Wednesday Link List

Our upper image today comes from the cover of Christianity, the leading Evangelical magazine in the U.K.

• John Stackhouse thinks that theological differences among Evangelicals are rooted in the absence of recited creeds and similar liturgical worship elements; and it’s going to get worse.
• When the minister said, “Who gives this woman away?” he’s was probably expecting a somewhat shorter answer.
• Ever wonder what happens to all those gifts that are given to world leaders? Well, Pope Francis is raffling all of his off to raise money for the poor.  He’s also taken on the cause of Autism awareness.
• I apologize. This link won’t mean much to many of you, but it does to me. A couple we know announced a few weeks ago that he was leaving his work as a dentist to instead use his skills as a medical missionary in Africa. This is what it looked like a few weeks later when the family arrived in Rwanda.
• We say that music attracts people to our gatherings, but sometimes it drives people away: “This is not good… These people are singing words that literally make no sense; which would be fine if they were singing along to some dumb song on the radio, but they’re not … they’re offering this nonsense directly to God.”
• As the situation develops further, the question now is: Will we see another Dr.Ken Brantly or Nancy Writebol story? “Christian ministries are no longer letting American physicians get so close to Ebola patients.”
• One place where it won’t be a segregated hour: In order to save a church property “a predominately African-American Church in Jacksonville will take over a mainly white church in Orange Park. Pastors of both churches say it’s the first time they’ve heard of such a merger.”
• 

  Still stuck for Christmas ideas? This unisex multicultural, multifaith sweater has something for everyone. Click the image to order from the UK.

  While there are some improvements taking place, Christians are few in number among the academics in university social sciences departments. A researcher says Evangelicals “select themselves out.”
• Randy Alcorn is concerned that the current approaches aren’t working in the issue of the sovereignty of God and human free will.
• The gay wedding photography issue claims another victim, but rather than fight, this couple is simply shutting down their business…
• …but that story pales in comparison to this one.
• Essay of the Week (1): When life fell apart, no spiritual trophies mattered.
• Essay of the Week (2): Some churches don’t want people thinking for themselves.
• The most highlighted Bible verse on Kindle. Any guesses?
• We’ll see if this is still the case by the time you read this on Wednesday: With all the contract suspensions hitting comedian Bill Cosby, West Tennessee Christian University is still keeping him as a speaker for a benefit dinner.
• More Mars Hill: Check out a series of articles from the blog of Western Seminary on lessons we can learn, published November 19, 20 and 21.
• A director has been hired for the film version of The Shack.
• Time to upgrade your Bible software and keep it politically correct at the same time. Or something like that. Ideas from a contributor to NBC’s Parks and Recreation.
• If you missed previous links here, this is another chance to hear some of Lacey Sturm’s story, this time on Fox News, a 7-minute video.
• And now it’s time for our teen segment:  Lauren and Matt Chandler on how you know when you’re ready to start dating. 4-min video.
• And now it’s time for our married people segment: Lauren and Matt Chandler on whether married couples must have children.
• I hate waiting. So I totally related to the premise of this week’s featured devotional.
• Talk about a preview, the movie won’t be released until Christmas 2015, but already there’s a trailer for The Peanuts Movie. But we’ll have to wait to see if they let Linus read from Luke’s gospel…
• …But you’ll only have to wait until Valentine’s Day 2015 for Old Fashioned, a Christian film that has the distinction of opening the same day as Fifty Shades of Gray.
• When buying a goatskin Bible, you probably check out all the online reviews, right? Depending on the color of the goat in question, this KJV retails between $185 and $195.
• Three home-schooled children ages 8 – 12 stood by and watched their parents pepper sprayed and Tasered in a case that was found to be a violation of the family’s constitutional rights.
• Quote of the Week: “Pastor said yesterday: Many of our church conflicts revolve around wine, women and song. Wine = who gets communion? Women = what role should they play? Song = praise songs or hymns?” via David Murrow.
• If you’re a church musician of any type, you are probably erring in tuning your instruments to A440. There are compelling reasons why it should be A432.
• Got 53 minutes? As your reward for reading thus far, here’s a peek at Chris Tomlin’s concert at Liberty University.
• From our tabloid news division, Kari Jobe is now married.
• Time Travel: A suggested pairing of 17th Century theologian John Owen and 21st Century anti-theologian Joel Osteen. “I am not exaggerating when I say that they really are polar opposites in just about every way.”
• Finally, Christian comedian Tim Hawkins offers some song suggestions for the children’s ministry team at the atheist megachurch.

Not sure exactly where on Twitter I found this, but the caption should be obvious: