St. Patrick
Here we are once again at Wednesday, and to those of you of Irish descent, “May the road rise to meet you…” (They already know the rest…)
- Donald Miller’s sermon at Willow Creek on the March 6/7 weekend was perhaps his “usual” about the power of story, but it seemed especially more focused at Willow, which made it this week’s lead link. How are you doing with the story God’s given you to write? To view you need to select the video from the menu when you link to the sermons on their media player. (Good one to copy the audio to disc and loan or give to your friends.)
- This week my internet wanderings led me to further consider the rarely-heard phrase, “Assurance of Salvation;” and I was especially satisfied with an explanation posted at Catholic.com as well as an illustration that appears in the second paragraph of an article at Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry or CARM. Do you ever doubt your salvation?
- Christian book reviews: Helpful or hurtful? Mark Tronson explores the topic; “They do not simply judge good writing, they are good writing, and they reflect on their subject as they do…” with the caution that, “The reader wants to be reassured that the reviewer has a proper grasp of the subject at question, because misunderstanding theology can be a pitfall…” in this article at Christianity Today Australia
- This YouTube clip is dated April, 2009, but STL Distributors in the U.S. has the book by British humorist Adrian Plass, Looking Good, Being Bad: The Subtle Art of Churchmanship (Authentic UK) listed as June, 2010 release. As a huge Plass fan, I don’t know how I missed this previously, but Plass’ wit is very dry, very British, and you might have to watch this twice.
- Did Herod want John the Baptist Put To Death? Matthew 14 seems to say ‘yes,’ while Mark 6 seems to say ‘no.’ Join the conversation — if you’re up for it — at The BEAttitude. (Caveat: This one is not exactly a Christian blog. Not even close.)
- Usually our posts from David Hayward at Naked Pastor are cartoons, but this time around, he compares trying to get people to come to church to trying to catch squirrels in his house: “…If there is any sense of a trap, they won’t even come close. They can smell control and manipulation from a mile away. Even if the control is minor and sincere, they won’t take it. Not even a nibble.” So true. Before clicking around the rest of his site, finish this one here.
- In what appears to be the very first post of a new blog, James Rutz, author of Megashift announces the ushering in of The New Christianity. Besides being a trend-watcher, Rutz might teach you a new word, “Diptisms.”
- Canadian blogger Tim Challies flashes back to 2006 when AOL made individual online search histories public. If nothing else, be sure to read the second list of searches with Tim’s concluding analysis in this article at Christianity Today.
- Speaking of flashbacks, here’s a 2009 post from Kevin Jackson at the Society of Evangelical Arminians blog which gets in the SCL spirit with Stuff Young Calvinists Like (complete with Arminian equivalents!)
- Here’s a very short piece by blogger Jayarathina Madharasan that you can copy and paste and forward to your friends: Cell Phone vs Bible.
- Canada’s outspoken Christian talk show host, Drew Marshall launches his own YouTube picks on Drew Tube. (Check out the rather amazing collection of interviews from the radio show itself here.)
- Could political correctness ever lead us from St. Patrick’s Day to “Irish Day?” Here’s an internal link from two years ago on this blog.
- Here’s the real deal on St. Patrick from Wikipedia. “…Legend also credits Patrick with teaching the Irish about the concept of the Trinity by showing people the shamrock, a 3-leaved clover, using it to highlight the Christian belief of ‘three divine persons in the one God'”
- Our cartoons this week are straight off the comic pages of your local newspaper; from For Heaven’s Sake and Wizard of Id.
Thinking Out Loud 