Here are some interesting and useful links from around the web this week:
- I Just Want Her to Be Happy (The Collapse of American Parenting), Leonard Sax, First Things. You really can’t have too much First Things in your life. Sax asks, “Why are American-born kids becoming increasingly less creative?” His answer: “We’re encouraging them to ‘be happy.’” We shouldn’t be surprised that the culture of “I just want him/her to be happy” produces teenagers addicted to social media and pornography—and adults filled with unhappy frustration.
- When Kids Won’t Bow to Your Idols, Jennifer Phillips. “One of the biggest sources of conflict between you and your kids is when they refuse to bow down to your idols.” I dare you to cross-stitch that and give it to a friend at her baby shower.
- My 7 Most Productive Habits, Mark Dance. This is part 2, so you may want to start with Dance’s problem, My 7 Least Productive Habits. Sound counsel here, and it would be healthier for all of us if these became more systemic habits. For now, though, introduce some more sanity into your life with these. Best line: “Never interrupt a face-to-face conversation to answer a text unless it is a family emergency, a previously scheduled appointment, or you are in the seventh grade.”
- Add Spontaneity to Your Evangelism, Josh Buice. For too many people, Christian or not, evangelism is a dirty word. “As Christians, we’re commissioned by Christ to go and make disciples, but we often turn such practices into a 3-4 step program rather than a natural way of communication and personal interaction. Maybe you are finding yourself lost in how to get involved in sharing the gospel?”
- 5 Benefits to Reading Entire Books of the Bible in One Sitting, Crossway. “The Bible is not meant merely to be ‘applied to my life.’ It is meant to become the new mental universe in which we live and move and think throughout the day. Only deep reading—the absorption of Scripture at length—accomplishes this.”
