Links to Your World, Tuesday September 23

Take this quiz to find out if you’re a geek or a nerd. I found out I am a neek: “That is the rarest of breeds that lives comfortably in two worlds.”


“Why does the school system require classes like math, English and science but not basic personal finance?” (In the Statesman. Amen--except that painful last line: “Nobody will ever look out for your financial well being as good as you!” Personal Finance: A-minus. Basic English: C-plus. "As well as you" would have been a gooder way to say it.).


Anti-Theft Lunch Bags. They aren't serious are they?


“Abused as a child, Tyler Perry has overcome his troubled past to become one of Hollywood's hottest names--all while remaining bold about his Christian faith.” (Christianity Today interviews the star)


The Houston Chronicle published photos of believers at worship post-Ike. Several of the worshippers pictured lost everything.


“Listen to the words of Pastor Paul. 'Be alert. Be watchful. Be ready. Be about your Father's business, because you do not know the day that your Lord will come for you.'" (from the final sermon of Paul Long, who died in the Metrolink train crash last week. The manuscript was found after his death and delivered by friend and fellow minister, Tony Amatangelo. The LA Times story is here.)


The Metrorail disaster may have been caused when the engineer was distracted by his text messaging, and more disasters from text messaging are in the making, according to this NY Times article: “Even as industry calculations show that Americans are now using mobile phones to send or receive more text messages than phone calls, those messages are coming under increasing fire because of the danger they can pose by distracting users. Though there are no official casualty statistics, there is much anecdotal evidence that the number of fatal accidents stemming from texting while driving, crossing the street or engaging in other activities is on the rise.”


“I’m starting to reconsider my view of fashion. I still dread becoming a slave to it, but I realize I’ve been lazy about my appearance.” (Debbie Ostendorff wrote about her time on the TV show, What Not to Wear--and learned something about her Christian faith, too. Read her account here.)


“On Oct. 7, HarperCollins is releasing The Green Bible, a Scripture for the Prius age that calls attention to more than 1,000 verses related to nature by printing them in a pleasant shade of forest green, much as red-letter editions of the Bible encrimson the words of Jesus. The new version's message, states an introduction by Evangelical eco-activist J. Matthew Sleeth, is that ‘creation care’--the Christian catchphrase for nature conservancy--‘is at the very core of our Christian walk.’” (“The Bible Goes Green for the Prius Age” in Time magazine. While creation care is part of our stewardship, no amount of green font in a Bible printing can convince me that it is “at the very core of our Christian walk.”)


In last week’s “Links” I mentioned that best-selling Christian vocalist Ray Boltz “came out” as a homosexual. Albert Mohler did an excellent one-hour radio show on the subject. Mohler expressed frustration at both the church and Boltz: the church, for failing to be a place where people can admit any struggle, including homosexual attraction; Boltz, for insisting that his homosexual attractions were okay because that was the way God made him. Take an hour with this recording of his radio broadcast.


The loss of Christian faith and the rise of superstition correlate according to this WSJ piece.


“Our response will answer the question, ‘Who is Jesus on Wall Street?’” This Christianity Today piece reports on how people in the financial world are turning to prayer during the latest market crisis.


“You may be a parent who needs a grandparent figure for your child. Your parents may no longer be living, or they may just simply reside a long distance away. Look around you, chances are your church is full of grandparents who are detached from their own grandkids because of distance or other reasons” (article). You don't have to wait for a "program" to adopt a Grandparent at Hillcrest.


“According to a fresh survey from Northern Trust, which polled 1,000 households with investible assets of at least $1 million, Generation X millionaire households (those ages 28 to 42) gave away more money than Baby Boomers (43 to 61) or Silent Generationers (62 to 77). GenXers gave an average of $20,000 in 2006, compared with $10,000 for the older millionaire households. The GenXers also are more charitable in their plans for the afterlife. They expect to leave 22% of their estates to charity, compared with 16% for Boomers and 14% for Silent Generation millionaires.” (WSJ; HT: 33 Things at Culture11. The article didn't get the age-ranges right on Gen-X and Boomers--ain't no one under 48 gonna consider themselves a Boomer--but the findings were intriguing anyway.)


“Innovation has piled on innovation, making modern pornography a more immediate, visceral, and personalized experience. . . . As we try to make sense of the brave new world that VHS and streaming video have built, we might start by asking a radical question: Is pornography use a form of adultery? The most stringent take on this matter comes, of course, from Jesus of Nazareth: ‘I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.’ But even among Christians, this teaching tends to be grouped with the Gospel injunctions about turning the other cheek and giving would-be robbers your possessions--as a guideline for saintliness, useful to Francis of Assisi and the Desert Fathers but less helpful to ordinary sinners trying to figure out what counts as a breach of marital trust” (Ross Douthat in The Atlantic). Really? It’s convicting to ask if we Christians really do minimize Christ’s commands against lust as something only for those special disciples pursuing saintliness. (In addition, it’s convicting to ask if we pastors teach his commands regarding nonresistance with the same seriousness that we teach his commands regarding sexual sin.)


In light of the last article, as I’ve mentioned before, everyone should have x3watch on their computers.


“According to surveys by Ellison Research of Phoenix, 36 percent of Americans polled indicate that they have no idea "what an evangelical Christian is" in the first place. Only 35 percent of all Americans believe they know ‘someone very well who is an evangelical,’ while a stunning 51 percent are convinced they don't know any evangelicals at all.” But that doesn’t slow their willingness to describe the mysterious creature. “One of the surprises of a new Ellison study is ‘how much abuse is aimed at evangelicals,’ noted company president Ron Sellers. ‘Evangelicals were called illiterate, greedy, psychos, racist, stupid, narrow-minded, bigots, idiots, fanatics, nut cases, screaming loons, delusional, simpletons, pompous, morons, cruel, nitwits, and freaks, and that's just a partial list. . . . Some people don't have any idea what evangelicals actually are or what they believe -- they just know they can't stand evangelicals.’” (Terry Mattingly, in a must-read piece, “‘Define Evangelical’—Again.”)


Election Updates:

“We just feel so wary, weary, tired and disheartened by a wing of influential Christians who have made Christianity into a fight against abortion and homosexual marriage, with no thought given to just about anything else. We want desperately to know that the church we are about to join wants to fight this hijack.” (From a letter to Josh Harris, Pastor at Covenant Life Church, from prospective members. Read the letter and his response here.)

The Economist says that the McCain campaign has decided “to play this election, like that of 2004, as a fresh installment of the culture wars.” I’m noticing this angle is creeping into more and more coverage of the election--at least among critics of social conservatives.

"Palin's personal connection to IACC, and her efforts to bring its agenda to Wasilla as mayor, sheds new light on her connections to the Christian far right, as well as her willingness to infuse government with its ideals rooted in religion.” That’s from Sarah Posner writing in Salon, who tries valiantly to tie Governor Palin to controversial Bible teacher Bill Gothard and his Institute for Basic Life Principles (IBLF) by pointing out that while mayor, Wasilla became a “City of Character” through the IBLP-affiliated International Association of Character Cities (IACC). It’s in the bottom third of the article, however, that Posner concedes, “The desired implementation of a City of Character's mission is somewhat murky. [IACC Director, Steven Menzel] could not point to a policy initiative Palin undertook as mayor to advance the character initiative, and he expressed disappointment that Wasilla, Alaska's only City of Character, had not done more to advance the cause.” Oh. Never mind, then.


Peggy Noonan wonders if this presidential election is really as important as we want to think it is. Bill at The Thinklings wonders the same thing.