CHICAGO, IL (February 19, 2016) — 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.

You’re Listening to Delilah

She calls herself the “Queen of Sappy Love Songs” and others have called her “radio’s Oprah.” That’s because people call her—and listen. She is the most-listened to woman on radio, reaching roughly 8 million listeners per week on 150 stations, and that’s not counting the number who listen online.

From the article: “On the air and in person, the mother of 13 is unselfishly curious and unashamed of her contradictions. She’s a love guru who has been married four times, a wholesome entertainer who swears freely, a DJ whose taste makes music snobs’ eyes roll. Upon meeting her, she’s so buoyant it initially arouses suspicion. How could someone have the emotional stamina to console and consult dozens of people every night? And why have so many of us accepted her as part of our lives, sharing 30 years of secrets and memories as if she were a therapist or a nosy friend?”

Monty Williams: Forgives Woman Who Killed His Wife

Monty Williams, former NBA star and current assistant coach of the Oklahoma Thunder, tells people it is important to pray for the family of the woman who killed his 44-year-old wife in a head-on collision last week. He also talked about the importance of his and his wife’s faith.

From the video: “Everybody’s praying for my family, which is right,” Williams said. “But let us not forget there were two people in this situation and that family needs prayer as well. We have no ill will towards that family. In my house we have a sign that says ‘For me and my house, we will serve the Lord.’ We cannot serve the Lord if we don’t have a heart of forgiveness. That family didn’t wake up wanting to hurt my wife. Life is hard—very hard. That was tough. But, we hold no ill will towards the Donaldson family and we, as a group, brothers united in unity, should be praying for that family, because they are grieving as well.”

These Religious Leaders Didn’t Say That

There are oft-repeated quotes from religious leaders, but the problem is the people never said them. We wish they would have, because the words are profound, and we’ve quoted them and now we feel bad.

From the article (about the Prayer of St. Francis): “I was crushed to find out this famous prayer is not actually from St. Francis. This is one of the only prayers I have memorized — thank you, Sarah McLachlan and Buffy — and it was read at my wedding. I love this prayer.”

One popular quote left off the list is also attributed to St. Francis – “Preach the Gospel at all times. Use words if necessary.” Biographers have noted that Francis was quite the preacher and not a subtle one either. So stop quoting it for the seventy-fifth time.

Death, the Prosperity Gospel, and Me

The author delivers an irenic critique that also asks how some tenets can become part of our life without our even knowing it. It also raises important questions about how we view death.

From the article: “The prosperity gospel has taken a religion based on the contemplation of a dying man and stripped it of its call to surrender all. Perhaps worse, it has replaced Christian faith with the most painful forms of certainty. The movement has perfected a rarefied form of America’s addiction to self-rule, which denies much of our humanity: our fragile bodies, our finitude, our need to stare down our deaths (at least once in a while) and be filled with dread and wonder. At some point, we must say to ourselves, I’m going to need to let go.”

Middle School Students Develop Concussion-Detection Sensor

Five seventh-grade students were awarded the top prize in the Verizon Innovative App Challenge for their work in developing an accessory with built-in sensors for football helmets that measures the impact of a hit and transmits the data in real-time to a connected smartphone or computer.

The students created a prototype they call the Force Transmission Data Collector (FTDC). They were motivated to create the device due to the high number of concussions and hits that may not cause concussion but still can cause damage.

From the article: “It actually takes high- and middle-school athletes a lot longer to recover from the concussions than it does for professional athletes. So especially for them, they receive major damage and if they receive it again it’s going to be much more catastrophic than it would be for an NFL player.”

Making the prototype a reality will be a long process, one of the students says. Perhaps the NFL should invest in their project.