Wednesday Link List

Can you guess who that is in the pumpkin?  Details below.

Welcome to the World Series of Christian news and opinion stories. Two teams: People who are screaming to be heard, and people with stories they wish we didn’t know.

• Just in time for Halloween: Ten reasons why the resurrected Jesus was not a zombie.
• On the same theme, I’m not sure about calling this a Christian horror movie.
• In more movie news, “an EMT tells a dying construction worker about Jesus, resulting in a legal battle.” The creators of God’s Not Dead are working on a new movie about religious liberty.
• Perhaps The Vatican’s Synod on the Family didn’t flip flop on homosexuality, but rather their original statement contained an error in the English translation. (The words valuing and evaluating are indeed fairly close.)
• Love this analysis from the New York Observer: “Every major church growth breakthrough happens on the heels of a communication breakthrough. Rome built roads, and then Paul planted churches. Alexander conquered the then known world and gave it one common language, and the New Testament was canonized in his Koine Greek. The printing press was invented, and Martin Luther put a Bible in the hands of anyone who wanted one.”
• Four characteristics of Millennials who are embracing traditional orthodoxy.
• Rethinking the parish system in the Church of England: “In the Diocese of Exeter we have 607 churches, many of which are listed. Over 200 of them attract less than 20 to Sunday services, and 124 attract less than 10. The average age of a committed member is 65“
• Video of the Week: An incredible testimony of coming to faith from a Muslim background.
• No, seriously; click the previous item. Yes, you; the one looking at the computer screen.
• Persecuted Church: Meriam Ibrahim is free but now the story replays with Asia Bibi in Pakistan.
• Hermeneutics Hangout: While others prefer the word “tree,” the NIV translation of Galatians 3:13 has Jesus “on a pole,” but when you check out the cross-reference in Deuteronomy, you see the translators had their reasons.
• Russell Moore dares to ask the question: If your municipality wants to subpoena your sermon transcripts, why not simply hand them over?
• I held on to this link for a few weeks waiting for someone to discredit the story, as often happens; but this appears to be the real thing; a third-party corroboration of Jesus performing a miracle, discovered in a vault at The Vatican.
• Modesty in Ministry: What type of car is right for a pastor to drive? Much depends on where you are.
• There was a lot of attention online last week to a short article offering five benefits to having a teen who rebels.
• Photo Story: An inside look at the underground church in China.
• The Vatican operates an observatory, and one of its leading scientists said last week that a young-earth, literal reading of Genesis is comparable to blasphemous theology.
• The Christian retreat facility we stayed at last week had an internet filter which blocked Christian humor and satire site Naked Pastor. Now there are calls for McDonald’s and Starbucks to have similar filters.
• Later this week Philip Yancey kicks off a seven-city book tour supporting his newest, Vanishing Grace. Jesus Creed on why the book is important.
• And speaking of tours, I can’t wrap my brain around why but somehow the pairing of these two just surprises me.
  
• From the scene of Mars Hill Ground Zero, The Janet Mefford Show, a debrief of recent events with Warren Cole, and another hour of the program with Warren Throckmorton.
• They totally exploited the coffee joke: Download a sample of an eight-week, five-days-per-week personal Bible study on the book of HeBrews. (Not a typo!)
• In Canada, the average annual income for ministers was pegged by a government agency at $34,315. Imaging entering that job market with $20,000 of student debt.
• Essay of the Week: On the times we get angry with God.
• A remix of the Apostle Paul’s love chapter. 
• Considering that the author owns more than 900 rosaries, she’s probably the most qualified to write The Rosary Collector’s Guide.
  
• Meet Mormon journalist (and comedian) Jenna Kim Jones, a force behind the film, Meet The Mormons.
• Grab the kids for story time and tease them with chapter one of Mark Batterson’s new children’s title, Jack Staples and the Ring of Time.
• Hillsong refuses to be pinned down on the gay issue…
• …as opposed to this approach…
• …Oh wait, as Nadia’s parishioners remind us, they don’t like the word issue…
• …in a video she filmed for The Nines conference, happening November 4-5.
• The Seventh Day Adventist church will vote in July on whether to allow female clergy.
• Songwriters: This Christian Song Competition has a fairly good track record for exposure.
• My rant on the damage Bible verse numbers do to context.
• Graphic Image of the Week: The John Calvin Pumpkin.
• An atheist and a conservative Christian walk into a Facebook discussion…
• Finally, Ship of Fools is looking for horribly inappropriate Advent calendars (for me that would be anything involving chocolate) or what it calls Badvent calendars.

 We leave you with the many creative camera angles of The Phil Vischer Podcast. (Bonus points for naming the guests in the comment section.)

 

Wednesday Link List

Christmas production at First Baptist Church in Curitiba, Brazil as seen at Church Stage Design Ideas Blog. That’s one huge choir.

It all begins with a design template that looks like this.

Lloyd the Llink Llist Llama crashes the party exactly one year after his first visit here

For the last couple of weeks there has been a weekend link list here. Some of the most interesting articles this month have been listed in those two editions.  So be sure to check them out.

• I never know for sure when I check out new blogs if the writer is on our side or not, especially when the first post I see looks like this one at Loon Watchman.
• Deans at other schools are fighting the possibility of accreditation for what would be Canada’s first Christian law school at Trinity Western. 
• Why swear an oath on one Bible when you can swear an oath on two?  A writer at Think Christian notes: “What I like about these [Bible] selections is the way they point to public and private figures who influence or inspire President Obama, and whose faith probably all shape the way he approaches his faith and his work.”
• You’ve heard of the dog who shows up for daily for a church service its late owner regularly attended. If not Fr. Z blogs the story, but notes that the dog’s appearance at the altar risks affecting the church’s ‘sacral character.’ 
• Sometimes it’s hard to become a Christian knowing that, if you do, someone is going to starve to death. Here’s a dilemma for missiologists.
• Don’t miss this one: J. R. Briggs gets an inspiring lesson on grace when he has to ask his 6-year-old son for forgiveness.
• Tyler Braun notes that summing up the gospel as “Jesus Loves Me” is too me-centered, unless we include spreading that love as part of the gospel mandate. 
• Zac Hicks has an interesting article about the role of Worship Pastor as Emotional Shepherd and the dangers of manipulating the congregation.
  
• A central Pennsylvania Wesleyan church officially opens a $4M expansion including a fitness center, jungle gym, café restaurant and Christian bookstore.
  
• So what exactly does it mean when you find a dead bird on the steps leading to your workplace?  Especially when you’re looking for more than, ““A dead bird on the step means either a cat loves you and has brought you an offering of food, or it means a bird flew into the window/door and killed itself…” 
• By now you’ve probably had occasion to look up a favorite TV show, movie or actor at IBDb, but did you now there’s now a Christian Film Data Base (CFDb)? The site also has a blog that’s updated daily with reviews and interviews.
• I’m writing this listening to an at least five year old song by Starfield – Reign In Us. Just clicked replay for the fourth time. 
• And news last week that Jason Dunn from Hawk Nelson has a solo album releasing in May.
• Meanwhile at American Idol auditions in Chicago Curtis Finch, Jr. impresses the judges with a brief gospel performance.
  
• For church leaders and pastors, Dave Kraft’s website, Leadership from the Heart is must reading. Here’s a piece outlining three temptations that can undo you and your leadership. 
• And here’s more good leadership advice from 9Marks on counseling people who haven’t crossed the line of faith.
  
• Looking for a career in ministry? Check out ChurchJobs.tv
  
• I suspect that Christian bands like Sidewalk Prophets love it when bloggers take one of their songs and use it as springboard for a devotional piece; like the writer at Journey of a God-Follower does with their song, He Loves Us Anyway.
• Not So 31 is the name of a blog based on a reference to “the Proverbs 31 woman.” She does a lot of book reviews and book excerpts in particular, including some recent ones by Steven Furtick and Chris and Kerry Shook.
• We linked to this picture — one of my favorite images of 2012 — late last year but never included it. Until today.  It was taken by Andreas Solaro for the Getty wire service and is captioned: Pope Benedict XVI caresses a lion cub as thousands of participants in the “Pilgrimage to Rome” festival – circus professionals, carnival people, street artists, pavement artists, bands and folk groups – gather at the Vatican on Dec. 1, 2012.  We think the Pope should have a few kittycats running around the Vatican the way the Queen has her Corgis at Buckingham.

Wednesday Link List

Wednesday List Lynx

Not only these, but there was a link list on Saturday as well. *UPDATE* 8:00 PM — Yes, I know about the PSY parody. We might run it here Friday. Click to watch Farmer Style. *END UPDATE*

• Since 1642 it has been against the rules of the Roman Catholic Church to use tobacco during the mass. Learn more in a history of the church, the saints and smoking.
• And speaking of the Catholic Church, here’s the photo-op of the week where Pope Benedict invites circus and street performers to The Vatican and as a long time cat lover, gets to pet a lion cub.
• “Whenever there is a fire in a house of worship, it has a tremendous impact on the fabric of a community,” said a Cape Cod fire marshal after a Christian and Missionary Alliance church fell victim to arson.
• Two years after recording a Christmas album, Canada’s Steve Bell has another one. Read about Keening for the Dawn and if you hurry, your copy will ship in time for the 24th.
• Okay, how about an article showing parallels in two lives: Justin Bieber and King David? According to Ben at the blog On Pop Theology, it’s not that big a stretch.
  
• The recent tensions at Sovereign Grace Ministries could mean the severing of ties from one of its flagship churches.
  
• Francis Chan had huge hits with Crazy Love and Forgotten God, but I had wondered if Multiply was more of a curriculum item. Customers didn’t. The book landed on a New York Times ‘advice’ bestseller list.
• Greg Koukl either answers or skirts the following question in a short video: Are angels also made in God’s image? What do you think?
• Jennings’ Messiah? In a modern world, corporate sponsorship and branding would rule the day. We may call it Handel’s Messiah, but latest evidence points to the fact that Handel’s patron was Charles Jennings, without whom the project wouldn’t have happened.
• Ten years ago the Liberty Counsel started the “Naughty or Nice” list showing retailers which acknowledge Christmas and which ones marginalize the holiday’s faith origin. Which side of the list do you think is growing?
• For people in youth ministry and student ministry, here’s a link that will take you to a sample chapter of Ministering to Gay Teenagers from Six:11 Ministries. 
• Like the Energizer Bunny, InterVarsity’s student missions conference, Urbana, just keeps on going. This year it’s in St. Louis from Dec 27 – 31.
  
• Thinking Out Loud flashback post: When “OMG” and “WTF” Come to Church. And watch your language.
• Ethics Department: Even after you’ve made the right decision, it doesn’t mean you’re done wrestling with it. 
• Too late for this year’s Thanksgiving, but I still enjoyed this 6.5 minute film from Ransom.tv about the importance of family.
  
• The UK’s ChurchAds.net is to blame for the God Baby ads. “He cries. He wees. He saves the world.” Cute advertising copy or borderline blasphemy? You decide. Don’t look for an image here, I’m not reposting it.
• The proprietor of Ironic Catholic thinks the Coexist folks are making things a little crazy:
  

• The lynx is not alone this time: We end today with some book covers which appeared here in a 2008 post dealing with whether or not Fluffy and Fido will be in heaven. These are real books that were available for purchase when the post was written. First we took the Chuck Colson position that argues against animals in the afterlife. Then, four months later, in August, 2008; I was persuaded by the Randy Alcorn position which argues for furry friends, though not resurrected ones. Trust me, you could split a church over this topic…

Disenchanted Anglican Congregations Invited to Adopt Catholic Brand

When the large Pontiac dealer out on the freeway near my house got dropped by General Motors, it didn’t shut down.   It emerged as a Hyundai dealership and simply carried on business as usual.

With large numbers of Anglican churches frustrated with the issue of ordination of gay clergy, The Vatican is inviting those churches to be rebranded much like my local Pontiac franchise was.

Here’s the lead from writer Cathy Lynn Grossman on the USAToday Religion page:

The Vatican has opened an express lane to traditional Anglicans — unhappy with their own church’s moves toward accepting female and gay bishops — to reunite with the Roman Catholic Church their forefathers left nearly 500 years ago.

In a surprise announcement from Rome, Pope Benedict XVI approved a provision to create a new church entity that will allow Anglicans to join the Catholic Church in a format similar to Ukrainian or Eastern Rite Catholics, keeping their liturgy and married priests, but not married bishops.

The announcement Tuesday stunned many in the 77-million worldwide Anglican Communion, particularly the Church of England, where the Archbishop of Canterbury has wrestled for years with factions that opposed female bishops.

It’s a sell job where you want to emphasize the similarities, not the differences:

“Don’t forget, we had 1,500 years of unity with their forebears and today’s Roman Catholics. It’s the same apostolic tradition,” said the Rev. James Massa, head of the interfaith and interreligious affairs for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The move is certainly being seen as born out of pure motives:

Rev. Kendall Harmon, canon theologian for the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina, saw the Vatican announcement as a global event, “maybe one of Benedict’s biggest moves.

“Rome is trying to find a structural solution to an unbearable pastoral problem,” Harmon said. Vatican leaders “clearly feel that if they don’t intervene now, it will get worse. Their motive is the reunification of Christianity. If Anglicanism wasn’t going to provide a catholic solution, the worldwide church would fracture even more.”

But the move is complicated by The Vatican’s refusal to accept married clergy elevated to the role of Bishop.   This, of course, and the more obvious complication:

Archbishop Robert Duncan, founder and leader of the breakaway traditionalist Anglican Church in North America, issued a statement calling Benedict’s move “a momentous offer,” and he “blessed” those who choose this new path.

However, Duncan spelled out major obstacles between Anglican traditionalists and Rome that still stand. He cited “our historic differences over church governance, dogmas regarding the Blessed Virgin Mary” and the nature of the priesthood.

One leader noted that while Catholics have welcomed Anglicans and former Anglicans in the past, this move ends up in “creating what he called ‘parallel structures’ for entire groups of converts.

You can read the entire USAToday article here.   BTW, the religion page at USAToday is always bookmarked on this blog.

…For my Canadian readers, here is an analogy I’ve always found helpful.   The conversion of an Anglican to, for example, Pentecostalism, might be compared to someone living in Ottawa who decides to move to Windsor.   It’s all the same province, they keep their driver’s license and their health cards, but it’s a major move — around 800 km — and a complete change of both climate and culture.

The conversion of an Anglican to Catholicism could be compared to the that same person in Ottawa deciding to move to Gatineau.    The moving van might only have a ten-minute drive across the river, but it’s a new province, requiring a new driver’s license and even a new way of looking at common law.   Compared to moving to Windsor, it’s a cakewalk, but at a deeper level it is a much more radical change of address.  Which one is the bigger move?

For Anglicans, the Roman Catholic Church may seem like a comfortable fit but it is, to use the above analogy, “a change in province.”  It might meet some short term needs; there is this huge emotional bonding to multiple levels of ecclesiastic oversight and generations of history; not to mention robes, processions, choirs and liturgies.

But personally, I see disenchanted Anglicans and former Anglicans finding a better long-term fit in another Protestant denomination or in the creation of a new entity.    What works for car dealerships may not work where matters of faith and doctrine are concerned.

COMMENTS:  If you see your ministry as flitting from blog to blog leaving remarks which attack or tear down another denomination, please note those comments will not be posted here.    On the other hand, if you want to actually discuss the finer points of the topic of absorption of some Anglicans into the Catholic Church, or the Catholic church’s decision to make this offer; then those on-topic comments will be published.   You know who you are.