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A La Carte (8/14)
- 08/14/09
- 5
Tweet Tweet
I enjoyed this article by David Sills. He writes about Twitter and other social media: “Someone has said that humility is not thinking less of yourself, just thinking of yourself less. Enter Twitter and Facebook. Humility used to guide believers to wait and let others praise them and not do it themselves. The heroes of yesteryear who reluctantly received the crowd’s adulation have been replaced with shameless personal promoters who peddle their self-made brand to as many as possible by all means possible—under the guise of social networking. I will admit that these folks seem to be larger than life superstars with all the news that’s fit to tweet, if it’s all true, but seriously, all this genuflecting is making my pants baggy.”
Coffee Drinking
Owen Strachan’s article on coffee drinking is worth the (humorous) read. “What you find on many websites is some kind of description like this: ‘I love reformed theology, U2, anything by Steven Soderbergh, and a fresh cup of joe.’ Or maybe: ‘My interests are theology, issues of social justice, Beastie Boys, and an Americano from (fill in neighborhood coffee shop here).’ Or perhaps: ‘Can’t resist a good Bonhoeffer quotation, Edwardsean philosophy, and a venti mocha with light whip.’”
Bonuses Break the Bank
This might make you mad.
Religious Book Sales Fall
“Sales of religious books saw a significant decrease of 22% in June continuing a yearlong trend, as overall book sales increased by 21.5% to $942.6 million, according to The Association of American Publishers (AAP).”
I enjoyed this article by David Sills. He writes about Twitter and other social media: “Someone has said that humility is not thinking less of yourself, just thinking of yourself less. Enter Twitter and Facebook. Humility used to guide believers to wait and let others praise them and not do it themselves. The heroes of yesteryear who reluctantly received the crowd’s adulation have been replaced with shameless personal promoters who peddle their self-made brand to as many as possible by all means possible—under the guise of social networking. I will admit that these folks seem to be larger than life superstars with all the news that’s fit to tweet, if it’s all true, but seriously, all this genuflecting is making my pants baggy.”
Coffee Drinking
Owen Strachan’s article on coffee drinking is worth the (humorous) read. “What you find on many websites is some kind of description like this: ‘I love reformed theology, U2, anything by Steven Soderbergh, and a fresh cup of joe.’ Or maybe: ‘My interests are theology, issues of social justice, Beastie Boys, and an Americano from (fill in neighborhood coffee shop here).’ Or perhaps: ‘Can’t resist a good Bonhoeffer quotation, Edwardsean philosophy, and a venti mocha with light whip.’”
Bonuses Break the Bank
This might make you mad.
Religious Book Sales Fall
“Sales of religious books saw a significant decrease of 22% in June continuing a yearlong trend, as overall book sales increased by 21.5% to $942.6 million, according to The Association of American Publishers (AAP).”
I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband to Aileen and a father to three young children. I worship and serve as a pastor at 
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Comments (5)
“Religious book sales fell last month, as more and more consumers reported using something called ‘discernment.’ Standing outside a Barnes & Noble, one shopper told us, ‘I was going to buy The Shack - my acupuncturist loved it! But then I read a review by some guy named Tim Challies. I picked up a book by Victor Davis Hanson instead.’”
Bravo, Andy.
That article on bank bonuses is simplistic and misleading. The graphic showing bonuses paid out vs. TARP funds is also misleading. First, a number of those institutions did not need or want TARP funds but were coerced into taking them and have since paid them back. Second, the bank’s profits are net of employee compensation so comparing bonuses to profit is misleading. Third, banks that posted an overall loss typically still made money in certain divisions. In those divisions, high-performing employees still deserve bonuses. Fourth, the article implies that banks that do poorly are bailed out by the taxpayer. This is only true sometimes. Ask the guys at Lehman.
Such a simplistic and misleading article is worth reading only as an example of how not to write. There’s plenty of problems with TARP and the financial bailout, but this article doesn’t make that case.
Religious book sales down would be a blessing if people stopped buying The Shack , Osteen and the other drivel that’s out there that qualifies as”religious”. Its not that there are have not been some excellent books released other the last year like Christless Christianity just for one . But it also ,I believe points to a bigger problem, the illiterate people in the pew . By that I mean doctrinally. In my Church most people don’t have a clue about the Reformation, Luther,Calvin and have never heard of Augustine or Athanasius etc.. If you asked about what was the main cause of the reformation they look at you like you have 2 heads. In general people just do not read . Sad really and a sign of sloth and apathy .
‘Can’t resist a good Bonhoeffer quotation, Edwardsean philosophy, and a venti mocha with light whip.’”
Well…I’m allergic to coffee, so that’s one thing I don’t have in my profile description. ;)