Weekend Link List

Sometimes in our quest for a weekly cartoon, we forget that David Hayward aka The Naked Pastor, has been faithfully producing them longer than some of you have owned computers. The ones that make you think are provided at no extra charge…

List Lynx: “Every once in awhile I have to work a Saturday.”

…Meanwhile, a mix of the sacred, the serious and the silly; this time in no particular order.

• First, there was Little Mosque on the Prairie. Now it’s Halal in the Family with a Muslim Archie Bunker character.
• Asked to name the members of Oxford’s most famous coffee klatch, most people will list Lewis or Tolkien. In a new book, you’re invited to get to know Charles Williams (published appropriately enough by Oxford University Press.)
• Pope Francis agrees to look into the idea of women as deacons, given a question about the role of Phoebe in Romans 16.
• 126 United Methodist Church clergy and candidates for ordained ministry have effectively outed themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer and now risk losing their ministry credentials.
• Churches should defend their pastors. There’s a sense in which that is quite true. But there’s also a sense in which it concerns me that this was spoken by C. J. Mahaney. 
• Gay Wedding Cakes: A high profile case in Northern Ireland has reached the final day of the appeal hearing.
  
• Quotation of the Week: “Churches, by nature, are selfish. Because the church is made up of people, and people are fundamentally self-serving, the church ends up expending much of its time, money, and energy on those who are already part of the family of God.” – Ed Stetzer
• Two billboard companies have rejected an advertisement by atheists objecting to Ken Ham’s Ark Encounter theme attraction under construction in Kentucky.
• Phil Vischer is convinced that the entire Donald Trump thing is the fault of Dorritos.
• It doesn’t release until October, but there’s already momentum building for Sarah Young’s next title, Jesus Always: Embracing Joy In His Presence which will launch with a one-million copy first printing.
  
• Long-time fans of the band DCTalk were disappointed to learn that their “big announcement” was to announce a 4-day cruise from Miami to The Bahamas, with pricing in the $700 to $3,800 range.
• The positively best definitive and encyclopedic article on Christian clichés we’ve ever seen.
• Individual Line of the Week: “I’ve always thought a hardware store is a strange choice for a cross-dresser, but they have to make money and I applaud the work ethic.” More on the bathroom controversy and whether people squat or stand. 
• Amy Grant is on tour with the daughter of the first person she ever sang with, who is also the daughter of her first producer, who was also her Sunday School teacher. 
• No link for this one: YouTube has completely scrubbed its site of anything related to Hillsong Young and Free’s Youth Revival at the request of the record company. Dumb. Dumb. Dumb. That’s how I discovered the band’s second album.
  
• Seven questions with Steven Furtick. Also, as it turns out, seven non-answers from Steven Furtick.
• No longer a “service” organization, the American Bible Society’s “new mission statement came with two significant changes. First, it eliminated the phrase ‘without doctrinal note or comment.’ Second, it added the clause ‘so that all may experience its life-changing message.'” The organization is now defined as a “Christian ministry.” Read how ABS went all Evangelical.
• Reach Records founder Lecrae has signed a contract with major label Columbia. 
• KidMin: Need a last minute Sunday School lesson outline for Pentecost Sunday?
  
• Philanthropy: A look at Casa Elizabeth, a pregnancy center and home for teenage girls in Ecuador, where 16% of teens are pregnant.
• Deliberately Provocative Headline: How a Purple Bible Saved One Stripper. (Good thing my readers don’t fall for click-bait, right?)
• Video of the Weekend (but it’s not new): King’s Kaleidoscope’s take of Come Thou Fount.
• Finally, Relevant ranks your favorite classic Christian album covers.

Public Notice: “Will link for food.” If anyone out there with a major Christian website and a budget is interested in leasing the Wednesday Link List as Christianity Today & Leadership Journal did, contact me via Twitter. 

Also, I have a birthday coming up. If anyone asks, I want large checks.