Around the Web: Why Christian Kids Leave the FaithTim Challies | from challies.com Tim Challies proposes strategies for battling the four causes of young people leaving the faith, as identified in the research of Tom Bissett. Around the Web: Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?Jean M. Twenge | from The Atlantic "Around 2012, I noticed abrupt shifts in teen behaviors and emotional states. The gentle slopes of the line graphs became steep mountains and sheer cliffs, and many of the distinctive characteristics of the Millennial generation began to disappear. In all my analyses of generational data—some reaching back to the 1930s—I had never seen anything like it." Around the Web: Growing a Healthy HeartJames K. A. Smith | from White Horse Inn "If children are human beings, and if humans are first and foremost lovers, then Christian formation isn’t primarily or only an intellectual endeavor. That means cultivating a Christian home isn’t like curating a theological salon. Christian parenting won’t only be didactic. A Christian home also needs to be a space where rhythms and routines function as liturgies of rightly ordered love, pedagogies of desire that train us—parents and children alike—to desire God and what God loves." Around the Web: What is the Christian Obligation to a Friend in Pain?Kelly Kapic | from Everyday Bioethics "We are not required to solve the mysterious pain and suffering of others, nor are we required to explain it or make it all better. No, we are called to go on walks with them, to share meals, and offer warm embraces. We are called to weep with those who weep and lament with those who lament...simply put, we are called to love them by offering our prayers, presence, and perseverance. This is heavy enough without us trying to carry the burden of diagnosing or treating their illness; that is a burden we were never intended to carry." Around the Web: In Praise of Cultural ChristianityStephen Wolfe | from Mere Orthodoxy "The civil and ecclesiastical have mutually supporting roles that together point to the same ultimate end, but they do not have the same roles. Churches, not civil magistrates or civil society, call people to faith and repentance. Churches call people to stop pretending. Of course the civil realm on its own creates pretend Christians. But this is not a failure of religious civil culture, for it is not its role to make true believers. Indeed, nothing in the civil realm can create true believers, and I’ve never heard or read anyone say that it could. Why condemn something for failing to produce what it cannot produce?" Senior TestimoniesIt's a Covenant College tradition for graduating seniors to share their testimonies with the campus community in chapel. Listen to the experiences of James Dillon and Andrea Roylston from spring 2017. View email digest | Volume 1, Issue 13The View email digest is designed to bring thoughtful, challenging, and encouraging ideas and stories to your inbox. We invite you to share feedback with us on how this email digest could improve. What kinds of content are you interested in reading, listening to, and watching? We want this email to be a service to you and the church as a whole, and we value your ideas. You can send us your feedback by replying to this email. If you are not a direct recipient of this email and would like to receive future issues, please subscribe here. Web versions of all digest issues are available here. "Around the Web" content is provided to promote and encourage conversation and is not necessarily endorsed by Covenant College. |