Wednesday Link List

This is what greeted worshipers as they arrived at church on Sunday; Mrs. W. snapped a picture.

[B]link and you’ll miss it!  As per usual, the links are missing in all the stories below. You have two options: (a) spend hours using search engines to try to figure out where the pirate treasure is buried (see above) or (b) visit the Link List’s new owners at Out of Ur

• Usually the video links come near the end. But not when it’s a new song by Gungor.
• So why does Compassion invite online writers to apply for one of their overseas trips if they only choose A-list faith bloggers?
• Apparently a respected Canadian Bible college has some history with the world’s favorite funeral protestor.
• If 150 churches donated $1,000, it would buy a home for Saeed Abedini’s family. Meanwhile, Billy Graham asks Iran’s President for Saeed’s release, as does President Obama.
• Two architectural firms are set to begin the transformation of the former Crystal Cathedral into a Catholic-friendly facility.
• Seven years later, the wife of the Amish schoolhouse shooter breaks her silence.
• A Chinese pastor thinks Rick Warren needs a lesson in cultural sensitivity, while the blogger known as Naked Pastor discusses the same adapted Red Guard propaganda poster.
• A Wisconsin truck driver has so far spent over half a million dollars funding a billboard ministry on major highways.
• A pastor in Louisiana was shot to death during a Friday night church service. Then, after reading that, the story gets worse a few days later.
• When their daughter’s wedding was canceled, the parents of the bride invited 200 homeless people to the four-course meal that would have been the reception.
• Essay(s) of the Week: A tie between two pieces by Hannah Anderson, her piece on Childlessness, and an open letter to her insurance company.
• Married people remember their single days with affection, but for those still single, their experience doesn’t match the stories.
• Why clergy shouldn’t dispense medical advice: Women who drive automobiles risk damaging their ovaries.
• A Church planter proves the axiom that hindsight is always 20/20 .
• History Lesson: Once upon a time, people wrote music reviews of new albums.
• Some pastoral leadership errors can be overcome, but there are three mistakes you really want to avoid.
• Church. It is the best of times, it is the worst of times. But it’s the best because of what Jesus is doing.
• Speculative Church History Department: Would U.S. President Barak Obama bomb the Canaanites?
• Speculative Music History Department: What if The Beatles sang theology?
• The problem with prostitution is that we sugarcoat it instead of seeing it as a form of rape.
• Bible Translation of the Week: The International Standard Version, version 2.0 (that would be the ISV-V2.0)
• Alternative Bible Version of the Week: God is Disappointed in You; by humorist Mark Russell along with a cartoonist from New Yorker magazine.
• Also in the humor section of your local e-bookstore is  Joel Osteen’s Jokes: Collection of Joel Osteen’s Funniest Short, Clean Jokes. Apparently this is the latest in the potentially copyright-infringing series called Joel’s Gems.
• Seems like everywhere you turn, there is a television show with a faith-based theme.
• Finally, there are some great articles online promoting Christian higher education, and then, on the other hand, there’s hype and propaganda.

Now you’re curious, right?  Click over to Out of Ur, a website of Christianity Today.

I love this photo of the work done by the girls at this year’s Fine Arts Edge Camp at Camp IAWAH in Ontario, Canada