Tuesday High-5 (Feb. 17)

Well it's Tuesday, let's High-5! A collection of articles that I found informative or amusing this week.

Will Religion Every Disappear: Thoughtful article from the BBC on a question that I think I know the answer to. Interesting perspective anyway.

Big Gods: Here is the summary of a book referenced in the above BBC article. I linked to it because it is written by a UBC professor. 

Awesome God: Last week in our LEAD we look at the attributes of God - particularly how we downplay God's awesomeness (in the classic sense, not the hashtag sense) to our own detriment. Trevi Wax looks at that more, and what it means to dwell on God's majesty.

What ISIS really wants: This is a long article from the Atlantic, but covers an ongoing world issue that we should know about. It is worth considering the relevance religion to the actions of the Islamic State. Go beyond the article to think about how that projects religion in our secular society.

The Phantom Time Hypothesis: I like history and I like conspiracy theories and this is a doozie. What if I told you it wasn't 2015, it was 1717! It might be true (ok, it isn't but it is interesting).

ON Obama and Identificational Repentance

As Canadians, we love to apologize, even when we're not at fault (ever catch yourself apologizing to someone who has bumped into you in a grocery store?).  However, Andrew Wilson makes an excellent case in this post for when we should probably not apologize for the sake of integrity.  Take a look.

Don't Parent Like Kids Are Machines

Here is a very practical article on parenting.

Tuesday High-5 (Feb 11th)

Well this is not a true Tuesday High-5 (on account of it being Wednesday since the Family Day long weekend through me off). But we won't let details like days of the week stop us. Below are 5 great blogs to check out this week.

Every Christian is a Missionary: Following up on my blog last week about the need to be on everyday mission, here is a great clip of David Platt on the power of the belief that every Christian is a missionary.

God Speaks to Katy Perry: If you are on twitter and follow Katy Perry, you will know that the former gospel artist turned pop superstar (and self-proclaimed non-Christian), turned back to her roots in the lead-up to her SuperBowl show, quoting Scripture and claiming God spoke to her. Did He? Well, we don't know, but don't be so quick to right it off - this is the type of stunt that God loves to pull to bring those in rebellion (whether religious or non-religious) back to Him.

Christianity's Weirdness: A bit of a counterbalance to the previous post, this one looks at the need of the church to stand against our culture. A good look of how we know we have crossed the line from "in" the world to "of" it - particular in the sense of moralistic, therapeutic Deism.

Our Mission in Exile: Retreat speaker Trevin Wax interacts with Greg Foster's book Joy for the World about what the Church can offer the world when we are "in" but not "of" the world. When we talk about bringing renewal to our city and world, what exactly is it that we bring? Foster would say "joy" - not in the sense of some vague happiness, but a deep and abiding joy demonstrated in the lives of individuals and the community of faith.

When the sin of sloth sneaks up on you: This one hit a little close to home. How we can fall into the sin of sloth by being so busy and having such a long to-do list.