Curated content for Christians
The New Asceticism – I think Byron Yawn has a good word of warning to offer in this article. He looks at today’s many calls for radical living and points out where, if we are not careful, we could lose sight of the gospel. Remember that it tends to be good things that take our…
One thing I love about John Piper is the passion he brings to, well, pretty much everything he does. A couple of years ago he and I went out for a quick bite to eat after a conference and he asked a bunch of questions about Twitter; he was considering getting an account (or, actually,…
Amazon – Speaking of Kindle, here are some interesting, random facts about Amazon. A Soldier’s Letter – You have probably read this letter before, but it’s definitely worth reading again. “It shows a man highly devoted to his different and sometimes conflicting vocations as husband, father, soldier, citizen, and Christian.” Too Young to Wed –…
Whole Hearts – Matt Hammitt is looking for your help in establishing the Whole Hearts Foundation to support the families of children with congenital heart defects. Pepsi is tallying votes and will make a donation to the organization that gets the most votes. You can visit the link to read more and to cast your…
Banning Weird Names – “In the past two years, the country [New Zealand] has banned 102 names deemed to be too out there. The list includes Baron, Bishop, Duke, General, Judge, Justice, King, Knight and Mr. Those names were banned because they were deemed to be too similar to titles. The name Messiah has also…
Last night I had the privilege of speaking to a big group of teens who traveled up from Tulsa, Oklahoma to do some missions work here in Toronto. What a great encouragement it is to see those teens serving hard and sharing the gospel. (Hi, Emily’s mom!) The Most Dangerous Countries for Women – The…
Father & Son – “Chris Bray and his father, Kenneth, attended the launch of STS-135, the final space shuttle mission, on July 8. Thirty years earlier, they saw the launch of STS-1, the very first one. Possessing nearly identical photos of himself and his father at the two launches, Bray uploaded a composite image of…
How to Evaluate Your Sermons – Here’s one for the preachers: “We must regularly evaluate our preaching to know if we are growing as preachers. Charles Spurgeon (1834–1892) said to his ministerial students, ‘I give you the motto, ‘Go forward.’ Go forward in personal attainments, forward in gifts and in grace, forward in fitness for…
My apologies to those who were looking for the final post in Reading Classics Together. I was on vacation last week and just plain forgot to write up the Reading Classics article. I’ll catch up this Thursday! Meanwhile, here are some links that may be of interest… 9 Lessons Concerning Sickeness – Here are 9…
We are finishing up a week’s vacation today and heading home from a great little cottage we’ve been parked at for the past week. It’s been a wonderful vacation–the kind that was quiet and relaxing and lasted just long enough (but not too long). Good times. The Most Risky Profession – Writing for CT, Mark…
Outsourcing Memory – “Research suggests that we no longer remember facts, because we know the Web will do it for us. … A study published in today’s Science suggests that the Internet has changed how we remember facts. The study shows that the Web has become a sort of external hard drive for factual information.…
Rest – A Four-Letter Word? – This is worth reflecting on. “Eleven years ago, I wrote about an observed hurry, in which we have lost our bearings, our sense of proportion. ‘Unavailable’ seems a word from the past, going the way of cursive writing. But of course, with the aid of technology, it is more…
When Piper Touched My Chin – I thoroughly enjoyed this article from Clint Archer. “My question was a thinly veiled attempt to tease out some Piper-esque wisdom on this potentially spicy topic. He leaped over my trap with a single bound. His underwhelming answer was decaffeinated of all controversy. No passionate gesticulating, no mention of…
We have planned a day at the beach today which means that it will largely involve a beach chair, a Kindle and a selection of cold beverages. And, of course, I’ll spend some time making sand castles with the kids. Sounds like the makings of a good day… The Lure of the LED – This…
Bell’s Hell – This is rather an interesting blog post from the editor of Rob Bell’s book Love Wins. It’s another case of someone marveling that Christians were quick and vocal in defending a core doctrine of the faith. How is that surprising? A Testimony – I enjoyed reading Phil Johnson’s testimony of how the…
Mahaney’s Leave of Absence – An interesting update from C.J. Mahaney: “With a few potential exceptions, I will be taking a break from updating this blog for a while, and I want to share with you the reasons why and entreat you for your prayers while I am on leave.” Dave Harvey explains further. Urban…
House of Shelves – This is my kind of house. “Floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall shelving defines a compact, 557-square-foot home in Osaka prefecture, Japan, designed by Japanese Architect Kazuya Morita. Designed for a young historian with an extensive book collection in Islamic history, Morita designed the house with interlocking laminated pine boards that slot together to form…
Cherish the Book Publishers – The title and subtitle of this op-ed at the Wall Street Journal pretty much say it all: “Cherish the Book Publishers—You’ll Miss Them When They’re Gone.” Call me a snob, but I receive enough self-published books to know that many books are turned down by publishers for a good reason.…
It was quite a quiet day in the blogosphere yesterday. You’d almost think that all of America was distracted or busy doing more important things. Nevertheless, here are a few interesting links I picked up along the way. The Millennials – The Millennials by Thom Rainer and Jess Rainer is this month’s free audio book…
Happy Independence Day to all of my American friends. Is that the correct July 4 greeting? Of course the greeting may seem a little bit disingenuous coming from the country that currently has a prince and princess touring it… An Historian Reading Bonhoeffer – Michael Haykin on Metaxas’ biography of Bonhoeffer: “A big book, it…