A Few Good Reads

“Page: Obama’s comments on poverty disappointing“
Many accuse evangelicals of only being concerned about abortion and gay marriage, particularly to the detriment of caring for the poor. President Obama recently echoed this criticism at a panel discussion hosted by Georgetown University. David Roach’s story on a recent interview with SBC Executive Committee President Frank Page shows where this criticism falls short. “Southern Baptists ‘have the third largest disaster relief ministry in the world,’ Page said. ‘Who do you think is involved right now in Nepal? Well, we are. We were there before the government was. When the government leaves, we’ll be there. We were involved in Hurricane Sandy.'”

“Contentment is a Work of Grace”
Christians struggle mightily with contentment. We find it hard to be thankful for where we are in life and what we have. Erik Raymond helps us understand what it takes to grow in contentment and how the Gospel fuels our contentment. “We are a people who struggle with contentment, but thanks be to God that he does not leave us there! Christ comes to save people from their sin—including discontentment. What’s more, Christ not only paid the penalty for our discontentment but he provides the power to make us truly content!”

“You are not special”
I have pointed to several articles over the last several months about our growing cultural narcissism and how it fuels many of our cultural issues. The Economist reviews David Brooks’ new book The Road to Character and unpacks how thinking less of ourselves is a service to those around us. “The ultimate sin, for the Oprah generation, is to be repressed. Nonsense, says Mr Brooks. Dwight Eisenhower spent his life repressing his inner self, and it helped the Allies win the second world war. He “spent the nights staring at the ceiling, racked by insomnia and anxiety, drinking and smoking”. Yet “he put on a false front of confident ease and farm-boy garrulousness” to raise the troops’ morale. He was splendidly inauthentic. Later on, as president, he was willing to appear tongue-tied if it would help conceal his designs. Indeed, he was happy to let people think him stupid, which ‘is how we know he was not a New Yorker’.”