Articles of the Week - November 24

Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving. I kept a handful of articles on that very subject, so I will begin there this week:

• Collin Hansen of The Gospel Coalition responds to some common myths of Thanksgiving.
• "Jordan" of gaysubtlety provides his very moving list of things for which he is thankful.
• The Heritage Foundation offers the text of Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation, Rachel Sheffield's reflections on why we should be thankful for families (I especially appreciate and agree with the points on the value of a stable, two-married-parent-household for child development), and Rich Tucker's reflections on the American distinctives that are still strong even in an age of partisanship.
• Leonard Pitts, Jr., writing for the Chicago Tribune, uses Lincoln's circumstances to draw a parallel and a challenge for our own times.

Turning to faith and theology:

• For Christianity Today, Carolyn Arends provides one of the best (concise) "answers" to the origins question I have ever read, Melissa Steffan summarizes the variety of faith-based organizations taking legal action against the contraception mandate in the Affordable Care Act, and Wilfred McClay offers a thorough defense of religion's place in the public square - and concludes with a brief discussion of the place of religion in Western society (this was CT's November cover story).
• For The Gospel Coalition, Will Bankston reflects on God's common grace and its necessary effect on cultural engagement and Josh Stahley examines the biblical distinction between salvation and baptism.
• Continuing the devotional series on Ecclesiastes, Ray Pritchard issues a 21-day prayer challenge.

A couple items on education:

• The editorial board of the Chicago Tribune offers some suggestions (more like reminders) for reforming education in Illinois.
• Alan Jacobs, writing for The American Conservative, ponders the effects of the regulatory state on education (not a new issue, by any means, but this piece reminded me of it).

And finally, arts and entertainment.

• Ratzo B. Harris writes for New Music Box about the ubiquity of improvisation and the fundamental problem with notating music.
• Taylor Coe of Pop Matters discusses at length the identity of folk music.
• The Economist's Prospero looks at Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap, the record holder for longest continuous run of any stage play.
• Steve Paul of The Kansas City Star outlines the recent successes of the Kansas City Symphony.
• Kyle MacMillan of the Chicago Sun-Times reports on the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's work to record the John Williams soundtrack for Steven Spielberg's Lincoln.

By the way, next Saturday, I will begin my second annual Christmas Music Advent Calendar!

What articles or blogs caught your attention this week? Share a link in the comments section below!

Articles of the Week - November 17

This week brings another shorter list of highlights, but each presents some interesting ideas.

I want to start with articles on faith and theology.

• Chuck King muses on the often difficult (and often forgotten) task of ensuring that whatever happens in  corporate worship, it must support the voice of the people praising God.
• Continuing his series of devotionals on Ecclesiastes, Ray Pritchard reflects on the importance of friends.
• Katie Hoiland writes for Christianity Today's This Is Our City about a couple in Phoenix whose mission is simply to be good neighbors.
• Steve Cornell, in The Gospel Coalition blog, challenges readers to not "sanitize the Psalms."
• Sarah Lebhar Hall, for Christianity Today, offers a different perspective on what it means to have a purposeful life. Like so many other elements of the Christian life, it seems counterintuitive at first.

And now to politics and public policy.

• Rachel Sheffield of The Heritage Foundation summarizes the effects of last week's election on education policy.
• Charles Madigan, for the Chicago Tribune, explains why the 2012 election did not continue the trend of the 2010 election, and the lessons that should be learned before the 2014 election.

And finally, the Daily Herald outlines this season's offerings of the Wheaton College Artist Series and reflects on how the Series has changed over the past generation. (By the way, tickets are still available for tonight's performance of Camerata Chicago with Caroline Goulding!)

What articles or blogs caught your attention this week? Share a link in the comments section below!

Articles of the Week - November 10

My list of highlights this week has only twelve items, which is far less than usual, and nine of them concern the election or post-election analysis. Maybe it was because I came across so many pieces on those topics that I felt I had read all the angles thoroughly. Anyway, here they are, starting with those nine:

From The Foundry (blog of The Heritage Foundation)

• "Today is Your Day -- Vote, America" (David S. Addington)
• "Now is a Time for Commitment" (Ed Feulner)
• "Obamacare: The Battle Intensifies" (Nina Owcharenko)

From the Chicago Tribune

• "Optimism of 2008 Replaced with Dishing out 'Revenge'" (John Kass)
• "This is What Hope Looks Like" (Eric Zorn)
• "Obama's Second Act" (Doyle McManus)
• "A National Left Turn?" (Eric Zorn)

From The Economist: "Obama's Win Raises Questions for Republicans" (Lexington)

From The Gospel Coalition: "From Me, Yesterday" (Collin Hansen)

And on other subjects:

• Chuck King makes some observations about generation-centered church practices
• Glenn T. Stanton, for TGC, examines the statement "Jesus is all I need"
• Louis Markos, for TGC, "[Thinks] about Aslan and Jesus with C.S. Lewis"

Did you read anything interesting this week? Share it in the comments section below.

Articles of the Week - November 3

Well, this is it, folks. 'Twas the Month Before Christmas, and All Through the World of Professional Musicians, Every Creature is Becoming Frantic. But seriously, this is my favorite two-month stretch of the year.

I want to do something unheard of, and begin my highlights this week with a focus on music (I realized with a shock how infrequently I do that, given my profession). But anyway...

• Tony Woodcock, President of the New England Conservatory of Music, writes a piece for the Huffington Post arguing that professional orchestra can reclaim their significance by focusing on music education (that idea has my vote!)
• J.S. Marcus, in The Wall Street Journal, traces the lengthy process of organ making by focusing on one of organ builder Wendelin Eberle's recent projects

On politics and public policy...

• Two editorial pieces in the Chicago Tribune about unions: Bruce Rauner's argument that government employee labor unions are choking Illinois taxpayers, and Henry Bayer's argument that public employee unions are vital to protecting the middle class
• The Tribune also reports on "two triumphs for Chicago"
• Similar to the Tribune last week, The Economist offers a guarded endorsement of Barack Obama

On faith and theology...

• Perry Noble, writing for the Christian Post, offers eleven ways to live a boring life
• David T. Koyzis, writing for The Gospel Coalition, traces the "logic of liberalism" (readers who consider themselves politically conservative will likely find this a very interesting piece)
• Jared C. Wilson, also writing for TGC, debunks the idea of the gospel being anything like a bare minimum
• Jon Acuff of Stuff Christians Like suggests that perhaps we Christians subconsciously expect instant and total sanctification at the moment of salvation
• Some trivia about Reformation Day and Halloween from Joe Carter of TGC
• Continuing his excellent series of devotionals on Ecclesiastes, Ray Pritchard considers the well-known idea of a "God-shaped vacuum"
• Lane Palmer, in the Christian Post, notes that our freedom to vote for our president was purchased with the blood of the American revolutionaries, but our true freedom was purchased with the blood of the Lord Jesus
• Josh Moody reminds Christians that in the midst of trials of this life, we must live in light of eternity
• Petra Bosna, for Christianity Today's This Is Our City, suggests having a conversation
• Chuck King considers the value of prayers from previous generations of Christians

And finally, a piece from the Chicago Tribune in the wake of Hurricane Sandy about who's really in control - though unfortunately the paper's answer misses the mark.

What articles or blogs caught your attention this week? Share them in the comments section below!