Wisdom For Your Weekend: your weekly installment of things we’ve been reading (and watching) around the web.
Podcast of the Week Year
The World & Everything in It, World Magazine. We don’t commend podcasts on this blog often (as in, we’ve done it thrice before). There are dozens of worthwhile ones out there, but one stands above the rest: The World and Everything in It. It’s intelligent, informative, and varied news, from a Christian perspective. Simply put: the world would be a better place if everyone listened to this.
Articles of the Week
Five Reasons Marriage Doesn’t Work Anymore, Anthony D’Ambrosio. For the Latin speakers our there: Caveat emptor! (For everyone else, that’s essentially, “Heads up!”) Yes, this one has a bit of colorful language in it, as it’s not coming from a Christian perspective. But D’Ambrosio has some insightful critiques about our relational climate these days. We’re not as pessimistic as him when it comes to marriage, mostly because we know an alternative. But his warnings ring true.
Seven Reasons Not to Play the Lottery, John Piper. I (Chris) have long had misgivings about the lottery. (It was a regular part of my Pennsylvania childhood, though it’s more recent here in NC.) The main issue has always seemed, to me, that the lottery preys on those who are least able to afford it—the poor. And that’s Piper’s fifth point. But he’s got 6 other reasons that the lottery is a scourge and a shame on our country. Read up.
The Gospel According to Taylor Swift, Trevin Wax. Taylor Swift’s continued popularity impresses me. In the midst of music icons who pull increasingly crazy stunts for attention, Swift’s personal life has been rather PG. But that doesn’t mean her message is perfect. As Wax points out here, Swifts most recent instant-success encapsulates the broken gospel of America—self-fulfillment.
Five Habits of Pastor-Dad, Dayton Hartman. I’ve heard it said (first from Danny Akin, but from many other sources since), “Your kids will have a lot of role models. But they’ll only have one dad.” Or, to paraphrase Jesus, what good would it be to pastor a church of 10,000, but to lose your own children? Pastor-dads, listen to Hartman and pastor that little flock that God has given you.
On The Lighter Side
25 Ways That Parents Aren’t Keeping Up With Technology, Abby Heugel, 22Words. Some of these are amusing in the “funny-cuz-it’s-not-you” way. Others are pretty endearing. And others hit a little too close to home with this particular technophobe. (For instance, I’ve often tagged inanimate objects as people on Facebook. That’s not normal?)
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.”
