Sharing From Our Experiences with the Lord
When I was in college, the dorm rooms were formed into smaller prayer groups, usually three dorm rooms to a group, that met almost every night for devotions. The people in the rooms took turns sharing a devotional each night, then we spent a few minutes in prayer before getting ready for bed. One of…
God, the Lord of Time
Tara Westover’s Educated describes her Dad’s frenzied labour as a scrap worker extracting value from piles of rubbish. “Dad lived in fear of time. He felt it stalking him. I could see it in the worried glances he gave the sun as it moved across the sky. In the anxious way he appraised every length of pipe…
Unchristian Thinking about Christian Weddings
If you are truly Christians—both bride and groom—then you should plan a Christian wedding. And both bride and groom should be Christians, but that is another article. The idea that wedding magazines, Pinterest, and bridal websites set the standards and practices for Christian weddings is an abomination. Brides to be (and moms!), stop letting that…
[Podcast] Interview 113: Is Missions Work ‘Kingdom Building’? (Keith Kobelia)
We are picking up again with an interview from the May/June edition of FrontLIne, which is on the theme, “The Future of Missions.” Our conversation today is with Keith Kobelia, one of the professors at Faith Baptist Bible College and Seminary in Ankeny, Iowa. His article is called “Is Missions Work ‘Kingdom Building’?” We’ll get…
A Marriage with Christ in the Middle (Colossians 3:18-19)
Husbands and wives find much in Scripture for how to love and respect one another (e.g., Eph 5:22–33; 1 Pet 3:1–7). This post focuses on one short passage, Colossians 3:18–19. “Wives” are commanded briefly, “be subject to your husbands” (Col 3:18a). The command to “be subject” is to submit oneself, and, as a wife to…
Harness the Power of Failure
I was listening to a podcast with a successful entrepreneur who gave what I thought was interesting advice. He told young entrepreneurs that they needed to get started early because they would likely fail several times and it was best to get those failures out of the way. He implied that there would likely be…
When People Act Like Jerks
You’ve probably seen those lists people post on social media from time to time – the ones that say something like, “The man speeding on the highway? Maybe his wife is in labor, and they are racing to the hospital. The woman who passed you in the hallway without speaking? Maybe she’s worried about a…
Interesting Headlines From Around the World
In The News
Waste Not, Want Not: Scientists Turn Plastic Into Levodopa for Parkinson’s Disease | Medscape
In a scientific first, researchers have turned plastic waste into a mainstay treatment for Parkinson’s disease (PD). In a proof-of-concept study, researchers used engineered bacteria to convert polyethylene terephthalate (PET) — a widely used plastic found in bottles and food packaging — into levodopa (L-DOPA). … Significant work remains before the process could contribute to pharmaceutical supply…
New Nanotech Brain Implants Self-Implant Without Surgery | MedScape
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers in Cambridge, Massachusetts, have taken another page right out of a science fiction novel. This time, by designing and building microscopic, wireless bioelectronics that can travel through the circulatory system and autonomously implant themselves in an inflamed region of the brain to deliver precise neuromodulation as treatment. All it…
AI ‘Griefbots’ Resurrect Dead Loved Ones — Healthy or Harmful? | MedScape
Justin Harrison’s mother passed away in 2022, but he still speaks with her every week. While his mother was still alive, Harrison recreated her virtually using generative artificial intelligence (AI) trained on videos, audio recordings, text messages, and basic information about her. This virtual persona, or “versona,” interacts with him and speaks much in the…
Opinion Pieces
Challies | Wise and Helpful Ways for Christians To Experiment With AI
Tim Challies provides a thoughtful review of his own experimentation with AI. He offers some helpful suggestions and (I think) wise cautions. Some time ago, I decided I ought to familiarize myself with AI and consider whether it might become a helpful and legitimate tool in my own life. I signed up for pro-level subscriptions…
YouTube: How did the Romans view the Christians and why did they persecute them?
Ed. note: I recently became aware of the work of a prolific British Historian, Adrian Goldsworthy. He has a YouTube channel with many videos discussing ancient Rome, a subject of great interest to me as the New Testament was lived and written in a Roman environment. I thought our readers might be interested in Goldsworthy’s…
Fact checking Moravec’s paradox | AI as Normal Technology
Fact checking Moravec’s paradox – by Arvind Narayanan Historically, AI researchers’ predictions about progress in AI abilities have been pretty bad. We don’t really have principles that describe which kinds of tasks are easy for AI and which ones are hard. Well, we have one — Moravec’s paradox. It refers to the observation that it’s easy to…
Home & Family
On Parenting: Are You Bribing Your Way Through?
Not long ago, I was sitting in an airport when a family of four appeared. The little boy, who seemed about five, was having a meltdown I’d heard many times before. His mother was doing all she could to calm him down, but nothing worked. In just a few minutes, I witnessed a parade of…
Can a fighting spirit help conquer cancer? The limits of positivity for cancer patients | National Post
The idea that cancer progression or disease survival can be influenced by a positive attitude or by keeping up a “fighting spirit” isn’t grounded in scientific evidence, he and other doctors said. Anecdotally, however, “you’ll hear from people, ‘I beat this because I was positive, I had the right thinking, the right attitude,’” Isenberg-Grzeda said.…
The false promise of keeping a loved one ‘alive’ with A.I. grief bots | America Magazine
With the creation of A.I., anthropomorphized chatbots are one critical example of how the rapidly advancing technology is testing the limits of the human condition. Source: The false promise of keeping a loved one ‘alive’ with A.I. grief bots | America Magazine