CHICAGO, IL (December 4, 2015) — 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.

When Some Turn to Church, Others Go to Crossfit
Just what makes a religion, especially when people turn to totally secular activities that seem to provide what people are looking for from faith communities? Crossfit—a combination of a movement and gym franchise—is just the latest example some researchers are studying.

From the article: “CrossFit is family, laughter, love and community.…I can’t imagine my life without the people I’ve met through it.”

15 Ways Designers Think About Money
A hospice charity challenged London-based design studio SocioDesign and other local businesses to see who could raise the most money for the nonprofit. The design studio subsequently asked 50 designers around the world to create posters that visually interpret the word “money.” The posters would then be auctioned online. The results are fascinating.

Several themes that emerged include finding loose change, materialism, and the changing currency in a digital world. This site picked their favorite 16 posters, but all of them can be found on the SocioDesign site.

Running Up the Bills
Speaking of money, it has been said that you have to spend it to make it. In the world of big-time college athletics, a lot of schools are losing millions of dollars in their attempts to win games. Many of these programs have had little or no accountability. As a result, taxpayers and students have been paying the price. Some students are fighting back though.

What Makes for a Good Christmas Song?
How do artists find the inspiration to record Christmas albums, especially when most are recorded during the summer? One way is to not really have the songs be about Christmas all. Thinking about the potential royalties can help too.

From the article: “Now there are 24-hour Christmas music stations, both broadcasters and online. It’s simply good business: According to Michael Harrison of Talkers magazine, holiday songs can lead to a listener increase of up to 50%.”

Angels We Have Heard on High (Christmas w/ 32 fingers and 8 thumbs) – ThePianoGuys
Speaking of Christmas music, there must be hundreds—perhaps even thousands—of versions of some pieces, but the Piano Guys orchestrate their versions differently. They’re a lot of fun to watch.