This Week’s Good Reads

Here are some interesting articles that I’ve compiled from around the web:

1. “Walt Disney Heiress Courts Evangelicals with an Anti-Gun Movie” by Tatiana Siegel

Abigail Disney believes that Hollywood needs to do a better job of respecting the Evangelical community, and she attempts to do that in her new documentary about the hot-button issue of gun control (Read more about the film, The Armor of Light, here). This article gives an introduction to some of Disney’s goals in the film and the ways she is reaching out to the Evangelical community, despite being more liberal and not Evangelical at all. There’s a lot of hope in this approach, and I confess to be very interested in the documentary itself.

2. “Locally Grown Pastors” Kara Bettis

Over at Christianity Today, my friend Kara examines some of the theological and pastoral training rising up from within local church bodies. She examines “4 ways churches are preparing ministers in-house.” I firmly believe in the importance of local church equipping, and while I appreciate seminary I think there’s a lot that the local church can and should do. That vision is, in part, why we started Free Seminary at CBC. But check out Kara’s article and see some of the other ways people are doing similar work.

3. “President Obama & Marilynne Robinson: A Conversation in Iowa” by Barack Obama and Marilynne Robinson

This is a fascinating interview and exchange between the Christian novelist and the President of the United States of America. They discuss politics, fear, faith, and literature. You should check this out as it really is a unique conversation.

4. “2 Big Names Hint at Playing Marvel Characters”

The marvel nerd in me would love to see this, especially the idea of Bryan Cranston playing Mr. Sinister.

5. “Top 10 News Articles from the ACBC 2015 Conferences”

This is a list compiled of all the news articles that covered the ACBC conference this year. It definitely got a lot of attention, and not all positive.

6. “We’re Casual About Sex and Serious About Consent. But is it Working?” by Jon Zimmerman

This is a great piece in the Washington Post that discusses the problem of getting affirmative consent among college students. While campus policies are insisting on more affirmative consent from women, Zimmerman notes that this is just not possible to get when we disconnect the sexual act from relational intimacy.