Wednesday Link List

Very few people know this, but the Wednesday Link List is named after Art Linkletter.  The links below will all take you to Out of Ur, where the list officially resides.

• Okay, this week’s list is long (again), but I promise you, I’ll never do one with 70 links, like this guy did a few days ago.
• Though the term is not seen as positively as it once was, most of the board members of the National Association of Evangelicals affirm being called Evangelical.
• Church-in-a-Pub: Its formal name is Kyrie, and the sign outside invites people to “Beer and Hymns.” The Texas “church” offers beer, pizza and communion and is sponsored by Calvary Lutheran (ELCA).
• People in ministry often call in church consultants, but now the advisers are the basis of a reality TV show. (Church Rescue airs on the National Geographic channel.)
• Have your checkbooks and credit cards handy; it’s the Mark Driscoll Scholarship for Women in Ministry…
• …and from the same writer, five reasons he’s not sure about his children watching Christian movies.
• If multiculturalism is the norm for urban ministry where you live, here’s a counter-suggestion that we still need some monocultural churches.
• In the past, New Jersey courts ruled that shopping malls were “quasi-public” venues; and so asserted a retired police officer who was charged with trespassing for distributing tracts.
• Trevin Wax is asked about switching from writing about theology to writing fiction, but clearly, he doesn’t get the question.
• Another Christian organization has shut down its operations due to marital infidelity, but it’s really only half of its operations.
• Essay of the Week: A piece at CNN about pastors who aren’t speaking out about issues in the U.S. health care scheme.
• Essay of the Summer: The votes are all in — actually it’s just me that votes — and the winner, from late July is Steve McCoy’s article on the 20th anniversary of his and Molly’s marriage.
• The guy known by his initials, N.T. Wright takes issue with the other guy known by his initials, C. S. Lewis, about Christians and political engagement.
• The debate over expository versus topical preaching will always be with us, but here’s six arguments in favor of expository sermons.
• Two-For-One-Special: As a pastor or church-planter, some indicators if you are driven or if you are called…
• …which turned out to be a popular theme this week; we also found this article which wrapped up a 3-part series on calling for vocational pastors and laity. (Check out all three parts and reader comments.)
• Image of the Week: Who could forget the picture of Pope Francis kissing a disfigured man?
• The founder of Canada’s daily Christian television show is incredibly transparent about end of life decisions.
• Here’s another of the Top Christian Blogs list, and Out of Ur is number 77, which ought to rate having some sports team jerseys made.
• ‘Blessed are the poor because they are going to be rich some day.’ Actually, that’s not how it works, though it is how some embrace a Theology of Weakness.
• While Phil Vischer is trying to teach kids ‘What’s In The Bible,’ Rob Bell takes a step further back and asks, ‘What Is The Bible?’ Parts of this series continue to be posted.
• Preachers: Does sermonizing leave you discouraged? Sometimes it seems the congregation can’t remember what you said.
• A 117-year old publishing company from the earliest days of the Christian & Missionary Alliance denomination is acquired by Moody Press.
• One writer really doesn’t like Joel Osteen’s board game, calling him a Laodicean con man. (Does he know it came out years ago?)
• Dan Bremnes won Video of the Year at last week’s Covenant Awards (Canada’s equivalent of the Dove Awards) for this song. (Here’s the full list of winners, some aren’t household names in Canada, either.)
• Someone commented last week about Kid Min links; this week we found a blog that offers Children’s ministry ideas in a liturgical church context…
• …And here’s the kids ministry page they recommended.
• Wanna binge out on more links? For the more scholarly among you, here are the Top 50 from the Biblioblogs aggregator.
• Canada now has a Christian News Service.  Film at 11:00
• As of November 1st, parents of children born with indeterminate sex (as many as one in 1,500) can complete the gender question on the birth registration with ‘male,’ ‘female,’ or ‘X’.
• If you love the artwork of Thomas Kinkade, you might want to skip this link, unless you’re a big fan of Star Wars. The sample above is about the mildest. (Click the pictures to enlarge.)
• As if church architects don’t have enough challenges, now they have to worry about how the church appears on Google Earth.
• Finally, in our Believe It Or Not Department: The life of Jesus as told through the songs of Britney Spears. Yes. Really.

The Wednesday Link Letter (see introduction) was written by Paul Wilkinson and recorded before a live audience (Paul’s wife). Read more of his work at his Anglican baptism website, Sprinkling Out Loud, or at Devotional Plagiarism 201, where only the best get borrowed.