Saturday Good Reads

When we were on vacation in London this fall, one thing we noticed on British television was that certain ads, mostly by department stores like John Lewis or grocery stores like Sainsbury, were in a class all by themselves. Now comes an ad by Johnnie Walker. Yes, it’s a liquor ad, but you’ve never seen a liquor ad like this one.

The faith frenzy of the week is Wheaton College. I have no links to offer for this story, but there are plenty out there, and my Facebook news feed has once again filled up with ugliness. But I tend to be unsympathetic when someone positioning themselves as a person of conscience, like the Wheaton professor who says Christians and Muslims worship the same god, and then launches a social media campaign as soon as she’s suspended. Like the suspension was not only expected but anticipated and planned for.

Good poetry this week, and good posts on writing. And my friend David Rupert talks about Christian refugees in a way that you can’t ignore – are Western (including U.S.) politicians killing Christians?

Poetry

The Old Scarecrow – Matthew Steinle.

Marriage is a Sacrament, They Say – Shawn Smucker.

O Antiphons – D.S. Martin at Kingdom Poets.

On Callings – J.L. Jacobs at Headpiece Filled with Straw.

A Way of Happening – Jeffrey Bilbro at Curator Magazine.

A Grain of Sand – Brendan MacOdrum at Oran’s Well.

Holy Ground – Laura Boggess.

Writing

The One Thing We Can Take With Us – Mick Silva.

How to Beat Writer’s Block by Not Giving Up – Charity Craig at Tweetspeak Poetry.

Communication is not – David Murray at Writing Boots.

Seasons of Poetry – Mary Harwell Sayler at Poetry Editor.

Literature

A Child’s Christmas in Wales – read by the author, Dylan Thomas (Hat Tip: Maggie’s Farm).

A BBC Charles Dickensian Christmas – Witlow and Thatch.

Dear Brother – Johnnie Walker advertisement.

Photography

Barrel Cactus Studies – Tim Good at Arts by Tiwago.

Faith

The Gentleness of Advent – Winn Collier.

A Christmas question: Are the Gospels more reliable than scholars once thought? – Robert Hutchinson via Fox News.

Eighteen Years – Luke Herron Davis at Sacred Chaos.

Christianity in the Brave New World and Islam, Christianity, Secularism – Rod Dreher at American Conservative.

Life and Culture

Staying Godly in a Godless Workplace – Rick Segal at Desiring God.

How politicians are killing Christians – David Rupert at Red-Letter Believers.

David Archuleta and Nathan Pacheco sing “The Prayer”

Top photograph by Suzy Dubot via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.