Some of you may have already read this, but Relevant Magazine shared a study that states, atheists have higher IQs than Christians.

I won’t repeat the whole article, but it is definitely worth a read. It was written by David Denison and his main explanation for why Christians have a lower IQ is this: Christians look down upon people who ask too many questions. 

I agree with his explanation, and get frustrated that Christians rarely entertain the hard questions about life. If someone asks a challenging question, we often shrug them off and say “it’s too complicated.”

But here’s the thing, Jesus is the Truth. If we believe in Jesus, we should never fear the truth. Instead, we should get excited to explore the unknown and learn the answers to life’s hardest questions.

Here is one of my favorite quotes from Denison’s article:

“I believe the faith of children carries with it two significant qualities. The first is that kids are remarkably uncynical. The skepticism that plagues our generation is a learned trait, one that desperately needs unlearning. 

“Secondly, they are annoyingly inquisitive. An inquisitive mind asks why the sky is blue. It asks why the grass is green. It asks why Arrested Development got cancelled but George Lopez still has a successful career. There are some things we will never know, and that should drive us crazy.”

Asking the difficult questions can work out your brain and give you a headache – but it is good for you. If you never exercise your heart, guess what will happen when you go for a run? You’ll feel the pain. But the more you run, the more you begin to enjoy it.

The more we exercise our brains, the less it will begin to hurt and the more we will embrace deep thinking. In fact, you might even boost your IQ with some solid brain exercise. So don’t fear the truth – run after it with zeal. And read Denison’s article on Relevant.

Your turn: What is a question you’ve always wanted to know the answer to?

As pretty much everyone knows, Miley Cyrus performed at the VMA’s on Sunday. The performance was, well, rather interesting. I won’t post it here, because you’ve probably already seen it and frankly it’s just gross.

I know you’ve probably read a million things about her performance, but after a few days of thought I want to discuss something I haven’t really seen mentioned yet:

Her performance was strategic

Make no mistake, this was a strategic move on the part of Cyrus and her PR people. This was not the result of a single night of booze or drugs (although they might have given her an extra bit of motivation), this was modern day marketing at it’s finest.

Ryan Holliday discusses this openly in his book, Trust Me, I’m Lying. This man was responsible for promoting the book and the film, I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell. His primary goal in promotion? Offend people.

Or, if he couldn’t offend people, then he would create the controversy himself. He did this by writing graffiti on the most prominent billboard in L.A. about how the star of the book/film, Tucker Max, was a horrible person. He also phoned a woman’s rights group and explained how sexist the main character was. This motivated them to stage a public protest.

Why did he do those things? Because “the most powerful predictor of virality is how much anger [it] evokes.”

Controversy spreads like wildfire on the internet. If something offends you or grosses you out, then you are more likely to share it then something that brings you hope or laughter. Holliday used these tactics to promote some of the biggest brands in the world, and now the artist formerly known as Hannah Montana is doing the same.

Oh how things change

Her strategy worked

Miley Cyrus knows this, and her act was not a failure. It did exactly what it was supposed to. Her name has been brought up more than any other famous person in the world this week. Her new single, “Wrecking Ball,” is number 2 on the iTunes charts.

Does it demonstrate a desperate need for attention and relevance? Of course. Is she clearly misguided? Yes. Is their a moral justification for her actions? Nope. But from an economic perspective, it worked brilliantly. Not just for Miley, but also for the media.

The more traffic Buzzfeed receives, the more money they make. They know offensive material spreads the most, that is what they create new offensive content so often. In fact, Seven out of the top ten “hot on buzzfeed” stories are about Miley.  Newspapers have followed a similar formula for years, sharing stories of sex and violence because those topics sell more copies.

How you should react

Posting photos, sharing buzzfeeds about her performance, and talking about how ridiculous the video is on youtube is exactly what she wants.

And frankly, it is sad that she is so desperate for attention that she’ll pull a stunt like this. But I find it very frustrating that our culture actually encourages her behavior by making it go so incredibly viral.

I can think of three really good ways to react:

1) Pray for Miley. While it may seem fun to make memes that degrade her, she is actually a human being who needs prayer. She is obviously confused about what will bring her a full life, and she’s also mislead about how to prove to people you’re a grown up.

2) Ignore her actions: The other thing you need to do for Miley, and anyone else in the future who pulls an offensive stunt in public, is ignore her performance. Don’t share it, don’t give it a thumbs up, and don’t even bash her.

3) Share something positive instead: Don’t just ignore the negative things, promote the positives! While laughter and hope do not go as viral as anger, they can spread well. And if enough of us start sharing positive things, then maybe news agencies and media blogs will stop talking so much about celebrity decision making failures.

I know that by posting a blog post about Miley Cyrus I’m doing the very thing I’m arguing against. I also know that I’m just one guy and this post probably won’t make a whole lot of difference. But, I believe even a small step in the right direction is worth taking. So from now on I’m going to do my best to promote things that inspire people and bring hope and ignore the things that bring us down.

I hope you’ll join me.

*This post was written by #LiveFully contributor Evan Forester, you can read more of his writing on Adventure’s Out There. 

I’m not a huge reader, but I wish I was. My current goal is to finish reading at least one book per month. To some that may seem like nothing, while others may view it as an insane amount.

Needless to say, I find books very inspiring. It’s extremely hard work writing one, and even harder writing a good one. A great book can teach you and show you how to live a better life. And I’m not just talking about self-help books here, often times fiction can show us greater and more powerful truths than non-fiction.

Since I cannot remember everything I have ever read, I have found great value in re-reading certain books. But with so many books I have on my “to-read” list, I must be very selective in the books I will read again. Here are seven of them (links are affiliate links):

1) The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien: If you have spent five minutes with me, you probably knew this was coming. One of my earliest memories is reading The Hobbit with my dad. I’ve read the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy four times. It’s simply my favorite story ever.

2) Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders: I have read this book twice, and am about due for a third reading. Sanders writes with a profound and piercing voice that challenges leaders. If you want to find glory and fame as a leader, this is not the book for you. If you need to be reminded of the cost of leadership, then this is where you should start. It’s an incredibly challenging book, and one that will drive you closer to God.

3) The Reason for God by Tim Keller: I just finished reading this for the first time, and it might be my favorite Christian book. I’m a massive CS Lewis fan, and if anyone alive today can match his wit and writing style, it is Keller. In this book, he handles the most common arguments people give about why God does not exist, and then he spends the second half of the book giving reasons it is completely rational to believe in Him. At times it can seem heavy, but these are the questions that matter most in our generation.

4) Insourcing by Randy Pope: If I could identify one thing the church needs to do better today, it would be authentic discipleship. This was the model Jesus used, and through discipleship the world was transformed. Today we often trade the long and slow process of life-on-life investment for big flashy events that draw a crowd. While I enjoy those events, I know that hearts are far more likely to change and grow through discipleship. Insourcing is an excellent guide to building an effective discipleship program from a very clear communicator who has been making disciples for forty years.

5) Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis: A great series from one of Tolkien’s best friends. I’ve loved these books for years, even when I was a kid terrified of the white witch (no joke – I couldn’t focus in class one day because she was staring at me from the front cover of a book). All of them have incredible analogies for our relationship with God, and frankly I can’t wait to read these books to my (future) children.

6) Harry Potter by JK Rowling: For a long time I tried to be cooler than Harry Potter. I was too old for those kids books, after all, and there was no way they could be as good as Lord of the Rings. But then, while I was on a long road trip, I decided to give it a go (mostly so I could explain why it wasn’t any good). Turns out, they’re incredible. It is one of the few book series that finishes far stronger than it started. This series is full of spiritual themes and, although it can be quite dark, love prevails.

7) Story by Robert McKee: I love movies, so much so that I am seriously considering attempting to make them. Story explains what actually makes a good story (specifically, what makes a good film). But the applications are not just for the film industry, there are important things to learn from this book if you actually want to live a good life.

Your turn: What’s missing? What is your favorite book?

PS: If we’re getting technical, this is actually a list of 22 books I plan on reading again (and again). But who’s counting?