Wednesday Link List

Stay here to read classic Wednesday links, or visit PARSE to view nine selected stories with more preview info.

The above image from the Ship of Fools archives seemed appropriate given that women can now officially be bishops in the Church of England.

• Desiring God interviews missionary and Ebola survivor Nancy Writebol, who says that it’s all worth the risks aid workers are taking: “[T]o just turn away and put our backs to the world is wrong.”
• These reviews of Kirk Cameron’s film Saving Christmas weren’t exactly glowing, and these were from people within the camp, so to speak.
• The first-ever Islamic Jumaa prayer gathering at Washington’s National Cathedral was interrupted by a woman who stood up saying, “Jesus Christ died on that cross over there; He is the reason why we are to worship only Him. Jesus Christ is our lord and savior!”  Needless to say, she was escorted out…
• …Franklin Graham says the service should have never taken place in that setting…
• …While meanwhile in Canada, a similar situation is avoided by cancelling the event, but one writer suggests that may have been the wrong move.
• From a few weeks ago, but too important to miss, is the National Association of Evangelicals’ statement on end of life issues.
• With the Mark Driscoll story somewhat played out, on the book publishing side of things, the attention now shifts to David Jeremiah.
• Worldviews in Collision – Opening the very same weekend as the movie 50 Shades of Grey, Valentine’s Day 2015, the movie Old Fashioned is a kind of anti-50 Shades.  The battle takes place at a multiplex near you.
• The fiancée of Ebola victim Eric Duncan is still struggling. “I am hurt, I am displaced, I have this Ebola stigma on me and no one will take me in,” she said. However, the Christian Examiner reports that “Wilshire [Baptist] church members were among the few who didn’t shun [Louise] Troh and her family. The congregation literally and figuratively embraced her in welcome when she attended a service after her quarantine.’ 
• Should Serena be granted church membership? There are some fairly solid arguments on both sides of this case study which will put your mind into overdrive. Read the four ‘expert’ opinions, and then decided which way you would vote.
  
• “In its unredeemed state, lust disrupts our ordered sexuality, resulting in the objectification and oppression of our bodies, and the misuse of sex for the sake of our own greed and pleasure.”  A woman considers the consequences of lust.
• A new EFCA report shows that overall, we gave 6.9% more in 2013, and then breaks down that giving by ministry category.
• Thom Rainer gives five reasons why Millennials don’t want to pastor established churches, and one major problem this creates. 
• According the website Right Wing Watch, Donnie Swaggart, son of Jimmy Swaggart “asserted that, like ISIS, gay rights activists in America would publicly behead Christians if they could get away with it.” 
• So many issues in this story, one of which is: Can you be excommunicated from a church you’ve already stopped attending?
  
• TBN Africa has rebranded under the name Faith Broadcasting Network.
• He had reached the limit and was ready to end it all. God had other plans. 
• One of my favorite teachers from the Willow Creek Midweek Experience, Wheaton College’s Dr. Gary Burge was a guest on this week’s Phil Vischer Podcast.
  
• Essay of the Week: On men and church, “[T]he malaise of masculinity is a symptom of a deeper and more profound contemporary social and existential malaise, a malaise that affects everyone.”
• It only took one atheist parent to object to a high school concert being staged at a Presbyterian Church — even though the concert contained no religious content — to get the entire event canceled, much to the annoyance of students, parents and staff.
• In addition to the possibility of building showers for the homeless at The Vatican, this article also mentions a change of underwear and possibly haircuts…
• …However, less popular with some readers here is the Pope’s statement that, “the scientific account of the beginning of the universe and the development of life through evolution are compatible with the Catholic Church’s vision of creation.”
• While this story doesn’t mention Christian groups, a new law in Australia bars “hate preachers” from entering the country. 
• There’s now a new record for the world’s longest sermon…any guesses as to how long? You’re probably low.
  
• Worship Song of the Week: Unstoppable God from Elevation Worship.
• Video Resource of the Week: Three hours with author Randy Alcorn. Free! 
• And here’s a bonus song, just in time for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, My Heart is Full of Thankfulness by The Getty’s, or if you prefer a more rollicking version by Stuart Townend.
  
• Video Curiosity of the Week: Cindy Cruse and Take Six give Toto’s Rosanna new lyrics as Hosanna, a worship song, circa 2005. 
• The Covenant Awards are Canada’s equivalent of The Dove Awards. Here are the 2014 winners.
  
• Finally, a humorous, exhaustive look at various interpretations of the Alex Lee phenomenon, aka #AlexFromTarget.

 

With all the many challenges that gay couples face, I honestly didn’t think of this one: