You may have spotted that the Refill’s been on vacation these past two Sundays. You got the postcard, right?! Oh, must have been the foreign postage, I guess.

Anyway, moving on, here’s seven up…

1) Yale Professor Challenges Darwinism – Always interesting to hear a dissenting voice in academia. David Gelernter’s article ‘Given up Darwin’ went viral a few months back. Here he explains why he no longer finds Darwin’s Theory of Evolution convincing.

2) On Being Ill – Philippa’s writing is a sure place to go to for words that are honest, searching and tender, all the while pointing to our heavenly Father. This is no exception. Maybe these are words for you to pass on to someone else today?

3) What a Famous Poet Can Teach Rural Pastors – Having got a sneak preview, I’m really looking forward to the autumn release of Stephen Witmer’s book, A Big Gospel for Small Places. Much of our evangelicalism seems drawn to the buzz, movement and density of cities, and it’s into this landscape that Witmer is asking us to think again. In this easy-read he offers us some encouragements from the life of seventeenth-century rural Anglican vicar George Herbert.

4) Christian Cultural Cognitive Dissonance – You may have spotted a bit of online heat over the news that one of Hillsong’s leading song-writers has publicly renounced his faith. Picking up on this, the linked article is a slightly off-puttingly titled piece that is essentially a reflection on the need for a robust understanding of the Christian life and faith. The writer is Rod Dreher, author of a book called The Benedict Option, which argues that Christians in the contemporary West need to respond to where our culture is going by establishing strong Christian communities and institutions.

5) Back to School – Ed and Jam from the Faith in Kids Podcast reflect on what it might look like to encourage our kids as they go ‘back to school’ as Christians.

6) Punch and Judy shows are adored by children because they are born with a sense of right and wrong, scientists find – It’s English summer time, so you’ve got to love a good ‘Punch & Judy’ story…

7) A Countdown of Words with Numbers 10-1 – For something a bit different, this is fun and fascinating in equal measure.

Sharing is caring. Know someone who might find these links interesting? Why not forward it on?

And for a holiday bonus, don’t you wish you could dance like this?