Alex Chediak

Helping young adults thrive at college and beyond

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Alex Chediak

A Practical Guide to Listening to Sermons: $1

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This new little booklet called Listen Up!: A Practical Guide to Listening to Sermons is currently on sale $1 from WTS Books. The sale only lasts until Friday, Sept. 24th @ 11:59 PM. It looks fantastic. Here is the publisher's description: Why on earth does anyone need a guide on how to listen to sermons? Don't we simply need to 'be there' and stay awake? Yet Jesus said: 'Consider carefully how you listen.' The fact is, much more is involved in truly listening to Bible teaching than just sitting and staring at the preacher. Christopher Ash outlines seven ingredients for healthy listening. He … [Read more...] about A Practical Guide to Listening to Sermons: $1

Does rising college tuition mean greater student learning?

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Interesting op-ed in today's Los Angeles Times by Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus. An excerpt: One thing colleges are spending more on is athletic teams, which have become a more pronounced — and costly — presence on campuses everywhere. Even volleyball teams travel extensively these days, with paid coaches and customized uniforms. Currently, 629 schools have football teams — 132 more than in 1980. And all but 14 of them lose money, including some with national names. It's true that alumni donations sometimes increase during winning seasons, but most of those gifts go specifically to … [Read more...] about Does rising college tuition mean greater student learning?

Terry Jones, burning Qurans and true Christianity

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Tom Ascol wrote an outstanding article in the Tampa Bay Examiner today on the fiasco surrounding the outrageously foolish plans on the part of Terry Jones of Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida to burn Qurans on September 11 (Saturday), supposedly in honor of the innocent lives lost nine years ago on that date. An excerpt: As a Christian pastor who has more than a casual interest in what happens to Muslim friends and fellow believers living in the Muslim world, I want to offer a few thoughts on this fiasco: 1. Jones has justified burning the Quran because it is an "evil book" … [Read more...] about Terry Jones, burning Qurans and true Christianity

Wayne Grudem’s New Book on Politics and the Bible

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Wayne Grudem's latest book looks fascinating: Politics - According to the Bible: A Comprehensive Resource for Understanding Modern Political Issues in Light of Scripture. The book is divided into two parts: (1) Basic Principles and (2) Specific Issues. The first chapter (along with the table of contents and the preface) is available on-line. Grudem is a thoughtful Christian who is always worth reading. His arguments are carefully laid-out and always seek to be scripturally grounded. I'm looking forward to this book. Update: WTS Books is running a 40% off sale. HT: JT … [Read more...] about Wayne Grudem’s New Book on Politics and the Bible

Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telling the American Church

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I've not seen this new book by Kenda Creasy Dean, but from what I've heard it looks very interesting. In the tradition of sociologist Christian Smith, Dean argues that the "Christianity" of American teenagers is more akin to "moralistic therapeutic deism" than the real McCoy. Interestingly, the endorsements for Dean's book are coming from a more left-of-center Christian bunch (e.g., Tony Jones, Mark DeVries) whereas Smith seems to have a high acceptance among more conservative protestants like Albert Mohler and Michael Horton. Not sure if that's a coincidence or if there's some reason for … [Read more...] about Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telling the American Church