The Mindset List: 2017 List

When the Class of 2017 arrives on campus this fall, these digital natives will already be well-connected to each other. They are more likely to have borrowed money for college than their Boomer parents were, and while their parents foresee four years of school, the students are pretty sure it will be longer than that. Members of this year’s first year class, most of them born in 1995, will search for the academic majors reported to lead to good-paying jobs, and most of them will take a few courses taught at a distant university by a professor they will never meet.




The use of smart phones in class may indicate they are reading the assignment they should have read last night, or they may be recording every minute of their college experience…or they may be texting the person next to them. If they are admirers of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, they may wonder whether a college degree is all it’s cracked up to be, even as their dreams are tempered by the reality that tech geniuses come along about as often as Halley’s Comet, which they will not glimpse until they reach what we currently consider “retirement age.”

Though they have never had the chicken pox, they are glad to have access to health insurance for a few more years.

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“You Can’t Use the Bible to Prove the Bible” . . . And Other Stupid Statements | Parchment and Pen

I have heard this statement many times. It can come from Christians or non-Christians, but mainly I hear it from unbelievers this idea that the Bible is inadmissible as evidence for itself. If I were trying to use the Bible to prove the validity of the Bible (from the perspective of many outsiders), this is circular reasoning. This statement is not only wrong, but completely misunderstands its own argument; ironically, it makes the exact circular assumptions that it accuses believers of.


1. The “Bible” is not one book

MORE: “You Can’t Use the Bible to Prove the Bible” . . . And Other Stupid Statements | Parchment and Pen

Abortion Clinics Closing at Record Rate | Gleanings | ChristianityToday.com

(BP) For Abby Johnson, the closing of a single Planned Parenthood center demonstrated her dramatic reversal from abortion clinic director to leading pro-life advocate.




But for pro-lifers throughout the United States, it marked another exhibit in a hopeful trend—abortion centers are shutting down at an unprecedented rate. The total so far this year is 44, according to a pro-life organization that tracks clinic operations.

None was more telling for Johnson than the mid-July closing of the Planned Parenthood center in Bryan, Texas. It came less than four years after Johnson, burdened by her involvement with abortion, walked out of that clinic as its director and into the offices of the Coalition for Life.

MORE: Abortion Clinics Closing at Record Rate | Gleanings | ChristianityToday.com

5 Common Expressions I've Never Understood by R.C. Sproul Jr. | Ligonier Ministries Blog

Common sense may be more common than sense. There are any number of shorthand aphorisms in the world and in the church that shape our thinking, but don’t stand up to scrutiny, at least right away. Below are five common expressions that might fit under the banner of common sense, that I just can’t make sense out of. There may be good arguments behind all or some of them, but that is rather a far thing from being a self-evident truth.

MORE:  5 Common Expressions I've Never Understood by R.C. Sproul Jr. | Ligonier Ministries Blog

Football vs. faith -- can you love football and still be a good Christian? | Fox News

Football season officially began this week. The most popular sport in America will once again headline sports pages, influence workplace conversations and impact family life.
Many Americans love their football and many love their faith.
For some, football is a religion, but for many more, football and their faith are perfect partners.

MORE:  Football vs. faith -- can you love football and still be a good Christian? | Fox News

Baptist Press -FIRST-PERSON: Kirk Cameron's 'Unstoppable' faith - News with a Christian Perspective

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (BP) -- I'm not sure I could take the slings and arrows Kirk Cameron has had to dodge or endure.

Cameron is famous and talented but add devotion to your Christian walk and there’s a huge target on your back. The star of the sitcom "Growing Pains," the "Left Behind" apocalyptic series, the breakthrough faith-based drama "Fireproof" and the insightful documentary "Monumental" is paying a price for his gifts and resolve.
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75 Astonishing Things that Happen at Conversion | Counseling One Another

What words could we use to describe God’s grace toward sinners like us? Amazing? Yes. Extravagant? For sure. Astonishing? Absolutely!
The apostle Paul was a man who never got over the grace of God…and neither should we. As the Holy Spirit guided him along, he edified the believers at Ephesus by expounding on “the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:7). I want to do the same in today’s post.
Recently, I spent some time thinking about all that God accomplishes in an instant, at the moment of conversion, and what He continues to work to its ultimate completion in the day we see Him in glory (Phil 1:6). The result was a list of 75 amazing works of God. With a list that long, and interconnected, categorizing them into smaller chunks was quite a challenge. But I finally had to decide on a manner of grouping, inadequate as it may be.
MORE: 75 Astonishing Things that Happen at Conversion | Counseling One Another

9 Things You Should Know About Chemical Weapons – The Gospel Coalition Blog

Last week, the Syrian government was accused of using chemical weapons in an attack that killed 1,429 people in Damascus. Here are 9 things you should know about chemical weapons.

 

1. The general and traditional definition of a chemical weapon is a toxic chemical contained in a delivery system, such as a bomb or shell. The Chemical Weapons Convention (the international treaty that bans chemical weapons) applies the term to any toxic chemical or its precursor that can cause death, injury, temporary incapacitation or sensory irritation through its chemical action.
MORE: 9 Things You Should Know About Chemical Weapons – The Gospel Coalition Blog

9 questions about Syria you were too embarrassed to ask

The United States and allies are preparing for a possibly imminent series of limited military strikes against Syria, the first direct U.S. intervention in the two-year civil war, in retaliation for President Bashar al-Assad’s suspected use of chemical weapons against civilians.
If you found the above sentence kind of confusing, or aren’t exactly sure why Syria is fighting a civil war, or even where Syria is located, then this is the article for you. What’s happening in Syria is really important, but it can also be confusing and difficult to follow even for those of us glued to it....MORE: 9 questions about Syria you were too embarrassed to ask