Note: The title has nothing really to do with what I am posting, I just like the phrase and amazed how regularly I find it in academic writing.

The Mindset List (2016) – Published every year since 1998 The Mindset List looks at the world in which the incoming class of college freshman live. It is always worth a chuckle or two and if nothing else a reminder of how old I am (we are). Four stuck out to me this year:

1. The Biblical sources of terms such as “Forbidden Fruit,” “The writing on the wall,” “Good Samaritan,” and “The Promised Land” are unknown to most of them.
2. Having grown up with MP3s and iPods, they never listen to music on the car radio and really have no use for radio at all.
3. Probably the most tribal generation in history, they despise being separated from contact with their similar-aged friends.
4. Slavery has always been unconstitutional in Mississippi, and Southern Baptists have always been apologizing for supporting it in the first place.

God’s Grace in the Newspaper – John Barclay is one of my favorite New Testament/Pauline scholars and besides that he is a genuinely nice fellow. But I am not sure which impressed me more Barclay’s description of grace or the fact it was published in an actual newspaper.

School can be a Stressful Place – As school begins, around the US this article is great reminder of the stresses of the academic grind and its effect on other areas of students lives. This is something I personally have to deal with as a husband, father, professor, and student. The emotional fatigue that each of these can carry can lead me to be ineffective in every area of my life. While this article doesn’t deal with the spiritual ramifications those are also very real.

Writing Advice as Motivational Posters – I am not sure if these are actually made as posters, regardless the advice is good. My favorite because it is true so often for me is:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the most practical:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, God has really been impressing on me that I need to learn to accept new! It is quite easy for me to fall into line (or some might call it a rut) and jsut continue doing the same old things because it is just what I do. To be honest, I like it…I like the same old thing…I like to have consistency in certain areas of my life because with three boys ages 5, 3, and 2 so much of my life can seem out of control!

Yet, God has been quite clear this past week that new things are coming no matter if I like it or not…and clear that it will be OK because they are coming from him. It is not very often that he uses the different areas of my life to confirm his message, but Isaiah sums it up well:

Isaiah 42:8-9 – “I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.”

Lord, I accept new things are coming from you. Give me the courage to accept them and a willingness to give you all the praise for them.