I found a lot of great reading this week. Here’s some of it:
How to Get the Most Out of Your Pastor’s Preaching. One quote: “If your heart is humble, your focus won’t be on evaluating the message or how it’s delivered; you will let the message evaluate you.” Ouch.
Discernment and Sexual Predators. Sad that this is even needed, but this is highly valuable advice for young girls and women to watch our for sexual predators, even in the church. Quote: “[We] puff up the minds of girls with princess mythologies but we don’t (often) equip them to recognize that Prince Charming needs to have some character, not just sweet talk.”
Help for Fighting Lust: Recognizing Flattery.
There Never Was Such Another. “Touching description of Charles Hodge with his fifty-one year-old dying wife Sarah.”
Janet shared a video of a chrysalis forming. Fascinating! Her family has quite the monarch butterfly nursery going, especially nice since the area where she got the caterpillars has been flooded recently.
Is Living With Illness Choosing to Give In? Excellent article about living with chronic illness.
Projecting Poverty Where It Doesn’t Exist by Steve Saint. Wise and balanced presentation.
The Most Relaxing Classical Music in the World is on sale in mp3 format for 99 cents, but I don’t know for how long, HT to Lisa.
Actor Peter Jacobson lends his aid in raising money for Transverse Myelitis, specifically for the James T. Lubin Fellowship Fund.
On the crafty side of things:
Button Heart Canvas. Love it!
Penn Gillette of Penn and Teller tells how, as an atheist, he once received a Bible portion from an apparently very gracious man. Thought this was a great example of how to engage someone, especially someone whom you think will disagree with you. But I also though some of Gillette’s observations were interesting, especially as an atheist: “If you believe that there’s a heaven and hell and that people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life or whatever, and you think it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward…how much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them about it?” HT to Stuff Christians Like.
Testimony of a pilot who was scheduled to fly Flight 11 on 9/11 but was bumped:
Stray Thoughts 
I’ve seen that Penn Gillette video before. Very good!
I love the Steve Saint article you’ve linked here. We have a Steven Curtis Chapman concert video that features a segment on the 5 missionaries, followed by an appearance by Steve Saint and Mincaye. We just watched it with the girls last week. He has such credibility and such gentleness.
Thanks for linking my chrysalis post. We released one butterfly on Thursday and have 14 to go. 🙂
I’ve seen the Penn Gillette video too, and I thought he made some very good points, especially the one you mentioned.
I also watched the 9/11 video yesterday, and was so touched by it. I told Wes that man could write an awesome tract!
Illustra Media has a DVD out on the butterfly and the transformations it goes through — truly amazing stuff. Thanks for sharing Janet’s video. And thanks for the MP3 link! I love classical music and nearly free is always a good price 🙂