In the News…

Funniest Headline: 
Well if finally happened. The Dayton Herald News made it to Jay Leno’s headlines.

Biggest Waste of Time: 
Southern Baptists Reject 2011 NIV Bible

Most Obvious (nominated by Dan Evans):
Science Daily with “Wives’ Sleep Problems Have Negative Impact on Marital Interactions, Study Finds”

Online …

Best Series: 
Sarah Cunningham with “Ahhhh. Women. Learn to Love Them”
Sarah asks some fantastic questions about mentors, jealousy, gossip, collaboration, and women in leadership. Interviews include: 

Lindsey Nobles 
Jenni Catron 
Ann Voskamp 
Jenna Nardella 
Heather Whittaker 
Leeana Tankersley 
Me 

Best Title: 
Cathleen Falsani with “Jesus is Still Surrounded by Too Many Men”
“Pop quiz: Name three women leaders in evangelical Christianity…Not including women known primarily as partner to their better-known husbands. And just to make it interesting, let's say they have to be under age 60. Stumped? Don't feel too badly. You're not alone...”

Most Likely To Fuel Sophomoric Dinner Conversations: 
Listverse with “Top 10 Misused English Words”

Smartest: 
Andrew Perriman with “Atonement Without the Theoretical Nonsense” 

Wisest: 
Laura Ziesel with “What is God’s Will for your Life?”
“I say we stop over-spiritualizing the decision-making process. God has given us resources; let's use them!”

 Father’s Day Posts…

Best Imagery (nominated by Idelette): 
Sarah Styles Bessey (Emerging Mummy) at She Loves with “Let’s Write a Line for the Good Man”
“And I’m seeing him teaching me how to swim and how to laugh at myself. He’s flooding our backyard in the winters so that we can skate on our own ice and he’s driving me to my first job and picking me up, one of the few who lets me be silent now and then. He is teaching me to make a plan and work the plan, to make “quality decisions,” and cheer for the Boston Bruins (sorry, Vancouver!). He’s admonishing me to “be not unequally yoked” which was how he liked to tell me to stop kissing boys he didn’t think deserved me. He is rising up in the morning to read his Bible and when I sneak peek in his leather bound book, there is my name with Scripture verses beside it because he is praying for me–every day. He is teaching me to love truth and mercy, to be bold and gentle. He’s in my face with love and the voice of reason and he’s given me a song to sing in the morning hours and never once has he belittled a dream of my heart.”

 Most Honest (nominated by Sarah Styles Bessey): 
Lauren Lankford with “A Letter to the Girl Without a Father”
“I have a confession.
I cannot function without a father.
I have a second confession.
I used to love God because it was the right thing to do. Now I love Him because I am desperate for a Dad.
I have a third confession. A confession that mocks the Devil.
I believe that Daddy Issues are a gift.”

Most Thoughtful  (nominated by Nish):  
Max Andrew Dubinsky at Deeper Story with “We Are Our Fathers’ Children, But We Are Not Their Choices”
“The mystery I saw shrouding my father back then still hangs around today. Only today it’s because I always suspect the truth is being manipulated in our conversations because he’s afraid. Because he keeps what he’s done wrong in the dark. And in the dark, everything seems worse than it is. Sometimes talking to my father can be like navigating a minefield when all I’ve ever wanted it to be is a place of comfort; a place to step without having to look first.”

Here on the blog…

Most Popular Post:
“Blessed Are the Un-cool”

Most Popular Comments: 
In response to “Blessed Are the Un-cool,” two comments really struck a chord with readers: 

1. Scott Davis (with 52 “likes”) wrote: “I'm a church planter, and our church is full of distractions.  My nephew attends and he is 18 years old, 6 foot 5, and close to 300 pounds.  He's a massive kid.  He is also severely autistic.  He has outbursts.  Often, his noises are about his enjoyment of something, but they are often loud and you can't  NOT notice them.  What I love is how much the whole church loves him and my sister and brother-in-law.  People just smile and we all continue on. Sometimes, when he thinks I've preached a little too long, he'll get up walk to the front, stand next to me and start saying "Amen."  Everyone laughs as we wrap things up and say "Amen" together.”

2. Sara Harding (with 50 “likes”) wrote:“I was a volunteer in my single days at a family camp for those with disabilities. Joni Erickson Tada was speaking and this man named Geoff, who was a head injury survivor kept moaning very loudly, so loudly that it had become a total distraction. You know what she did? She asked that he be brought up on stage. Then they asked him what was wrong. He had been listening to Joni's talk about how God uses broken people to heal a broken world. And he had started crying loudly for this broken world! I cannot express the profound spirit that fell on that place then. Joni prayed with him for our broken world. And his face, his face was all shining! He was looking up through his tears and there was a look on his face I will never forget, and I doubt any who were there will forget it either. I can't even share the story without breaking down, words just can't describe it. So I try to think of that whenever there is a distraction in church by the "uncool." What was accomplished through his tears, through the uniting of everyone in prayer, what strongholds of the enemy were defeated because of a distraction.”

So what’s happening on your blog? What caught your eye online this week?