Vatican Files – Writing for Reformation21, Leonardo De Chirico has a very helpful article on the new pope, why he was elected, and some of the challenges he will face. This is part of a long series De Chirico has been writing on Roman Catholicism. Meanwhile, Steve Meister reminds us that Humble Popes Don’t Exist.
The New Cultural Acceptance – “The new mark of being culturally acceptable is affirming homosexuality as virtuous (not merely okay, but virtuous, even exemplary). This is the litmus test. I don’t think many of us expected that it would so quickly fill this role, but it has. The mark of being a progressive, kind, socially courageous person today is simply this: affirming same-sex marriage.”
Optional Extras – If you travel by air, you may want to keep this handy. It is a list of which extras are worth paying for and which are not.
4 Ways We Need to Grow in Evangelism – J.D. Greear: “If evangelism is not something that we do well as a church, everything else that we do will be sterile. To that end, during the Summit’s last all-staff meeting, we discussed what hindrances were getting in the way of evangelism at our church, and how we could grow in those areas. We were all able to learn from each other’s experiences, and we identified four broad areas that we, as a church, need to grow in”
Diet Soda Will Kill Us! – Here is a brief history of our relationship with artificial sweetners and whether or not they are going to end up killing us.
Sacred Mystery – I have not seen any of History Channel’s series on the Bible. Almost all the reports I’ve read, whether from Christian sources or mainstream, have been negative. And still it’s a hit. Here’s a slightly snarky take on how on earth the show has done so well.
Many a man’s knowledge is a torch to light him to hell.
—Thomas Watson
