Links to Your World, Tuesday June17

You MUST read or watch the Commencement Address of J.K. Rowling, author of the best-selling Harry Potter book series. It’s called “The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination.” Read it or watch it here.


Bored with ironing? Here are some ways to make it more exciting.


“I was talking to a friend today who used to work in the marketplace but now works at a church. She was challenged by the transition. It struck me that for many folks, their jobs are stress-producers, but the church is a stress-reliever. So they think to themselves, "If I could just work at a church, I'd get rid of my stress-producer and be forever at my stress-reliever!" What happens, of course, is that the church (when it is a job) becomes their stress-producer. Not only that, they've lost their old stress-reliever, since even when they come to church on Sunday they're coming to the job site.” (John Ortberg)


Calvin’s dad (of Calvin and Hobbes) always had great advice for his son. Read some of his sage comments here.


Last week I commented about articles showing that America is becoming the last Western nation to defend free speech. The New York Times’ Adam Liptak examines the issue here.


“The country’s moral guardians are forever looking for decadence out of Hollywood and reality TV. But the most rampant decadence today is financial decadence, the trampling of decent norms about how to use and harness money.” Read David Brooks concerns that America is losing sight of the moral dimension of money, especially in our runaway indebtedness.


Five Reasons Muslims Convert to Christianity


Read about the “100 Thing Challenge.” What would you keep if you decided to whittle down your possessions to just 100 things?


I’m reading more and more articles like the two following. These articles have something to say about reaching our church’s surrounding neighborhoods, and how the future is city-center, not suburban: “Is America's suburban dream collapsing into a nightmare?” (CNN); “Suburbs a Mile Too Far for Some” (WSJ).


Anxious? Larry Crabb says, “Go deeper.” “Beneath everyday nervousness; most panic attacks and phobias; worries about health, money, and children; and anxiety disorders lies a core terror, a consuming fear that lives in secrecy. Until it is brought into the light of consciousness where the reality of God can strip its power, that core terror will continue to reign as a hidden tyrant.” (article)