Do Christian Musicians Carry the Same Influence As They Once Did?

Tonight is a pretty big deal. Compassion, World Vision and Food for the Hungry are combining to present “Unite to Fight Poverty,” a two-hour music saturated fundraiser streaming live on YouTube, Facebook, PureFlix, and Daystar, with the audio portion also heard on The Message channel on Sirius Radio. It starts at 8:30 PM Eastern, 7:30 Central.

I love that these organizations are joining forces for the event, and that so many musicians are cooperating. I hope they do well financially. And I hope that Contemporary Christian Music fans are excited to see their favorite artists, especially in light of the lack of concert activity over the past six months.

But I’m wondering if those same artists carry the same weight, or influence as they did in days of yore? The barometer of Christian music’s popularity was always sales charts based on the number of physical product units sold. With the single now replacing the album as the quantifier of popularity — as things were in the early 1960s — and downloading available from multiple platforms, it’s really hard to tell if the impact of a given artist or group is the same. People may be downloading millions of copies of a single, but with a much higher financial outlay, one’s commitment to an artist when measured in sales of the full album was perhaps more meaningful.

Anecdotally, I spend two days a week working at a Christian bookstore. And Compact Disc sales right now are dead. Really dead. I don’t see us ordering new releases beyond September 1st. Even the elderly “Gaither” customers have abandoned the CD. They all spent their retirement money on new cars, and those vehicles didn’t come CD-player equipped.

So I hope the concert does well tonight, but I think that, moving forward, those Christian relief and development agencies might have to tweak the model and develop a new paradigm beyond reliance on CCM artists.

The Charity Fundraising Paradox

Amid last week’s news, you may have missed a small tempest that was created when it was revealed that former U.S. President George W. Bush received a $100,000 fee for speaking at a fundraising gala for the Veteran’s Administration. The charity also paid $20,000 for a private jet to fly him to the event. Interviewed on ABC News, one veteran was particular upset that Bush had sent many soldiers into war, and was now reaping a personal profit from speaking at the charity which assists the wounded assimilate back into society.

The New York Daily News noted this as well:

Former Marine Eddie Wright, who served on the charity’s board and lost both hands in a 2004 rocket attack in Iraq, told ABC he didn’t think it was right for Bush to have been paid to raise money for vets through the group, which provides adapted homes to service members who became disabled in combat.

“You sent me to war,” Wright said of Bush, according to ABC.

“I was doing what you told me to do, gladly for you and our country and I have no regrets. But it’s kind of a slap in the face.”

While you might wish to join the ranks of the outraged, it’s worth noting that this particular gala event tends to raise at least one or two million dollars annually. It’s chairman is quoted at Huffington Post as saying,

“The event raised unprecedented funds that are putting our nation’s heroes into specially adapted homes throughout the United States. His presence was appreciated by the veterans and supporters of the organization.”

And therein lies the crux of the problem. In charity, as everywhere else, you have to spend money to make money. Recently here, we wrote about a situation that came to light in the Family Christian Stores hearings, that the bookstore was paid up to $185 for each fresh child sponsor the bookstore chain signed up. At that time we wrote,

Let’s do some math here.  The sponsor is paying World Vision $35 per month per child. That means that for the first 5.28 months, the organization has yet to break even. It’s really into the 6th month that the sponsor’s donation is free and clear, but of course there are also overhead costs in that $35 that we don’t know. 

In charity parlance, this type of thing is known as “development costs.” There are organizations that carry out this function in different ways; one of the most common is having someone on staff available to older donors for things like “estate planning” or “writing a will.” Years ago, I knew one large church that had a staff member for this purpose, though the modern megachurch tends to attract younger adherents, many of whom haven’t totally embraced the possibility they might someday die.

World Vision in particular is known for having a very high percentage of its operational costs committed to fundraising. For charities like them, the George W. Bush story is a no-brainer: You bring in whatever political figure, actor, singer, author, or sports hero that will attract the right crowd. You do it at whatever cost.

 

World Vision Paying Bookstore Up To $185 For Each Child Sponsor

An article published Sunday in the Detroit Free Press on the receivership/restructuring of Family Christian Stores (FCS) carried information not seen to this point, including the amount of kickbacks the chain received from World Vision for each child sponsor recruited. 

We can attest to the solicitations personally; going through the FCS checkout there is a litany of pitches including bonus buy offers, but also charitable causes including placing Bibles in prisons, and child sponsorship:

The one which was most shocking was the amount of the “bounty” paid the company each time someone signed up to sponsor a child through World Vision:

Family Christian has also benefited from customers who sign up to sponsor a third-party group called World Vision, which provides food, clothing and shelter to impoverished children throughout the world.

The chain solicits sponsorships from its customers and receives a $150 fee from World Vision for each customer who signs up and pays the monthly fee, according to records obtained by the Free Press. Family Christian receives another $35 if the customer signs up for automatic payments.

Again, you’re encouraged to read it all at The Detroit Free Press. 

Let’s do some math here.  The sponsor is paying World Vision $35 per month per child. That means that for the first 5.28 months, the organization has yet to break even. It’s really into the 6th month that the sponsor’s donation is free and clear, but of course there are also overhead costs in that $35 that we don’t know. 

In our part of the world, we’ve seen special events like Couples Night Out and Ladies Night Out which are used to attract potential donors to hear a pitch for sponsorship. These evenings feature special speakers, giveaway prizes, and printing costs for posters and tickets. The cost per sponsor recruited is possibly equally high or higher. 

Still, the idea of the charity paying bookstores such a large incentive to get cashiers to make the appeal is somewhat disturbing, don’t you think?

 

Wednesday Link List

So, if I go to see one of the many faith-focused movies currently running, can I skip church that weekend? While you ponder that, here’s this week’s link-o-rama:  Clicking anything below will take you to PARSE, the link list’s benefactor.

• A pastor reflects on being the one succeeding David Platt, even though Platt was never there. The downside of video preaching.
• The most interesting thing about Thom Rainer’s late March list of Twenty of the Most Influential Evangelicals in America was the ongoing suggestions and amendments that appear in the comments.
• So…did Noah actually preach (as in the movie) or did his actions speak louder than words?
• Right now, John Hagee’s Four Blood Moons is a huge bestseller in the Christian book market. But author Mark Hitchcock does not think the coming eclipses are prophetic markers.
• Last Thursday a New York Appeals Court overturned a 2012 ruling which now leaves schools unable to rent space to religious groups in NYC.
• Imagine having access to everything Billy Graham ever preached, from 1941 to 2006, typed, underlined and marked with his handwritten notes, for reading, printing, downloading and keyword searching. Now everyone can have free access.
• Essay of the Week (1): A university English teacher — who also happens to be the daughter of Christian singer Ray Boltz — wrestles with the phrase, “the agony of mothers.”
• Joni and Friends has released a new book for the fathers of children diagnosed with a disability. Read a free sample “Courage When There Are No Answers” the first chapter of Another Kind of Courage.
• For Rachel Held Evans, the World Vision thing was the last straw. Her article, questioning her future commitment to Evangelicalism got nearly 900 comments. On the weekend, she moderated her extreme response…
• …and perhaps World Vision Canada wasn’t more tolerant, at least according to one former employee’s story from six years ago…
• …Meanwhile, the blog Stuff Fundies Like goes a bit off-topic in order to send a goodbye letter to a formerly sponsored child.
• Unless you’re prepared to spend big bucks, moving forward, you might not get as much mileage out of your church Facebook page.  (For UK readers, would that be big pounds and kilometerage?)
• In addition to all the other changes he is making, Pope Francis is reforming the scandal-ridden Vatican Bank aka “The Institute of the Works of Religion.” (The name of the place that has my savings account pales in comparison.)
• First, the Bishop of Bling, then there was the Archbishop of Atlanta. (Alliteration always adds a little.)
• Are you reading this in the popular Firefox browser? If so, you might want to read this.
• Finding our way out of a trap we all fall into: Moving from Churchianity to Christianity. (Our first link to a writer in Ecuador!)
• Remember that line in The Jerk where Steve Martin screams, “The new phone book is here! The new phone book is here!” Well, the new Top 300 Ministry Blogs list is here. (Wait, I’m number what? That can’t be right.)
• It’s getting to be a rarity to read an album review, but this one thoroughly covers the worship ministry of Paul Baloche and his new live recording.
• A different perspective on the issue of praying before everything from municipal to federal government meetings. What if it was this prayer that was in question?
• Analogy Avenue Archive: Ten things your spiritual life and woodworking have in common.  (Be sure to read part two.)
• Oh my! A church-based mixed martial arts club? Teaching cage fighting to youth group kids? A pastor-vs.-pastor fight club? Check out this forthcoming film.
• I couldn’t figure out why the Easter Sunrise service was at 6:15 this year, but I guess if Easter is later, the sun rises earlier. Check out the time where you live.
• So you’re a young student in hermeneutics class, and the prof says, “…and whatever you do, don’t ever go to the Bible to find a text for Sunday’s sermon.” Wait! What?
• An Oregon mother was found guilty on all seven counts for the beating death of her four-year old son she thought was gay.
• A few books have noted that the average church reflects feminine tastes. Here are seven ways to get the men in the church more on board.
• Billy Graham soloist George Beverly Shea once sang, “Someone slipped and fell/Was that someone you?” I think of that line whenever I hear of another high-profile pastor brought down by moral failure. On Monday, one writer offered ten responses.
• Internet tracking organization Technorati’s fastest rising religion blog this month is deCompose by novelist Mike Duran.
• Most readers here know what happened to Growing Pains child star Kirk Cameron, but for kid actor Jeremy Miller, life went a different direction.
• Essay of the Week (2): Zondervan author Tyler Blanski guests at a Catholic website on the topic, Why Did God Make Eve? (Glad He did, though.) (God, not Tyler.)
• A nominal church attender might either lean in to faith, or lean away. How do we keep them from joining “the nones?”
• Religious identity and national identity blur, creating problems for over a quarter of a million former Soviet refugees in Israel.
• In another ‘Holy relics’ analysis, a look at the Christian flag. (A teaser for this piece suggested letting your eyes cross in church and seeing the Christian flag blend into the U.S. flag.)
• Here’s another list of misused Bible verses, this one coming with the observation that a Twittered verse “often leads us down the wrong path because it reinforces an artificial structure on the text.”
• Guest Speaker Sunday: Here’s eight things the guest speaker would like from the host church. Dress code, yes. Internal politics, no.
• Artist/Video of the Week: The JJ Weeks Band featured recently on this K-LOVE video.
• Back to the Noah movie, one reviewer wrote: “As frustrating as anything on display is the script’s complete abandonment of the animals as a dramatic element.”
• I think I left this one off a few weeks ago: A theory on the reasons behind the increased divorce rate among Southern Baptist couples.
• From the mind of Jon Acuff: Three things that are okay to do in church, and not okay to do elsewhere.
• Tim Challies imagines the type of Bible he would create if it were left up to him. There would be a Q&A section at the back.
• I had a great time on Saturday morning watching a time-shifted simulcast conference of Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend speaking on the principles of the Boundaries series of books.
• Want more links? This week on my own blog I looked at the top Canadian Christian blogs.  Also there, my recurring rant about interdenominational Good Friday services, and our own April Fool’s news story.

Paul Wilkinson’s writing the rest of the week is made possible by readers at Thinking Out Loud and at C201, and by viewers like you.

Above: After a forever away from posting something new, Sacred Sandwich awoke as from a giant sleep.

Below: This is from the Abandoned Pics Twitter feed: @AbandonedPics and is a wooden church somewhere in Russia. 

Click the respective images to link. (Or the irreverent ones.)

Wednesday Link List

After falling for an April Fool’s Day prank yesterday — hope you enjoyed yesterday’s here — you may be overly cautious today, but as far as we know, everything below is legit.

Despite a submission guide at PARSE that allows writers to post additionally at their own sites, our Leadership Today overlords want you clicking from their site, thereby depriving me of stats. So if you see something you liked, leave a comment here or there; it’s the only way I know. Clicking anything below will take you first to PARSE.

• Church Life: Six reasons why you may see attrition in what Carey Nieuwouf calls “high capacity” volunteers.
• Local media in Grand Rapids, Michigan notes the 75th anniversary of Christian publishing mainstay, Baker Book House.
• Oprah Network personality Iyanla Vanzant, “Eat, Pray, Love” author Elizabeth Gilbert and Pastor Rob Bell are among the people who will join Oprah Winfrey on the fall ‘Life You Want’ tour… with Deepak Chopra an occasional guest.
• Location, location, location: The American Bible Society is vacating its Manhattan digs, which will also mean a move for other ministries such as Tim Keller’s Redeemer Presbyterian Church.
• An interview with Antoinette Tuff, a school bookkeeper who talked down an intruder with a loaded AK-47.
• Sadly, on Sunday a man performing an ocean Baptism in California was swept out to sea.
• Raw Honesty Department: A year later, a former children’s ministry pastor finds himself still deep in Post-Traumatic Church Disorder.
• In the context of classic gospel tracts, an undated article online looks at the criteria for movie ratings then and now.
• A bit of irony in the response to the World Vision announcement(s)…
• …and now it’s England’s and Wales’ turns to be front and center in the same sex marriage circus.
• A committee of the United Nations is asking the Catholic Church to change its position on abortion.
• Sunday services at two East L.A. churches were filmed for a post-earthquake TV news story.
• As some leadership issues unravel at Mars Hill Seattle, a new website hosts stories of former staff and board members.
• A U.S. family had the camera rolling as their 5-year old daughter vividly describes being asked not to pray for her meal at school…
• …While at a Virginia Christian school, an eight-year old is stigmatized for being too masculine.
• I think it’s so appropriate that someone charged with project management for The Voice Bible was so greatly influenced by the J. B. Phillips translation, New Testament in Modern English.
• Essay of the Week (1): Re. Noah movie — What do you mean by ‘Is it Biblical?’
• Essay of the Week (2): On Shame — To All The Girls Who Didn’t Say No.
• IVP author and Good Questions blogger Chris Smith is now taking your random Bible questions on Twitter.
• Ministry Moment: Do you have to be crazy to go into full time ministry?
• Ever wonder what made Charles Spurgeon such a great orator? Here’s a glimpse into his personal correspondence with his wife written while under an attack by mosquitoes.
• A Mormon family offers a very candid look at the aftermath of their son’s coming out as gay.
• Church Agriculture aka Planting: Here’s a situation; an article from Scotland about men doing ministry when their wives aren’t all-in.
• An appeal on behalf of a Christian Pakistani woman accused of blasphemy is once again postponed. It’s one of several blasphemy trials in the country involving Christians.
• Some churches are accused of being too ‘happy clappy’ but Dr. Cornelius Plantinga says that musically and lyrically modern worship is found wanting.
• A Tale of Two E.C.s: Can you spot the difference in these job requirements?
• J. Warner Wallace is an apologist who treats the Bible as a crime scene investigation. He’s asked, Have the gospels been altered?
• Brian Doerksen has launched a new band, The SHIYR Poets, and a funding project for a new album.
• This speaks for itself, an infographic titled How To Make a Bible.
• Regulatory compliance can inhibit ministry opportunities for Christian camping ministries.
• My CCM Song of the Week: Shawn McDonald “We are Brave.”
• An Ohio pastor is organizing rallies to respond to ‘Jesus is Muslim’ billboards appearing regionally.
• The winner of the Praise Charts song contest was Bori Afolabi with a song reminiscent of Pharrell Williams’ current hit, called Whose Somebody. (Play it loud!)
• My favorite Tweet this week: @FlagrantRegard Would love to see this on a T-shirt: “Was chosen by God to be an Arminian but freely decided to become a Calvinist” (link)
• We do not have a link to anything related to Pope Francis this week. Link List staff are investigating.
• Finally, some Lutheran levity: The Gilbert & Sullivan Mass.

While leaving no Christian internet news stone unturned, Paul Wilkinson also writes at Thinking Out Loud, Christianity 201, and Twitter.

The World Vision Story Irony

Despite my frequent rant that more balanced journalism comes with the luxury of time, I wanted to quickly document some of the early reaction to World Vision’s reversal of their hiring policy change before suppertime on Wednesday night. Okay, let’s be honest, I just wanted to be one of the first out with the story. So you ended up with this quick post, which was frequently updated, not the least of which updates were to include my wife’s observation that this was, within 48 hours, a microcosm of the “New Coke” story. I do believe that this is the religious news story of the month, and will certainly end up in the top five for the year.

Bene D. went down the same paths as I did and took the time to copy some extracts that give you a more readable story.  But a quick note from Bene this morning alerted me to the excellent piece at Internet Monk by Michael Bell (which includes an excellent David Hayward cartoon).

Without overly dumbing down what Michael wrote, I want to give you Cliff’s Notes version so you don’t miss this. Here are the bullet points:

1. The issue for Evangelicals here is homosexuality.
2. A discussion of homosexuality invariably leads to the use of the term sodomy.
3. Many Bible commentators would have it that the sin of Sodom was neglect of its poor.
4. On Monday, some Evangelicals withdrew their support from World Vision over the issue in (1) above, and thereby were guilty of (3) above.

Get it?

If nothing else, it’s interesting to think that (again, according to many interpreters) if you pulled your child support between Monday and Wednesday night, you were guilty of sodomy. I don’t however recommend you actually telling that to anyone who withdrew their support.

(Of course, this take doesn’t eliminate other Bible passages on the subject that cannot be so interpreted.)

Then, Michael goes on to note the interesting timing on this vis-a-vis another recent religious news story:

Do you know how much these young people are repulsed by Fred Phelps sign “God hates Fags”? Well, in the minds of many you have just held up another two thousand signs. Fred Phelps died last week, and many said “good riddance”. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that so many would step up so quickly to take his place.

If the shoe fits…

…Let me hasten to add here something that I placed in a comment on Wednesday. It was because of the very high percentage of donor money that World Vision spends on fundraising that I/we never sponsored a child. But a few years ago, my oldest son decided to sponsor a child through Compassion.

Seeing the relationship he has through the mail with someone on the other side of the world has made me realize what we missed out on. We’ve already sent two donations to Compassion’s unsponsored children fund and I do encourage people to consider sponsorships through Compassion, Gospel for Asia, Partners International, etc. Most of these agencies place a high, or perhaps higher priority on the proclamation of the good news about Jesus alongside their humanitarian relief and development efforts.

 

 

Wednesday Link List

We’re back with another mid-week link meeting! Here’s what your brothers and sisters from random parts of the big ‘C’ church were up to this week. Clicking any of the links below will take you to PARSE, the list’s benevolent patron.

• What’s the difference between a canoe and a Christian in a restaurant? A canoe tips. [Rim shot!] Now a website is dedicated to giving food servers a chance to describe their experiences with church people at Sundays Are The Worst.
• Pastors: Be careful what you offer in a sermon, especially if it’s not in the church budget.
• Marketing Christianity: A special offer from pastor and radio host Steve Brown allows you Three Free Sins.
• A funeral director whose blog deals with how we face death offers suggestions as to the proper etiquette of dealing with loss on the internet…
• …The same author once noticed that at funerals, almost all pastors are universalists.
• A secular news website looks at the various blogs that highlight survivor stories of spiritual abuse in fundamentalist sects.
• Strange Cloud Conference: It doesn’t sound like John MacArthur will be buying a ticket for the Heaven is For Real movie adaptation.
• Gay Christians in same-sex marriage are now eligible for employment at World Vision…
• …but the World Vision shift brings a quick response from Baptist ethics writer Russell D. Moore.
• Pastors often suffer from depression. Here are seven ways God can use that.
• Essay of the Week (1): When it comes to personality tests, I think I’m an HIJK. Is that a thing? Anyway here’s Why English Majors Make Lousy Fundamentalists.
• Essay of the Week (2): Two lesbians walk into a church. No, it’s not a short story and there is no punchline. But there is quite an ending.
• Houston Crime-Stoppers will pay you $25,000 for information leading to an arrest in the theft of $600,000 at Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church.
• For a member of The Newsboys, his involvement in the movie God’s Not Dead is the continuation in a chain of events begun when Billy Graham visited Australia in 1959…
• …while the movie’s opening weekend landed it in the top five.
• With everyone in the U.S. thinking basketball, I thought we’d take a different route and offer this delightful religious gift idea for the football fan. (Pictured above.)
• The British Law Society is one step closer to a legal system that accommodates Islamic law.  (Wait, what?)
• Meanwhile, Jewish News Service is reporting that in countries where they are a minority, there has been a major exodus of Christians in the face of religious extremists.
• So who’s up for a good debate? On Moody Radio a look at the decline of altar calls in Baptist churches.  (Click the link for the 54 minute program.)
• YMin: One of the big challenges to youth ministry is the reality that the kids all attend different schools.
• Intermission: A pause while we pay a tribute to church basement coffee.
• Thanks for the Complementarian: Is Cedarville University planning to restrict a particular course to women only?
• Jamie the Very Worst Production Consultant breaks her Non-Disclosure Agreement and tells what was going on in the desert that day.
• Analogy of the Week: To this writer, fellowship is like oxygen.
• While reading Brad Lomenick’s latest list of young influencers, I learned that on Hillsong’s popular song Oceans, the lead vocal belongs to Taya Smith.
• Since PARSE is part of Leadership Journal which in turn is part of Christianity Today, I’m sure they weren’t happy with this shot taken by Frank Schaeffer…
• …but I did think that Karen Spears Zacharias had an insightful, deeper look at the late Fred Phelps and what he is now experiencing…
• …and in Fred’s home town of Topeka, Kansas, the local newspaper provides a family tree of sorts.
• Source Unknown Department: Every pastor’s prayer.
• A Spanish church occupied the first floor and basement of a building that was destroyed in the New York City gas explosion. Some church members perished in the blast.
• Book Review: A look at Renegade Pastor, a book encouraging those in ministry not to settle for average.
• Time Warp: Michael W. Smith is releasing a new album.
• Here’s another infographic from Josh Byers, this one showing the harmony of the gospels’ telling of the Passion Week narrative.
• Internet Diversions Department: 27 indicators you grew up Evangelical. (Yes, I know, the whole internet is a diversion.)
• Finally, specialization has hit the automotive fish industry. Now your car icthus can have special meaning.  (Including a Southern Baptist fish icon.)

Stay in touch with Paul Wilkinson during the week on Twitter.

Our closing cartoon is rather interesting, don’t you think? The artist is Jess MacCallum and you can click the image to see more.

Wednesday Link List

I’ve checked this week and nobody in the Pentecostal community is organizing a Strange Ice Conference. So far.

The last link listed here this week is to an interview that Chrsitianity Today did with me about a month ago that I didn’t think would ever appear. Speaking of which, you can catch this week’s list at Out of Ur; the individual links will take you there now as well.

• On Monday, the news about American pastor Saeed Abedini, imprisoned in Iran, was not good.
• A bestselling Christian author says that the “Train up a child…” proverb leaves some parents with nothing but disappointment.
• Various Twitter reports say Sarah Bessey‘s book Jesus Feminist is the latest title to be rejected by LifeWay Christian Stores. Kinda makes me want to read it now.
• A respected Missouri pastor is forced to resign from his church for what has got to be the oddest of reasons. (Though currently, he has landed on his feet.)
• Canadian blogger Tim Challies scores an interview with John MacArthur on the recent conference and book.
• A culture writer for Salon says churches wrestling with the gay issue need to look to Joel Osteen for a solution.
• And now will the ushers please come forward? Maybe they should stay put. Giving is near Depression-era levels.
• When something significant takes place in the Christian arena, we need to fight the immediate rush to react with a blog post.
• North Point worship leader and songwriter Eddie Kirkland is pursuing a vision of a different kind of multi-site churches in Atlanta, following a more Anglican model.  I’ll let him tell you.
• Essay of the Week: What to do and say to minister to people caught in sexual sin.
• Op-Ed of the Week: Donald Miller on why the church should be led by common laborers.
• In a world where it’s so quick and easy to send a text, sometimes a personal visit means so much more.
• Part of what makes your favorite restaurant a favorite is its ambiance. What about the ambiance in your home?
• An author you know — albeit under a different name — talks about how, even for people who grew up in church, choosing a church can be a challenge.
• A Church of Christ blogger and The Voice Bible contributor offers some opinions as to why ministers are leaving his denomination…
• …and a musician immersed in modern worship culture notes that in many churches, ‘rock star’ worship leaders don’t last long.
• From Canada’s daily Christian talk show, an intimate interview with Amy Grant.
• Online churches are great, perhaps, until it’s time to partake of the communion elements.
• There’s a certain stigma to eating alone in a restaurant that also applies to taking a solo vacation.
• If we had room for one more article on the Strange Fire Conference, it would undoubtedly be this well-written piece.
• Here’s a review of an IVP book that I believe is important and hope to peruse sometime: Misreading the Scripture with Western Eyes.
• The YWAM School of Animation & Cartooning for Mission has released Coconuts, an eight-minute animated cartoon contextualized for the nation of India.
• We reach back to July for this one, but it’s worth the trip: Here are eight types of people who should not be on your church board.
• Hindsight is always 20/20. Some of the best pieces online are the wisdom of those offering things they would do differently today.
• Five minutes of calm in your busy day: Three years ago the worship arts team at Willow Creek did this musical adaptation of Psalm 139…
• …Or if your tastes run to the other extreme, here’s the new release from Shonlock, We Walk on Water.
• Theology FAQ: Is it possible for a true Christian to blaspheme the Holy Spirit?
• If the saints weren’t part of your spiritual upbringing, this article might resonate.
• World Vision has wanted to create a new youth group program similar to the 30-Hour Famine. Enter Childhood Lost. A veteran youth ministry specialist explains the program’s background.
• Kid Min Department: Here’s a treasure trove of resources for particular Bible stories; essentially an aggregator pointing to other sites related to key Old Testament and New Testament narratives.
• An innovative guy in Georgia had his copy of The Voice Bible rebound to look like a classic.
• Q&A Time: How do we share the gospel with people of other faiths without offending them?
• Labor of Love Department: The Christian Music Artist Profile at New Release Tuesday. A gazillion CCM artists in one  place.
• Finally, thanks to CT for this interview with yours truly, which is also one of the few times my pic has surfaced online.

Yes, blogrolls are now uncool, but if you scroll down the right margin at Thinking Out Loud, for a limited time, there’s a list of a small selection of the places Paul Wilkinson hunts each week for buried treasure.

Wednesday Link List

More newsy stuff this week, rather than blog links per se…I get to play news anchor…

• Tennessee teachers supervising students at the annual See You At The Pole events are in trouble for praying along with the students at the event. “Teachers have not been banned from praying, but if they do – it must be done out of sight and earshot of students, the newspaper reported.”  Read more on this confusing development at The Tennessean.
  
• Young abolitionist Zach Hunter is now 19, and his three books, including the popular Be the Change have been reissued by Zondervan to reflect his current look.  He recently did a guest post at Huffington Post. “When I was 12 I started a campaign to end modern-day slavery. I wasn’t a theological prodigy. I was just an awkward, pre-adolescent kid trying to follow Jesus. I heard about people being bought and sold and abused day in and day out and I couldn’t imagine Jesus being O.K. with it…. Occasionally, I’ve received some criticism about encouraging this kind of passion in my generation. Mostly, it comes from people who share my faith — I’ve even been told, ‘It’s great what you and your friends are doing, but why aren’t you just preaching the gospel when your whole generation is going to hell?‘ …Continue reading at Huff Post…
  
• 

  Never was an event so well-named

  James MacDonald finds himself defending the decision to include T.D. Jakes in next year’s sequel to the one-day Elephant Room Conference.  “I believe modalism is unbiblical and clearly outside confessionalism, but I do not believe it represents Bishop T.D. Jakes’ current thinking. Whether I am right or wrong is something that will be discovered in the Elephant Room where our purpose is, as Pastor Mark [Driscoll] posted, ‘to talk to people rather than about them.'” Read more at James’ blog, Vertical Church.
  
• Oh, and here’s a recent sample of what he’s defending himself against.  Thabiti Anyabwyle writes, “This isn’t on the scale of [John] Piper inviting [Rick] Warren. This is more akin to Augustine inviting Muhammad. This invitation gives a platform to a heretic… Can the Lord squeeze lemonade out of this lemon? Absolutely. I pray He does… What should MacDonald do now? I’m not even sure.” Read more of this at TGC.
  
• If the above word, modalism, is new to you, it was covered on this blog in a lengthy article back in February, Why Are Non-Trinitarians Included Among ‘Christians’?
  
• Mexico considers solving the divorce problem by issuing a marriage license that expires in 24 months. ” Mexico City lawmakers want to help newlyweds avoid the hassle of divorce by giving them an easy exit strategy: temporary marriage licenses… that would allow couples to decide on the length of their commitment, opting out of a lifetime. The minimum marriage contract… could be renewed if the couple stays happy. The contracts would include provisions on how children and property would be handled if the couple splits. ‘The proposal is, when the two-year period is up, if the relationship is not stable or harmonious, the contract simply ends,’ said Leonel Luna, the Mexico City assemblyman who co-authored the bill.” Read the full article at Reuters Faith World.
• Another news story from Reuters Faith World…  A few years back, this was one of the few Christian blogs to look at the ban on minarets (Muslim prayer towers) in Switzerland.  Now the country’s lower parliament has voted to ban face veils as well. “By enacting a ban, Switzerland would follow other European countries such as France, the Netherlands and Belgium which have either already proscribed veils or are debating such measures, sometimes encountering sharp condemnation from civil rights and Islamic groups.”
• The supreme court will not hear a case brought against World Vision in regard to hiring practices.  “The Supreme Court’s denial of certiorari lets stand an August 2010 decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in favor of World Vision and against three employees who were fired after the organization concluded that they did not believe that Jesus Christ is fully God.” More details at Christianity Today.
  
• A Texas oil change shop will service your car for only $19.99 if you will quote John 3:16 from memory.  Legal experts in the state can’t find the owner is in violation of anything from a consumer retail business standpoint.  But one customer didn’t recite the verse and got billed for over $46.  Is this a positive move for the business owner or a liability?  And is it a definite liability for Christians who abhor this evangelism methodology.  Dallas attorney Andy Siegel said,    “The study of Bible has many rewards, [but] I’m not sure if God intended for a lube discount to be among its many riches.”  More, with video at CNN Religion.
• Also at CNN, an in-depth review of Belieber, the book examining the faith factor in the life of pop star Justin Bieber.  The star told Rolling Stone, “I feel I have an obligation to plant little seeds with my fans. I’m not going to tell them, ‘You need Jesus,’ but I will say at the end of my show, ‘God loves you.’ ”  Read more at CNN.
• Time Travel Piece of the Week:  A short word bite from Steven Furtick on Church Hopping, It’s Time to Stop The Hop. “If you’ve fallen into the trap of church hopping, let me encourage you: embrace your place somewhere where God can use you. At the end of your life, God’s not going to be impressed or pleased that you saw what He was doing at ten different churches. He’s going be more pleased that you were a part of what He was doing at one church.”
  
• If you think all the great ministry ideas have been covered, you could always start an underwear ministry.  No, it’s not a reference to Mormon underwear, rather: “Every day with no fanfare, the Union Gospel Mission in Vancouver… receives all kinds of donations… But one recent drop-off was so unique it could not go unnoticed — a donation of 3,500 pairs of men’s underwear. Calgary residents Robb Price and Brent King delivered the gift…the first of 10 deliveries they plan to make at homeless shelters between Vancouver and Halifax. Read more at Christian Week.
• Wrapping it up this week with the graphic that’s been on so many blogs; How The Denominations See Each Other.  The bottom right corner credits this to ThomasTheDoubter.com where it was posted on September 15th, and also to the Subtle Designer blog, where it’s described as being a copy of a similar infographic done about higher education.  (You might need to switch to full screen.) Enjoy!

When Better Isn’t Necessarily Better

I live an hour east of Toronto, Canada in a town of about 16,000 which is somewhat twinned to a town of 18,500.  Between the two towns, not a lot happens, especially if we’re talking events of interest to the Christian community.  So when World Vision offered to include our area on its recent “Couples Night Out” tour, it was an offer not to be refused. The event featured Christian author and humorist Phil Callaway who probably spoke for at least an hour, but could have gone longer without anyone noticing.  And all for only $5 per couple.

Phil Callaway

Because Callaway is such a great communicator, the sponsoring local church decided to hold the event in a neutral auditorium, in this case the hotel next door; figuring that this would make it easier for people to invite “their non-churched friends” than having the event in a church building.  I don’t know to what extent people bought into that concept, but the event sold out all 400 seats, and Phil’s spoken content was, in one spot, definitely evangelistic.

Then someone stepped up with an idea to go one better, and use the banquet facilities of the hotel to offer a selection of desserts; a big change from an intermission that would, at best, consist of drinking coffee in a chuch lobby.  The dessert buffet was a gigantic and unexpected spread; even at 9:00 PM, I could have skipped dinner and simply waited for this.

It was a great evening, which also featured Jay Calder, who I can’t describe except to say that “classical guitarist” is too limiting to define what he does with the instrument.

But there was one catch. I mean, if you read this blog regularly, you knew there has to be a catch, right?

The intermission is the time for responding to the World Vision appeal for child sponsorships. That is the primary purpose of the evening. And the organizers were “disappointed” in the results at this particular event.

That’s because during the time we were supposed to be thinking about our response to the needs of hungry children, we were filling our stomachs with — among other things — chocolate dipped strawberries, bread pudding and banana crepes.

While I’m not a huge fan of the organization, I keep thinking that we went home full while World Vision came up empty.