Wisdom for Your Weekend is your regular installment of what we’ve been reading (and watching) around the web. Presented to you by Chris Pappalardo, with occasional guidance from Pastor J.D., this is our attempt to reflect Proverbs 9:9: “Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.”
Book Review of the Week
The Most Personally Convicting Book I’ve Read in Ages, Aaron Armstrong, reviewing David Murray’s Reset: Living a Grace-Paced Life in a Burnout Culture. There are two ditches to avoid when it comes to work. On one side, you can waste your time and talents by being lazy. On the other, you can work yourself into the ground, burning yourself out in a spectacular blaze of misery. David Murray’s recent book, Reset, aims at that latter group. Because of Armstrong’s recommendation, I (Chris) have already gotten my copy. I’m looking forward to the convicting (and healing) work that will result.
Articles of the Week
Sloth Doesn’t Just Mean Sleep, Mike Leake. If Armstrong and Murray (above) are coming at you for over-working, Leake wants to step on your toes for being lazy—or, to use a KJV kinda word, slothful. As Leake points out, however, the biblical warnings about being a sluggard aren’t only aimed at the guy who sleeps until noon and plays “Call of Duty” for three hours a day. (If that’s you, though, please stop.) They are aimed at any of us who avoid what we should be doing for what we’d prefer to do at the moment.
Coates’s Lost Cause, R. R. Reno. Ta-Nehisi Coates has received a lot of attention and acclaim for his 2015 book, Between the World and Me. The book is equal parts autobiography and social commentary, arranged as a series of letters Coates is sending to his teenage son to explain his upbringing. From some quarters, Between the World and Me has been hailed as timely, powerful, exceptional, and exceedingly wise. Reno thinks otherwise, seeing a victim mentality that doesn’t provide enough helpful cultural diagnosis to overcome contemporary racial conflict. For all the helpful insight that may be in Coates’ manifesto, Reno thinks that “Between the World and Me is an extended effort to keep the wounds of racism open.”
Eight Ways to Miss the Point of Small Group, Kristen Wetherell. You might not call it a small group. Perhaps it’s a home group, a life group, a missional community. The name isn’t nearly as crucial as the reality: What are you doing with this group? Or, as Wetherell puts it, how are you missing the point of this group? In my experience, I’ve seen a lot of #3, #5, and #8. You may be a bit uncomfortable as you read this. Lean into it.
Five “Fake News” Stories That People Believe About Early Christianity, Michael Kruger. We aren’t the first generation to believe and propagate false reports. But with our current technology, we certainly have gotten good at it. That “fake news” phenomenon, sadly, also extends to history. Here are five fake news stories about early Christianity that get waaaaay too much air time. You know, because they’re patently untrue. (For more “fake news” of a lighter variety, see below.)
On the Lighter Side
Karate Kid: Johnny Finally Wins. If you know Pastor J.D. at all, you know that cinema reached its peak in 1984 with the release of The Karate Kid. Perhaps you’re familiar with the plot: Mr Miagi, an unconventional martial arts teacher, agrees to teach teen Daniel to stand up to his bully, Johnny. In the end, Daniel wins. (Well, really, we all win because this movie exists.) But what if we just weren’t watching close enough? Did Johnny actually win? (For what it’s worth, this is what I [Pastor J.D.] often feel when I watch certain news outlets spin stories. I wonder, “How did they take those facts and make that point?”)
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