Tag Archives: pornography

Six-Pack (63)

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Welcome to the Easter weekend’s edition of the Six-Pack.

As is the pattern, the half-dozen links below lead to the best online offerings I have recently read, related to ministry or faith, with just enough space left for who-knows-what!

If six ever feels daunting, start with my two *Picks of the Week*, and go from there.

For a steady stream of such links, follow me on Twitter to the right of this post.  Sharp quotes and solid articles are tweeted 3-4 times daily.

Today’s edition:

1) Empty Tombs and the Suddenness of Dawn (*PICK OF THE WEEK*)
Nadia Bolz Weber, who once shared my faith heritage, shares this powerful piece on the surprising nature of resurrection, beginning with Lazarus and ending with every single one of us.

2) What I Learned Watching 150 Hours of TED Talks
This HBR piece is hardly earth-shattering, but as the title suggests, a few minutes of reading could save you 150 hours of viewing!

3) Meet Author Mark Buchanan
The Word Guild introduces readers to author Mark Buchanan. If you don’t already know him, you should.

4) 18 Things Highly Creative People Do Differently (*PICK OF THE WEEK*)
The creative process has always fascinated me. What ticks within artists or creative minds that enables something new to be brought into existence? This post highlights some of the attributes and habits frequently fueling creativity.

5) The Porn-Free Family Plan
Tim Challies offers this detailed sketch of how parents might craft a plan to guard their homes and children from the destructive power of pornography. Lots of practical tips here.

6) The History of Ties
The folks at Ethos3 answer the question men have been asking for years: Why am I wearing a stylish little noose around my neck?

May your week ahead be filled with life, as you seek the One from whom it flows!

leaveacommentYOUR TURN: Your input makes this post better!

  • Which link above was today’s best-of-the-best?
  • Why that one?

Direct others to the best of the bunch with a quick comment.

[You can subscribe to this blog via RSS or email, in the upper right corner of this page.]

Saturday Six-Pack (40)

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Welcome to the final Saturday Six-Pack for May 2013!

Grab your mug and settle in. Here are are six of the best articles I’ve read recently.  Most are faith-focused or ministry-minded; others are just a bit of who-knows-what!

If you need help starting, begin with my two *Picks of the Week*, and move from there.

For a steady stream of such links, follow me on Twitter ( @JasonBandura ) to the right of this post.  Sharp quotes and solid articles are tweeted 3-4 times daily.

Today’s edition:

1) Six Recent Lessons from Turnaround Churches
Thom Rainer has discovered that 9 of 10 North American churches are shrinking or growing at a rate behind their communities. Here are six lessons he recently learned from such churches who are turning it around.

2) The Divine Dance (*PICK OF THE WEEK*)
Scot McKnight shares these Tim-Keller-filled reflections on the Trinity. What does it mean? A whole lot!

3) Learning the Gospel from My Children
A pastor named Jason Micheli recently preached this sermon, and I am a sucker for anything that revolves around Luke 15.

4) Daily Rituals of the Most Creative People (*PICK OF THE WEEK*)
I am fascinated by how creativity works. This little essay, based on a full-length book, scratched that itch for a few moments.  For the record, I am unlikely to adopt many of W.H. Auden’s “labor-saving devices”.

5) Hotel Pornography and the Market of Morality
I found this piece, from The Public Discourse, ten months after its publishing. Well-written piece that uses a movement looking to ban hotel pay-per-view pornography as a case study on the strange dance between morality, economics, politics, and more.

6) 8 Habits of Highly Productive People
While the title looks like a knock-off of a best-selling classic, and the article contains a handful of typos, a few ideas here might help those longing to be more productive.

May your weekend be full of awareness and enjoyment of the God who already fills it with Himself and every good thing.  Blessings on you, my friends.

YOUR TURN: Direct other readers to the best stuff with a comment below, or weigh in on what you read.  Your input makes this post better!

[You can subscribe to this blog via RSS or email, in the upper right corner of this page.]

Saturday Six-Pack (26)

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Happy New Year, friends!  I hope your 2013 is off to a smashing start.

The end of 2012 saw me doing some digital housekeeping, part of which was sifting through pieces I’d bookmarked over the past months as suitable Six-Pack links.  So here is a smattering of less-recent-than-usual articles that may have been missed in weeks gone by.

As usual, if a half-dozen options paralyzes you, begin with my two *Picks of the Week*, and move from there.

For a steady stream of such links, follow me on Twitter ( @JasonBandura ) to the right of this post.  Sharp quotes and solid articles are tweeted 3-4 times daily.

Today’s edition:

1) Showing Up
When you feel discouraged over a lack of fruit for your efforts, there is a certain measure of pride and satisfaction to be taken in the simple fact that you continue to show up.  So says senior pastor Mike Glenn, in regards to ministry.

2) When Are We Going to Grow Up? The Juvenilization of American Christianity (*PICK OF THE WEEK*)
Christianity Today’s Thomas Bergler considers how the Western world’s changing views on youth and adolescence have impacted, and in some regards stunted, our expressions of Christian faith and community.

3) Pornopoly
The impact of pornography upon society and relationships cannot be over-emphasized.  Dave Dunham, for the Gospel Coalition, makes this compelling case while spelling out some of the impacts that the average mind might not consider.

4) Have the Courage to Be Direct (*PICK OF THE WEEK*)
The call to blunt conversation is particularly piercing to anyone in a leadership position; however, it is equally important to anyone who cares about simply building the life that he/she wishes to live.  This HBR piece will help you to consider what keeps you from more direct interactions, and how you might make such an impacting move more frequently in the days ahead.

5) How to Write a Joke
Jerry Seinfeld muses on how his creative process works in this short video from the New York Times. For anyone whose work involves creativity, this just may resonate. Or it may just highlight the silliness of things you worry about!

6) The Secret Structure of Great Talks
In this TED talk, Nancy Duarte reveals what makes all the difference in the world in the presenting of ideas.  The best idea in the world isn’t worth anything if it stays stuck in one’s own mind.  How to present effectively?  Here’s one woman’s take on it.

Blessings on you, my friends.  May your weekend be refreshing in rest, play, and worship.

YOUR TURN: Direct other readers to the best stuff above by making a comment below, or weigh in on what you read.  Your input makes this post better!

[You can subscribe to this blog via RSS or email, in the upper right corner of this page.]

Saturday Six-Pack (15)

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Welcome to the weekend, and thanks for spending some time “Wandering & Wondering”.

This week’s Six-Pack features the usual: A half-dozen of the best articles I’ve read this week–mostly faith-focused or ministry-geared, with a bit of who-knows-what tossed in!

This week’s load:

1) Good News VS Good Advice
The Gospel is only one of these, and it is amazingly easy to get this mixed up.

2) Four Results of Christ’s Ascension
A couple years back, a friend called.  He had been assigned to preach a sermon about the significance of Christ’s Ascension.  We both agreed that we’d heard much about Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, but somehow the Ascension had always been treated as something of an assumed afterthought.  If I could go back, I might at least send him to this piece as a starter.

3) Why Do Christians Need to Make it All Better?
Many believers rush through pain to get to the hope. But is that the best way?

4) Fake Love, Fake War: Why So Many Men Are Addicted to Internet Porn and Video Games
I’ve seen at least a few articles recently based on this same pile of research.  This is some insightful stuff on what makes men tick AND why these two counterfeits are so dangerous in how they impact those who consume them.

5) The Story of Send
Ever wonder what happens to your email after you hit the “Send” button? If so, you might be interested by this entry from Google Green.  Ironically, following the story takes far longer than actually sending and receiving an email in the first place, but it’s a pretty entertaining way to learn something new.

6) How Mosquitoes Survive Collisions with Raindrops
Mosquito to raindrop equals person to school bus.  How would you deal with such mid-air meetings if you could fly?  Should that ever be useful information, this post is for you.  For the rest of us, it’s just for fascination’s sake.

Enjoy your weekend, friends, through renewing yourself and reverencing God.

Saturday Six-Pack (11)

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It feels like Saturdays roll around every seven days or so!  And with THIS particular one, I extend a warm welcome to you this realm of “Wandering & Wondering”.

Each weekend, the Six-Pack gathers a half-dozen articles that have informed or inspired over the past week.  Most are faith-focused or ministry-geared; others fall under my “disorderly pile of who-knows-what” catch-all qualifier!

Today’s collection:

1) The Historical Reliability of the New Testament
Craig Blomberg is a world-renowned biblical scholar, and he’s got a dozen reasons why he is confident of the New Testament’s historical reliability.

2) The Art of Being a Jerk Online
If you’ve ever felt that cyber-etiquette had become too refined or you felt a need to make a negative impression, Frank Viola has ten fool-proven methods on how to lose friends and irritate people online.

3) Nine Ways to Fight the Temptation of Pornography
To anyone who’s ever felt the allure of this destructive bait, B.J. Stockman offers nine tips that may help.

4) Why Personal Development is So Hard
Ever wanted to change for the better, then realized how uphill the climb was?  John Richardson sets up for some significant revelation on this front.  (Translation: Reading THIS article will queue you up for reading a few more posts on this blog.)

5) Where People Get Scripture Wrong
Taken as a whole, the Church clearly can’t live without the Bible—but it doesn’t seem to have much idea how to live with it, either.  N.T. Wright points out common “right” and “left” misreadings of the Bible.

6) A Super Efficient Email Process
How much of your time gets swallowed up by cyber-communication?  If you said, “More than I’d like” in any form or phrasing, then Peter Bregman’s piece from the Harvard Business Review might be your prescription for taking back control of your inbox.

Have a great weekend, friends–renew yourself and reverence God.