This Week’s Good Reads

Here’s some interesting articles from around the web, perhaps you’ll find something worth reading too:

1. “Stop Hate-Watching the Church” by Richard Clark

Clark has written a great piece offering gentle and Biblical correction to a sad reality. There are some Christians who seem to delight in sharing and detailing every church or Christian leader’s misstep. They love to “vent” their anger and justify it often. Clark encourages a better approach one that results not simply in obedience to Jesus but also in healing for the church as a whole.

2. “A Hipster for King’s College” by Owen Strachan

I am super excited that Dr. Gregory Alan Thornbury is the new president of The King’s College in New York City. Here Owen argues that he is a bright light for the future of Evangelical intellectualism. I couldn’t agree more. Also, Dr. Thornbury has great bow ties.

3. “Jesus Would Probably Quit Your Small Group” by Carlos Whitaker

So the title is pretty hyperbolic and intended to get some attention, but the blog post itself is pretty respectable. Whitaker writes about something that concerns me often as pastor of discipleship. There are lots of good reasons why small groups should do projects together but one is that it provides a great context for building unity.

4. “Vatican Offers ‘time off’ Purgatory to followers of Pope Francis tweets” by Tom Kington

The Vatican has been scurrying to correct the misconceptions behind this story, but it doesn’t sound a whole lot less ridiculous after their clarifications. You can lessen your punishment, though not get out of purgatory, and you have to be contrite not merely a twitter follower. It’s still a reminder of how silly and inane justification apart from Christ is.

5. “3 Kinds of Cities” by Mark Driscoll

With Detroit just declaring bankruptcy I wonder what kind of city we would identify as. Maybe a fourth kind of city needs to be written about.

6. “Faith in a Fallen Empire” by Katelyn Beaty

Speaking of Detroit, here is a beautiful piece from Christianity Today on those who believe God has called them to be persistent even in a crumbling city. I love the comparison between gospel ministry in our city and the ministry of ancient Christians during seasons of plague in their cities. The article states: Many Christians whom CT interviewed for this story explained their commitment to Detroit using an analogy from church history. When the plague ravaged Rome in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, inciting an exodus of citizens, many Christians rushed in to care for the sick and dying, joining the many who were already there, refusing to leave. As church father Dionysius wrote in A.D. 260, “Most of the Christians in our city showed unbounded love and loyalty, never sparing themselves … drawing on themselves the sickness of their neighbors and cheerfully accepting their pain.” (Rodney Stark famously argues that such outlandish compassion helped spur Christianity’s meteoric rise throughout the empire.)

7. “The Road Less Traveled” by Justin Taylor

Taylor reposted this old article he wrote about the difference between Steve Jobs commitment to his work and Pastor Larry Osborne’s commitment to his family. A good comparison every father ought to read about.

8. “Herman Bavinck and Our Selfish Obsession with Authenticity” by Ryan Hoselton

This is a beautiful piece picking up on the theme developed in a recent NYT Opinion article and discussing how the gospel of Jesus Christ helps us transcend our addiction to ourselves. Quoting from the great Dutch Theologian Bavinck, Hoselton offers a counter perspective to the vacuous pursuit of “authenticity.”

9. “20-Something Doe NOT Have To Be 20-Everything” by Christine Hassler

Though clearly geared towards women, here is a helpful little reminder for all young adults that figuring your life out is a process. Hassler collects, here, some insight from a number of young working professionals to help guide you in planning for your future.