A La Carte (April 20)

Recommended Reading

Is Your Fatherhood Like a Rubik’s Cube? Dads may benefit from reading about “The Rubik’s Cube Effect.” This is a familiar phenomenon, I think: “One side starts to come together, but in the very act of bringing order there, something else is thrown out of place.”

I Never Felt Like Reading the Bible. Here’s What Changed. Reagan Rose explains how he learned to love reading Bible. “Earlier this week, I was talking with a young believer … and during our conversation, I realized that at some point in my life that guilt relationship with Bible reading had disappeared and been replaced by delight in the Word. And I wasn’t quite sure when or how that had happened. So, I’ve done some reflection on that transformation, and my goal for this essay is to trace how the Lord changed my relationship with daily Bible reading from one of guilt to one of delight.”

When Should I Disobey Authorities? (Video) We all know there are circumstances in which we must obey authorities and circumstances in which we must disobey them. Adriel Sanchez discusses the second category in this brief video.

Don’t Get Singled Out. Jacob uses an illustration from the natural world to warn of the danger of drifting away from Christian community. “Don’t stop coming around. This is when you are most vulnerable. The devil loves to see you step away from the normal means of grace. He loves it when you only attend church just enough to avoid church discipline. He loves it when he hears you downplay the importance of the gatherings of the church. Or even more deceptively, he loves it when you show up to the gathering, but you choose to have no meaningful interactions. Just show up late and leave early. If this is ringing a bell in your soul, don’t ignore it. You’re in dangerous territory.”

The Pulpit Is Not the Place to Lay Out Various Interpretive Views. I generally agree with what Stephen says here: That the pulpit is not the place for a pastor to tease out various interpretive views. I might make exceptions in those cases when the congregation already knows there are various views and will want to know why the preacher opted for one over the other. But otherwise, I typically think it’s unhelpful for pastors to spend time explaining what the text does not say. (Also, see this contrary view.)

The Case Against Social Media: Seven Lines of Evidence. I don’t think anyone has done more to warn the world about social media than Jonathan Haidt. In this article, he and Zach Rausch assemble the evidence and make the case. “In our hypothetical case against the companies — particularly Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat — we begin with the apparent victims, the people who allege harm: Gen Z, the cohort born roughly between 1996 and 2011. … We then turn to those who spend the most time with young people — parents, educators, and clinicians. They also witnessed the effects of social media across many young people, over many years.”