Wednesday Link List

You’re not really showing up at the church potluck (or pot-blessed) supper unless you’re showing up with a zippered casserole carrier inscribed with the verse, “Serve one another in love.”

Places to go; people to meet!

• It’s hard to begin a list like this without mentioning the events of last Friday, but if you missed it, Mars Hill Church in Seattle is breaking up and the organization will cease to exist as presently structured. Christianity Today had the story; we had the various social media reactions.
• A California Christian university is offering all-expenses-paid scholarships to human trafficking survivors. You can contribute to the cause.
• Seven reasons ex-church attenders gave for no longer attending worship services.
• At this very blog: Oh, no; here we go again. Another FCC wireless spectrum option would render even more cordless microphones and other sound equipment in churches absolutely useless. Can your church budget take the hit? 
• The law society in Trinity Western University’s home province has rejected their request for accreditation of their law school after previously approving it.
  
• The secret church leadership (and business leadership) weapon that nobody ever talks about.
• When you hear about institutions that started out as an extension of the Church and then slowly lost the plot, you realize why today we have to be careful that these organizations don’t suffer from mission drift.
• Dialing for Doctrine: At the same time some Roman Catholics are ditching the idea of purgatory, some non-Catholics could be persuaded to entertain it.
• The story of imprisoned U.S. pastor Saeed Abedini gets tougher now that his mother has left Iran. (This case is a regular prayer request at our house; you’re welcome to join us.)
• Ever heard someone say, ‘Calvinism is the gospel’? “To say that Calvinism is the Gospel implicitly indicts all those who do not accept this theology (which would include most Christians who have ever lived) as not accepting the true Gospel.” It’s important to keep things in perspective.
• Darryl Dash linked to this article on the weekend; I realized later it’s from 2013, but decided it was worth reading on the subject of Church Plantation (I just made that term up, but it works): Here are five types of churches you might be planting and because this was written by a pastor, they all start with the letter ‘R.’
• Veteran youth ministry guru Mark Oestreicher on getting teens to read the Bible outside of church events.
• Reverse church growth: Small church expert Karl Vaters gets personal and explains why his church is better with 200 people than it was with 400.
• Good works are now illegal in Florida. “One of police officers came over and said ‘Drop that plate right now,’ as if I was carrying a weapon,”
• Celebrating 20 years online, a look back at the original internet incarnation of Christianity Today, the AOL forum Christianity Online.
• Authenticity: In ministry life you’re supposed to “be real.” But you’re also supposed to be perfect. “We’re broken. We’re human. And there’s no shame in admitting that we need God.”
• Podcast of the Week: Video gamers are a people group. A very large people group. 190 million Americans play at least an hour day. Hence the existence of Game Church. Openly reaching out to nerd culture. 23 min video or full transcript available.
• Agree or not? On a book for parents of same-sex-attracted teens: “…[T]he booklet does not seem to make a distinction between temptation and action itself. Based on some of its language, it seems to view the issue of inclination (which may or may not be welcomed by the one dealing with it) as an act of rebellion itself. But the reality may be more complicated than this.”
• For people who suffer with food allergies, churches that offer gluten-free communion elements allow them to experience “the fullness of the sacrament.” But it’s got to be done correctly.
• Finding a version of the first part of this that wasn’t NSFW, as in not safe to be clicked on at work, in most Christian homes and especially the church office wasn’t easy. I think it’s rather significant that at the same moment a page at Huffington Post beckoned me to read about what Miley Cyrus did (I found a less risqué page), the same website offered me a look at what Malala Yousafzai did. The latter’s $50,000 donation was, like The Widow’s Mite, worth far more than the former’s $500,000 one; and Malala’s attire was much more respectable.
• Another week, another movie to tell you about. Unbroken is based on the bestselling book on the life of Louie Zamperini, World War II survivor and scheduled to open on Christmas Day. The writer of this article is concerned that final editing may downplay the role that Christian faith played in Zamperini’s life…
• …and here’s a film curiosity, the movie Little Hope Was Arson, “based on the 2010 story of 10 East Texas churches set on fire in one month, leading to the region’s largest manhunt in history.” It opens later this month.
• Jamie the Very Worst was actually the very best podcast guest. (52 great minutes.)
  
• People aren’t so much hurt by the church as they’re hurt by a church.
• Online tool, clever book promotion, or both? “The Culture Test is a FREE assessment tool for learning your primary culture type – guilt, shame, or fear. You’ve learned your personality type, now learn your culture type in just 5 minutes! Understand global cultures, so you can anticipate the cultural collision.”
• What is Prayer? Is it (a) opening yourself to God in the things that matter most to you, (b) when you’re at the end of you, or (c) your best focused on someone else’s? If those don’t sound like the definitions you learned in Sunday School, that’s because these are Rob Bell’s.
• If he lived today, would Jesus have accountability software on his computer? Before you answer too quickly, consider the dynamics of temptation.
• It took just one complaint to get a piece of Noah’s Ark themed play equipment removed from a New Jersey playground.
• Jesus Junk: Don’t let your Christian paraphernalia do your witnessing for you.
• Not science fiction: An ambulance might take ten minutes to arrive. An ambulance drone gets there in 60 seconds.
• HuffPo does an exhaustive story and interview with “Christian rock star” Vicky Beeching.
• This little conference in Canada’s capital city ought to be a model for similar endeavors elsewhere. Only $29.50 for students; check out Dig and Delve.

We end today where we started last week; another movie parody poster from the Orange curriculum. Click the image for details.