Good morning. Grace and peace to you.
Sales & Deals
Today’s Kindle deals include a couple of volumes in the excellent Reformed Expository Commentary series. There are some other picks as well.
Recommended Reading
Conspiracy and the Christian. Bob Stevenson has a helpful article about conspiracy theories—what they are and why Christians should be especially wary of them. “When we flirt with wild theories, we compromise the very message we have been entrusted with. Like the boy who cried wolf, if we preach faked moon landings and satanic shadow governments running the US—and then try to tell people that, yes, Jesus really rose from the dead—why would we expect anyone to believe us?”
The Algorithm Is Changing How We Speak—and Strive. Have you considered the way the algorithms that are so much a part of our lives may actually be changing us? “‘Algospeak’ is essentially how social media algorithms transform our communication. Sometimes this looks like self-censoring content so that it doesn’t get ‘shadowbanned’ (when a post gets hidden because the algorithm detects inappropriate or controversial language). Kill becomes unalive, for example.”
‘Suggested for You’: 5 Values AI Suggests. “No technology is value-neutral. Each comes with a set of unique suggestions. The technology of birth control suggests that sex and procreation aren’t necessarily connected. The technology of smartphones and social media suggest that all of life can be documented, curated, and broadcast to an audience. The technology of noise-canceling headphones suggests that all interruptions can be eliminated.”
When Darkness Descends. Missionaries often face deep struggles and despair while serving far from home. Brooks Buser considers what they can do in those times.
The Incredible Human Hand. It always fascinates me when people who do not acknowledge the existence or creativity of God borrow the language of design. “Are your hands the result of mere chance? Or have your hands been designed in advance, with the instructions for the correct assembly of parts coded into the DNA language from the beginning?”
A Culture of Chronic Doubt. Alan Noble pens some interesting thoughts about our culture of chronic doubt. “Uncertainty is a part of our culture. On the one hand we are made to feel uncomfortably doubtful about our wellbeing so that we feel the urgent need to purchase products and services, and on the other hand we’re promised relief from doubt by these products and services. We are kept in the liminal space between anxiety and safety. What exacerbates this problem is that so many of our institutions have been weakened through fallen or corrupt leadership. Our trust has been broken.”
Elders Disqualify Pastor Sam Allberry From Ministry. I was so very sorry to read this sad news. “Pastor Sam Allberry, an apologist, author, and speaker, has been disqualified from ministry by the elders at Immanuel Nashville, the church where Allberry served as associate pastor, for engaging in an ‘inappropriate relationship with an adult man.’”
Flashback
The Toxic War on Masculinity. What God has created is good and must be celebrated. But it must also be fostered and protected, not allowed to be twisted and perverted.
I’m related to Adam in my natural birth. I’m related to Jesus in my new birth. I can’t deny my past. No one can deny my future.
—Dan DeWitt
