Wednesday Link List

From Shorpy.com: The Church of the Wild Wood, First Wesley Methodist Episcopal is seen in 1912 before the first coat of stucco is applied.

It’s May already! While we like the news items and the weird stories, if you know someone who is consistently doing good writing online, send me a link so we can feature them here.  Meanwhile, sit back, enjoy the list, and try to forget last night’s primary results.

• Essay of the Week: Everything you’ve always wanted to ask — or perhaps ask God — about circumcision. Understanding “the drastic covenant.”
• A nightmarish fire breaks out destroying an historic New York City church, on what is, for Orthodox Christians, Easter Sunday.
• The secret is out! We learned this week who the force is behind Christian satire site The Babylon Bee. Turns out it’s someone we’ve met before online…
• …But not to be outdone…
• …To which The Bee bounces back with a spiritual gifts story of their own.
  
• Provocative Header of the Week (which in this case is ironic): How to Spot a Social Media Neo-Televangelist. 
• Sweden’s liberal theologians have a work around for the exclusive claims of Jesus. Actually, they have 3 ways to explain it all away. 
• You might see this as simply fitting your previously held stereotype, but this woman’s memories of being home-schooled are both real and depressingly sad. 
• Churches are in the business of saving souls, but what about saving lives? This one got some practice, but does your church have a defibrillator? (Related: Does anyone know how to use it?)
  
• Preston Sprinkle posted this book synopsis back in March, but I only saw it this week. It’s about a touchy subject in the U.S. that remains a great mystery to those of us who live outside its borders. Check out the stats from America and Its Guns.
• Join us in praying for author and blogger Zach Hunt.
• Greg Boyd, Efrem Smith and Shane Claiborne are in a movie, but they aren’t playing the roles in which we’re accustomed to seeing them…
• …and here’s the homepage for the movie, Chasing the Rain.
  
• One of the strongest forces in the King James Only movement, Peter Ruckman died last month at 94…
• …But given the chance to say something nice about the man to a well-meaning reporter, members of his church stuck to their principle of non-engagement with the media. (Sigh!)
• There’s always something online that you haven’t seen and for us this week, it was the website Facts and Trends, which we suspect is related to a LifeWay magazine of the same name. Here are some samples:
  • The pluses and minuses of people engaging cellphones during church services.
  • The role of the church in supporting families through the adoption process.
• Parenting Place (1): Passing on our faith to our children.
• Parenting Place (2): In a mainstream press article in the Washington Post, a parent comes up with a new reason why he regrets giving his kids their own phones.
• Spiritual Sounding Board has posted three challenges to the interview Christianity Today did with Saeed Abedini. To read them, click the blog link and navigate to three May 3rd posts.
  
• Apologetics Alley: One question often leads to another and that’s exactly the approach the writer(s) of this piece did on dealing with the problem of pain.
• As you know, we ended up posting this video on the weekend, but here’s how I came across the Bono/Eugene Peterson dialog.
• For my Canadian readers: You may remember the series that Jeff Snow wrote for us on The Divorce Effect. (We ran it twice!) Jeff is now starting a student ministry on a university campus in Ontario and needs more support.
• Sleeping bags and tents all blew away at last year’s summer festival? Stay dry at Chris Tomlin’s Worship Night In America, coming to five major U.S. cities in July with Louie Giglio on drums, Max Lucado on bass and Matt Redman on guitar. (Plus other artists.) (Maybe Louie and Max will just be speaking.)  …
• …On the other hand if you’re looking for an “in-tents” summer music experience, check out the 2016 Christian Music Festivals directory.
  
• Knowledge Morsel of the Week: “More than 560 of Charles Schulz’s nearly 17,800 Peanuts newspaper strips contain a religious, spiritual, or theological reference.” Jonathan Merritt in The Atlantic.
  
• Videos of the Week (1): This isn’t new, but PraiseCharts.com is reporting a lot of churches are using Grace That Won’t Let Go by Gateway Worship: Mark Harris version; Kari Jobe version.
• Video of the Week (2): Again, one posted six months ago that’s gaining traction is O Come to the Altar by Elevation Worship…
• …But on the other hand, here are five things that will make your worship time sound forced or fake.
  
• Most photographers do collections of classic cathedrals. But this one chose modern American megachurches, released in a format the creator calls ‘megazine.’
• ‘Twas Ever Thus Department: Church leaders don’t understand Millennials. 
• Wheaton College is back in the headlines, and it’s not a good news story this time, either.
  
• Jesus is nice, but his Dad’s kinda mean.
  
• John Hull has resigned as CEO of Crossroads, creators of one of the longest running daily Christian TV shows in North America. 
• Kidmin Korner: Hadn’t seen anything like this before; a children’s book about Pentecost.
  
• Why settle for basic ordination when, for $50, you can become a bishop at the same time. (Click the drop-down under “new products” price includes shipping.) 
• This list of “15 Books Every Christian Millennial Has Owned” only has 12 books showing; but still brought back some memories.
  
• Veggie Tales made it through the David & Bathsheba story with help from little yellow ducks, but Shagmar killing 600 Philistines may an impossibility. (Warning: This may be a Babylon Bee story.)