This Week’s Good Reads

Here are some interesting articles from around the web, maybe there’s one here that you’ll find interesting too:

1. “Biblical Counseling in the Dark Places” by Jim Newheiser

This was a neat look at some Biblical Counseling training done in several prisons.

2. “Your Brain On Poverty: Why Poor People Seem To Make Bade Decisions” by Derek Thompson

This piece from The Atlantic explores the ways in which poverty interferes with a person’s ability to make long-term decisions. It’s important to wrestle with pieces like this because we have a tendency to be reductionist in our approach towards the poor. In addition to this piece you should also read this one from The Huffington Post, “This is Why Poor People’s Bad Decisions Make Perfect Sense” by Linda Tirado.

3. “The Knockout Game Myth and Its Racist Roots” by Alan Noble

Christians, please stop sharing pieces that are unsupported! Here Dr. Noble demonstrates how the media can take a story and run with it without check its sources or validity. Christians need to be better than that. There is no proof, Noble says, that this game is new, spreading, or racially motivated. Read it, share it, and stop sharing the other story. This piece is important, important enough that it was picked up by Slate Magazine, CBS, and USA Today.

4. “Creation, Culture, Redemption, and Hip Hop: A Response to the NCFIC Panel” by Mike Cosper

Cosper helps us wrestle with the cultural prejudices behind a recent conversation on Christian rap music. This is an insightful and helpful piece to read. I am not a fan of rap music, but to refer to those who are rap artists as “disobedient cowards” is not only ignorant, but harmful to the church.

5. “Two Grids Every Church Pastor/Planter/Missionary Must Use: Theological Grid” by Ed Stetzer

Here Stetzer talks about the importance of having a balanced perspective on theology and missiology in ministry. He focuses in this piece on the theological grid and stresses why it is important.

6. “Walking with the Dead: In Which the Governor Remembers Who He Is” by Dave Dunham

My latest piece on The Walking Dead. In this piece I look at some of the questions of morality in this latest episode.