Here is a round-up of interesting reads from the last couple of weeks:

The Gosnell Horror: What Now?

When you don’t know what to say when ministering to others, in this case, the homeless.

Howard Schultz, Tim Keller, and Commandment #9. Two people whose views have been misrepresented and then spread across the Internet. We need to be careful before we click the “Share” link.

What does it mean to “love not the world”? HT to Challies.

Surrendering Our Fears.

So what if abortion ends life? I can understand people being for abortion if they don’t believe life begins at conception (though I disagree, I can understand the rationalization.) But to believe “the fetus is indeed a life. A life worth sacrificing” is indeed chilling.

Dear Mom Who Is Afraid of Having a Teenager.

Why Is Christian Art So Bad? Principles for creating art drawn from the Bible.

5 Talented Women Who Write and Love Fiction. Interview with five Christian fiction authors.

There has been much about the Boston marathon bombings, but this one tells at the beginning and end about the older racer whom we saw fall down at the first bombing. He got up and finished the race.

Here are a few good reads from the last couple of weeks:

What if Jesus really DID rise?

Making Peace With the Wrath of God, a difficult concept for some to grasp.

In the Crosshairs of the Discernment Bloggers. This is a vital, valuable post in many ways. There are many sites, bloggers, forums, and even Facebook groups that set themselves as watchdogs for certain organizations, colleges, and individuals. The problem is they so often operate from a platform of bitterness (even while denying bitterness), interpret every nuance in the light they cast on it without conceding there may be another side to the story, and even make up facts some times. Discernment is highly valuable, but that’s not what they’re exercising.

Excellence or Faithfulness. I had to think over this one, as learning to strive for excellence has been life-changing for me, and I can’t stand when someone does a simple job sloppily. But reading this in context, I do agree: “Every man I know would much rather be married to a faithful woman who’s a fair cook, a competent housekeeper, a good mom, and a decent wife than a woman whose devotion to excellence in all things leaves her strung-out, uptight, and intolerant of herself and her family.”

Learning Quietly and Humbly.

Old Testament Law and the Charge of Inconsistency.

50 Ways to Love Your Son Well.

Why Christians Should Read Fiction.

More thoughts on literal Biblical womanhood.

9 Things You Should Know About Edith Schaeffer. There has been much written online about Edith since her recent death. I loved her book The Art of Homemaking in my early married days and always wanted to read something more from her and her husband, but haven’t gotten around to it yet. Not a Waste of Time is an excerpt from her book, and Thank You, Edith is a tribute to her teaching and example.

Booker T. Washington on reading the Bible.

A letter to Victoria’s Secret from a father. Amen.

Nice “flashmob” featuring Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.

This was neat:

And these Cat Special Forces were pretty funny:

Have a great weekend!

Here are a few good reads discovered in the last week or so:

Hallelujah, What a Savior, HT to Janet. How a low view of God’s law leads to a cheap view of grace or nullifies it altogether.

25 Things Our Sons Need to Know About Manhood.

Scripture reading plan for Passion week.

Curing Fear, Restoring Mission. Though there are times we are supposed to separate, ““Does there have to be perfect conformity to the customs for us to have biblical fellowship in our church? Does the other person or group have to adopt our customs and live exactly as we do for us to fellowship with them?” No.

To parents of small children: Let me be the one to say it out loud. “You’re not a terrible parent if….”

And from the above author’s wife: These are the lines of a story, lovely post about our bodies after childbirth.

The Christian Fantasy. Why good fantasy is hard to write and why today’s doesn’t often measure up to the great fantasy writers of the past (Lewis, Tolkien).

Writes of Passage is a blog of ten different Christian fiction authors. This month they’ve been celebrating Women’s History Month by featuring a different woman of history each day, sometimes a woman who influenced one of their books. It’s been interesting reading.

Writing jokes, songs, and picture books. A lot of effort goes into making it look effortless.

A visit with Elisabeth Elliot, one of my personal heroes of the faith.

Shopping at the Department Store of Ideas. How writers hone in on ideas for writing.

By now you have probably heard that Google Reader is shutting down July 1 (Boo, hiss!) Here are some good alternatives, and here is one more.

And for a quick smile, the Mission Impossible Squirrel:

Here are a few good reads from the last week:

Do You Know the Bones of Your Bible? Here are some good reasons to if you don’t.

Preaching to Women Who Work in the Home.

It’s Better to Be Faithful than Gifted, HT to Challies. “There aren’t many superstars in the kingdom of God. Not many have super gifts. Most of us are just average. Gifted in small ways. But if we are faithful to use the gifts we have and serve in whatever ways we can, God will increase us.”

Four Good Reasons to Read Good Books.

Chavez’s Last Words and Yours.

Speaking of Chavez, his death stirred some memories of a missionary friend whose ministry in Venezuela was cut short during Chavez’s rule.

A giveaway for Robin Lee Hatcher’s book Betrayal and Adam Blumer’s The Tenth Plague (the latter ends today at 4).

This is a cute video of a dad and his babies. Funny how they stop when he stops.

This is a very touching speech from a father before giving his daughter away in marriage:

I especially liked, “You see that look? She never had that before she met you.”

And I saw this at Susanne‘s It was a little slow to me at first but had me laughing at the very end.

Hope you have great weekend!

Here are a few interesting reads from the last couple of weeks:

When Your Faith Community Fails You.

When You’re Spiritually Numb.

The Word-less “Church”.

7 Ways to Do a Bad Word Study.

How It Felt Watching Season 3 of “Downton Abbey” as told by “Downton Abbey”. If you watch the show and have seen all of the third season, this is hilarious. I have mixed emotions about DA — have thought about doing a post on it some time.

Canyon Jump Not Exactly a Lover’s Leap. This guy may never get another date. Deservedly.

And a few about writing:

Encouragement For Writers. “I am not called to write. I am called to intimacy with Him. It is about letting your dreams die and being willing to live out His dreams for you.”

My Secrets: How I Became a Prolific Writer and Learned to Get Beyond School Essays.

Some writing opportunities, HT to Kindred Heart Writers.

This is a cute short video of a father dancing in front of his babies, and the babies mimic him and stop when he does. If that link doesn’t work, the same video is here, but someone added music on top of it that takes away from it, in my opinion. It’s funnier when it’s just the dad singing.

This is touching. And I love the tiara on her helmet. 🙂

Craig Courtney is one of my favorite modern composers and arrangers. This is a video of snippets taken from a longer concert, and I enjoyed hearing him discuss aspects of some of his works.

Here are a few worthwhile reads from around the Web this week:

As It Gets Worse, It Cannot Get Desperate.

Cold-Case Christianity, a review of a book examining the claims of Christianity as a cold case detective. “The answers are available; you don’t have to turn off your brain to be a believer. Yes, it is possible to become a Christian because of the evidence rather than in spite of the evidence.”

6 Steps to Aging Well.

The Parenting Pause (And Why You Don’t Want to Miss It).

This is a funny one, especially if you’ve ever had a preschooler: 46 Reasons Why My Three Year Old Might Be Freaking Out.

I don’t watch Jimmy Kimmel, but someone shared this funny clip of CA newscasters’ reactions to their “cold snap” in the 50s. 🙂

And someone shared this on Facebook, true of many of us in the South. 🙂

Have a great weekend!

Here are a few interesting things seen around the Web this week:

Why We Read the Bible. “I have a burden for my people right now, just like I do for myself, that we get beyond propositions and Bible verses to Christ. I do not mean “get around” Bible verses, but “through” Bible verses to Christ, to the person, the living person, to know Him, cherish Him, treasure Him, enjoy Him, trust Him, be at home with Him.”

Ashamed of the Gospel, HT to Challies. I think most Christians have probably all had similar experiences.

A Kind Wife.

Why Don’t You Just Apologize? The last few paragraphs are especially good.

How Is Obedience a Gateway to Understanding the Gospel? I haven’t read of the gospel-centered-parenting type books, but the posts I have seen on the subject seem to downplay the need to teach and train children to obey. But this post shows how it actually goes hand-in-hand with teaching the gospel. Girltalk has been doing a series on gospel-centered parenting that has been refreshing.

Parenting as Storytelling. I enjoyed the video with Sally Lloyd Jones about stories in children’s lives. I’d disagree a bit with the comparison with video games: I’ve raised three boys who play them, and though sometimes they’ve spent more time with them than I have thought beneficial, they don’t come out of playing them as she describes.  But I would rather see them reading than playing them.

18 Ribbon and Fabric Storage Ideas.

This has got to be one of the cutest videos ever:

One of mine was drawn to puddles like that. Such pure joy!

My son shared these on Facebook: One dog teaching another how to go down the stairs.

And this is how cats do it…

Ha! And finally, a friend shared this on Facebook.

Rather amazing, isn’t it?

Happy Saturday!

I haven’t done a round-of of interesting links in a while: I didn’t have time over the holidays, and you likely didn’t have time to read them then, either. 🙂 But here are a few things that especially caught my eye:

How Not To Read Your Bible in 2013. I’d disagree with the part of not reading it alone: I get much more out of it that way, but for some reading it with others might be helpful.

The 1 Person You Need to Unfriend in 2013.

Be Strong and Courageous (and Not a Boy-Man). Along that same theme, From Boy to Man: The Marks of Manhood, Part One and Part Two. Good things to keep in mind while raising sons.

Why Some Books Made It Into the New Testament and Others Didn’t. This is a topic I’ve wondered about occasionally, and this was helpful.

Keller and Carson: Greco-Roman Slavery ≠ Race-Based Slavery. This helps explain why the Bible tells people how to live and act within the economic part of slavery but doesn’t advocate doing away with it outright, something that has puzzled me from time to time. Even the book Roots said there was an economic-based slavery even in Africa, and it was among Christians that race-based slavery in more modern times was condemned and fought against.

Relationship Advice From Twilight, an unlikely source.

10 Great Writing Quotes to Start the Year.

And an interesting video:

A surprise Les Miserables-inspired flash mob at a wedding reception for a couple who likes musicals. Good if you have guests who can sing!

Have a great weekend!