By Stan Friedman

CHICAGO, IL (November 7, 2014) — Many Covenanters routinely share links to social media articles and videos with one another that Covenant News Service believes may be of interest to others. Each Friday we post five of them. Following is a sample of those submissions—their inclusion does not represent an endorsement by the Covenant of any views expressed.

Should Churches Have Stand-and-Greet Times?
No! No! No! The only thing worse than being told to stand and greet my neighbor is when the speaker in a worship service tells me to “Turn to your neighbor and repeat after me.” Unless I’m getting married to that person, I’m not interested in parroting someone else’s words. From the article: “In some churches, the people in the congregation are told to say something silly to one another. ‘So the pastor told us to tell someone near us that they are good looking. I couldn’t find anyone who fit that description, so I left and didn’t go back.’ ”

Four Challenges for Christians after Brittany Maynard’s Death
Brittany Maynard’s choice to take her own life rather than suffer from the brain tumor that was going to cause her painful death was a clear example of why the right-to-die issue is about more than what is right or wrong. Real people with real hopes, dreams, fears, and suffering mean this conversation deserves thoughtful engagement.

That is exactly what Tim King offers as he draws upon his own battle with a serious illness to consider how Christians can respond, regardless of their views on Maynard’s decision. Tim is currently the chief strategy officer for Sojourners and graduated from North Park University, where he led a ministry to the homeless.

Behind Every Surface Is an . . . iPad
OK, pastors, I am serving up this one for your sermon illustration files: “Who are we behind the surface we project?” “Who you are behind the image you project will eventually be brought into the light.” I’m guessing for CNN that light led to more than a harsh glare from Microsoft executives.

46 Things I Learned Making Mister Rogers and Me
As a child, I thought the PBS show Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood was creepy. But there is no denying that Fred Rogers was a wonderful and decent man who changed the lives of many people and someone from whom we can still learn a lot.

Scientists Explain Their Work through Interpretive Moves
Doctoral students were asked to present the subject of their research through interpretive dance, which was judged by a panel of artists and scientists. The overall winner was a scientist who displayed her work through an acrobatic performance. Uma Nagrenda “created a trapeze-based aerialist dance based on her study of how tornadoes can overturn forest soil, which in turn provides tree seedlings with conditions that allow them to evade parasitic fungi, which would otherwise kill them.”

You can watch video of all twelve finalists here.