The Common Loon

• Philip Yancey remembers Brennan Manning.
• Ava Neyer’s humorous take on the contradictory advice of baby sleep books
• J.R. Rozko recaps highlights (and others’ feedback) from the inaugural Missio Alliance gathering.
• Kate Shellnutt on another layer of complexity faced by women preachers
• The open secret about pastors, via J.R. Briggs
• Lilian Daniel on why “Christian” might be an ok label after all
• Todd Hiestand on the problem of using your inbox as your task list
• Alissa Wilkinson reviews Rachel Marie Stone’s Eat With Joy.
• Jamie Smith’s editorial vision for Comment magazine’s next chapter
• April Yamasaki shares her favorite writer-related websites.

• A field guide for pastoral facial hair
• Philip Yancey suggests a 5-word summary of the Bible.
• Robert Chao Romero reflects on growing up half-Chinese and half-Mexican.
• Gregory Wolfe on the “whispered” faith of today’s literature
• High school math teacher Jake Scott raps about the “Quadradic Formulatic.”
• Alexandra Bradner on why America’s “favorite joke” is anything but funny.
• Gary Brinn lists 9 secrets your pastor can’t share in a sermon.
• David Brooks outlines the economic case for comprehensive immigration reform.
• Jen Pollock Michel on why being skinny is not a Christian virtue
• Edward Gilbreath laments that “our nation’s collective imagination and humanity are no longer big enough to tolerate an America where we can practice loving our neighbors, even as we disagree with their politics.”
• David Gushee reframes (and reminds us) what it means to say one is an “evangelical.”
• NYT interviews Tim Keller on our “strange relationship with the idea of work.”
• CT remembers the late Richard Twiss.
• Alan Jacobs tells extraverts (while insisting on spelling it that way) to “just leave us alone.”

• Eugene Cho on making sense of the senseless
• Rachel Held Evans on why she loves the Bible and why God can’t be kept out
• Andy Crouch on why true compassion requires turning off the news
• Kristen Gaylord on stuff Christian college kids don’t like
• Peter Leithart on how N.T. Wright stole Christmas
• Christy Wampole on how to live without irony
• Jamie Smith shares his vision for Comment magazine as its new editor
• Rebecca Stringer writes her hardest post and then waits to remember
• Scott Sauls writes to his elated and despairing post-election friends
• Craig Barnes on how pastoral ministry stretches the soul

• Graham Scharf on why telling well-crafted stories honors and respects our kids
• David Gushee raises 15 refreshingly substantive questions for the presidential candidates
• Daniel Siedell on “the hilarious violence of grace”
• Monica Selby on what Christians can learn from the Chicago teacher strikes
• Michael Gerson on the failure of partisan approaches to economic opportunity

• The Sierra Club’s Hawaii Chapter explains their support for Honolulu’s Rail Transit project with the FAQ to end all FAQs.
• Josh Weed bravely defies some of the most loaded stereotypes I can think of.
• Speaking of labels, Richard Mouw reflects on ‘evangelical.’
• When Nadia Bolz-Weber tells her story, you might want to listen.
• Tim Stafford (father of an Olympian) muses on what’s good about the the Games.
• TGC and RHE appear to make peace (for now).

• Sandra McCracken on crafting music with children in mind
• Stephen Monsma on two half-answers to poverty
• Laurie Chandlar on pursuing the creative office
• Neil Jasperse on American exceptionalism—in God’s eyes
• Jamison Galt on how the history of the world is enacted in the process of bread-making
• Amy Black on a recent study documenting the rise in party polarization
• Mimi Haddad on the parallels between rock climbing and reading Scripture

• Rachel Held Evans on why we should all be laughing hysterically in the magazine aisle
• Brett McCracken on why partisanship is the new normal
• Comment interviews Lauren Winner about her work as a writer, teacher and preacher
• Karen Swallow Prior on why Facebook removed photos of a dying infant
• Andy Crouch on the secret to city-wide culture making
• Kimberly Winston on whether atheists can ‘borrow’ from religion
• Image Journal’s Good Letters blog moves over to Patheos

Just one this month from Brett McCracken: In Praise of Being Out of the Loop

Thanks, I needed to hear that.

• Richard Mouw on Obama, Catholics and religious freedom
• Rachel Stone on the rise of “biblical masculinity”
• Tim Keller on NYC schools’ decision to ban churches
• Kyle Bennett on why its time for a little more ration for fashion
• Sara Zarr on Prozac vs. Jesus
• Eugene Cho on his (brief) conversation with the president about prayer
• Brett McCracken attends a poetry reading by Dana Gioia

• Jenell Williams Paris on why it’s good that evangelicals have not, and likely will not, develop an “evangelical mind”
• Andy Crouch on what he wishes pastors knew about the life of a scientist
• Rachel Held Evans on how those who warned her of slippery slopes were right (and wrong)
• David Gushee on whether anything new can be said about abortion
• Julie Clawson on beauty, gender and LEGOs
• Nicholas Kristof on the value of (good and bad) teachers
• Amy Black on evaluating religious appeals during the campaign season
• David Greusel renders a photographic tribute to the lowly cubicle
• Anna Broadway profiles Faith Huckel, a social worker who launched an innovative program for NYC’s trafficking victims
• Skye Jethani on whether Superman is a Republican or a Democrat