CHICAGO, IL (January 13, 2017) — Covenanters routinely share links to social media articles and videos 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.

Trump, Billy Graham’s Family, and Role of Religion in Public Life

From the article: “For decades, Billy Graham was perhaps America’s most famous religious figure, someone who could draw hundreds of thousands to evangelistic ‘crusades,’ someone picked by president after president to pray at inaugurations. If America had a pastor, Graham was it. Yet as he aged—he’s now 98 and ailing—members of this evangelical royal family began to form their own views. Now as Graham’s son, Franklin, prepares to participate in the inauguration of Donald Trump, the views among Billy Graham’s descendants reflect tensions that have flared anew with the election over the proper role of Christianity in public life.”

Planning Takes Fun Out of Weekend Plans

Let all those who prefer to go with the flow say “Amen!”

From the article: “In several follow-up studies, we found that simply scheduling something fun—like a movie or social outing—felt like work even if it was something you regularly did, was something new or special, or when you had nothing else planned for that day.”

Facebook Censoring Posts Thailand Government Deems Unsuitable

Since Thailand’s revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej died last October, that country’s future has been uncertain. But according to this report, Facebook is blocking posts that have been censored by the Thailand government. Government-induced censorship is never a good sign.

From the article: “Thailand’s lèse-majesté law prevents criticism of the country’s royal family, and it looks like it is being used to suppress postings from a number of high-profile users who are writing about the transition to a new king.”

Biological Foundation of Our Common Humanity

The way bacteria behave in our bodies can be a mirror for how we behave with one another.

From the article: “We are colonized by—locked in symbiotic embrace with—countless bacteria. They wash over us in the maternal birth canal, medicate us through the mother’s milk; they are along for the ride of a lifetime. They—and each of us—constitute a biome. In other words, it’s becoming more and more difficult to claim that any one of us is an individual, an ‘island, entire of itself.’ As Yong puts it, ‘Perhaps it is less that I contain multitudes and more that I am multitudes.’”

Apocalypse Later: Millennial Evangelicals, Israel, and the Kingdom of God

Dispensational Christian theology has been a key underpinning of America’s relationship with Israel. What does it mean when millennials don’t hold the same theology?

From the article: “‘Younger evangelicals are experiencing a world that among older evangelicals tends to be more black and white,’ said David Kinnaman, president of the Barna Group….For instance, he said, ‘They’re pro-Israel, but not pro-Israel in the same way as their more conservative parents and grandparents.’ Instead, they may see Israel as a natural ally, but they do not think of the state as a means to the end-times.’”