David Briggs, writing for the Huffington Post: Mothers and fathers who practice what they preach and preach what they practice are far and away the major influence related to adolescents keeping the faith into their 20s, according to new findings from a landmark study of youth and religion. Just 1 percent of teens ages 15 to 17 raised by parents who attached little importance to religion were highly religious in their mid-to-late 20s. In contrast, 82 percent of children raised by parents who talked about faith at home, attached great importance to their beliefs and were active in their … [Read more...] about The No. 1 Reason Teens Keeps the Faith as Young Adults
Alex & Brett Harris (Still) Doing Hard Things
Freelance writer Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra has an excellent article/interview about what Alex and Brett Harris are doing these days. Six years ago these brothers co-authors the best-selling book Do Hard Things (over 450,000 copies have sold). Today, they're both still doing hard things, but in very different ways. Alex is in his third year of law school and Brett is caring for an ailing wife. Both comment extensively in the article about how their background and the do-hard-things mentality prepared them for their current challenges. “Doing hard things in one season prepares you to step into … [Read more...] about Alex & Brett Harris (Still) Doing Hard Things
How should we vote as Christians whose citizenship is ultimately in heaven?
In an excellent article for election day, John Piper takes five points from 1 Cor. 7:29–31, applying each of them to voting. These are helpful reminders, especially for those of us who get absorbed with politics at this time of year. I've greatly summarized his commentary here--be sure to read the whole thing. 1. “Let those who have wives live as though they had none.” The outcomes of voting "do not give us the greatest joy when they go our way, and they do not demoralize us when they don’t." 2. “Let those who mourn [do so] as though they were not mourning.” "We vote and we lose, … [Read more...] about How should we vote as Christians whose citizenship is ultimately in heaven?
How Do We Fix Our Schools?
Joel Klein is the former chancellor of New York City schools. So he has a unique vantage point from which to assess the state of K-12 education in America. Today he has an article in the WSJ about raising the quality of teachers. Looking at Finland, which 40 years ago ranked near the bottom in Europe but today boasts a high school graduation rate of 93 percent, Klein writes: The Finnish model suggests that, if we are serious about improving the quality of the people who go into teaching, we must begin by asking more of the education schools that train our teachers. Far too many of these … [Read more...] about How Do We Fix Our Schools?
Blog Hibernation Over?
Dear Whatever Readers Are Left, I'm sorry for letting this blog go dark for almost three months. I love blogging, but my plate has been exceedingly full this fall. In August I returned to full-time teaching and administrative responsibilities after a year-long writing sabbatical in which, by God's grace, I published a book and completed a 60,000 word manuscript for another. These recent months I've also been fulfilling a few speaking engagements, doing a few online interviews related to my previous books, and working with my editor on the latest manuscript. This new book releases, Lord … [Read more...] about Blog Hibernation Over?
How Bad Is the Job Market for the Class of 2014?
I missed this May 2014 article in Slate by Jordan Weissmann. In the graph to the left "underemployed" is defined as "either jobless and hunting for work; working part-time because they can’t find a full-time job; or want a job, have looked within the past year, but have now given up on searching." Weissmann explains that over-qualification represents another kind of underemployment. "In a January report, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that roughly 44 percent of recent graduates—meaning those ages 22 to 27 with a B.A. or higher—were in a job that did not technically … [Read more...] about How Bad Is the Job Market for the Class of 2014?