Category Archives: links

Links To Go (January 17, 2019)

Most Teenagers Drop Out of Church as Young Adults

The five most frequently chosen specific reasons for dropping out were: moving to college and no longer attending (34 percent); church members seeming judgmental or hypocritical (32 percent); no longer feeling connected to people in their church (29 percent); disagreeing with the church’s stance on political or social issues (25 percent); and work responsibilities (24 percent).


What’s Shaping Your Church?

If the only thing people know about your church is that you let women lead a prayer or that you oppose instrumental music in worship or that you have an incredible children’s program, then that’s a problem. If all we ever do is bang the drum and pat ourselves on the back for standing against error, then that’s a problem. If a church is so numbers-driven that they become more concerned about rear-ends in the pew than souls in the kingdom, then that’s a problem.


A ‘Day of Pentecost Every Sunday’

Kissimmee Christian Church follows the motto: “Multiple languages, multiple cultures. One church, one eldership.” The various people groups are still able to minister and worship creatively and in culture-specific ways using their music and their language. But the result is a stronger, more biblical framework and greater unity among all those who attend the church.


A CNN analyst called out a Fox News contributor for his ‘white privilege.’ He’s black.

When Webb, a Fox Nation host and frequent Fox News contributor, said he considered his qualifications more important than his skin color when applying to media jobs, Martin accused him of exercising white privilege.
But there was a problem with that, as Webb quickly pointed out:
“Areva, I hate to break it to you, but you should’ve been better prepped,” he responded. “I’m black.”


Don’t steal metrics

Talking to a producer, he said that his goal was to make it a “top 10 podcast on iTunes.”
Why is that the goal?
That’s a common goal, a popular goal, someone else’s goal.
The compromises necessary to make it that popular (in dumbing down the content, sensationalizing it, hunting down sort-of-famous guests and doing a ton of promo) all fly in the face of what the project is for.


You’re probably not pitch perfect, but you can honor God with your gifts.

Once you agree to this leadership role in the worship, there are responsibilities that you have accepted. Congregational singing can be tremendously inspiring and uplifting or uninspiring and un-motivating; the song leader can make that difference.


Facebook Algorithms and Personal Data

Facebook makes it relatively easy for users to find out how the site’s algorithm has categorized their interests via a “Your ad preferences” page. Overall, however, 74% of Facebook users say they did not know that this list of their traits and interests existed until they were directed to their page as part of this study.
When directed to the “ad preferences” page, the large majority of Facebook users (88%) found that the site had generated some material for them. A majority of users (59%) say these categories reflect their real-life interests, while 27% say they are not very or not at all accurate in describing them. And once shown how the platform classifies their interests, roughly half of Facebook users (51%) say they are not comfortable that the company created such a list.


Handcuffed, drugged with ketamine: Truth behind Thai cave rescue

The boys parents were told their sons would be swimming to safety and in the global joy which erupted after the last of the boys surfaced safe and alive, no-one questioned the method of their extraction.
But ABC Australia Southeast Asia correspondent Liam Cochrane says in his new book, The Cave, the boys were in fact drugged with ketamine and handcuffed on their journey out of the cave.


Links To Go (January 15, 2019)

How Americans see illegal immigration, the border wall and political compromise

The United States was home to 10.7 million unauthorized immigrants in 2016, a 13% decline from a peak of 12.2 million in 2007, according to the most recent Pew Research Center estimates. This decade-long decline was driven almost entirely by a decrease in unauthorized immigrants from Mexico, even as the numbers from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras increased. Meanwhile, a growing share of unauthorized immigrants were not people who had entered the country illegally, but had arrived legally and then overstayed their visas.


People older than 65 share the most fake news, a new study finds

But older users skewed the findings: 11 percent of users older than 65 shared a hoax, while just 3 percent of users 18 to 29 did. Facebook users ages 65 and older shared more than twice as many fake news articles than the next-oldest age group of 45 to 65, and nearly seven times as many fake news articles as the youngest age group (18 to 29).


Dementia in the Trans-Physical Age

But Christianity broke into the Greek world with an altogether more complex, more subtle, and more hopeful view of things. Yes, the body is broken, and you have a spirit that will live on beyond death, but the aim is not to be separated from the body and enter some ethereal version of the afterlife in which you will float around for all eternity. This notion was killed when Jesus came back to life in a body that was both like and unlike his old one. It still bore the scars of his crucifixion as he ate barbecued fish with his friends. But he also looked different and seemed less constrained by the laws of nature. His body was physical, but somehow better and improved.


Five Reasons Why “We Pay the Bills” at This Church Is Such a Harmful Attitude

“We pay the bills at this church.”
It is a toxic statement.
It is an unbiblical statement.
It is contrary to the spirit in which the Lord Himself came to serve, to give, and to sacrifice.


When Discontent Sheep Show Up

Pastors should make an effort to meet with the discontent sheep from other faithful local churches who have visited, and should be prepared to ask several pointed questions: What is so bad at their church that Christians can’t be reconciled to one another or problems solved in a godly manner (Matthew 5:24)? Have they done everything possible to live peaceably with the members and leadership of the church they’re leaving (Romans 12:18; Hebrews 12:14)? Are they filled with any malice, strife, deceit, jealousy, anger, or hostility, or are they engaging in gossip (Romans 1:29; 2 Corinthians 12:20)?


Replace These Words in Your Writing

These aren’t rules, of course; they’re just suggestions, language is fluid, yadda yadda. Almost all the “lesser” words above have good uses. Save them for those uses. To leverage something is specifically to “use it to its maximum advantage.” Something sprawling is “spreading out over a large area in an untidy or irregular way.” Suits are bespoke, and medieval knights get slain. Okay, you’ve been waiting to add your own—go for it.


Island lighthouse owners seek bed & breakfast operators

The position, which pays a total $130,000 per year to be split between the operators, requires a U.S. Coast Guard commercial boat operator’s license, as they will be required to operate a ferry for guests at the five-bedroom inn.


Links To Go (January 10, 2019)

How Sunday Schools Are Raising the Next Generation of Secular Humanists

And few churches are working to equip parents with the understanding they need to respond faithfully to culture at home. Meanwhile, parents do what’s easier and focus on raising kids with the kinds of “good values” any secular humanist would be proud of. Those kids eventually discard Christianity in favor of simply being “good without God.”


Why Christian Movies Are So Terrible

  1. Christian movies are not made by artists but propagandists.
  2. Christian movies take place in the imagined reality of Christian sentimentalism.
  3. Christian movies emphasize narrative tidiness over nuance.
  4. Christian movie theology must be contained in platitudes.
  5. Even the best “Christian movie” will never be cool.

9 Quotes That Will Help Change Your Thinking About Your Calling

We’ve set up unrealistic expectations for ourselves where our calling is concerned. These expectations often keep us from embracing what we were created for. Understanding your calling may not be as complicated as you’re making it out to be.


Virginia Study Finds Increased School Bullying In Areas That Voted For Trump

A nationally representative survey conducted in the fall of 2017 showed that just 14 percent of 9- to 11-year-olds believe that the country’s leaders model how to treat others with kindness — and 70 percent said it would help kids their age to be kinder if adults in charge of the country set a better example.


Honorary high school wrestling captain with disabilities gets his moment in the spotlight

The match ended just the way you would have wanted it to. Dillon, an otherwise undefeated district champ, was pinned by Jake, and the gym went nuts.


Links To Go (January 8, 2019)

5 Disruptive Church Trends That Will Rule 2019

  1. Charismatic Expressions of Church Will Grow While Attractional Churches Will Continue To Stall Out
  2. Online Church Will Evolve To Become A Front Door and Side Door, Not A Back Door
  3. Churches and Organizations Will Begin Staffing Online like It was a Real Thing
  4. Consumer-Centered Approaches To Church Will Continue to Lose Momentum
  5. You Will No Longer Be Able to Get Away With a Bad Workplace Culture

52 Ideas for Inviting Someone to Church This Year

A study by LifeWay Research found about two-thirds of churchgoers made it a point to invite someone to church in the last six months, but nearly a third said they hadn’t extended an invitation to anyone.
As God puts people in your life pathway, will you intentionally invite them?
You can do this! Here are 52 ideas to help you get started. Some are for individuals; others can be adapted for your small group or the entire church.


Six Reasons Why Some Church Members Resist Growth

  1. Relational patterns are disrupted.
  2. Many are too comfortable with the status quo.
  3. Some have a me-centric view of congregational life.
  4. Church members may want the pastor on call to take care of them.
  5. Others are simply uncomfortable with any emphasis on numerical growth.
  6. New people are different.

It’s the End of the Gene As We Know It

It is such discoveries that are turning our ideas of genetic causation inside out. We have traditionally thought of cell contents as servants to the DNA instructions. But, as the British biologist Denis Noble insists in an interview with the writer Suzan Mazur, “The modern synthesis has got causality in biology wrong … DNA on its own does absolutely nothing until activated by the rest of the system … DNA is not a cause in an active sense. I think it is better described as a passive data base which is used by the organism to enable it to make the proteins that it requires.”


Why Twitter Is Even More Toxic Than You Think

But behind those angry, hyperbolic tweets (well, the blue-check-marked ones, anyway) are people, and those people are disproportionately the most engaged and most influential men and women in American public life. It’s “just” the American political class putting its rage and intemperance on display, hoping to remake the world in its own irate image. And the surprising success of that attempted makeover should scare you, whatever your own political views are.


So What is a Parent to Do?

Being a parent can be hard — very hard. Yet, you and I can do this by the grace of God, learning relentlessly, praying fervently, and surrounding ourselves with a few wise people to whom we will really listen.


From Seminary President to NFL Head Coach

This fall, former Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS) Charlotte campus president Frank Reich began his first season as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts.


People are falling off buildings in search of the perfect Instagram shot

In the meantime, risk taking for social media fame is getting more extreme, and the number of fatalities seem to be on the rise. As the public slowly begins to understand the potential harm of social media–the addiction, the loss of time, the risk of depression–our best hope is that it also takes notice of the physical danger it can engender.


This couple quit their jobs to open a floating pizzeria in the Caribbean

The couple bought a 37-foot, termite-infested boat that had been abandoned for nearly a decade. It took two years to transform it into a fully-equipped commercial kitchen.


Irish woman who married ghost of 300-year-old pirate says they have split up

Amanda Teague, 46, from Drogheda, Co. Louth, married the Haitian pirate named Jack earlier this year.
The wedding to her ‘soulmate’ took place on board a boat in international waters off the Irish coast.
However the Irish Mirror reports the couple have called it a day after less than a year.


Drunk man goes into wrong house, sleeps on dog bed with 150-lb. Mastiff

Authorities said the man was “heavily intoxicated” after celebrating New Year’s Eve, “accidentally entered the wrong residence” and fell asleep with her Mastiff named Benton on the doggie bed.


Links To Go (December 10, 2018)

American Churches Are at a Tipping Point

If current trajectories continue, American churches will pass a tipping point. Our congregations will begin a likely unstoppable path toward decline that will rival many European churches of the past century. If there is not a significant movement of revitalization, there will be an accelerated rate of decline and death.


How Should We Talk to Our Kids About Santa?

Perhaps you too wonder whether you should conform to the holiday tradition of Santa Claus celebrated around the world. Logically speaking, your concerns are warranted. If we lie to our kids about Santa, then perhaps they will think we lied to them about Jesus as well.
Yet, some of my greatest childhood memories were baking cookies and putting out milk for Santa. It wasn’t until I was in second grade sitting at the lunch table that one of my best friends broke the news. I defended Santa as fiercely as a 7-year-old could.


What We Long for the Church to Do about Sexual Violence

  1. Recognize that sexual violence is in the sanctuary.
  2. Own our pasts with respect to sexual violence.
  3. Assess our congregational vulnerabilities and resources through clear-eyed, courageous evaluation.
  4. Prevent future violations by cultivating congregational climates of respect, safety, and accountability.

The Link Between August Birthdays and A.D.H.D.

These arbitrary cutoffs have important implications for the diagnosis of A.D.H.D. In a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, we found that among several hundred thousand children who were born between 2007 and 2009 and followed until 2016, rates of A.D.H.D. diagnosis and treatment were 34 percent higher among children born in August than among children born in September in states with a Sept. 1 school entry-age cutoff. No such difference was found among children in states with different cutoff dates. The effects were largest among boys.


A New Connection between the Gut and the Brain

Interestingly, there is a growing body of work showing that there is communication between the gut and brain, now commonly dubbed the gut–brain axis. The disruption of the gut–brain axis contributes to a diverse range of diseases, including Parkinson’s disease and irritable bowel syndrome.


I’m a Brain Doctor, and This Is What I Do to Prevent Alzheimer’s

So, let me tell you how I personally leverage the very best science to reduce my Alzheimer’s risk.

  • Eating few carbs, lots of healthy fat.
  • Supplementing here and there.
  • Working out daily.

Water on airplanes is basically E. coli soup

Those who fear E. coli and other pathogens might steer clear of the beverages brewed in-flight, as well as consider bringing their own materials to disinfect hands after a trip to the plane’s lavatory rather than washing with sink tap water.


Captain Of His Destiny: The Man Who Has Lived On A Cruise Ship For 13 Years

When Charlotte passed away 13 years ago, Captain Jablin made Seven Seas Navigator his home. He still maintains a condo in Boca Raton, Florida to keep his “stuff” and to qualify for health benefits and Social Security but it’s been three or four years since he’s set foot there, he says.