7 Bowls of… | October 8th, 2021
Years ago, when weekly lists were all the rage, I jumped onto the trend with a tongue-in-cheek reference to the book of Revelation and started my own weekly rundown. And now, over 10 years later, I'm jumping back on the bandwagon again. So here are 7 things I've read this week, listened to this week, or watched this week.
The Troll Farm Review | Karen Hao | MIT Technology Review
I saw this article linked as part of a piece that Relevant Magazine did. In it, they show the research that 19 out of the top 20 Christian pages on Facebook are owned and maintained by Eastern European Troll Farms. I had some further comments on my own Facebook share of the article, and they mainly relate to how much the Western Christian Church has become a sub-culture of the manipulated.
Why are we living in an age of anger? Zoe Williams | The Guardian
I was doing some sermon research on James 1 about anger and came upon this older article. A little warning, it uses some language that others might find offensive. But I am fascinated with the idea of society functioning in terms of cycles of peace/chaos.
We are in a fourth Turning, What does that mean? | Van Niestat | YouTube
I didn't watch this for the first time, but it totally relates to the link above. In this great video (I'm a big fan of the channel), Van shares through the book "The Fourth Turning" by William Strauss and Neil Howe. It is a theory of the how and why of history repeating itself. Go watch the video.
The Journaling Techniques that Changed My Life | struthless | YouTube
Over the last few years, I have been on a massive journaling kick. More and more it has become something important to me. Struthless has an art book on the idea and practicalities of journaling coming out in November. (I've already pre-ordered it). For anyone who uses journaling, or is looking for better mental health, his video is a super easy-to-follow guide.
Why the Conquest Isn’t a Conquest | Dr. Lawon Stone and Dr. Cindi Parker
Dr. Lawson Stone was a seminary professor and a favorite one at that. Over the years he has always been my go-to for anything involving the Old Testament, chariots, and swords. In short, the Historical Books of the Old Testament. This past summer as I have been working on the Bible is Metal, I’ve been using his commentary on Judges for most of my research. He was on two episodes of Context Matters, hosted by Dr. Cindi Parker…and I think it is my new favorite podcast. This episode is about many different things, but mainly the idea of what those first Israelites looked like and why we need to dig deeper into the larger story of the Bible in order to understand it.
Readwise.io
This isn’t something I have read lately, but rather a tool I have been using the last few weeks. It is a service that links multiple content accounts, allows categorization of highlights, and saves them to either Evernote or Notability. It then sends a short email each day with 5 of your highlights. It is one of my favorite parts of my day.
Soft + Slow | Spotify Playlist
I love a good playlist. I especially love it when the algorithm totally nails my current mood. The Soft + Slow playlist is just enough Americana, Country, and Singer-Songwriter for the early fall. I’m digging it.