Links To Go (March 13, 2014)

The 7 Commandments for Choosing a Church

I’d like to share some insights about how to choose a church when the right time comes. I’m basing these insights on some of the experiences our family has had in choosing a church following long-distance moves. After several moves, and several not-so-good choices over the past few years, I found our most recent church choice to be different – and much better. My hope is that anyone who is facing the decision of which church to join will find help and encouragement.


Muscle & Shovel”: Chapters 26 -27A (Authority and Worship)

The answer is that the conservative Churches of Christ have adopted, from Calvinism, this principle that authority is essential, called the Regulative Principle of Worship. The Calvinistic churches of the Reformation wanted an argument to allow them to reject Catholic practices they saw as unscriptural. And this principle states that anything not authorized is prohibited — and authority is found only in command, example, or necessary inference.
This is a hermeneutic (way of interpreting the Bible) imposed by men using man-made laws not found in scripture and is only about 500 years old. It’s just not what the Bible teaches.


How to Avoid the Overused Lambs, Doves & Flames in Your Church Imagery

There is nothing inherently wrong with these images, whether they are used in logos, sermon series branding, websites, etc. They are beautiful depictions that God uses to teach us about him and his creation. But are we giving them the thought and creativity they deserve? And do we really believe a church logo with a lighthouse in landlocked Tennessee is going to draw people in? By overusing such images, we are losing what makes them beautiful and forgetting it’s the equivalent of speaking Christianese and expecting the world to know what we mean.


Four Ways to Win the Battle Against Busyness

Jesus shatters the myth that busyness equals faithfulness; he confronts all of our fears that lead to our busyness, then he points us to a better way forward – resting in him. We are to sit at the feet of Jesus, find our sufficiency in him, and only then fill our schedules with whatever he tells us.


ACU Remembers: Dr. Clyde Austin

Dr. Clyde Neal Austin (’53), the Robert and Mary Ann Hall Chair and professor emeritus of psychology at Abilene Christian University, died March 7, 2014, in Abilene following an illness. The renowned expert on the study of cross-cultural re-entry was 82 years old.


If These Walls Could Talk

Kaufman was a librarian at Columbia University. In 1987, she received a request from the F.B.I., who was collecting information about perceived terrorist threats. Basically, they wanted to see what the Ahmed’s, Abdul’s, and Mohammed’s of NYC had been reading at their local library.
Obviously, this information was confidential. Kaufman countered that if patrons could not come, read, and learn within a context of privacy, they might not come at all. She resisted the F.B.I. and put her self at risk, in hopes of preserving the freedom of the curious, the interested, and the inquisitive. She won.


The NSA Posed as Facebook to Better Spy on You

In other words, the NSA designed a surveillance system that skirted actual human oversight so that they could spread malware to millions of computers. Malware that allows them to see everything you’ve saved on your computer. Not cool.


Man saved from severe floods may sue his rescuers ‘because they took too long’

But now Ortiz is considering suing his rescuers for $500,000 (£300,000) because they were apparently not quick enough, and also didn’t realise he was still alive in the car.
‘It’s unfortunate to have to try and cast liability and responsibility for this act of God on the men and women who risked their own lives,’ his lawyer Ed Ferszt told CBS4.
Ortiz is also unhappy with the county of Boulder, who he will include in any potential lawsuit, because he thinks the road should have been closed when waters begun to rise.


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