Fighting the Fear of Men (Ed Welch). "Fear of man is such a part of our human fabric that we should check for pulse if someone denies it.” —Ed Welch, When People Are Big and God Is Small. In order to fear God not man, here are the steps Welch sets forth in his book:..."

Opinion on Toy Story 3 (Ben Witherington). "It is always difficult to top a classic film like Toy Story, but when you have some of the most talented writers and illustrators at Pixar and some of the most familiar voices (i.e. Tom Hanks, Joan Cusack etc.) in the business, lots of things are possible. I am on record as saying I would watch a movie about ice melting if Pixar made it, and of course..."

Public Opinion on the Morality of Homosexuality (Gallup).  "Americans say gays are ok. For the first time since Gallup began measuring the "moral acceptability" of homosexuality, a majority of Americans support gay and lesbian relations..."

 

101 Creative Ideas to Support World Missions (German Missionary Fellowship) "Create mission awareness:
•Get alongside new believers, disciple them, encourage them to explore and develop their gifts and to grow in various types of ministry in the church (children's work, youth meetings, evangelistic outreach, house groups).
•Create interest in mission—invite missionaries, have a world map in the church hall, mission information, adopt an unreached people group (prayer, info).
•Place missionary books on the church bookstall and in the church library.
•Give missionary books as a gift to specific people...."

John Wooden, the Christian (Baptist Press). "ALEXANDRIA, La. (BP)--John Wooden died on Friday, June 4. Throughout the following weekend sports channel ESPN paid homage to the coaching legend. Wooden was heralded as a great coach, dedicated husband, wonderful family man and a person who possessed sterling character..."


 

What Brain Scans Tell us about Marriage (NY Times). "THE sudden breakup of Al and Tipper Gore’s seemingly idyllic marriage was the latest and among the sharpest reminders that the only two people who know what’s going on in a marriage are the two people who are in it..."

50 Movies that have a Christian Worldview (Touchstone). "Over at the blogsite Aggie Catholics, they've run a list of the top fifty Catholic movies, by which they do not necessarily mean movies that are explicitly about Catholics, but rather movies that somehow reflect a Catholic view of the world and man's place in it. Most of the movies listed are rather recent for my taste -- "recent" being anything later than The Godfather. I was struck by the absence of a single movie directed by John Ford, for my money the greatest English-language director ever, and a man whose imagination was profoundly Christian and Catholic (and, I might add, anti-modernist), and only one movie by Frank Capra, the one to be expected -- It's a Wonderful Life."

Freedom from Porn: One CEO takes a Stand (Breakpoint). "In the never-ending battle of the technological titans, score one for Steve Jobs. No, the CEO of Apple hasn’t come out with yet another groundbreaking iProduct, at least not since the iPad. But he’s done something even more extraordinary—he’s brought good values into the mix..."

Godly Grief (Kevin DeYoung) "On Tuesday we looked at worldly grief from 2 Corinthians 7. Today we turn our attention to godly grief. Though answering a slightly different question, I think the Heidelberg Catechism (Answer 89) gives a good definition of godly grief. Godly grief “is to be genuinely sorry for sin, to hate it more and more, and to run away from it.”..."

Are there Dangers in being ‘Spiritual, but not Religious’? (CNN)""I'm spiritual but not religious." It's a trendy phrase people often use to describe their belief that they don't need organized religion to live a life of faith. But for Jesuit priest James Martin, the phrase also hints at something else: egotism.
"Being spiritual but not religious can lead to complacency and self-centeredness," says Martin, an editor at America, a national Catholic magazine based in New York City. "If it's just you and God in your room, and a religious community makes no demands on you, why help the poor?"..."

The Ten Best Cities for the Next Decade (Yahoo Real Estate). "We live in challenging times. Unemployment remains high, and the U.S. lead in technology and science is slipping as many foreign countries gain ground. But some U.S. cities, though slowed by the Great Recession, still thrive by lifting good old American innovation to new levels. And that will help put more Americans back to work and keep our international edge."

Prayer is Always Subversive (Jared Wilson) "Last fall a student of Fair Haven Union High School received permission from the principal to hold a "National Day of Prayer at the Flag Pole" event, which was attended by a number of students, staff and adults.
The students were very enthused with the results and asked the principal if they could continue once a week with these meetings. They have been meeting every Wednesday morning all through the winter, rain or shine, and have been faithfully praying for God's presence in the school and in the lives of the students, for the nation and children in Sudan, etc..."

 

Ecological Catastrophe and the Uneasy Evangelical Conscience (Russell D. Moore) "I’ve left my hometown lots of times. But never like this.  Sure, I’ve teared up as I’ve left family and friends for a while, knowing I’d see them again the next time around. And, yes, I cried every day for almost a year in the aftermath of a hurricane that almost wiped my hometown off the map. But I’ve never left like this, wondering if I’ll ever see it again, if my children’s children will ever know what Biloxi was..."