Currently Reading: N. T. Wright on The Psalms

Okay, I admit it.  I currently have four books on the go, and one should probably finish one before starting another.

N. T. Wright’s The Case for the Psalms: Why They Are Essential should not be confused with Lee Strobel’s The Case for… series. I don’t think of this as apologetic, though in a way, it is a defense of the Psalter at a time when people’s reading habits probably direct them more to the gospels, the epistles or the history narratives.

Or more likely, they’re not reading at all.

He brilliantly notes themes and motifs that run throughout the collection and with the proliferation of Wright vids on YouTube, you can hear him speaking of the beauty of the various psalms as you read and his lament over what we are losing in the modern church, or have already lost.

“The enormously popular ‘worship songs,’ some of which use phrases from the Psalms here and there but most of which do not, have largely displaced, for thousands of regular and enthusiastic worshipers, the steady rhythm and deep soul searching of the Psalms themselves. This, I believe, is a great impoverishment. By all means write new songs. Each generation must do that. But to neglect the church’s original hymnbook is, to put it bluntly, crazy” (p. 5).

Still, I am 120 pages into what is about a 200 page, digest-sized hardcover, and I feel I can’t truly address the book without noting what others might consider superficial; namely that much of the book’s content is simply copious reiteration of the Biblical texts from the New Revised Standard Version. That, and the book’s cost $22.99 US/$25.99 CA has me questioning the value to the reader. The Case doesn’t purport to be an academic title, which would explain the shorter length in light of the higher price.

As a book-lover and someone with great respect for Wright, I like the book; but as someone who spends part of his week as a book-seller, I guess I just can’t make the case for The Case for the Psalms.

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I admit this review may frustrate some especially fans of Wright, so I offer you another reviewer’s work as an alternative, Tim Peck at the blog Sojourner who goes into the book in great detail and with great admiration.

Why N.T. Wright Was on the Cover of Christianity Today

This link to the Phil Vischer podcast with co-host Skye Jethani starts at the place (27:12) where Christianity Today’s Andy Crouch explains why N.T. Wright was on the cover. Okay, actually it doesn’t, even though we used three entirely different codes. But we weren’t really intending to slight Christian Taylor, who had to give up her seat for Andy at the 27:12 mark. Why can’t Phil afford another chair? Anyway, the purpose is to discuss how N.T. Wright reads the other N.T., the New Testament in general, and the Apostle Paul in particular.

Wednesday Link List

Very few people know this, but the Wednesday Link List is named after Art Linkletter.  The links below will all take you to Out of Ur, where the list officially resides.

• Okay, this week’s list is long (again), but I promise you, I’ll never do one with 70 links, like this guy did a few days ago.
• Though the term is not seen as positively as it once was, most of the board members of the National Association of Evangelicals affirm being called Evangelical.
• Church-in-a-Pub: Its formal name is Kyrie, and the sign outside invites people to “Beer and Hymns.” The Texas “church” offers beer, pizza and communion and is sponsored by Calvary Lutheran (ELCA).
• People in ministry often call in church consultants, but now the advisers are the basis of a reality TV show. (Church Rescue airs on the National Geographic channel.)
• Have your checkbooks and credit cards handy; it’s the Mark Driscoll Scholarship for Women in Ministry…
• …and from the same writer, five reasons he’s not sure about his children watching Christian movies.
• If multiculturalism is the norm for urban ministry where you live, here’s a counter-suggestion that we still need some monocultural churches.
• In the past, New Jersey courts ruled that shopping malls were “quasi-public” venues; and so asserted a retired police officer who was charged with trespassing for distributing tracts.
• Trevin Wax is asked about switching from writing about theology to writing fiction, but clearly, he doesn’t get the question.
• Another Christian organization has shut down its operations due to marital infidelity, but it’s really only half of its operations.
• Essay of the Week: A piece at CNN about pastors who aren’t speaking out about issues in the U.S. health care scheme.
• Essay of the Summer: The votes are all in — actually it’s just me that votes — and the winner, from late July is Steve McCoy’s article on the 20th anniversary of his and Molly’s marriage.
• The guy known by his initials, N.T. Wright takes issue with the other guy known by his initials, C. S. Lewis, about Christians and political engagement.
• The debate over expository versus topical preaching will always be with us, but here’s six arguments in favor of expository sermons.
• Two-For-One-Special: As a pastor or church-planter, some indicators if you are driven or if you are called…
• …which turned out to be a popular theme this week; we also found this article which wrapped up a 3-part series on calling for vocational pastors and laity. (Check out all three parts and reader comments.)
• Image of the Week: Who could forget the picture of Pope Francis kissing a disfigured man?
• The founder of Canada’s daily Christian television show is incredibly transparent about end of life decisions.
• Here’s another of the Top Christian Blogs list, and Out of Ur is number 77, which ought to rate having some sports team jerseys made.
• ‘Blessed are the poor because they are going to be rich some day.’ Actually, that’s not how it works, though it is how some embrace a Theology of Weakness.
• While Phil Vischer is trying to teach kids ‘What’s In The Bible,’ Rob Bell takes a step further back and asks, ‘What Is The Bible?’ Parts of this series continue to be posted.
• Preachers: Does sermonizing leave you discouraged? Sometimes it seems the congregation can’t remember what you said.
• A 117-year old publishing company from the earliest days of the Christian & Missionary Alliance denomination is acquired by Moody Press.
• One writer really doesn’t like Joel Osteen’s board game, calling him a Laodicean con man. (Does he know it came out years ago?)
• Dan Bremnes won Video of the Year at last week’s Covenant Awards (Canada’s equivalent of the Dove Awards) for this song. (Here’s the full list of winners, some aren’t household names in Canada, either.)
• Someone commented last week about Kid Min links; this week we found a blog that offers Children’s ministry ideas in a liturgical church context…
• …And here’s the kids ministry page they recommended.
• Wanna binge out on more links? For the more scholarly among you, here are the Top 50 from the Biblioblogs aggregator.
• Canada now has a Christian News Service.  Film at 11:00
• As of November 1st, parents of children born with indeterminate sex (as many as one in 1,500) can complete the gender question on the birth registration with ‘male,’ ‘female,’ or ‘X’.
• If you love the artwork of Thomas Kinkade, you might want to skip this link, unless you’re a big fan of Star Wars. The sample above is about the mildest. (Click the pictures to enlarge.)
• As if church architects don’t have enough challenges, now they have to worry about how the church appears on Google Earth.
• Finally, in our Believe It Or Not Department: The life of Jesus as told through the songs of Britney Spears. Yes. Really.

The Wednesday Link Letter (see introduction) was written by Paul Wilkinson and recorded before a live audience (Paul’s wife). Read more of his work at his Anglican baptism website, Sprinkling Out Loud, or at Devotional Plagiarism 201, where only the best get borrowed.

The Book N. T. Wright Didn’t Write

Every once in awhile a story comes along that leaves you wondering how things could progress to a given level without somebody noticing something; as in how could a book be offered for sale for several weeks before the named author steps in and says he never wrote the book in question? Or something like that; sit back, this is complicated…

Christian wholesale book distributors are listing a new title, Breaking Beautiful: The Promise of Truth in a Fractured World by N. T. Wright (with Tim Suttle) as a July 1st release from either Beacon Hill Press or House Studios (depending which distributor) in both student workbook editions (at $12.99 US) and a leader edition (at $39.99) containing six videos (an inclusion lost in the annotation with both distributors).

But Christianity Today is reporting that N. T. Wright is more or less denying any association with it even though the book is a supplement to a video curriculum that does in fact contain him speaking. The original videos where filmed by The Work of the People, the organization responsible for the Jesus, Bombs and Ice Cream DVD with Shane Claiborne which we reviewed here, and the Awakening of Hope DVD with Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove which we also reviewed here. The Work of the People then sold the project to House Studios.

An Australian blogger, Micahel Bird is quoted — from a blog post now removed — as having this interaction with N. T. Wright

“He was mystified when I mentioned the book to him since he’s never heard of it before, nor does he recollect ever meeting a chap called Tim Suttle,” wrote Bird (in a post he has since taken down). “Hmm. Very strange indeed. The immediate word that comes to mind is ‘forgery.’ “

Left: Wright; Right: Suttle

Tim Suttle, on the other hand delves into much greater detail in his regular Monday Morning Confessional series:

Months ago I was asked to write six chapters to accompany a video series – a work for hire thing. The House Studio packages these great small group resources consisting of a set of video talks by a well known scholar and a short chapter written by some unknown author interacting with the video, some of the theological issues at stake, and discussion questions for the group. They have produced several – Stanley Hauerwas, Walter Brueggemann, Shane Claiborne – all of which I highly recommend. They do a couple of things well, including printing the transcript of the video before the chapter, which seems to allow better discussion. Plus, if you only buy the book, you still get the transcripts of the talks (I’m guessing most groups buy 5-6 books and only one DVD). This is my second project for this series, the first is Public Jesus. The videos are mine for that one.

The videos for which I was asked to write were of N.T. Wright. They were produced by Travis Reed at The Work of the People, who sold the rights to the House. It was all done contractually and legally. N.T. Wright signed a contract with The House Studio authorizing the use of the video and the production of the associated materials that I wrote. For my part, it was a work for hire project – 2 grand for six chapters… roughly $14.25 an hour. I wasn’t set to get any of the royalties from the project – those were slated to go to Wright and Reed. The House has done everything legally and above board.

These series are not big sellers, and I doubt very much if The House makes any money on them – especially Breaking Beautiful because it was so expensive. The packages are meant to entice people who would typically not read something by Hauerwas, Brueggemann, or N.T. Wright, to get some exposure to these important thinkers. Video based curriculum help folks who aren’t tempted to read theology to get caught up in theological discussion. They are solid gold in my parish and serve the church well.

I woke up to an email this morning from Tom Wright saying he had only found out about the project from a friend, stating that he had not given permission for it… ugh. Meanwhile a pretty snarky blog post about and subsequent Facebook posts came out from a Pauline Scholar saying the whole project is a scam.

Nevertheless, on the internet today I’m being called a forger…

…I want to clarify that I have had no control over how this project was marketed. I think “N.T. Wright with Tim Suttle” does not reflect what really happened. In fact the moment I saw the cover I said so publicly. Two months ago I made sure to post something to mitigate any sense that I was somehow collaborating with N.T. Wright – you can see it here….

…I was really excited about a writing project that I put my heart and soul into doing. I thought it represented some of my best pastoral writing. Now it’s being completely slammed, and I’m being treated like a joke, and the whole thing may fall through…

continue reading here

For its part, House Studios has not made any statement about the project. Amazon has pulled the page the listing the title, though you can see it in this cached page.

…In a world where video content abounds, more and more publishers are releasing re-packaging material that was formerly limited to the media pages of local churches or uploads to YouTube. While it’s great that we have access to so much great teaching, it also shows how an individual author’s awareness of such projects can be very limited. It’s also easy for authors to do interviews not realizing where the material is going to surface.

On the other hand, it would be shame if Tim Suttle’s work on this project never gets seen because of litigation. To end, from the publisher’s or distributor’s marketing as posted at Ingram (a large wholesale distributor) here’s a description of what we’d be missing from N. T. Wright, or someone who looks a lot like him:

We exist in a time of growing tension: science and religion, poverty and excess, globalization and isolation. But when that tension gives way and we sense eventually it must which way will the world break?

Breaking Beautiful is book about God’s long-term restoration project for mankind. Celebrated theologian N.T. Wright partners with Tim Suttle to discuss how Christ, as the fulfillment of God’s promise, has become the source by which we perform truth in the world. The truth of the kingdom is neither brutal nor sentimental, Wright says, rather it’s a reality that takes into account the brokenness of the present while calling forth the beauty of the future.

The arc of history is bending favorably; and that truth is changing everything about the way we live.

 

Wednesday Link List

Let there be links.

In a week that is overshadowed by developments at The Vatican it’s hard to find other religious news stories, but we tried.

• Two Afghan children that Shane Claiborne met a few weeks ago were killed by NATO troops.
  
• N.T. Wright comes at an old issue in a new way, and offers his reasons why women should be in pastoral ministry. 
• An Australian TV outlet does a 14-minute exposé of Hillsong Church with a particular axe to grind concerning the church’s tax free status.
  
• Is the way forward in church planting that the pastors will have other jobs; be bi-vocational?  Well, yes and no.
• Francis Chan talks to Canadian interviewer Moira Brown about leaving his church and starting up again in Northern California. (This is a part two of two-part interview; 15 minutes each.)
  
• Want more transparency in the church? How about this Belgian church constructed in 2011 out of transparent steel?
  
• And a church that treated its former pastors like trash held a service of apology and reconciliation.
  
• If you tell people you don’t smoke because your body is “a temple,” then you need to know that in 2013, sitting is the new smoking.
• A new digital edition of “the quad” the four books of Mormon scriptures includes some editorial changes reflecting “shifting official view on issues like polygamy, the Church’s history of racism, and the historicity of LDS scripture.”
• It’s not too late to send a gift: Benny Hinn and former wife Suzanne were scheduled to be remarried last week. And since that link was older — but detailed — the answer is yes, it happened.
• Mark Burnett tells Inside TV that “weird things” happened as they filmed The Bible miniseries. You’ll like the snake handler’s report.
• Have trouble starting a spiritual conversation? Start by asking questions. 
• “Teenage girls aging out of foster care and/or orphanages are known as the highest ‘at risk’ group in our nation. It’s estimated that a teenage girl on the streets will be approached within 48 hours by a pimp…” Read the stats and one city’s game plan.
  
• Christian rapper Lecrae is performing along side his mainstream music counterparts at SXSW, the South by Southwest festival… 
• …And Canadian Christian rapper Manafest is writing a book.
  
• Found a great devotional site this week… Here’s a piece about following Jesus versus walking ahead of Him…
• …And the updated list of the Top 200 Calvinist Christian blogs is now online; or at least one person’s version of it.
  
• The offbeat  ‘gay worship band’ story got way too much coverage last week which is why I would never link to it.
  
• Here’s how Religion News Service was handicapping the race to be Pope on the weekend. Even though this final four may be old news by the time you read this, I left it here for comparison (if RNS keeps it online). 
• A greater concern for the cardinals during a conclave week is if it goes into overtime and finds them running out of clean laundry.
  
• Graham Kendrick has greatly reconstructed an old hymn into something new; check out Oh The Deep, Deep Love of Jesus.
• People from five religious ‘tribes’ will try to convert Catalina an atheist — who looks slightly like Tina Fey — on the latest contest from The Drew Marshall Show titled Soul Survivor.

 

Wednesday Link List

A different approach to links this week.

• Some happy music to start, here’s a lyrics video for Shooting Star by Owl City.  Wish we could get the song lyrics to look like this on Sunday mornings.
  
• Does anyone besides me have to look twice at a sentence that uses the phrase, “multi-sensory worship experiences.”? I mean, I know what they’re talking about, but…
  
• Kevin DeYoung unravels the approach we use and the words we choose when speaking to (or about) gay Christians:

If we are speaking to cultural elites who despise us and our beliefs, we want to be bold and courageous.
If we are speaking to strugglers who fight against same sex attraction, we want to be patient and sympathetic.
If we are speaking to sufferers who have been mistreated by the church, we want to be apologetic and humble.
If we are speaking to shaky Christians who seem ready to compromise the faith for society’s approval, we want to be persuasive and persistent.
If we are speaking to liberal [or gay] Christians who have deviated from the truth once delivered for the saints, we want to be serious and hortatory.
If we are speaking to gays and lesbians who live as the Scriptures would not have them live, we want to be winsome and straightforward.
If we are speaking to beligerent Christians who hate or fear homosexuals, we want to be upset and disappointed.

• Here’s a link all the way back to May, where N. T. Wright offers a different view of heaven. The heaven we understand he says would sound foreign to people in Jesus’ time. He also proposes we think more of heaven as overlapping or intersecting with the here and now.
  
• Perry Noble joins the ranks of megachurch pastors with books released through major publishers. Unleash is, from what I can tell, largely the story of New Spring Church and about God helping you unleash your vision. Here’s a sample chapter.
• Another Mars Hill (Seattle) horror story. This one describes an exorcism. There’s no happy ending:

Why do you think Mark [Driscoll] claimed that your “demons” were “sexual”?

It’s always his go-to topic. Ironically, my husband had more “demons” than one could imagine. But his demons were of no consequence and unimportant to the church. It was somehow my fault because “maybe I wasn’t the godly, providing wife” I was supposed to be.

That said, Mark was also aware that my husband and I had sexual troubles from day one. And regarding our sex life–because I was essentially grinning and bearing it most of the time–Mark concluded that I was a terrible wife to my husband. Even when my husband looked at porn, Mark blamed me because I wasn’t doing my “wifely duty”. I felt violated when sex was expected of me. I was intensely miserable and neglected throughout my marriage, but Mark deemed that irrelevant because I was the wife and my duty was to serve my husband sexually.

• A church choir made up of seniors answers the question we’ve always wanted to ask: How hot is it under those choir robes?
  
• Craig Keener guests at Huffington Post Religion and suggests that young earth creationism, in an attempt to defend the truth of the Bible, does more harm than good.
  
• James MacDonald addressed the Southern Baptist Convention last week on the subject of active faith versus inactive faith, and they got to hear this poem:

One night I had a wondrous dream,
 One set of footprints there was seen,
 The footprints of my precious Lord,
 But mine were not along the shore.

But then some stranger prints appeared,
 And I asked the Lord, “What have we here?”
 Those prints are large and round and neat,
 “But Lord they are too big for feet.”

“My child,” He said in somber tones,
 “For miles I carried you alone.
 I challenged you to walk in faith,
 But you refused and made me wait.”

“You disobeyed, you would not grow,
 The walk of faith, you would not know.
 So I got tired, I got fed up,
 and there I dropped you on your butt.”

“Because in life, there comes a time,
 when one must fight, and one must climb.
 When one must rise and take a stand,
 or leave their butt prints in the sand.”

• Daniel Jepsen goes to the movies: “I saw the SF movie Prometheus last week.  I won’t review it or summarize it here except to note that it featured a creature far rarer than aliens in Hollywood’s universe: a practicing Christian.  She is even portrayed in a positive light, and is, in fact, something of the heroine of the story.”
• Darrell Dash notes that material benefits, combined with intangible benefits, added to future rewards equals the situation that pastors are well compensated, thank you.
  
• Timothy Kurek has rewritten the playbook on incarnational, choosing to identify as gay even though he says he isn’t in order to understand their persecution.  His adventure could fill a book:

Facebook: Timothy Kurek is an aspiring writer, proficient drinker, laudable instigator, and recovering Pharisee. 

YouTube video description: From bigotry to empathy, this is the true story of a conservative Christian attempting to find the answers. And it all begins with two words. “I’m Gay.” (Jesus in Drag, The Book Trailer; linked above.)

MSNBC Interview: “I was pretty immersed in that experience.”

• Author Karen Spears Zacharias debriefs the Jerry Sandusky trial: “When it comes to the abuse of a child, silence is hurt denied. When it comes to the abuse of a child, silence is responsibility deafened. When it comes to the abuse of a child, silence is shame misplaced. When it comes to the abuse of a child, silence is evil granted access.”
  
• It’s 431 .pdf pages, but Bible aficionados — or perhaps people who have never read an interlinear Bible — might enjoy the Mechanical Translation of Genesis.
  
• As CNN’s Belief Blog put it, “She went from atheist to Catholic in just over 1,000 words.” Leah Libresco announces her conversion on her blog:

Libresco says one of the most common questions she has received is how she’ll deal with atheists now.

“The great thing about a lot of the atheist and skeptic community is that people talk more critically about ideas and want to see proof provided,” Libresco said. “That kind of analytical thinking is completely useful and the Catholic Church doesn’t need to and should not be afraid of because if you’ve got the facts on your side, you hope they win.” 

• When Benny Hinn remarries his former wife Suzanne, Jack Hayford will perform the re-nuptials. Hinn said, “We never broke the covenant. Our marriage has been restored. We just want to make sure that we don’t repeat the same mistakes.”
  
• Pete Wilson confesses that there are three things he learned early on in ministry — about problems, conflict and giving up — that he later had to unlearn.
• Not a Christian site/blog link, but you have to feel for these two kids who got sunburned when the school refused to apply sunscreen on field day.
  

Wednesday Link List

Paragraph containing witty introduction and possible lynx/links pun reference to Lynx canadensis or Lynx pardinus if picture is included.

• Let’s kick off with a very short video on the influence the King James Bible had on the English language.  This is actually an excerpt from a very interesting eleven minute video on the language as a whole.
• From there we go to a much longer video; a sermon video where N. T. Wright, the former Bishop of Durham, preaches in, of all places, Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago.  This was recorded just a few weeks ago on November 6th.
  
• With church attendance slipping, Christian colleges and universities in the U.S. are cutting tuition costs, some by as much as 50%. “…One of the most pressing issues is that there are fewer prospective students for these schools to recruit. Religious membership has been on the decline, especially among young people.” Read the full story at CNN Money.
  
• A new title in the Lego Bible series has been pulled from Sam’s Club outlets for being too violent.  One Facebook comment notes, ““I hear you are banning The Brick Testament for its offensive content but not the Bible which contains all the same content…”  The Brick Bible: A New Spin on The Old Testament is the 4th book in the series by illustrator Brendan Powell Smith.  [Update: Chaplain Mike covers this topic actual pictures!  Well, not violent ones, but one that’s not suitable for young children.]
  
• A good friend of ours has recorded a tribute cover for Larry Norman’s song UFO.  Enjoy a limited time free preview.
  
• My other blog, Christianity 201 marks 600 posts with some thoughts from James chapter 1 about seeing ourselves as we really are.
  
• Eddy Arthur at Wycliffe Bible Translators UK posts a curiosity-inducing review of a new book, Pursuit of a Thirsty Fool by T. J. Macleslie, published by Bottomline Media. If you’re tired of the “then I became a Christian and now everything’s great” genre, this may be the story for you.  Here’s the review for the book pictured at right.
  
• Annie Goebel, president and co-founder of the women’s prison ministry Daughters of Destiny, met the son she gave birth to as a teen in 1973 earlier this month.  Read the story at The Christian Post.
• Laura Ortberg Turner and Owen Strachan discuss whether Scripture dictates that women work inside the home.  First, here’s Laura’s response to Owen’s critique of Tide’s “Dad-Mom” commercial.  Second, here is Owen’s response to Laura.  That this occurs at her•menuetics makes the comments all that much more interesting.
  
• Rachel Held Evans hosts guest blogger Kathy Escobar (see blogroll at right) on the topic of spiritual insecurity.  Discussion starter: “The basic premise of Christianity is that there is nothing good in us.  That original sin has ruined us and we are miserable sinners, unworthy of anything good without the blood of Jesus…”
  
• Family Feud Department: My one son has been getting into a popular card game, Magic: The Gathering; while my other son — who sees the game played at his college — is not entirely convinced it’s a good idea. He wrote up his thoughts which I’ve posted as a “page” here so you could read them.
  
• Concert-goers in Canada already know them, but there’s a lot of buzz everywhere lately for brothers Nathan Finochio and Gabe Finochio aka The Royal Royal. You need to have an iTunes account to get their music.
  
• Matt Stone at Glocal Christianity thinks this Coke Lite commercial is actually dramatizing A Catholic Girl’s Worst Nightmare.
  
• Something lacking during announcement time at your church?  Adam Stadtmiller takes up the cause of what is often an epic fail.
  
• And for all you worship team leaders and aspiring worship team members, here’s how one Canadian church auditions and integrates new musicians.
  
• Tony Woodlief guests at World Magazine Online on why he was predisposed to agree the people who were boycotting Black Friday.
  
• And this 3-minute video provides all the reason you need to skip the big sale.  Or any big sale.  Some scenes may be disturbing.
  

That’s it for WLL this week at TOL; try to submit your suggestions by 9:00 PM Mondays.

Wednesday Link List

Wednesday List Lynx - The lynx is considered a national animal in Macedonia where it is featured on the five denar coin

I’ll have whatever links she’s having…

• Let’s start out with some great music: A new song by Northpoint Community Church’s Eddie Kirkland; help yourself to a free download of Here and Now.
  
• Maybe your marriage isn’t in trouble, but it’s in struggle.  Justin and Trisha Davis offer four reasons why some marriages are hurting.
  
• Julie Clawson has a very short, but very profound piece about how the spiritual conversion journey does not end with finding Jesus; in other words, finding Jesus doesn’t complete the process.
  
• It’s possible that Charles Spurgeon’s view of Arminian theology wasn’t shaped so much by reading as it was by the stage in history where the movement was when Spurgeon wrote.
  
• InterVarsity Press, aka IVP, has purchased Biblica Books, a publisher whose 170-plus titles are truly a great fit for the Illinois-based company.
  
• At The Ironic Catholic, this take on Genesis 3: 16-19 — “There are three aspects taken from a casual reading of the passage: 1) God makes childbirth painful, 2) Eve and all women get cursed by God as a punishment for sin, and 3) Adam appears to get off way easy.”
  
• Not sure of David Brooks’ spirituality, but this NY Times article shows how certain kinds of inequality are tolerated, and certain types of inequality are not.
• I know there’s a word that means “fear of the number 13,” but what about phobias about “666”??  Refusing to wear the number on religious grounds got this Georgia man fired.
• Of the making of Calvinist/Arminian T-Shirts there is no end.  The one pictured at right is for those who prefer the middle of the road. Click the image if you want to buy; click here for the backstory at More Christ blog.
  
• For those of you who use small-group discipleship curriculum, this video about a whole new paradigm from Downline Ministries is going to rock your world.
  
• Jon Acuff explains why it’s possible to have the congregation extend you some grace when yours is the first cell phone (that’s mobile for you Brits) to go off during a church service, but why you don’t want to be the second person to have it ring.
  
• Some of you may know more than I about the Duggar family, but apparently they are expecting their 20th child.  (HT: Clark Bunch)
  
• Michael Hyatt thinks novelists should offer a “director’s cut” of their work at their blogs; along with twelve other blog ideas for writers of what we could call non-non-fiction.
  
• C201 highlights this week: A 30-minute video interview with N.T. Wright, and a summary of C. Michael Patton’s Why Do We Love C. S. Lewis and Hate Rob Bell?
  
• Tomorrow at Thinking Out Loud: Remembering Family Circus cartoonist Bil Keane.  Today the comic is drawn by “little Jeffy” who is actually, at age 53, not quite so little, and continues to feature church-based themes like this one from a week ago Sunday:

Wednesday Link List

This was such a busy week already on this blog, that the link list seems almost anti-climactic…

• Our opening cartoon above is from Sacred Sandwich and is titled “Baptist Bestseller.”
• I’m trying to decide whether to run this Christianity 201 post here at Thinking out Loud.  It’s titled I Belong to a Cult.    I think it’s important to know the bare minimum about your spiritual lineage.
  
• Zach N. posted this video embed which I believe is from a series Matt Chandler does at YouTube called Sermon Jam.
• Here’s a full-screen CBN News item about Christian painter Ron DiCianni, currently working on a 12′ x 30′ picture of Christ’s resurrection; a picture with many unexpected features.
• Here’s a really courageous — though not recommended — piece about a robbery attempt that fails because the clerk doesn’t want to be held responsible for the loss of the money; though she does feel responsible for the robber’s soul.
• In all the talk about Keith Green last week, probably nobody mentioned Gordon Aeschliman.   He gave up his seat on the ill-fated plane at the last minute so one of Keith’s other kids could board.   Read about him and his book, Cages of Pain.
• After a nine year hiatus, the book Operation World, first published in 1974, is ready to hit the streets in October.    The writer, Jason Mandryk, explains why the print edition is still needed in a world where the balance of the info is available online.
• Over a hundred people at iMonk respond to Chaplain Mike’s invitation to explain why they follow the teachings of Beth Moore.
• For this link, I’m going to plant you in the middle of a multi-part blog series by Dean Lusk, and then let you do the navigating to find the rest of it.   This is part five — and a personal favorite — from Is The Church Signing The Wrong Words?
• Looking for a longer read?   Try this piece where initial-guy N. T. Wright considers initial-guy C. S. Lewis.
  
• Albert Mohler weighs in on the back and forth status of California’s Proposition 8.
• If you’re reading this in the U.S. before 6:30 PM Wednesday local time; ABC News has an interview with author Anne Rice.
  
• With his comment level now reaching up into the stratosphere, Jon Acuff scores over 300 reactions to his piece on trying to find a new church.
  
• Check out some new and different worship songs available free at Worship Corner.
• This week’s comic:  It’s been six months since we last visited Jeff Larson’s The Back Pew…

Midweek Link List

It’s time for some lynx links:

• Prodigal Magazine interviews Michael Catt, pastor of Sherwood Baptist Church, creators of the films Facing the Giants and Fireproof with questions about is role as a pastor, author and film producer.
  
• The Church of England announces Monday that N. T. Wright will be stepping down from his position as Bishop of Durham. [HT: Jon Rising]
  
• Is the schedule of activities at your church somewhat frenetic?  Maybe your church is over-programmed and you ought to consider Jared Wilson’s suggestion to under-program.
  
• Lots of people linking to this piece at Resurgence, “How I Pastor My Family” by Justin Hyde.
• How about this curiosity piece?  From The Thinklings:  Good Advice From Miley Cyrus.
• The caption to this photo reads, December 1940. “Itinerant preacher from South Carolina saving souls of construction workers at Camp Livingston job near Alexandria, Louisiana.”  See the image — clickable to larger size — at Shorpy.
• This has echoes of something Francis Chan would do:  A church in Fayetteville, Georgia says, “We don’t need no stinkin’ building;” and cashes out of its facility to put the money into ministry.  Read the article at Monday Morning Insight.  (No sir, your building is not “stinkin'” – please don’t write.)
• Here in the north, we don’t get to see firsthand the vitriol dished out politically in the name of religion.   So we missed this bumper sticker entirely.   Sounds good on the surface, but Psalm 109:8-9 actually reads: “May his days be few; may another take his place of leadership. May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow. May his children be wandering beggars! May they be driven from their ruined homes…” Joe Bird discusses this at the blog Rebel Pilgrim.
• Here’s another connection to Monday Morning Insight you don’t want to miss:
  

  “Pastors don’t need to give up on adults, but if we’re good stewards, we need to be putting a lot of eggs in the kid basket. Even better, we need to target our very young leaders. The most strategic time for developing effective and ethical leaders is a 4-year threshold we call the 10-13 Window. Unfortunately, very few church staff are leadership savvy. They confuse it with discipleship and service. And preteen/middle school ministries always tend to be low on the church totem pole.”

  Start reading here and then don’t miss the link to a rather unique organization called Kid Lead.

• Congratulations to Canadian singer Matt Brouwer — pictured at right — who won this year’s Gospel/Contemporary Christian category in the Juno awards, Canada’s equivalent to the Grammy Awards.   We now have only one Christian category at the Junos and this is it.
• Speaking of music, Christianity 201 goes hunting on YouTube for classic Jesus Music from the 1980s and turns up a classic song from the normally not-so-mellow band Servant.
• Wendy Gritter of New Direction Ministries checks out the Drew Marshall show and decides that Spencer Burke and Tim Challies on the same radio interview represents a clash of pardigms.
• And speaking of Challies, I think that’s where I found the link to this very powerful 90-second short film on YouTube titled This Was Grace.
• That, in turn, is the perfect lead to this link that got squeezed out last week, from the blog otherwise known as “my competition at Christian Blog Topsites,”  the parenting/women’s blog called It’s Almost Naptime, with a powerful piece, Designer Babies, Designer God.
  
• I know you’ve already seen a lot of discussion on this, but Trevin Wax takes a look at a particular aspect of the Jennifer Knapp story, the interview on the Larry King Show.
  
• This week’s cartoon is from For Heaven’s Sake by Mike Morgan.  (Click image to link)