Wednesday Link List: Persecution, Inklings, and Painless Communion

Each week, I get to write teasers for some great online resources, as well as some quirky ones.

After 40 years as a writer, Philip Yancey looks at The Golden Age of Publishing.
Analysis: Some hints as to a recent survey showing that the love Evangelicals have for Jewish people is not reciprocated.
Someone you know may need this book: An interview with author J. J. Jasper on grieving the loss of a child.
Christians in Mosul ordered to leave this city found their homes identified with a painted letter 'N' for 'Nazarene.'
The drive home and the Sunday dinner: A look at how to debrief the weekend sermon with your children.
I have an inkling about this one: A movie probing the friendship between J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis.
The McCormick Ridge Holiness Church in Whitleyville, Tennessee begins life after buying back its building from the Wesleyan Church denomination after a dispute that began over what the pastor considered unethical investments in the pension fund for ministers.
If your church grows (like you want it to) some key people may lose their favorite seat. (And parking spot.)
Canadian North Point affiliate pastor has a great back-catalog of leadership articles on his blog. Recently posted, 21 signs that a "closed" sign may be heading for your church, unless things change…
…and another article which shows that, while you may not read tea leaves to spot societal shifts, you can read into 5 things Netflix can teach us.
A Pentecostal who frequently writes as to why the (capital C) Church should permit women in ministry offers seven reasons why the same (capital C) Church often does not.
Christian Leadership Parental Complications: When your child is dating a non-Christian. (The author says to skip the "unequal yoke" bit.) …
…Related: "What if a daughter’s father took some responsibility not just in vetting a young man, but in investing in him and preparing him to make much of Jesus in dating and marriage?" How to date your daughter's boyfriend.
Some people think the Bible is just an ancient book that belongs in a museum. Now, that museum is becoming a reality.
Perseverance (and preservation) of the saints: R. C. Sproul seems to allow the possibility of "falling past the point of no return." Or appearing to have "irretrievably fallen." A Reformer looks at apostasy…
(…Which of course reminded me of the Steve Taylor song, Not Gonna Fall Away, which seems to exist on YouTube only in this 8-minute remix.)
A North Carolina Baptist pastor takes scripture memorization to extremes.
Do I really have what it takes to lead this missions trip? That and four other questions leaders ask while packing their suitcase.
Flashing back to '90s Christian culture: If I had a Kindle, I'd probably download this book, the title of which is…uh…
Pastors have problems with what people think about them. That and nine other things they don't admit publicly.
Teaching teens that, over the long term, monogamy makes sense.
A seemingly impossible story of pregnancy, pregnancy termination, and a live, healthy birth.
After the upcoming Exodus: Gods and Kings movie releases, director Ridley Scott plans to tackle the life of King David.
A social media 'Dear John' letter, only this one begins, "Dear Facebook…"
Ten ways the seniors in your church can be integrated into youth ministry.
Essay of Last Week: With 40 links last Wednesday, some things were edited. This one is Anne Marie Miller's take on why discussions on modesty are often misdirected.
Essay of This Week: Perhaps the way some Evangelicals do communion is "too painless."
12 signs of abusive leadership in churches that pastors should not tolerate.
This acoustic version of Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) was posted by K-LOVE back in October, but given the popularity of the song today, I mention it here. The top ten video versions at YouTube have a combined viewership around 31,500,000…
…while a group that often covers other artists songs, Worship Mob, is our Video of the Week with a 7-minute original song.
Symbols Quiz Time: You have a fish on your car, and you know the dove represents the Holy Spirit, but what about the pelican?
Moving forward, your church's website will need to be mobile-compatible.
Christian singer Natalie Grant makes her film debut in the movie Persecuted, an American political suspense thriller involving an evangelist framed for murder.
Remember when the front of the church consisted of the choir loft, communion table, wooden pulpit and overstuffed high-back chairs? That's no longer the case.
Here are three very disparate false assumptions that worship leaders can make…
…also from Canada, this report on swimming upstream: A music society fights for the preservation of hymns by condemning modern worship leaders…
…and concluding our music links trio, this writer calls the various distractions one encounters during worship time, Worshiping in the Wild. (Please do not feed the animals.)
Finally, proving that the American-biased, success-based teaching of Joel Osteen has absolutely no application outside of, for example, the G20 nations, there is the website Third World Osteen.
Well…I don't know about you, but I could keep doing this all day, but…