Wednesday Link List

It’s been awhile since we included a Naked Pastor cartoon; click the image to read more.

• Homeschooling — Can you live the missional life and yet be isolating yourself from the public school system with your kids?  Join the discussion at Jesus Creed.
• Persecution — A Russian Evangelical church is razed in the middle of the night by construction machinery in a complicated case involving relocation and development permits. 
• Prayer — Watching a video about The Congo at Glenn Schaeffer’s blog yesterday, I discovered the YouTube channel for Prayercast, which took me to their website, a mass media and arts organization with a focus on news gathering; which later took me to parent organization OneWay Ministries.
  
• Commentaries — A piece we missed back in May that’s worth going back to on how (and why) to use Bible commentary books.
• Donations Needed — Blogger and YWAM missionary Jamie Arpin-Ricci reaches out online for financial help to continue his mission in central Canada.
• Parenting/Youth Ministry — Lisa Robinson thinks that the present emphasis on ethics and morals with Christian teens ought to be refocused; that Christian teens actually need evangelism.
• Media — The popular Canadian-based Christian newsmagazine, Listen Up with Lorna Dueck is now known as Context. Lorna’s also blogging, here’s a piece on why Bible distribution in schools should continue. 
• Books — Brian McLaren had a new release yesterday with the very long title, Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road?: Christian Identity in a Multi-Faith World. Here’s a post with some endorsements at Brian’s blog. 
• Liturgy — I love going down the various trails that lead from the weekly Sunday Setlists at Worship Community. This particular worship liturgy was well crafted, as was the care that went into posting the recap.
  
• Women in Ministry — Christa Romig-Leavitt considers the possibilities of aging women in ministry; a somewhat different perspective. 
• Veteran Bloggers — Anne Jackson is back and has written a number of articles for Relevant Magazine which you can see collected here.
• New Bloggers — Well, new to Alltop Christian: Interpulpit by Rick Bell an American who who writes from China, and Larry Williams at Mangoes. New at Alltop Church: a various authors blog at TruMinistry. 
• Church Leadership — Finally what I’ve been waiting for, an exhaustive study of 209 churches that digs into the topic of church salaries of pastoral staff.
  
• Spoken Word Ministry — On August 28th, Jefferson Bethke was a guest on James and Betty Robison’s Life Together
  
• CCM — With roots in Canada before relocating south, the band downhere (with a small ‘d’) has announced that band members are moving on. 
• I needed a closing cartoon and all week long I fought the idea of stealing borrowing this one from Master’s Table, but at midnight last night, I gave in. I wish Linus had a blog.
  

 

Wednesday Link List

• Okay, so the guy who sold you the insurance coverage that looks after your pet dog or cat after the rapture wasn’t actually planning on doing anything after you vacated the planet.  Bart Centre, who lives in New Hampshire, came clean after the state Insurance Department delivered a subpoena because he appeared to be engaged in “unauthorized business of insurance” through his Eternal Earth-Bound Pets business. Just don’t tell Fido and Fluffy.
• Equally ridiculous is the story where a Pentecostal church staged a fake raid on its youth group — to illustrate the conditions faced by persecuted church people  in the third world — and now face felony charges.  Be sure to catch the video where the pastor states he would do it again.
• Jamie Wright may call herself “the very worst missionary;” but when it comes to the liabilities of short term mission projects, she really gets it. The “Hugs for Jesus” people who showed up in her part of the world had no clue what to do if anyone wanted follow-up. In baseball, a connection of bat and ball without follow-through is called a ‘bunt.’ Short term missionaries are bunting where they could be hitting home runs.
• Not a Christian website, but does it count if a Christian told me about it?  Just kidding; anyway, enjoy Ten Lessons Parents Could Learn from the Pilgrims at NetNanny.
• Got 36 minutes to hear a great sermon? I’ve dropped by Joe Boyd’s blog before but never heard him preach; but the idea of Jesus being blind got me curious. When was Jesus ever blind; literally or figuratively? This was videoed while he guested at another church, and his style is somewhat laid back but the content is excellent.
  
• Your Sunday morning service was a communion service.  And after that there was a fellowship lunch.  Which one was closer to being the real sacrament?  Before you get nervous about that question, read what Deacon Hall has to say.
  
• At age 103, Rev. Grover C. Simpson, pastor of St. John Missionary Baptist Church in Marked Tree, Arkansas is thinking it might be time to consider retirement. Well, closer to 103½ actually.
  
• Brandon Hatmaker on serving the poor: “I’d consider it more a success if I spent an hour with a homeless guy and he never mentioned church, what he does wrong, or what he doesn’t do right. I know, sounds weird. But, I’d rather him talk about his story, his family, what happened that landed him on the streets. That would be an indicator to me that he’s not performing for me. And that maybe, just maybe, I really cared about his story. And that just possibly, my God might care as well.” Read more.
  
• The post at Rightly Dividing is really short, but the comments add a lot of value to the question: Does anyone die “prematurely?” Does anyone die “before their time?”
  
• Occam’s razor is not the latest personal care product for men. Maybe this will help. Anyway, at Glenn Peoples blog, loved this line: “…that this was one of those instances where a scientist had gone crashing headlong through a philosophical issue and made a bit of a hash of it.”
• Two of the cathedrals destroyed in New Zealand’s earthquake may not have survived structurally, but according to one writer, “Increasingly, they had morphed into tourist temples…They were increasingly irrelevant to ordinary Cantabrians as vital centres of worship.”
  
• As if we didn’t exhaust this topic yesterday, there’s always the website devoted to the forthcoming movie, Jesus Don’t Let Me Die Before I’ve Had Sex. The movie which just raise $32K in its Kickstarter campaign, will be “a feature-length documentary examining the teachings of the evangelical church on sex and exploring the undercurrent of idealism that leaves many lay members feeling frustrated and confused.”
  
• Speaking of edgy movies, some people have seen the Blue Like Jazz movie already and have posted reviews; a lengthy review by Mike Cosper and a shorter one by Tiffany Owens at World Magazine.
  
• And speaking of sex, Joy Eggerichs is the daughter of Dr. Emmerson Eggerichs who wrote the huge marriage book, Love and Respect. She blogs at Love And Respect Now, and offers this explanation as to why a rapidly growing number of women are watching porn.
  
• No specific link, but if you head over to Timmy Brister’s blog, you should be able to catch the letter “Z” as he concludes his “Gospel Alphabet” series.
  
• In Tennessee, when they say “community hymn sing,” it involves Michael W. Smith, Randy Travis, Committed, Marcia Ware, a 150-voice choir and full symphony orchestra. But you get to sing along with the projected lyrics.
  
• If you go to Andy Stanley’s church, North Point Community, you know the worship time resembles a rock concert; hence a warning in your church bulletin: “This service contains flashing lights which may cause problems for people with photosensitive epilepsy.”  (Warning from me: .pdf file takes awhile to load.)
  
• Can’t get enough links? There’s always Brian D.’s blog.
  
• Today’s closing cartoon-type-thing is from Naked Pastor. David’s blog may seem irreverent at times, but tell me this is any different from what’s going on in many of the Psalms.

 

Father, Forgive Them

There’s never a dull moment at the blog, Naked Pastor

The Wednesday Link List

“Officially voted the finest Wednesday Link List on any blog called Thinking Out Loud”

Here’s some places my computer took me this week.   What about you?

• Here’s a reprint from a few days of ago of what would be Michael Spencer’s final blog post on February 22 at Internet Monk.
• My choice for in-depth article of the week is Ted Olsen’s online-only piece at Christianity Today suggesting that the annunciation may be more important than Christmas and Easter, especially in view of its relationship to the abortion debate.
• The Ecclesiastical Courts Jurisdiction Act of 1860.  It’s a little-known law in the UK — and some places closer to home — but as this person found out, it’s illegal to disrupt a worship service, as reported at Answers for the Faith.
• They’re “disgusting and disturbing” but does that mean the Hutaree militant fringe group are not Christians?   Julie Clawson at the blog One Hand Clapping tackles an interesting subject in Militias, The Church & Christians.
• David Hayward, aka Naked Pastor, resigns after 25 years at a Canadian Vineyard church.
• The journalism blog Get Religion looks at the story of a church which offered love and compassion to a mentally ill man who later set fire to their church.
• Sometimes I think we get too hung up on the “latest” thing in the blogosphere.   Here’s a post from January of last year about churches coming together to help with a funeral at the blog, 300 Words a Day.
• If you remember my piece on bullying, republished here just a few days ago, you might also appreciate this piece by Mike Furches at The Virtual Pew.
  
• At the blog Arminian Today, the blogger known as The Seeking Disciple asks the musical question, Does Calvinism Make it Easier To Sin?   Easier may not be the right word, but he makes an argument for complacency.
  
• Brian McLaren plays the piano and discusses eschatology and open theology in a video series about his book posted at The Ooze TV.
• Jeffrey Overstreet looks at Christian publishing with a little help from C. S. Lewis, Oscar Wilde and this gem from T. S. Eliot:
  

  “[T]he last thing I would wish for would be the existence of two literatures, one for Christian consumption and the other for the pagan world. What I believe to be incumbent upon all Christians is the duty of maintaining consciously certain standards and criteria of criticism over and above those applied by the rest of the world; and that by these criteria and standards everything that we read must be tested.”
  Continue reading here.

• Shaun Groves returns to the U.S. from Canada and is readmitted only after he gives the border patrol a mini-version of his Canadian seminar on poverty for Compassion International (complete with Q&A time!)
• Author John Shore finds out late in March that his mother passed away — five years ago.
• Cynthia Ware of the Center for Church Communication guests at UrbanMinistry.org with a piece of 5 Trends affecting Church communicators.
• Academic story of the week:  Evangelical scholar and author Bruce Waltke finds his job at Reformed Theological Seminary over after he posts a video which supports evolution.   Details at USAToday, or you can read more at Jon Rising’s Word and Spirit blog.
  
• Blog discovery of the week:  Confident Christianity by Mary Jo Sharpe who has just signed a book contract with Kregel Publishing.
• Classic video discovery the week:  Christian music veteran Kathy Trocolli and the Beach Boys (yes it’s really them) team up for I Can Hear Music.  Posted in 2007.  Turn it up loud.
  
• Jon Acuff is back in classic form as he examines that most unusual species: The Youth Pastor.  “#52. Tells youth group that the Psalms are kind of emo.” Check out Stuff Christians Like # 747.
  
• Our cartoon this week is from the usually-not-so-religiously-oriented cartoon blog Beartoons.com where he also discusses the whole concept of atheist missionaries:

HT for Jeffrey Overstreet piece:  Nathan Douglas at Cinema Truth.

Links for St. Patrick’s Day and Other Things

St. Patrick

Here we are once again at Wednesday, and to those of you of Irish descent, “May the road rise to meet you…”   (They already know the rest…)

• Donald Miller’s sermon at Willow Creek on the March 6/7 weekend was perhaps his “usual” about the power of story, but it seemed especially more focused at Willow, which made it this week’s lead link.    How are you doing with the story God’s given you to write?   To view you need to select the video from the menu when you link to the sermons on their media player.  (Good one to copy the audio to disc and loan or give to your friends.)
• This week my internet wanderings led me to further consider the rarely-heard phrase, “Assurance of Salvation;” and I was especially satisfied with an explanation posted at Catholic.com as well as an illustration that appears in the second paragraph of an article at Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry or CARM.   Do you ever doubt your salvation?
• Christian book reviews:  Helpful or hurtful?   Mark Tronson explores the topic; “They do not simply judge good writing, they are good writing, and they reflect on their subject as they do…”  with the caution that, “The reader wants to be reassured that the reviewer has a proper grasp of the subject at question, because misunderstanding theology can be a pitfall…” in this article at Christianity Today Australia
• This YouTube clip is dated April, 2009, but STL Distributors in the U.S. has the book by British humorist Adrian Plass, Looking Good, Being Bad: The Subtle Art of Churchmanship (Authentic UK) listed as June, 2010 release.   As a huge Plass fan, I don’t know how I missed this previously, but Plass’ wit is very dry, very British, and you might have to watch this twice.
  
• Did Herod want John the Baptist Put To Death?  Matthew 14 seems to say ‘yes,’ while Mark 6 seems to say ‘no.’   Join the conversation — if you’re up for it — at The BEAttitude. (Caveat:  This one is not exactly a Christian blog.   Not even close.)
  
• Usually our posts from David Hayward at Naked Pastor are cartoons, but this time around, he compares trying to get people to come to church to trying to catch squirrels in his house: “…If there is any sense of a trap, they won’t even come close. They can smell control and manipulation from a mile away. Even if the control is minor and sincere, they won’t take it. Not even a nibble.”  So true.  Before clicking around the rest of his site, finish this one here.
  
• In what appears to be the very first post of a new blog, James Rutz, author of Megashift announces the ushering in of The New Christianity.  Besides being a trend-watcher, Rutz might teach you a new word, “Diptisms.”
  
• Canadian blogger Tim Challies flashes back to 2006 when AOL made individual online search histories public.   If nothing else, be sure to read the second list of searches with Tim’s concluding analysis in this article at Christianity Today.
• Speaking of flashbacks, here’s a 2009 post from Kevin Jackson at the Society of Evangelical Arminians blog which gets in the SCL spirit with Stuff Young Calvinists Like (complete with Arminian equivalents!)
• Here’s a very short piece by blogger Jayarathina Madharasan that you can copy and paste and forward to your friends:  Cell Phone vs Bible.
• Canada’s outspoken Christian talk show host, Drew Marshall launches his own YouTube picks on Drew Tube.  (Check out the rather amazing collection of interviews from the radio show itself here.)
• Could political correctness ever lead us from St. Patrick’s Day to “Irish Day?”  Here’s an internal link from two years ago on this blog.
  
• Here’s the real deal on St. Patrick from Wikipedia.  “…Legend also credits Patrick with teaching the Irish about the concept of the Trinity by showing people the shamrock, a 3-leaved clover, using it to highlight the Christian belief of ‘three divine persons in the one God'”
• Our cartoons this week are straight off the comic pages of your local newspaper; from For Heaven’s Sake and Wizard of Id.

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Church Sign Exegesis

David Hayward aka Naked Pastor strikes again!!!

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Midweek Lynx

Here’s this week’s recommended lynx links:

• We begin with a couple of YouTube vids.   This one was posted back in 2006, but is still popular.  The group Go Fish song Christmas With A Capital “C” is the basis for this homemade video.
• The second video clip is sort of at the other end of the spectrum, posted a couple of weeks ago by Voice of the Martyrs.  Instead of fighting to keep Christ in Christmas, some believers in other parts of the world are fighting more serious battles, as seen in this Raid on a Full Gospel Church.
• Carol at the blog Sheep to the Right suggests that there are a number of dangers hidden among current social media technologies, in a post she calls Foxes in Facebook.
• If you’re a church-hopper look out!   Will Mancini in the blog Clarity Evangelist cuts through the rhetoric and doublespeak in the post, Top Ten Things Church Hoppers Say.
• The HCSB (Holman Christian Standard Bible) isn’t on a lot of peoples’ radar.   Will Lee at the blog Anwoth (read his ‘about’ page to find out what that means) has a constructive critique at 16 Changes I Would Make to the HCSB.
• Brian Russell at the Real Meal Ministries blog suggests that it’s important for pastors and teachers to regularly teach the broader narrative or overview of scripture in a post titled, Proclaiming the Big Picture of the Bible.
• Blogger Eugene Cho and his One Day’s Wages (ODW) project is featured in a New York Times Article, New Fame for the Everyday Donor.
• A new two-minute promotional video is available from The Advent Conspiracy, promoting clean water projects as an alternative to Christmas Giving.    Well done and worth waiting for.  Watch online (loads very slowly) or download for use in your church.
• It’s been awhile since we linked to Naked Pastor (see blogroll at right) so here’s one for you from the ever cynical, always transparent pastor from Atlantic Canada, David Hayward:
• And since nobody can say it exactly quite like David Hayward, and because, as stated, it’s been so long, here’s a bonus one for ya:

Last week’s links link.

And the one before that one.

Mashpost Monday

From Musician Shaun Groves On your first day on the other side of the grave, do you think you’ll look back on this life and be flooded with gratitude for hours spent watching episodes of American Idol and Lost? Will you wish you’d done more of that? Do you think you’ll look back fondly on the effort and money spent remodeling the kitchen?  Will you wish you’d had a nicer home? Do you think you’ll be glad you were up-to-date on the juicy details of celebrity lives?  Will you wish you’d read more magazines? Will you regret not spending more time at the office?  Will you wish you’d logged just a few more hours every week at work? Will you miss your blog or Facebook?  WIll you wish you’d just had a couple hundred more readers, just a few more “friends?” Me neither. ~ posted at Shlog Blog (HT Zach Nielsen)

Why I Don’t Link To Your Blog Thanks for the link on yours to mine, but here’s why I am presently not returning the favor: doctrinal discussions are fine, but militant denominationalism doesn’t interest me you haven’t posted anything since 2008 I gave up on your last post after the 27th paragraph I like edginess and don’t mind critical commentary, but remember that Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her you think Twitter is cool, but I really don’t want to read all the minutae of your life, I’ve got my own minutae and you don’t want to read it  (BTW, Dan is over his problem with irregularity and Carla’s got blonde streaks in her hair now) I can respect your view that the “other-ness” of the gospel is best expressed by using King James era English, but if that’s what you believe to be the case, I’m going to have to insist you write your blog that way I’ve already got a dozen links that share your viewpoint and decided that was sufficient I wanna blog about Jesus, the Bible, the Church, faith; not the latest gadgets from Apple, alternative operating systems and social networking sites there’s a reason why newspapers have photo editors, I tried text-only blogging and its boring, plus you discover new ideas when searching for pix I’m not sure that the Bible itself should ever be the object of a joke if you don’t mind my saying, I think you’re really full of yourself I’m not sure my average reader would get your distinction between the church’s need to embrace homosexuals versus the idea of personally embracing or endorsing the lifestyle is it really about the blog, or are you just trying to sell more copies of your books? I enjoy reading what you write to other pastors, but I’m not sure that the average reader of this blog would relate to it I think your cynicism and skepticism is potentially contagious and thereby potentially dangerous the thirty-five YouTube embeds currently on your first page mean that the page takes forever to load, even with high speed here’s a thought, if you didn’t “get” what The Shack was all about and who it was written for, perhaps the problem is you not them  (comments re. this entry will not be posted) we didn’t want to offend our Baptist readers for all the depth of your deep theological explorations, I’m not sure that any of it really matters to anyone besides yourself last time I checked, the Christian world extended beyond the United States’ borders many of the bloggers I link to are people I would really, really like to meet a house is known by the company it keeps I currently read about 140 blogs per week, there’s about half that many listed here.   The ones that are listed are ones I endorse, and many of them are deleted if they wander from what they were when I started, and of those, about half find their way back later on.

Reaching Out To The Wealthy by David Hayward at the Blog Naked Pastor

For My Ontario (Canada) Readers This year, for the first time in Ontario history, some students will be going back to school the week prior to Labour Day.   (Yes, that’s Labour with a “u,” in Canada!)   The decisions by each school board are just being announced now, and not every board is making the change.   Needless to say, this is throwing the tourism industry in general into a bit of a tailspin, but it also greatly impacts Christian camps, many of whom had their materials printed and suppliers under contract since last summer.   Christian camping is a ministry sector important to me, and my wife and I met at a Christian camp.    This is a surprise they simply didn’t need.   To read more about this, with a response from three Christian camps affected, you can link to a separate article here.