Links from around the Internet; no agreement nor endorsement implied.

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Facts Are Our Friends: Why Sharing Fake News Makes Us Look Stupid and Harms Our Witness

But, regardless, this doesn’t mean that we should be so desperate to find stories to prop up our view that we indiscriminately accept anything that supports the person that we like (or disparages the person we do not). We should be those who seek truth no matter what.
Christian, if you post fake facts, you reflect on the faith—and that’s bad for the gospel and it hinders the mission.

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What’s Really Going On with Evangelicals and Same-Sex Marriage

I am not going to rehash my previous articles on why evangelicals, Catholics, Orthodox, and virtually every other church outside of a subset of shrinking churches in the West, believe marriage is foundational and will never be simply something we can “agree to disagree” on. But I do find it fascinating to see organizations and institutions quietly but firmly restating their views on marriage and treating them as a core doctrine.
So, next time you see a headline about an evangelical who has abandoned the historic position of the Church, remember the institutions.

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What if You Aborted a Future Janitor?

The biblical grounds for the pro-life argument have nothing to do with a person’s “usefulness” to a family or society. The Bible calls us to the pro-life position based on the reality that all persons are made in the image of God, that God has created us equal, and that therefore all life is precious, whether a person cures cancer or gets cancer, wins an Olympic medal or a Special Olympics medal, can compose like Mozart or sings like Roseanne Barr.

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When You’re Not On the Same Page, But In The Same Book

So I love how Paul acknowledges the conflict of these two women, but then at the end of that section points to the fact that they, along with others, while not on the same page, are in the same book, the book of life. There’s something bigger at stake here than their partisanship over their much cherished issue.

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Almost no one

We think we’re designing and selling to everyone, but that doesn’t match reality. It makes no sense at all to dumb down your best work to appeal to the longtime bystander, because the bystander isn’t interested. And it certainly makes no sense to try to convert your biggest critics, because they’ve got a lot at stake in their role of being your critic.
Growth comes from person-to-person communication, from the powerful standards of ‘people like us’. And it comes from activating people who are ready to be activated.

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Long-term strategy: Don’t be a jerk

When we assume that everyone is a volunteer and that all power is transient, it’s easier to become the person we’re proud to be.

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For several years now, I’ve been publishing “Links To Go” on a regular basis. This is where I link to things that I’ve found to be interesting reading. I often agree with the point being made, but not always. Sometimes it’s interesting to me because it’s a well-made argument that states the opposite of what I think.

I don’t have a set order for the links. I try to put things that I think are especially important near the top, particularly because that’s what Facebook users see when the post shows up there. (I’m always a bit amused when someone “Likes” the Links post. Does that mean they liked every article? Like the fact that I’m sharing articles? Or did they just read the first headline in the list and like it?) I favor religious articles over non-religious, but don’t hold to that strictly.

I try to put the more frivolous things near the bottom. Sports, humor, odd stories, videos… scroll down to find those.

Here’s some interesting things I’ve learned:

• How easy it is to copy a link affects my decision to use it. I try to get past that, but the sites that insist on putting “Read more at www.timothyarcher.com/adsfpuiodsafpuio#” discourage my using their stuff.
• Formatting can affect my choice. Another thing I try to get past, but people who regularly put their post titles in all caps make my job a bit more difficult. Slightly better are those who write them normally, but have them capitalized by the theme of their blog. I have workarounds for that. I also go through and pull out the rivers of white space created by multiple taps of the space bar. (Ben Witherington REALLY likes his space bar!)
• I sometimes “reward” someone with a link to their site. I don’t really do this consciously, but I do recognize that in myself. This blogger has mentioned my stuff; I’ll be watching for something of theirs that I can share.
• When I’m really busy, I don’t read as much, and don’t have links to share. So now you’ll read and say, “Aha! He’s not busy. He posted links.” It’s not just busy; it’s “busy that pulls me away from my computer.”
• When I’m traveling, I don’t read as much, and don’t have links to share. I’m often busy when traveling as well.

Anyway, hope you enjoy the links. Oh, and yes… that was an intentional pun about “links” and “to go” since this is The Kitchen. That’s why I chose that title.

Intolerant tolerance

The old view of tolerance assumed that (1) there is objective truth that can be known; (2) various people, groups, and perspectives each think they know what that objective truth is; and (3) as people/groups disagree, dialogue, and debate their conflicting views of the truth, everyone involved will have an opportunity to learn, grow, change, and possibly arrive together at the truth.
The new tolerance is different from the old tolerance. The new view of tolerance assumes that (1) there is no objective truth that can be known; (2) various people, groups, and perspectives do not have the truth but only what they believe to be the truth; and (3) various people, groups, and perspectives should not argue and debate their disagreements because there is no truth to be discovered and to assume otherwise only leads to needless conflicts and prejudices.

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34,000 Sold: How Human Rights are Traded for Profit in the U.S.

However, private prisons and the federal government have failed to tell us that alternatives to detention overseen by communities are 79% less expensive. Instead, these private prisons lobby our government to secure Congressionally-mandated quotas to ensure their beds are always filled. For Fiscal Year 2014, the House of Representatives has made clear that it intends to fund immigration detention at levels that exceed the request from the Administration, specifically $5.6 million per day spent on immigration detention to fulfill a Congressionally mandated quota of 34,000 people detained on any given day.

The Contagious Chain of Missionary Zeal

Even just one life burning brightly for the gospel can ignite the hearts of hundreds of others for generations to come.
What a powerful thing it is to contemplate that reality in the history of missionary work! Consider, for example, the following chain of gospel influence

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10 C.S. Lewis Quotes That Show He Was Ahead of His Time

There are more imaginative authors. There are better theologians. But “Jack,” as he was known to friends, stands alone in his ability to convey theology through joyous, glorious art. It’s argument, rhetoric and debate wrapped in delightful prose and storytelling. It’s the sort of writing where the felicity of thought seems directly tied to the writer’s skill. And so progressive was Lewis’ thinking—so ahead of his time (although he’d most certainly argue that he was old-fashioned)—that his writing seems endlessly applicable for each generation since his passing. Every generation seems to revere him anew, because every generation has much to learn from him.

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Fathers: Imprint the Image of a Godly Man on Your Daughter’s Heart

If we simply begin to give advice once she starts dating, we are too late. We have missed the opportunity to inscribe on her heart all the qualities we desire to see in her future husband. From the time she is born we must instill a hunger in her to search for a man after God’s own heart.

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To the Parents of Third Culture Kids

If you are raising your children in a country other than their passport country, you are raising third culture kids. The definition used most often is this one from the late Dave Pollock: “A Third Culture Kid (TCK) is a person who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside the parents’ culture. The TCK frequently builds relationships to all of the cultures, while not having full ownership in any. Although elements from each culture may be assimilated into the TCK’s life experience, the sense of belonging is in relationship to others of similar background”
I was raised as a third culture kid and went on to raise third culture kids for 10 years. There is much I don’t know, much I can’t articulate. But some things I do know and in these next few minutes I offer them. They are not comprehensive and they are not formulaic; there are far better and wiser voices that have documented research on the topic. But these words are offered with humility and a prayer that they will resonate with grace and hope.

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Not a gift

Someone who is likable, honest, curious and thoughtful is easy to think of as gifted. This natural charisma and care is worth seeking out in the people we choose to work with.
The thing is, it’s a copout to call these things gifts. You might be born with a headstart in one area or another, you might be raised in a culture or with parents that reinforce some of these things, but these are attitudes, and attitudes can be taught, and they can be learned.

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Immigration and the Body of Christ

It is disturbing to me that Christians talk about immigration in the very same way that non-Christians do. The conversation must necessarily be social, political and economic because immigration deals with all those things. But let us, as informed Christians, ground our conversation on the Bible.

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N.T. Wright Wants to Save the Best Worship Songs

When people give up using the Psalms, they often invent poor substitutes—songs, prayers, or poems that have a bit of Christian emotion and a bit of doctrine, but nonetheless lack the Psalter’s depth, passion, and rich variety of expression. If one tries to do without the Psalms, there is an identifiable blank at the heart of things.

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How To Teach Deep Theology in the Church

Many Christians long for the spiritual meat of the Word because they’ve sucked from the bottle of spiritual milk for so long. I’m convinced that some Christians become apathetic because they’re not being intellectually challenged. However, some are content with the David and Goliath stories for lessons. That’s fine. However, because we’re many members of one body, we can’t neglect to nourish the more mature members who long for spiritual meat.

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What I wish I’d known about faith, finances, and Pharisee discipleship

I wish I’d known that God judges my ministry by how faithfully I led the flock to the water and not by how much water they drank. It would have saved me a lot of grief. It would have kept me from taking too much credit when people grew by leaps and bounds, and it would have kept me from taking too much blame when their hearts were hard.

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The Dangerous Pit of Uniqueness

You aren’t unique. You aren’t special. Jesus is. The sooner we realize this the better. Yes, you have great worth. Yes, you are dearly loved. Yes, you matter. Yes, you have a purpose. But so does everyone else. And they suffer too. Maybe not as much as you have. But you aren’t unique. You aren’t alone. Jesus has plunged further. Throw your despair upon Him.

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Living in the Weeds

Notice it says the thorny weeds choked the good plants and they didn’t produce a crop. Jesus isn’t saying we are bad because we have worries, money, or desires. The point of the story he tells is good people miss the fruit given by the Word because we are buried in our busy, anxious lives.

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What Binds Up Broken Relationships?

James hits us hard by showing that the principle cause for relational breakdown has nothing to do with anything outside of us — it has everything to do with what’s going on inside of us. When we don’t have what we want, we’ll kill for it. When I’m not getting from you what I think I need, quarreling and fighting ensue. Once James puts it into words, it couldn’t be more obvious: our main problem in life is us.

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What does the Bible have to say about the crisis in Syria? (hint: nothing. absolutely nothing)

One of the bigger missteps in the history of the western Christian fundamentalist view of the Bible is the idea that the biblical records of ancient hostilities are simply veiled references for what is going on in whatever moment we happen to be living in.

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Cell phone cameras repel UFOs

Instead, those emotions drive how we interpret what you sell, or what you say when you run for office, or how we interpret what happened on TV screens around the world. It changes the way we think about the things we can look up or get in our email box. Even when we can see something for ourselves, we’d often rather get a talking head or tribal leader to understand it for us. To tell us what people like us think about something like that.

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Japanese mugging victim walks 800 miles home rather than ‘inconvenience’ police

The 25-year-old, who was attending a playing card convention in Kitakyushu, south Japan, was stopped on the street by five men who demanded he give them his wallet and mobile phone.
But rather than contact his family or ask the police for help, he embarked on an 11-day journey to get back to Sendai, in the north-east of the country.

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“Make the Economy Scream”: Secret Documents Show Nixon, Kissinger Role Backing 1973 Chile Coup

We continue our coverage of the 40th anniversary of the overthrow of Chilean President Salvador Allende with a look at the critical U.S. role under President Richard Nixon and his national security adviser, Henry Kissinger. Peter Kornbluh, who spearheaded the effort to declassify more than 20,000 secret documents that revealed the role of the CIA and the White House in the Chilean coup, discusses how Nixon and Kissinger backed the Chilean military’s ouster of Allende and then offered critical support as it committed atrocities to cement its newfound rule.

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Can Christians Ever Use Violence? A Discussion with Preston Sprinkle (Part 1)

But again, we need to back up and develop a robust ethical framework of living Christianly in the public sphere before we can answer specific questions about Christians serving as president or any governmental positions. As I argue in the book, I have not come across a convincing biblical argument that says a Christian can kill if his or her vocation demands it.

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How Your Preaching Might Increase Sin in Your Church

We are accustomed to thinking of legalistic preaching as that which is full of “thou shalt not”s, the kind of fundamentalist hellfire and brimstone judgmentalism we’ve nearly all rejected. But “do” is just the flipside to the same coin “don’t” is on. That coin is the law. And a list of “do”‘s divorced from the DONE of the gospel is just as legalistic, even if it’s preached by a guy in jeans with wax in his hair following up the rockin’ set by your worship band.

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Yes, God Will Give You More Than You Can Handle

When we are willing to sit in the pain, to walk with one another when life’s path is difficult and to shoulder one another’s burdens when they are too heavy, we become an embodied promise. We become living proof that while life can sometimes be too much, through the goodness of our loving of God displayed within us, we can move forward together.

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7 Design Lessons From My First Years in Church Communication

The most memorable and effective messages almost always have the right blend of form and content, regardless of the medium. Every design has a message (content)—either literal or symbolic. Everything about the appearance of the design (form) should help reinforce the message. For example, you wouldn’t design an apple in purple right? Unless using that particular color would help you reinforce a specific message. Communicate with purpose, don’t just make eye candy.

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Suspicious? In ‘United States Of Paranoia,’ It’s Not Just You

Conspiracy theories are everywhere, and they’re more widely believed than many people think. In The United States of Paranoia, Jesse Walker, a senior editor at Reason magazine, suggests that paranoid political arguments are as American as apple pie.

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My 5-Part Process for Writing Books

Over the last 12 years I’ve been privileged to write/co-write 14 books and currently have two more in the pipeline. Over the last several years I’ve been able to develop my own process for writing that works for me.

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Art heist trial held up over lawyer’s sneakers

Defense lawyer Catalin Dancu was hit Tuesday with a fine of 5,000 lei ($1,148) — the maximum allowed — for flouting dress regulations and for being late at the trial of five Romanians accused of art theft.
Under his black robe, Dancu wore blue jeans and bright blue sneakers— triple-stripe models that he said cost 200 euros ($264).

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Minnesota high school misspells own name on yearbook cover

Some high school yearbook mistakes can be forgotten quickly.
A student gets misidentified in a photo. Hey, it happens. A teacher is credited with teaching the wrong class. OK, yeah, no problem.
But misspelling the name of the school on the cover of the yearbook that also happens to be the name of the town? That’s a mistake that’s going to be talked about in the teacher’s lounge for years to come.

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