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Around The Grounds (28/10/2014)

Around the Grounds is a list of articles or posts I recently found interesting. I hope you do too.

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The Unexpected Sacrifices Of The Mission Field – Kevin DeYoung is doing a little less blogging in the next few months – writing a book of course. But, this gives one of his mates a chance to do some guest blogging, particularly on missions. Looks like it’ll be a good read.

Six Millennial Statistics Every Adult Should Know – This post provided a few emails between colleagues as we began thinking through the questions he asks. I’ve already written about one of them here. I plan to write some responses to the other questions posed in the next few weeks too.

Millennials And The Bible – Another insightful post from Barna about the Millennial generation. I like the paper version too, much more authentic. 😉

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Around The Grounds (01/08/14)

Around the Grounds is a list of articles or posts I found interesting this week. I hope you do too. 

The focus in this Around the Grounds is to do with the conflict in Gaza and the persecution of Christians in Iraq. They have been the main two things occupying my mind in the past few weeks.

Persecution of Christians in Iraq

“N” As A Social Media Movement – A post I wrote about showing some sort of solidarity with the Iraqi Christians being persecuted.

Painting On The Walls – The original post that highlighted the plight of Christians in Iraq.

Iraqi Christians Are Raped – An article highlighting the rape, murder and dispersion of Iraqi Christians because of ISIS from The Telegraph.

Lebanon Condemns World Action – The Lebanese governments response to Christian persecution in Iraq and the Gaza conflict.

Gaza Conflict

Eight-hundred Dead Palestinians –  “What’s the limit for Palestinian deaths before we have a ceasefire? Eight hundred? Or 8,000? Could we have a scorecard? The exchange rate for dead? Or would we just wait until our gorge rises at the blood and say enough – even for Israel’s war, enough is enough. It’s not as if we have not been through all this before.”

Israel Creates “No Man’s Land” – A revealing article about how the population of Gaza is slowly being squeezed into a tighter and tighter area.

The World Stands Disgraced – The shelling of a school by Israel.

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Around The Grounds (07/02/14)

Around the Grounds is a list of articles or posts I found interesting this week. I hope you do too.

China’s Way To Happiness – An interesting interview about current research into China and the effect of Christianity upon it.

Toxic Leaders – One way toxic leaders accumulate their power is by systematically ignoring and devaluing dissenting and/or minority voices. Andy Crouch explains in Playing God, “The powerful have a hard time seeing their own power and its effects. We do not see when our exercise of power is cutting off life and possibility for others.”

The Dangers of Voluntourism – Another article talking about tourists who volunteer for holidays or for short periods of time.

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Around The Grounds (31/01/2014)

Around the Grounds is a list of articles or posts I found interesting this week. I hope you do too.

To Wives: Before You Were Mummy – With my daughter just over a year old this post brings up some good points about parenting and marriage.

The Distinct, Positive Impact Of A Good Dad – I want to be the best Dad I can be. I found this helpful and interesting in terms of statistics etc. Quote: “…great, and even good-enough dads, appear to make a real difference in their children’s lives.”

Jay-Z: A Poor Excuse For A Husband? – The article has a point. I don’t think I’d want my wife doing what Jay-Zs was…

Voluntourism: Mixing Vacations With Charity Work – This is why it’s important to have a comprehensive short-term mission policy.

Joy In The Home – A great little article about parenting and as the title suggests, joy in the home.

Unmarried Couples Going Away On Holiday Together. A post I’ve only been made aware of but something that speaks to the current trend among Christian young adults.

Stop Saying “Charity Begins At Home”. Melinda outlines some good reasons as to why this common phrase may actually be incorrect to use.

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Around the Grounds (24/01/14)

Around the Grounds is a list of articles or posts I found helpful this week. I hope you do too.

Divine Guidance by John Newton – While preparing for this Sunday’s message I read letter XIII by John Newton. It’s worth hearing what he says.

5 Things The Australian Open Teaches Us About Youth Ministry – A great post about youth ministry from Mike at Crossway. Particularly relevant for this time of the year.

Why The World Needs Pastors – An encouraging article about why it’s important to have pastors in the world.

The Missionary Roots of Liberal Democracy – A long academic article that I haven’t read fully but looks very interesting. There’s also a more readable version of Woodberry’s research in this article by CT.

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Around the Grounds (07/06/13)

Around the Grounds is a list of articles or posts I found helpful this week. I hope you do too.

Honour Killings – Robert Fisk highlights again and again the reality of “honour killings” throughout the Middle East and Asia. The evidence in overwhelming.

Writing and The Brain – Some interesting facts about how writing benefits the brain.

Over-sharing Parents Who Wrecked Facebook – A classic article about how much information parents share on FB. I’m particularly conscious of this now that I have a little one.

Blog To Get Your Next Job – Good reasons why you should begin blogging and have your own space on the net.

Millennials: The Worst, Most Entitled, Most Spoiled Generation in the History of Humankind? – Great article outlining how Millennials and Gen Ys are actually living.

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Around The Grounds (24/05/13)

Around the Grounds is a list of articles or posts that I found helpful this past week. I hope you do too.

Reaching the Middle Class – This is a humourous piece about how a missionary to the middle class should think contextually. Very funny.

Three Spiritual Journeys of The Millennials – The Barna Group have done some research on the Millennials and it’s an interesting read. Particularly for anyone working with youth or young adults.

11 Ways to be Average – A nice little cartoon challenging the way in which we live and our cultural expectations.

Pick A Fight – A great post about doing something meaningful.

The Personal Purgatory – A fascinating article about one man who is regularly reminded of his wrongs. Fascinating but also so very sad.