God’s Sense of Humor, Teaching Kids the Bible, & How Is Your Prayer Life?

Wisdom for Your Weekend is your regular installment of what we’ve been reading (and watching) around the web. Presented to you by Chris Pappalardo, with guidance from Pastor J.D., this is our attempt to reflect Proverbs 9:9: “Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.”  

While we do not always agree with everything these authors post, we share these resources because we find them challenging and enriching. As we often say around the Summit, “Eat the fish and spit out the bones.”

Infographic of the Week

How Is Your Prayer Life? Crossway. This series of infographics ends with a helpful resource—the ESV Prayer Bible. Because I need as much help in prayer life as I can get, I’ve already purchased mine.

Articles of the Week

We Learn More by Trusting Than Not Trusting, Hugo Mercier. This is a fascinating statistical look at an important virtue—trust. Because the costs of mistaken trust are obvious (and often high), many of us develop highly cautious behavior toward others. But as Mercier points out, the experience of mistaken trust provides enormous benefits, too.

Does God Have a Funny Side? James Cary. Philosopher Steve Wilkens has a new book coming out, What’s So Funny About God? If you’ve never thought about God having a sense of humor, you might just be missing an enormous aspect of God’s revelation. As Cary writes, “the more we take Scripture seriously, the more we’ll find ourselves laughing along with it.”

Three Ways to Teach Scripture to Children, Peter Leithart. (1) Tell stories, (2) show them Jesus, and (3) sing. As it turns out, the best ways to teach kids the Bible are great ways for all of us to learn the Bible.

The Necessary Partnership of Truth and Charity, Tish Harrison Warren. “There is a growing cultural assumption that the world is neatly divided between good guys and bad guys, white hats and black hats. This unimaginative calcification forces many of our cultural and theological conversations into a stalemate—every event produces thousands of takes that are boringly predictable. The lines are drawn clearly and brightly and there’s nothing left to do but shout at each other.” Friends, it need not be this way.

On the Lighter Side

Sneezing can be dangerous. For cats, at least.