The Bible tells us that we are to be in the world but not of the world.  That is more than a command regarding geography.  It means that we are to be interested in and involved with the world without falling in love with it or letting it replace God as the source of our values.

            One of the ways I keep up with the world is by reading non-Christian magazines.  There are three I have been subscribing to for quite a while that are terrific magazines, and I recommend them to you.  You may not like them, but they have served me very well in keeping up with the world.  I would love to know what magazines you read that help you keep up with the world, even if they are such obvious ones as Time and Newsweek.  So e-mail me and tell me what you like and why. 

            The three magazines I recommend are:  The New Republic, The New Yorker, and BusinessWeek.

THE NEW REPUBLIC

            The New Republic is thought of as a liberal magazine, and I suppose by most standards it is.  However, it is unpredictably liberal.  The article that killed the Clinton health care program was published in The New Republic.  So most of the time it is a magazine that takes a clear-eyed look at things going on around us, and I find it helpful.  As their editors change from time to time, the quality and aim of the magazine change.  I like some of their editors better than others, but it’s been a helpful magazine to me.

THE NEW YORKER

            This magazine, which started out as a magazine about New York City, has turned out to be an influential national magazine.  The cartoons are wonderful, but the long articles on such varied subjects as “Turkey Hunting in the South” and “Fine Dining in Paris” are articles I find to be very interesting.  They also have very thoughtful articles on politics, the arts, religion, and social issues, and I find it to be very enjoyable.  The length of some of the articles is ponderous.  When they begin to feel too much for me, I just quit and move on to the next article. 

BUSINESSWEEK

            BusinessWeek is the best business magazine I’ve ever read.  I don’t know why.  Other friends of mine prefer Forbes, but I prefer BusinessWeek.  The short articles and the punchy journalistic style keeps me up with what’s going on in the world of finance, and some of the good decisions we’ve made in the last few years have been generated by James Bagwell and me reading BusinessWeek.  So that is another magazine I really enjoy.