Links to Your World, Tuesday January 5

What book do shoplifters take more than any other? The Bible.


You can turn a Bible reading plan into a daily podcast: Here’s how.


A new international review of seven papers on “the Michelangelo phenomenon” shows that when close partners affirm and support each other's ideal selves, they and the relationship benefit greatly: “When deciding on a life partner, we consider many factors. But we frequently neglect to think about whether the person I hope to be in 10 years is consistent with the person you want me to be in 10 years. When our partners can chisel and polish us in a way that helps us to achieve our ideal self, that's a wonderful thing” (article).


The Lake Superior State University released their 35th annual List of Words Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness.


“In an age of mixed-race malls, mixed-race pop-music charts and, yes, a mixed-race President, the church divide seems increasingly peculiar….But in some churches, the racial divide is beginning to erode, and it is fading fastest in one of American religion's most conservative precincts: Evangelical Christianity” (Time magazine explores the phenomenon, and focuses on Bill Hybels’ Willow Creek Community Church).


“The brain, as it traverses middle age, gets better at recognizing the central idea, the big picture. If kept in good shape, the brain can continue to build pathways that help its owner recognize patterns and, as a consequence, see significance and even solutions much faster than a young person can….‘The brain is plastic and continues to change, not in getting bigger but allowing for greater complexity and deeper understanding,’ says Kathleen Taylor, a professor at St. Mary’s College of California, who has studied ways to teach adults effectively. ‘As adults we may not always learn quite as fast, but we are set up for this next developmental step’” (NYT).


This is just an odd way to word this: “Anti-abortion legislators in Kansas are pushing again this year to rewrite state restrictions on late-term procedures and for other initiatives, despite the murder of Dr. George Tiller.” Does the reporter assume that prolife efforts should end because of the misguided and tragic murder of the nation’s most notorious abortion doctor?


10 Words You Need to Stop Misspelling. (Every time you misspell “weird” a dolphin gets run over by a jet ski.)


A new study coming out of Lifeway Research shows that “Protestant pastors in America are working long hours, sometimes at the expense of relationships with church members, prospects, family and even the Lord.” (From a post by Ed Stetzer)