The Conversation: Christianity On the Web

Every once in a while, I want to make an effort to post some links/videos from other websites. See, it's important to discuss what we learn with each other as Christians; without discussion, we end up either suffering in our lack of learning important things (we can't share knowledge) or we lose out on interaction with the world, losing precious time as we attempt to do all of that learning on our own. So for my part, I want to participate in what is going on out there in the rest of the Christian blogosphere. Here's what I found.

TO SERVE IS TO SUFFER - In its August issue, Christianity Today hosts a Global Multiple Viewpoints-style discussion on persecution and Christian witness: Ajith Fernando (National Director, Youth for Christ, Sri Lanka) writes the main article, and selected writers respond to it here, here, here, and here. "If the Apostle Paul knew fatigue, anger, and anxiety in his ministry," writes Ajith, "what makes us think we can avoid them in ours?" The whole thing is free on the magazine's website.

READERS ARE LEADERS - I haven't thought it through yet, but Donald Miller may just be my favorite living writer. His books A Million Miles In a Thousand Years and Searching for God Knows What are some of the highest recommends that I can give. And he's got a freaking great blog--check it out. He left a post on his blog last night encouraging people to start reading more books: "If you want to be a person of influence, or if you want to lead, or for that matter if you want to succeed, start reading. These days, you have less competition than your parents had, or their parents for that matter. If you read as few as fifty books, you’ll be considered a genius. Subscribe to the Economist and read a handful of articles each week and your friends will wonder when you intend to run for congress."

ON MODESTY AND SELF-IDENTITY - Mere Orthodoxy's Cate MacDonald writes "one particularly lazy Saturday I sat on a friend’s couch and watched a “real” housewife “find” herself relearning the art of striptease. As her male friends looked on and handed over dollar bills, she boasted that she was finally feeling like herself again. Now, I don’t know what exactly this woman was experiencing, but it is hard to believe it was anything like an actual sense of self. For one who has not felt her soul for a long time, the external validation of her exposed body seemed an ample substitute. And just like that, I felt like I understood pop-culture." The whole post is worth the read.