Putting Golf in Its Place

It only takes a few bars of “Augusta” to confirm that spring is here. There is a promise of new life in the sound of the Masters theme song and the sight of electric green grass at Augusta National. The sun has risen in Georgia on the just and unjust and soon will come our way as well.

The game of golf has tied itself to the beauty of God’s created world like few other competitive pastimes. This is at the heart of the sport’s allure. With no standardized playing area, the designers and groundskeepers are commissioned to nest the course in the splendor of the natural terrain. “The heavens declare the glory of God,” says Psalm 19:1, and the best of links do the same, if you have eyes to see it.

But enjoying creation is one thing, and giving hours on end to playing a game can be quite another. We may be able to drink orange juice to the glory of God, but what about playing golf?  Continue at David Mathis

The Psychology of Social Networking (infographic)

Neal Postman warned that we were Amusing Ourselves to Death. Maybe today the fear is that we publicize ourselves to death. That’s the concern represented on this infographic.

Just consider some of these statistics:

• 9 out of 10 internet users are on a social network
• Every minute we produce 694,980 status updates
• 80% of social media posts are about the poster

But the best stat of all: “9 out of 10 Americans think people share too much.” Stop and think about that for a minute. 9 out of 10 of us are doing it. And we’re doing it a lot. But we think everyone else should be doing it less. That makes sense.

And why do we do it? To serve the greater good, advance public discourse, or develop larger networks of meaningful relationships? The infographic suggests a different reason: “Talking about ourselves activates the regions of the brain associated with the sense of satisfaction from food, money, or sex.”

Um.

Here’s the infographic. Check it out for yourself HERE.

The Idolatry of Youth Culture in Worship

Worship leaders often talk about the tension between performance and worship. It's easy to get drawn into the spectacle of music in the church, with our primary examples and role models being professionals---often young, beautiful, and enormously talented.

In this third of three video discussions with Kevin Twit and Isaac Wardell, we talk about the idolatry of youth culture and how it has shaped our worship. Worship culture has followed the lead of culture generally, becoming obsessive about youth, perpetually introducing new worship leaders while introducing fresh songs, styles, and ideas. We're perpetually innovating, chasing the demand for being new and cutting edge.

How can worship be shaped in such a way that it confronts these obsessions? How does the music industry shape our expectations for worship leaders in particular and church leaders in general? What are some of the contrasts between the attitude of an aspiring artist and an aspiring servant. Wardell talks a bit about the difference between a "church musician" and a "worship leader," which I find to be a really helpful distinction.  Continue at Mike Cooper

Christian Image Is Everything

Image is everything in modern culture. Take for instance the shopping mall. More than showcasing merchandise, malls resemble ancient temples or medieval cathedrals---places of worship where the spirit is lifted. Along with designer jeans and exotic coffees, you can fashion for yourself an improved image, one in which people take pride.

Concern for image sometimes reveals itself in ways that are less than subtle. Consider, for instance, the following personal ad from New York magazine:

Strikingly Beautiful: Ivy League graduate. Playful, passionate, perceptive, elegant, bright, articulate, original in mind, unique in spirit. I possess a rare balance of beauty and depth, sophistication and earthiness, seriousness and a love of fun. Professionally successful, perfectly capable of being self-sufficient and independent, but I won't be truly content until we find each other. . . . Please reply with a substantial letter describing your background and who you are. Photo essential.

Over and against such blatant hubris, there is a concern for image that is not only acceptable, it is actually basic to our Christian identity and calling. The apostle Paul says, "Christ is the visible image of the invisible God" (Col 1:15). To properly understand what this means, we must consider God's original creation of Adam and Eve in the Garden---the place where image projection started.  Continue at Gospel Coalition

Enough About Us Already: Our American Protestant Obsession with Being Loved by the World

“They like you,” according to Christianity Today‘s latest cover story (August 2011), by Bradley R. E. Wright, a University of Connecticut sociologist. Wright challenges the alarmist rhetoric of some in recent years who have created the impression that our fellow Americans hate us and we need a public relations makeover. Taking issue with George Barna among others, he argues that we have a persecution complex-or at least an almost pathological need to be loved. Actually, when asked to register their feeling in terms of warm or cold, the weather report for evangelicals is “generally sunny and mild”-somewhere between Jews, Catholics and mainline Protestants at one end and Muslims, Buddhist, and Mormons at the other. 

Admittedly, this could be the worst news of all. It’s like the anxious teenager who asks a group of peers, “What do you think of me?”, only to hear a nearly unanimous reply, “We don’t, actually.” As they say, no publicity is worse than bad publicity.

Introducing this issue, CT managing editor Mark Galli said he hoped that Wright’s article might help us to move on from self-obsession (“Inside CT,” page 7): “A movement that casts anxious glances to see how it’s doing in the eyes of others is in either childhood or adolesence…It’s time for evangelicals to put away childish things….The fact is that in the end, people don’t care if we are cool. They don’t think it an improvement to call ourselves ‘Jesus followers’ instead of ‘Christians,’ let alone ‘evangelicals.’”   Keep Reading...

Are We Too Obsessed With Facebook? [INFOGRAPHIC] Jolie O'Dell

Facebook profiles are like belly buttons: Everybody’s got one.

Perhaps that statement’s still a bit of an exaggeration, but by the numbers, we (that is, Internet users around the globe) are becoming more obsessed with Facebook by the day. 

One out of every 13 Earthlings and three out of four Americans is on Facebook, and one out of 26 signs into Facebook on a daily basis.

We could rattle off stats like that until the cows come home, but instead, we’d like to show you this fascinating infographic from SocialHype and OnlineSchools.org.

Here, in a visual nutshell, are some highlights about Facebook usage, 2010 trends, adoption numbers and a great deal more.

Take a good look at this information (or click here for the full-size version), and in the comments, let us know what you think about our global fascination with Facebook. Is Facebook an amazing connective medium? A plague that preys on the easily addicted? A little bit of both, or something else entirely?

Via: Online Schools

HT: Tim Challies

The Snare of Beauty — Flashpoints of Our Obsession with Attractiveness

A Simpler View of Sports