Wednesday Link List

The theme of the above picture is Evangelism, and was featured on Twitter in promotion of a September conference at Moorlands College in the UK.  The artist is Annaliese Stoney. 

I enjoyed putting this week’s list together and hope you enjoy it also. Please take some time to look over this week’s stories and opinion pieces.

• Planet of the APEs (Apostles, Pastors, Evangelists): A close look at the confusion that exists over the role of Apostle and the role of Evangelist.  Allow yourself at least ten minutes to pour over this but don’t miss it.
• Here I Am to Worship: A team from the United Methodist Church dissects the CCLI list of top 100 worship songs.
• Accidentally left this one off last week. With each new revelation, the saga of K.P. Yohannan and Gospel for Asia gets curiouser and curiouser. In India, he is now considered a saint.
• Wish I’d written this: Julie Anne at Spiritual Sounding Board examines some of the hype in the doubly-funded Kickstarter project for the movie Calvinist. Hype like, “a film about a powerful and interesting movement God has orchestrated over last generation that finds its roots in a rich and fascinating history.” The last generation? I thought the guy was born in 1509.
• Pertinent: David Rupert asks, “Will the flags ever fly at full staff again?”  …
• … J. Warner Wallace offers six ways that we as Christian can respond to the present police crisis.
  
• So what is exactly that people mean when they say, “Is this an accurate Bible translation?“
• Are you a Cultural Christian, Congregational Christian or a Convictional Christian? Ed Stetzer on Churches in America (part 3 of 3).
• In its 24th year, the Summer of Hope Outreach is unique as it’s an outreach to Native American youth by Native young people.
• Essay of the Week: “We [Evangelicals] desperately need silence. We need to learn what it means to abide. We need to learn what it feels like to finally be still before God for a long time.” 
• Church Planting: It begins with prayer, but often a prayer of a particular urgency. 
• If history teaches us anything, it’s that leaders like Vladimir Putin cannot stop the gospel. 
• Most Provocative Intro: “‘Les has been gone since last night. Please pray.’
  “I was mystified. Who is Les? Her husband? Her son? Her daughter? A co-worker? Her dog?
  “And what does “gone” mean? Run away? Missing? Kidnapped? Away on vacation? Dead?”
  Maybe we need to prayer-request more specifically. 
• Why your church needs to know about Pokémon GO. The official word on this subject from the Church of England.
  
• It doesn’t form an acronym like TULIP, but Greg Boyd’s got a 5-point outline on open theism. 
• “Grief and pain are inescapable, and we help no one if we try to wish or drink or argue it away.” But the writer of that sentence also has in the top right hand corner of their blog, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. John 16:33″
  
• Leadership Lessons: 14-minute interview with Eastside (Anaheim) pastor Gene Appel.
• Parenting Place: Five beliefs that some Christian parents hold on to that are inadequate for facing a rapidly changing world…
• …Also, if you’re too pooped to parent, here are 12 questions to ask the kids about their day.
• No authentic Christianity in mainstream media? Each week, A Prairie Home Companion brought faith to the center of the conversation.
• Joshua Harris looks at Eugene Peterson’s interpretation of Revelation in a 5-minute video post, which leads to a 6-minute part two.
• Another Dallas, this one in North Carolina, mourns the loss of a popular lay-pastor struck by lightening.
• Canon Controversies: Why our Bibles don’t contain the Gnostic gospels.
• Who’s tolerant? Who’s intolerant? Check out this extended graphic from Adam Ford.
  
• I love book lists. Here’s Rick Apperson’s all-time top five. (There’s one here I haven’t done yet, and one I never finished. Good reminder.)
  
• Catholic Corner: When she decided to enter Sisters of Life, a sort of pre-convent community, she had to come debt-free, and owed $12,000 in student loans.
• Fall Small Groups and Adult Electives: The people at IVP (InterVarsity Press) are the undisputed leaders in study resources with their LifeGuide booklet series. Now they have an interactive web thingy (that’s the technical term) that makes it even easier to choose a topic for your next group series. (For the uninitiated, here’s an introduction.)
• Billboard Magazine examines the incompatibility of being a Contemporary Christian Music artist and coming out as LGBT. It’s still basically a career-ending move.
• If you like doing things at the last minute, check out next week’s Skylight Festival in Southwest Ontario, Canada. No major headliners, but a Greenbelt/Wild Goose kinda vibe and an appearance by Martyn Joseph.
• A faith-based horror movie? That’s how Variety Magazine is spinning The Conjuring 2, noting “We don’t think of them [evangelical moviegoers] as fans of over-the-top fright films.” …
• …Meanwhile, a book based on the Left Behind young adult series, Vanished | Left Behind: Next Generation comes to theaters for a one-night only showing on September 28th, a Wednesday.
• Finally, we know the book cover image below looks like a bit like a parody of something, or perhaps just a self-published title, but this for real and it’s published not by Zondervan but by the academic division of Zondervan because, “…animal stewardship is a necessary aspect of a holistic ethic of Christian peace and justice.” Click the image below or here if you don’t believe us!