Your weekly installment of things we’ve been reading (and watching) around the web.
Infographic of the Week
Who Wrote the Bible? Jeffrey Kranz. Humanly speaking, of course. This infographic would be a lot simpler if we were asking about the divine author of each book. There were some surprises in here, even for us. Jeremiah’s got the longest book? Who knew? And…Heman is in the Bible? (Also, be sure to see Kranz’s breakdown of the Bible’s biggest contributors here.)
Articles of the Week
Persecution in the Church Has Never Been Worse, Jesse Carey. When watching the news and hearing of atrocities around the world, it’s easy to wonder if things are getting worse in the world. In broad terms, that’s tough to measure. But in terms of overt persecution, as it turns out, 2014 was one of the worst years ever. Carey interviews Open Doors USA director Kristin Wright about persecution among Christians around the world…and what the American church can do in response.
Fifteen Reasons Our Churches Are Less Evangelistic Today, Thom Rainer. It may not be surprising for many people to learn that contemporary churches share their faith much less than a generation ago. So what gives? Rainer has conducted an “unscientific Twitter poll” to see if he can identify any contributing factors. He got responses for four days, and did us the favor of compiling everything. Here are the top fifteen answers.
Women, Stop Submitting to Men, Russell Moore. “Those of us who hold to so-called ‘traditional gender roles’ are often assumed to believe that women should submit to men. This isn’t true. Indeed, a primary problem in our culture and in our churches isn’t that women aren’t submissive enough to men—but instead that they are far too submissive.”
Three Relationship Rules, Ed Welch. These aren’t the top three rules for a marriage relationship. That list would have more obvious rules like asking for forgiveness or praying together. No, this is a more nuanced list, a snapshot of “micro-applications” of the gospel. It’s an unexpected collection, but an enlightening one. Some of these might make for good “relationship plumblines.”
On The Lighter Side
Partied Out Balloon, Con Bro Chill. First, where did they get a balloon this large? Second, who wants to do this, like, right now?
Wisdom For Your Weekend is presented to you by Chris Pappalardo, with occasional guidance from J.D. Greear. 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.”
