Five things friday

The calendar says it is Friday. Yay! Here are five things of interest this week:

1. Somehow I happened onto this article from 2017 on 'The Prosperity Gospel, Explained - the long, strange history of a quintessentially American Theology.' What especially caught my eye was how connected the idea of the "American work ethic" and Capitalism are tied to prosperity beliefs. I'm not a fan of these ideas (because of my theology).
   
2. Speaking of money ... Apparently the lowest average salary people will accept for a new job has reached a record $81.8K. (h/t 1440) Holy cow! I don't know that I've ever made half that.
   
3. When my sister was here a couple weeks ago she noticed the old electric football game under the bed. It was mine from childhood (as was the spare bed she was sleeping in), likely from the mi-late 1960s. Today I stumbled onto this article: 'The Buzzing Nostalgia and Furious Competition of Electric Football Tournaments.' Apparently there is a Tudor Games Electric Football World Facebook group, as well as a Midwest Electric Football League FB group in Chicago (among others). Maybe I could find someone to buy my old game and clear out that space under the bed!
4. I think I forgot to mention that I re-read Trevor Hudson's fine little book 'Beyond Loneliness' over the last week or two. I thought it might contain some gems for my upcoming sermon on friendship. I'm not sure it did, but it was good to go through again and it reinforced what I was already planning to write/talk about, so time well spent.
5. I like this quote from Colin Powell (that I snagged from The Friday Update): “Leadership is the art of accomplishing more than the science of management says is possible."

Yeah... doing more than what seems possible (and probably with a lot less money) kinda seems right up God's alley. Have a great weekend!