serious promises with ones that cannot or should not be&nbsp;kept.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thepublicdiscourse.com\/2025\/07\/98503\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Natural Law Is Not Enough. The Natural Law Is All We Have.<\/a> (Andrew T. Walker, Public Discourse): \u201c\u2026any attempt to construct a moral and political order must grapple with two competing truths: the<em> imago Dei <\/em>makes moral reasoning possible, but original sin ensures that moral reasoning will often be contested, suppressed, corrupted, or ignored. This is the paradox of our moment. The natural law is written on every heart (Romans 2:15), but hearts are wounded and reason clouded. We have access to moral truth, but not consensus. Hence, the natural law is not enough. But it is still the best we&nbsp;have.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/inparticular.substack.com\/p\/desiderata-for-a-protestant-theology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Desiderata for a Protestant Theology of the Body<\/a> (Substack): \u201cBut I think there are, in fact, distinctively Protestant ways to approach the question of sexuality and reproduction- and I suspect some of the dearth of conversation about these topics reflects a certain Protestant sensibility. It also reflects the boundaries of what might be possible with a Protestant view. So here are a few \u2018desiderata\u2019- a fancy way of saying \u2018things we ought to consider\u2019, in order to build a Protestant theology of the&nbsp;body.\u201d&nbsp;<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The author is a theologian at Gordon-Conwell.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/thedispatch.com\/next-250\/second-great-awakening-america\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">How the Second Great Awakening Helped Make America<\/a> (Thomas Kidd, The Dispatch): \u201cAmericans might assume that the height of their nation\u2019s religious commitment was around its Founding. Some likewise figure that spiritually, it\u2019s been going downhill ever since. But in many ways, America became <em>increasingly<\/em> religious through the first half of the 19th century.\u201d&nbsp;<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Kidd is one of the greatest living evangelical historians.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Less Serious Things Which Also Interested\/Amused Glen<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list simple-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gocomics.com\/pearlsbeforeswine\/2025\/07\/20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ambition<\/a> (Pearls Before Swine)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.smbc-comics.com\/comic\/attention-2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Limits of AI<\/a> (SMBC)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.smbc-comics.com\/comic\/self-4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Impostor Syndrome<\/a> (SMBC)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.smbc-comics.com\/comic\/canon\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Literary Canon<\/a> (SMBC)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/babylonbee.com\/news\/mans-life-going-so-well-he-has-to-find-stuff-on-the-internet-to-get-angry-about\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Man\u2019s Life Going So Well He Has To Find Stuff On The Internet To Get Angry About<\/a> (Babylon Bee)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.smbc-comics.com\/comic\/lesson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Lesson<\/a> (SMBC): the Ms. Frizzle cameo sent&nbsp;me<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newser.com\/article\/b6b734d18ea8fd45f7432af9fb889f32\/split-doubleheader-dominguez-traded-from-orioles-to-blue-jays-in-between-games-against-each-other.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Split doubleheader: Dom\u00ednguez traded from Orioles to Blue Jays in between games against each other <\/a>(Noah Trister, Associated Press): \u201c\u2018After the first game, I was in there with the guys, and they call me and they tell me, \u201cHey we got you traded. Go to the next dugout,\u201d\u2019 Dom\u00ednguez said.\u201d&nbsp;<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>I can\u2019t even imagine how surreal that must have felt for everyone in both dugouts. Wow.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/babylonbee.com\/news\/man-with-strong-urge-to-eat-wicker-basket-settles-for-triscuit-instead\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Man With Strong Urge To Eat Wicker Basket Settles For Triscuit Instead<\/a> (Babylon Bee)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gocomics.com\/pearlsbeforeswine\/2025\/07\/30\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Twitter<\/a> (Pearls Before Swine)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><b>Why Do You Send This&nbsp;Email?<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In the time of King David, the tribe of Issachar produced shrewd warriors \u201cwho understood the times and knew what Israel should do\u201d (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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><b>Disclaimer<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Chi Alpha is not a partisan organization. To paraphrase another minister: we are not about the donkey\u2019s agenda and we are not about the elephant\u2019s agenda \u2014 we are about the Lamb\u2019s agenda. Having said that, I read widely (in part because I believe we should aspire to pass <a href=\"http:\/\/econlog.econlib.org\/archives\/2011\/06\/the_ideological.html\">the ideological Turing test<\/a> and in part because I do not believe I can fairly say \u201cI agree\u201d or \u201cI disagree\u201d until I can say \u201cI understand\u201d) 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\u2019ll usually mention it). And to the extent you can discern my opinions, please understand that they are my own and not necessarily those of Chi Alpha or any other organization I may be perceived to represent.\n\nAlso, remember that I\u2019m not reporting news \u2014 I\u2019m giving you a selection of things I found interesting. There\u2019s a lot happening in the world that\u2019s not making an appearance here because I haven\u2019t found stimulating articles written about it.\n\nIf this was forwarded to you and you want to receive future emails, sign up <a href=\"https:\/\/theglendavis.substack.com\/\">here<\/a>. You can also <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/category\/links\">view the archives<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Fridays I share articles\/resources about broad cultural, societal and theological issues. Be sure to see the explanation and disclaimers at the bottom. I welcome your suggestions. If you read something fascinating please pass it my&nbsp;way. Things Glen Found Interesting Less Serious Things Which Also Interested\/Amused Glen Why Do You Send This&nbsp;Email? In the time \u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2025\/08\/01\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-515-go-deep-in-community-plus-missionaries-with-shotguns\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> \u201cThings Glen Found Interesting, Volume 515: go deep in community, plus missionaries with shotguns\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[16],"tags":[127,148,112,115,162,247],"class_list":["post-7750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-links","tag-history","tag-israel","tag-marriage","tag-missions","tag-theology","tag-wisdom"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Ded-210","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7750"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7750\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7755,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7750\/revisions\/7755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}