Wednesday Link List

I keep thinking the title of this game implies that it focuses more on the edgy, racier stuff in the Bible.

As of 12:24 this morning, it’s officially summer in the Northern Hemisphere. Welcome to WLL #364. I guess you know what that means? Right. Next week is WLL #365.

• Something major taking place at Harvest Bible Chapel and Harvest Bible Fellowship. James MacDonald and his church are no longer part of the latter.
• House Churches in China: First things first — they don’t meet in houses. Here’s an update from a few days ago posted by a Christian statesman I am privileged to know. His overview of the state of Christianity in China will surprise you.
• Essay of the Week: The church is remaining relatively silent on the biomedical ethics of current reproductive technology.
• Quotation of the Week: “The unspoken assumption in the books, sermons, and conferences targeting missional-minded evangelicals is that the city—prior to white, hip church planters—is a foreign mission field, pristine and untouched by the work of the Lord.” Quoted within the article: “Any kind of language that implies that God’s work or God’s plan starts when we arrive … is indicative not only of terrible theology, but of white Christian exceptionalism, the oppressive belief that the correct kind salvation and healing can only be facilitated through us, on our terms with our methods—and us always happens to be white missionaries, white pastors, and white churches.”  (I could keep going — a must read!)…
• …Related: 9 Reasons to connect with cities…
• …Also from Chuck Lawless: An interesting article about 12 types of people who seem to be a rather enigmatic internal contradiction and also happen to be a great blessing to their pastor and church.
• They aren’t sure about white supremacists, but LGBT people have no place at the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual shindig.
• I decided to use this at Christianity 201 as well, but here’s an alternative reading to the idea of Adam giving names to all the animals.
• Quiz Department: Yes, we told you if you kept reading the link list, eventually there would be a test. Ten questions on “the story of Jesus in the Old Testament.” The average score is only 50%. 
• Provocative Headline of the Week: Enough ‘Virgin the Volcano’ Theology.
  
• Approaching its first anniversary on July 7th, Ken Ham’s Answers in Genesis ministry is reporting low attendance figures at The Ark Encounter.
• Parenting Place: Although he didn’t write it for parents, Stephen Altrogge’s account of a post-Christian-camp spiritual high followed by a dramatic crash is a cycle all too familiar to many of us. With post-camp syndrome, returning to the real world is tough. There’s often a need to experience assurance of salvation.
• Go Deeper: “Civil religion, then, is the strange brew that results when Christianity gets mixed up and confused with the state. On this account, ‘civil religion’ is the end of true religion; it’s the name we give our compromise and assimilation…But we want to suggest there are still other expressions of civil religion that deserve serious consideration because, as implausible as it might seem, civil religion is an irreplaceable moral source of civil society…In fact, reconsidering civil religion is necessary precisely because civil religion is inevitable. It’s not a question of whether we have a civil religion, but which.” The author is James K. A. Smith.
• Worship Workshop: We’ve often quoted or linked to David Santistevan at Beyond Sunday Worship. Now, he and his family are hitting the road and are available for workshops and speaking engagements at churches; maybe including yours. Speaking of David…
• …Here’s a runner-up for Quotation of the Week: A recent concert “reminded me that it’s possible for us to be moved by sound and melody in corporate worship but not moved by the cross… feelings alone don’t equal worship. The warm fuzzies are not the Holy Spirit. Our affectionate, emotional response needs to be rooted in the revealed Word of God. Sometimes I fear we love worship more than we love Jesus.”
• YMin: “A youth pastor told me he was missing some of his core teenagers on Easter Sunday morning. They were playing in a school volleyball tournament…Our crumbling culture increasingly will call teenagers to give their Sunday mornings to academic, artistic and athletic competitions and activities. For the moment, traveling sports teams are a special concern, often pulling teenagers out of church for six or more Sundays. Managers pressuring teenagers to work Sunday mornings also are an issue. All this should concern believing parents…”
• Tough Decision: After enduring 18 months of her husband’s substance abuse and infidelity, popular Christian author Lysa TerKeurst has finally filed for divorce after nearly 25 years of marriage.
• Is “Listener supported” K-LOVE accepting “paid underwriting” or what you and I might call paid advertising? Aren’t the stations licensed as “non commercial” outlets?
  
• Putting the fun back in funeral: Ghana’s fantasy coffins.
  
• For Pastors Only: How to create great sermon titles.
• Calvinist Corner: Yes, we’re an equal opportunity link list, but we couldn’t decide among the most recent topics at Reformed Answers.
• Thinking in English: Our language blocks us from seeing how 94% of the world population perceives and processes everything.
• One of the most interesting Christian events — the Wild Goose Festival — happens July 13-16 in North Carolina. It’s like a Greenbelt Festival for North Americans…
• …As for Greenbelt itself, looking at the 2017 lineup is a window into a world of speakers and musicians Canadians and Americans have never heard of. Yet.
• ♫ New Music: Actually, this has been on Australia’s Hot 25 Countdown of Christian music (see full chart below *) for 13 weeks. #7 This week is Closer by Gawvi from the album We Belong. 
• ♫ New Music: Another one from Down Under that’s been on their chart for 15 weeks, but it’s new to us. #15 is If I Trust You by Joel Vaughn from the album Surrender.
• ♫ New Music: Okay, this one is really new. A pick hit from the Australia countdown chart this is Gloria by Stephen Christian from the album Wildfires. 
• ♫ New Music: I didn’t want the American Christian music establishment to feel left out, so here’s Word of Life, the new single from Jeremy Camp. (Posted just days ago.)
  
• Not too late to read: Author Mark Buchanan posted this in April, but it was new to us, so… It’s the story of how his dad stopped drinking and how we’re all thirsty for something.
• Canada Corner: Congratulations to 100 Huntley Street, Canada’s daily Christian talk show, which celebrated its 40th anniversary last week. (Here’s a reflection from someone who was there.)
• Book Review: Most of his writing is about travel or politics, so why is a guy reviewing a romance novel?
• Stephen Colbert reunites with an actress with whom he did a pilot, but around the 4:00 mark, the conversation with Judy Greer turns religious.
• What can I say about this week’s Phil Vischer Podcast? Jo Saxton was back talking about missional communities. Oh, and Phil and Skye had a lot of fun.
• Finally, if it was good enough for him, it’s good enough for you. Own the Apostle Paul’s KJV.

See y’all next week!

 

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*Referenced in the links this week: Australia’s Hot 25 Countdown. An Aussie equivalent to 20 The Countdown Magazine.

 

Wednesday Link List

Because prosperity gospel churches can always use an offering liturgy.

This was the link list that almost didn’t happen as my version of Firefox crashed on Tuesday night. My wife theorizes that the problem originated with my anti-virus program (Avast) just as did on her computer (AVG). She thinks the incompatibilities with Windows 10 are intentional to make people switch to Windows Defender, the program now running on both of our computers. Still, we did have some time to get some of the links ready for market; hope you enjoy them.

• Before we get to the serious stuff, we need to rank all the pictures of Adam and Eve by hotness. (Images are clickable for the full view.) 
• Not Even 15 Minutes of Fame: She has spreadsheets showing the largest mainline churches in the U.S. but it contains few familiar names. Where are the mainline celebrities?
  
• Provocative Headline of the Week: Yes, There’s an American Christian Taliban.
  
• The mom doesn’t practice any particular religion. The dad is a Jehovah’s Witness. The son is six years old and is getting freaked out by JW animated videos like Obey Jehovah. The court agreed to place some restrictions on the boy’s JW input. 
• Young, Restless and Reformed: A “Where are they now” look at the key YRR leaders featured in the 2008 book of the same name. 
• On June 28th, Shane Claiborne et al want to put the death penalty on trial.
  
• The SBC’s latest pet Bible project, the Christian Standard Bible uses gender-neutral language that some Baptists would have considered heretical not too long ago…
• …Speaking of the SBC, the census results are in and they’re not good news: One million members gone over the past ten years. (And that doesn’t include adherents, people who didn’t request or were ineligible for membership.)…
• …Of course, you can reverse that trend if you can get existing churches to switch brands. That’s what happened with Greg Laurie’s Harvest Bible Fellowship in Riverside California, leaving Calvary Chapel to become an SBC church…
• …But a CT article goes much further in dissecting the move from what it calls a “charismatic” church to the SBC, and also the political implications in the Trump era. 
• When Churches Close — The Spinoffs: The Open Door shelter in downtown Montreal is fighting for survival with the close of its host church.
  
• A different type of venue: A pastor in an upscale urban Toronto neighborhood shares his experiences in starting a Theology Pub.
  
• Evangelism Extra: You may be doing it wrong; five ways not to present the gospel.
  
• Don’t think for a minute that short-term missions excursions prepares anyone for vocational full-time missions. Here are four differences you can expect to experience…
• …On the same blog a look at what it’s like to move in the opposite direction — back to the U.S. — and how to stay in ministry mode in what has become a foreign environment.
  
• Sign in the Window: What a win looks like for pro-choice.
• Another pastor, another set of charges involving kids…
• …and there’s a verdict in the TBN case.  An update on Dr. Russell D (for “denied access”) Moore. We wanted to bring you a Wall Street Journal article in this space that was pay-walled, but you’ll find most of it in a close-up examination at Get Religion.
  
• Publish or Perish: The ups and downs in a typical week for a Christian literary agency. (This blog, if you take a full half-day to read through, is a great crash course in writing and publishing.) 
• Podcast of the Week: Apologist David Wood was June 10th’s guest.
  
• What they were reading: A look at the classics which influenced classic writers.
  
• Justin Brierley makes a third-time appearance on Phil Vischer Podcast #256.
  
• Returning the Favor: ” Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University and a vocal supporter of President Trump, will be part of a planned task force on higher education.”
• Church Website Design: Here’s some free advice as well as links to free fonts and free stock images. 
• How to Die: The writer of this piece suggests that sometimes using the nomenclature of a “Celebration of Life” we fail to give people all that should be entailed in a proper burial.
  
• November is a long time to wait: Everybody’s favorite Aspie in Christian radio has a new book releasing in time for Christmas.
• ♫ Old Music: My new favorite radio station; the CCM I grew up with commercial free at CCM Rewound.
• ♫ New Music: In Awe from the artist known simply as Hollyn. (Find her real name.)
• Current Events: The Jewish side of Batman. 
• Twenty-somethings: Get to know this author. She’s only 22, and has a book deal with Thomas Nelson. (Why I Didn’t Rebel releases October 3rd.)
  
• No Brainer: I mean, who wouldn’t want wealthy professionals attending their church?
• A full Saeed update: But you might want to turn your speakers off first, this website has the most annoying autoplay videos. The article is quite thorough, however.
  
• Married: Blimey Cow’s Jordan Taylor introduces his wife to his band of YouTube followers, but you’ll have to scroll down in the description to find out her first name. 
• If you want to sell Coca Cola in Mennonite country, you need to put names like Abe and Nettie on the bottles.
  
• To serve and protect you from being late to your own wedding: This bride arrived in the back of a Greenville, NC squad car. 
• Finally, in a two-minute video, Pat Robertson makes it clear that Polygamy is “the Biblical order of the New Testament;” but it was the case that “the culture changed” but “God didn’t change his mind.” He adds, “I’m not sure I know anything in the Bible that indicates that polygamy as such is against the Bible.” (The co-host makes an epic recovery.)
  

Wednesday Link List

First of all, this was a Weekend Link List weekend. About 15 really, really good links. So pause for a moment and go to Saturday to catch up.  As to this list: Recommended processing time is 18 minutes.

• The problem with women’s Bible studies: “Here is where our study failed to teach the Word of God. The stories and verses were taken from the Bible, for sure, but the stories were not understood in light of Christ. In an effort to speak to women, the story began and ended with women. The words were ripped from their Christocentric purpose and simply placed over the mess of my own life.”  
• In one of his more brilliant moments, Jim Bakker connects the dots between Donald Trump, The Ringling Brothers Circus and the last days. (Do not be drinking coffee as you listen to this 4-minute video.)
  
• For me at least, dropping 70,000 plastic eggs from a helicopter for Easter was just too reminiscent of the turkey drop by WKRP Radio.
• House sharing. Just like they did in Acts 2. In an affordable housing meeting, this proclamation: “[T]he days of low income people living on their own in a single dwelling are over for our town.” …
• …Which is a good place to think about the meaning of “intentional Christian community” and take another look at Rod Dreher’s “Benedict Option;” this response by Roger Olsen is to the CT article, not the full book.
• “As the people of Manchester expressed grief and defiance [Saturday] night, there was a very palpable sense of faith in a resurrection. The message of the Bible that death ultimately is not the end is the best hope there is in the face of evil and terror.” Six hope-filled moments in the concert. 
• A music professor at Wheaton looks back 50 years to Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, an album which changed the face of popular music.
  
• LoveWorldUSA is the name of a new Christian cable network being launched by Benny Hinn and Nigerian pastor Chris Oyakhilome starting on July 4th.
• Parenting Place (1): One parent’s suggested rules for when they get their driver’s license.
• Parenting Place (2): A look at the Unfundamentalist Parenting blog and progressive Christianity in general…
• …So, needless to say, this got our curiosity revving up and we decided to check out Unfundamentalist Parenting for ourselves.
• Two by Two: The Mormon Church is conducting a survey of its 62,000 missionaries to find out more about their level of safety while serving including “harassment, including obscene gestures, catcalls, exposure or stalking. It wants to know if respondents have been grabbed, groped, kissed or otherwise sexually assaulted — and, if so, when and where.“
• Behind the Bible Story: A look at the five stones David picked up before facing Goliath.
• ♫ The increasing problem of adult language on otherwise Christian music songs.
• ♫ Catching up with CeCe Winans. She’s co-pastoring a church and releasing her first album in 9 years.
• Why Vehicular Jihad? For David Wood, the answer is quite simple. A 12-minute video.
• The Future Father-in-law talk: “Hardship? Suffering? Martyrdom? All dumb things to say to convince a Daddy to part with his baby girl… How NOT to ask for a woman’s hand in marriage.”
• Apologetics Alley: Understanding the moral argument for God.
• Testimony: From stubborn observer to all-in participant. “Charismatics didn’t invent the hand-raising posture. It’s been around for a long time, an embodied posture that connects Christians across the centuries as much singing or kneeling or eating and drinking the communion elements.” A look at the orant posture.
  
• In 1996 a Nobel prize winner “showed that easier access to contraception could lead to an increase in risky sexual behaviour. This in turn could result in an increase in teenage pregnancies, rather than a decrease.” Have recent stats in the UK proved him right?
• The catacombs uncovered: “It is a myth that Christians buried their dead underground in secrecy, the academics said. The reason they dug catacombs was to accommodate thousands of dead bodies, while only paying tax on the surface area of the land…[T]he Catacombs of St Domitilla… extend for more than 10 miles on four underground levels.” See what laser technology has restored.
• Canada Corner: In what seems like a revolving door of on air talent, the country’s best known Christian talk show, 100 Huntley Street welcomed a new co-host with much television experience, and a new Bible teaching segment by the pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel Oakville. The latter announcement especially is part of a long-running movement of the program away from its Pentecostal/Charismatic roots.
• Leadership Lessons: A look at the book Looking for a New Pastor by the SBC’s Frank S. Page…
• …Or how about a book review consisting almost entirely of short excerpts? Check out this look at Reset by David Murray…
• …In the third of our book review trilogy, a look at the microeconomics of the prosperity gospel in Zambia.
• Podcast of the Week: Mark Gungor looks at “kissing dating goodbye” and “withholding sex as a grounds for divorce.” Select the show for 06-05-17 and keep the kids out of the room. (If you’ve never heard Mark before, be prepared for some surprises.) (No, really keep the kids out of the room.) (And lock the door.) (And use headphones.)
• At the end of the month, the Mega-Fest in Dallas includes a rare appearance by Singapore pastor Joseph Prince.
• Women in Ministry: 8 strategies for breaking your church out of a patriarchal paradigm.
• Non-music Video of the Week: Skye Jethani’s talk at Q on the connection between identity and vocation.
• J. Warner Wallace on evaluating alleged Bible contradictions. (Sample: #5 — Don’t Confuse Imprecision with Error — The Bible was written at a time when the culture commonly used general figures or descriptions to discuss more specific issues. This is particularly true when the Bible discusses numbers. As a matter of cultural device, specific numbers are often rounded off.)  
• In praise of artists: Seven ways in which creatives bless the church.
  
• 5 reasons for clerical collars and honorifics (i.e. using Reverend or Pastor before the person’s name.) Have we become too casual? Or was the young pastor just looking for a little respect?
  
• Provocative Headline of the Week: Is It More Masculine To Fix A Car Or Fold The Laundry?
• Why people don’t sing?
  “We’ve minimized the congregation’s role.
  We’ve changed our focus from disciplined, intentional music-making to creating emotional responses.
  We’ve stopped training musicians.
  We’ve chosen songs written for solo performance.
  We’ve stopped giving the musicians among us the resources they need to apply their abilities.
  We’ve chosen instrumentation that doesn’t support a congregation.” …Read more.
• ♫ The Hip Hop duo known as Grits is back…after seven years.
• ♫ For the first few hours last Wednesday I messed up the link to the song by Iron Bell Music. So we’ll make it up to them by offering you a listen to another song, God That Saves.
• Word of the Day: Apatheist — A person who thinks the question of God’s existence is irrelevant and unimportant.
• Kids Korner: Creation Club looks at things lurking in the oceans.
• Zondervan and Thomas Nelson are quietly making some changes to the typeface (font) used on their Thinline Bibles. This will result in a complete relaunch of the Bibles in October, in three different translations.
• Finally, from Lutheran Satire (again, make sure no kids are in the room.)
  

But wait, there’s more!  Again, this was a Weekend Link List weekend. If you’re done here, go to Saturday for the good stuff!.

Wednesday Link List

Some great news and opinion pieces to end the month of May. The Wednesday List Lynx (pictured) welcomes you. If you follow me on Twitter, you know there’s always music playing on my computer. We have lots of ♫ this week for you!

• For ten years, the UK’s Justin Brierley has been moderating debates between Christians and atheists on a Christian radio network. And the atheists still haven’t converted him. In this 80-minute conference podcast, he shares his story in celebration of a book launch.
• First they came for the Jehovah’s Witnesses and I did nothing because I wasn’t a JW. That was my perspective reading this story of a Danish national arrested during a worship service in what Russia now considers an extremist organization.
• “For far too long, it was considered normal for white men to lead in areas like publishing, podcasting, mission agencies and apologetics, just to name a few.” Ain’t that the truth. This essay examines what it’s like to be a Black female Evangelical. 
• Investigative Article of the Week: Ever heard of The Founders? Founders Ministries? This article spells out who this group is and identifies their aims. (God help us when we have an agenda that’s not from Him.)  
• Hard to read: Michelle, wife of Nabeel Qureshi gives her perspective on her husband’s illness.
  
• Essay of the Week: Follow up on the pregnant Christian high school student who chose life over abortion but was denied the opportunity to graduate with her class…
• …Which is a good lead-in to Angie Weszely’s appearance on this week’s Phil Vischer Podcast offering at a non-political solution to the abortion debate…
• …Also, be sure not to miss the two minute video at ProGrace.org.
  
• When it comes to Bible translations, this translator humbly requests you stop using the word ‘literal’ or ‘literally.’
  
• Parenting Place: For parents of older children this time, a look at what to do when your daughter marries the person you considered the wrong guy. 
• Sermon of the Week: John Mark Comer on Intercessory Prayer (part 3 of a series.)
  
• Expensive Bibles (1): The Alabaster Bible, a four volume set of the four gospels in the NLT on thick, uncoated paper stock with a photo on every page. “Instead of avoiding visual distractions, Alabaster purposefully incorporates symbolic imagery in the form of fine art photography.” It’s only $100, but the writer of this piece is second-guessing the cost.
• Expensive Bibles (2): Not to miss out on all that’s trending (Bibliothecha, et al) Zondervan has set October 24th as the release date for the NIV Solo Scriptura Bible Project, a four volume hardcover set also priced at $100. (The name means, “This Bible alone; there is no more room on the shelf.”) 
• Christian Movies: In theaters August 25th, watch a 4-minute preview of All Saints.
  
• Leadership Lessons: This week, a book review. I think he really, really enjoyed this title… 
• …Another book review: Arguing that it’s the ascension of Christ which is the climax of the story.
  
• A Before and After Story: “I was always a staunch atheist – I loved R[eligious] E[ducation] at school because I could see the holes in every argument, I studied philosophy of religion and ethics at a-level and I was always the strongest of atheists.” That was then. Enjoy reading her testimony.
• “Child marriage? That’s what happens in Bangladesh or Tanzania, not America!” But it did. And it does. The New York Times story beings, “When she was a scrawny 11-year-old, Sherry Johnson found out one day that she was about to be married to a 20-year-old member of her church who had raped her.” (Note: Snopes.com has objected to this story as not being current.)
  
• A few weeks ago we did a piece on some of the ‘original’ Christian bloggers who inspired me, including one called FlowerDust. Today we learn that writer is stepping down, as Anne Marie Miller writes her final blog post.
• ♫ New Music: Kingdom Break Through by Nate Marialke. Be among the first to watch this!
• ♫ New Music: The title song from The War is Over by Josh Baldwin of Bethel Music.
• ♫ New Music: From Louisville, Kentucky; Belong to You (Enemy Can’t) by Iron Bell Music.
• ♫ New Music: From the land down under, Won My Heart by Emu Music. (Cue the dog.)
• ♫ Old Music: Chuck Girard sings Our Lives Are In Your Hands. Classic from CCM’s earliest days.
• Waterbrook Press author Boris Vujicic, father of Nick Vujicic has died.
• Corn Flakes. Yes, it’s a religion-based story. And really well written. And it’s got Millennials in it. But it’s mostly about Kellogg’s Corn Flakes and the Seventh Day Adventists.
• It’s just black and white. It’s not that visually interesting. But then again, if you think of the purpose of an infographic, it’s perfect. Gideon vs. Midian: A tale of two armies. 
• Travel (1): Normally it’s sad when a church closes, but this building was re-purposed in a manner consistent with its former use…
• …Travel (2) On the other hand, there’s nothing like showing up as a tourist in a church, but doing so during an actual worship service.
  
• This guy is right, things have been very quiet on the Russell Moore front lately.
• Another youth pastor abusing students, but this high profile church immediately contacted authorities.
• Finally, this premise: “There comes a time in every Christian’s life when you must prayerfully consider which CCM artists you could defeat in a street fight.”
  

Wednesday Link List

Above: Typing in tongues. A real page of Tim Keller sermon notes from which he preached a real sermon.

If today’s list ends up a bit short, it’s because I was busy playing Fiery Darts 2 “an Arcade Style game in which you maneuver Methuselah, and collect Biblical Prizes, while avoiding the Fiery Darts of the enemy.” (There’s even a DOS version available!)

• Values in Conflict: “She has a 4.0 average at Heritage Academy, the small private Christian school she attends; played on the soccer team; and served as president of the student council.” But the 18 year old is banned from graduating with her class because she is pregnant. The New York Times notes that anti-abortion group Students for Life “argues that she should be lauded, not punished, for her decision to keep her baby.”
• Flunked out of Confirmation class? Should some of the kids be turned down? Should 100% of people who apply for believer’s Baptism be accepted? You’re going to need to read the comments on this one to get answers.
• Best Podcast Guest List Ever: Where has this been all my life? It’s called Seminary Dropout, though the guests aren’t necessarily so, though the host admits to being one. Scroll down the right margin for a list of guests. (Seriously, I’m going to have to listen to all of these.) Also on iTunes.
• Calling it “excruciatingly painful to watch” the author nonetheless is encouraging pastor to watch all 13 episodes of 13 Reasons Why on Netflix. “…[P]arents, teachers, counselors, youth workers: 13 Reasons Why is a conversation waiting to happen, the strangest of gift horses plopped right in front of us.  While the topics are still fresh in their minds, parents can catch up and take advantage of the opportunity to engage in dialogue about high school culture and the way individual students respond to it.”
• Summer in the City: Official celebrations have kicked off in Martin Luther’s hometown Wittenberg celebrating 500 years of the Reformation.
• Essay of the Month: The essay we felt was most worth reading this week came in a different form; a one-year-later health update from Zach Hunt. Sample: “I’m convinced now more than ever that the lines we try to draw around when and where and how and through whom God can act aren’t just an exercise in futility. They’re an act of blasphemy.”
• Concert Politics: Hillsong’s concert in Caesarea is ruined for this attender when the people on stage seem to be denying the possibility of Palestinian Christians.
• Matthew Vines is adamant that, “The global church will be fully LGBTQ affirming.” Much hinges on interpretation of scripture, and not every church which invites him to speak necessarily embraces the totality of his vision. 
• Finance Department: You’ve heard of ethical bond market funds, right? Get ready for religious ETFs. Securities are monitored for “alignment with biblical values.”
  
• Dialing for Doctrine: A search for middle ground on the spectrum between Hyper-Calvinism and Pure Arminianism.
• Church Growth: This church went from 500 to 2900. 23-minute video podcast at unSeminary.
• Church Planting: “58% of church plants in Canada never become self-supporting…The days of expecting a church plant to reach maturity in three years are gone.” 
• Timothy Mackie and Jonathan Collins of The Bible Project guest this week on Phil Vischer. (No excerpt though, so if you don’t know what this is, watch this first.) Fast forward to 19:18.  
• Provocative Headline of the Week: A Creationist Sues the Grand Canyon for Religious Discrimination.
• Worship Workshop (1): Before there was contemporary worship and traditional worship, there was simply worship.
• Worship Workshop (2): 8 Common worship leading mistakes.
• Expensive Bibles (1): The Museum of the Bible has issued a $¼M (US) grant for the publication of a transcription of the Pauline Epistles.
• Expensive Bibles (2): The website Homebrewed Christianity is giving away not one, but two sets of the very esoteric Bible edition known as Biblioteca. (How’d they swing that?) Open to June 6th; winners to be announced June 7th.
• Listicle of the Week: 7 Things C. S. Lewis Didn’t Say. (One of these surprised me. Not saying which.)
• Bell Bashing: The best ChurchLeaders.com could do is simply mirror a book review The Gospel Coalition did of Rob Bell’s What is the Bible? so you know ahead of time how this ends. Ironically, the review is probably more speculative than anything Bell wrote. (Why would they even bother reviewing it?) …
• … Well, one reviewer enjoyed it; giving Bell an opportunity to respond to potential critics.
• “Blessed are the peacemakers… ” — a great verse to have on police patrol cars, right? Not in a country that enshrines the idea of separation of church and state.
• Wisdom of the Week: “The New Testament writers wrote and advised the church as if the most important stuff in their lives was happening in the churches and not in the halls of governmental powers.”
• You play a background role on Sunday mornings. You’ve never been on the platform. Nobody knows you. However, “Although you may not have the title of ‘worship leader’ you are actually a leader of worship nonetheless.”
• Devotional Illustration: Imagine a young Helen Keller suddenly realizing there was a means to connect her inner world to those outside. “Objects had names. Sensations could be described. Helen finally had a way to communicate from her dark, silent cell.” The lesser-known person behind the transformation.
• Parenting Place: Real reasons why your child is special.
• At no extra charge: My personal Twitter wisdom.
• Young Adult Fiction Department: This YA novel was written by a longtime friend who currently attends our church. It’s available through all the usual suspects in paperback, hardcover and eBook.
• ♫ At the Billboard Music Awards, Lauren Daigle won top Christian artist, while Hillary Scott and the Scott Family won top Christian song for “Thy Will.” Complete list of winners.
• ♫ Hit the Road, Jack! Making last minute summer travel plans? Here’s your complete list of Summer 2017 Christian music festivals in the U.S.
• ♫ Snoop Dog has announced he’s making a gospel album. I love how the music writers frame this: Snoop Dogg is taking it to chuuch and The Doggfather details his next plans. 
• Infographic of the Week: Lumping Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons together is like comparing Star Wars to Star Trek.
  

Vintage Photo: Francis Chan talks to Tommy Smothers of the Smothers Brothers.

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These days you can never be sure if the sign is real or generated, but either way this is brilliant.

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In this case, what exactly do they mean by reveal?

Wednesday Link List

If it turns out this week’s list is shorter than most, keep in mind that on Saturday we had a Weekend Link List. Above: Church Meme Committee. Below: Mike Morgan’s long running comic, For Heaven’s Sake. (click images to link.)

• Roma Downey has produced a documentary on the situation in Syria, in particular the Christian genocide that is taking place. Faithkeepers will be shown in American churches next Tuesday, May 23rd…
• …But a Syrian Orthodox Priest says that Evangelicals in Syria are trying to convert their people.
• Breaking this week: “A Kentucky appeals court ruled on Friday that a Kentucky printer had the right to turn down orders that would have promoted messages contrary to his faith.” The company does custom printing on T-shirts and had been asked to produce shirts for the Lexington Pride Festival.
• Who will be the next Billy Graham? The question has already been answered…by Graham himself. (However I thought the title of the article was a bit… ) 
• Quotation of the Week: “Southern Baptist seminaries, along with some Reformed ones, are cranking out New Calvinist clones at an alarming rate.” Al Mohler’s response in the video sample is reminiscent of ‘to whom else can we turn?’
  
• Essay of the Week: See above.  
• The spiritual benefits of travel: “Traveling exposes us to the fullness of God’s creation, and gives us a deeper appreciation for what God has made.” A beneficiary of much world exposure realizes it’s time to instill that love for “the greatest form of education.”
  
• Five reasons why God “very probably” exists. 
• Leadership Lessons: Ministry to the people who serve at your church and thereby miss the worship service itself. (Admittedly this is an advertorial, but raises a good point.)
  
• Missions Moment: The difference the Little Daughters of St. Joseph are making to health care in Rwanda.
  
• Who do you think you are? That’s a question that many women online writers have probably fielded at least once. A recent RNS article suggests their existence “spawns an Evangelical ‘crisis of authority.'”
• Zondervan author John Mark Comer is this weeks Phil Vischer Podcast guest. (Fast forward to 17:51) (Read more about the book.)
  
• 5 Ways evangelism has changed: These days it takes longer, involves greater humility and requires a lot more listening than talking. 
• Rob Bell on the Old Testament: “So many people read what’s called the Old Testament or more accurately the Hebrew Scriptures and they’re like, why is there all this violence? One of the answers is because the editors of these stories want you to see the futility of violence.” More of the interview at Relevant.
• A look at The Gospel Coalition on the gospel.
  
• From the Link List Archives: “The whole universe was in a dark, dense space…”
  
• Video of the Week: In this view, Christians talking to Christians is teaching whereas Christians talking to an audience including non-Christians is preaching. The title? Why the church sucks at teaching. 
• ♫ Music video of the Week: Beckah Shae decided to give Ed Sheeran’s song Shape of You a Christian makeover.
  
• Banning corporal punishment is again in the news. This time it’s Scotland, where the move to ban smacking would criminalize parents.
• Just in time of Mother’s Day … 2018: Contemporary Christian Music artists with crazy recording and touring schedules talk about balancing career and motherhood.
• A C&MA Worship Pastor in Calgary, Alberta is charged in the murder of his 3-month old son.
  
• Memorabilia of the Week: They listened “with careful consideration” but decided the band was not for them.  
• The faith-focused film Generational Sins opens in August and contains 32 uses of profanity along with references to child abuse and alcoholism. “It’s an accurate portrayal of brokenness and sin, and some Christians will opt out.”
  
• Listening to as I write this: Jeremy Myers’ 20-minute teaching on Jonah’s prayer.
  
• Parents of students at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Maryland received confirmation that Barron Trump will be attending there this fall.
• Canada Corner: Looks like a restructuring, but there are currently several job openings at The Canadian Bible Society.
  
• The Christian Small Publishers Book of the Year Awards is now simply the Christian Indie Awards. The report notes that, “between 2010 and 2015, the number of independent or self-published books grew over 400%.”  
• Bee of the Week: I choose this one because of the very high plausibility factor.
  
• Finally, the official word on whether Jesus is Democrat or Republican from someone who knows firsthand: “I’ve seen things, guys.  I’ve watched Him decide SBC presidents and Dove Award winners and break the tie on who gets to be senior class president at tiny Christian schools where there’s only 12 people in the entire class…” Best line, “Listen, it’s not that simple.”
  

Wednesday Link List

There’s this one blogger who totally hates everything unless it was written by John MacArthur, and every once in awhile I go on her weekend link list and I find things she is totally opposed to and find that, from my perspective, they are things worth celebrating and I include them here…

…For the above image a shoutout to Clark Bunch who wouldn’t share the origin of this $43 clothing item with his own readers, but clicking it here might yield something. 

One last thing: There’s some great stuff here this week. Please allow an extra few minutes to click more of these links than you might usually.

• For Starters: I really appreciate the detailed research done by sites like Spiritual Sounding Board and The Wartburg Watch. In today’s link, TWW narrates the story of a pastor intent on converting a Baptist church into something it never was, something inspired by the teaching of Mark Dever and 9Marks. This story has enough ugliness to make me not want to link to it at all, and yet its value as a serious cautionary tale cannot be overlooked.
• Essay of the Week: Preston Sprinkle looks at his current role as an ‘expert’ on all things LGBTQ and explains why he couldn’t justify simply “expanding” the Biblical definition of marriage to include same sex couples. 
• Testimony of the Week: This is a must-read. “When church leaders sit around and discuss how they can reach people, I don’t think they have the widow in mind. I don’t think they have the cancer patient in mind. I don’t think they have the children who are growing up without a parent in mind.” The writer wants to the church to be a place where she hears the word of God, not a place to drink freshly brewed coffee.
  
• “And the main point of the Old Testament is…”  Peter Enns brings an answer I wasn’t expecting. 
• Time Travel: Today we go back in time to ask the Apostle Paul for his views on the rapture. He replies, “The what?” The New Testament writers would contend it represents a misreading of the text…
• …On the other hand more solid textual evidence exists for the doctrine of the age of accountability.
  
• Evangelism: Some of our best Evangelical strategies are exactly the things that turn off Australians. (If nothing else, take a few minutes to study the infographics.) 
• Recommended Reading: How the developmentally challenged better respond to liturgical worship.
  
• Rachel Held Evans tracks people on the front lines of being Christian and transgender.
  
• New Project: Stephen Altrogge launches a series of 21 devotional videos titled Good News of Great Joy.
• Even with recent downsizing of the San Diego project, the Legacy Vision Center will feature “rock wall-lined Roman catacombs…; a replica of Jerusalem’s wailing wall; a domed motion-seat theater featuring 4D-style biblical films produced by Disney alums — and a holographic greeting from Morris Cerullo and his wife Theresa.”
• Book Review: A look at all six gazillion pages of Greg Boyd’s Crucifixion of the Warrior God.
  
• As mainline, historic churches close what happens to the pipe organs? This article profiles one worth $500,000, but is quick to add that 450 other instruments are awaiting adoption.
• Changing Culture: A UK study notes that social and health care professionals there are failing to report underage sexual activity by children as young as eleven. The report’s author notes “the normalization of underage sex has been identified repeatedly in the serious case reviews as a reason for the complacency of child protection agencies;” adding “We should be wary of any approach to sex and relationships education that is reluctant to declare anything ‘wrong’.”
• Shauna Niequist joins the world of podcasters as part of the Relevant Podcast Network. Don’t have iTunes? Use this link instead to the debut episode. 
• This blogger would contend that the phrase “had an affair” when it concerns a pastor is to soften the seriousness of the sexual abuse…
• …while this article deals with cleaning up the after-effects of a pastor’s moral failure.
  
• This article totally offended me.
• Book Excerpt of the Week: In this review of The Power of Imperfection, the author bridges from an anecdote about her kids to the larger story of caring for her husband.
• Many authors, including some Christian writers, self published with Tate Publishing and Enterprises. Last week the state of Oklahoma filed eight felony charges against Ryan and Richard Tate. 
• Is there a Doctor in the house? According to this 2015 article I discovered, not all pastors, Christian authors or televangelists who use the Dr. honorific really have earned doctorate degrees. Most are, at best, rather sketchy diplomas. 
• This isn’t new, but I just noticed that Reformed Christians have their own online dating site. “All of our members…hold to the Doctrines of Grace.” They really aren’t part of the rest of us are they?
  
• Preacher Place (1): In 20 years your church will have experienced at least 1,040 sermons. A pastor looks at the process leading up to Sunday and also what happens after the sermon has been preached. 
• Preaching Place (2): What is your first language? For some their first language is grace. For others their first language is truth. You need to speak both fluently.
  
• Parenting Place: Though not a faith-based news story, it’s interesting to hear what the grandfather of modern technology, Bill Gates, thinks is the right age for kids to get a smartphone.
• KidMin + Just in Time: A Sunday School lesson for Mother’s Day.
• In the set-up to a devotional piece, the author mentions what he claims was the first gospel song to sell a million copies. (The year was 1964.)
• Carra Crouch, granddaughter of TBN founders Paul and Jan Crouch claims that at age 13 she was raped by a 30 year old ministry employee and the television ministry tried to cover it up.
• The Final Frontier: A review of a 2016 book we all missed, The Gospel According to Star Trek.
• ♫ Chain Breaker: Zach Williams tells his story leading up to the song Christian radio listeners know so well. 
• Bee of the Week: I’m gonna get my worship on.
  
• For a short while this week, the hashtag ThingsJesusNeverSaid was the #1 trending subject in the U.S. Still, it seems Americans can only see the potential of social media in terms of commentary on federal politics. See what it’s like at the time you click.

Finally, The people at Church Marketing Sucks really want to help you with things like having a better church bulletin, but in the meantime, completing this bingo card — among many membership benefits of working with them — isn’t too difficult in the average church.

 

Public Notice: “Will link for food.” If anyone out there with a major Christian website and a budget is interested in leasing the Wednesday Link List as Christianity Today & Leadership Journal did, contact me via Twitter. 

Wednesday Link List

Welcome to WLL Three-Five-Seven. The beast in the pic is the crafty ssserpent talking to Eve in Eden; as depicted in The Illustrated Bible by Jeff Anderson and Mike Maddox, published by Hendrickson in 2016. We apologize in advance for any nightmares it might cause. As for the hymn above, you’ll have to scroll down to the second link below.

• I wanted to start out this week with two blogs that have consistently strong material that we don’t feature nearly enough. The first is A Life Overseas which provides a very vivid picture of what life is like on the mission field and how returning to life in North America can be so very difficult. In this essay by Amy Medina, a simple trip to Target reminds her how much she has changed.
• The other is a Patheos blog, Ponder Anew which is a treasure trove of worship-related discussions, and also the source of our opening graphic image above, which is part of Sometimes Hymns Are Terrible, Too. Jonathan Aigner, if you’re reading this, I want the other half of that image so we can sing this next Sunday.
• Essay of the Week: One year later, Zach Hunt is cancer free. And free of trying to draw lines around “when and where and how and through whom God can act.”
• Benjamin Corey takes issue with Franklin Graham. This time it’s the notion of being able to ‘pray the gay away.’ (Is this why it’s called ‘conversion therapy?’)
• A pastor’s widow in Detroit caught in a power struggle over who would succeed her husband as senior pastor and was escorted off the platform in handcuffs by local police.
• After already being told he could only speak in designated areas, a Christian college student was told by staff at a Georgia college “to stop speaking about Christianity in those zones because they considered it “disorderly conduct.”
• The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas is asking its member churches to sever ties with the Girl Scouts and shift to programs operated by American Heritage Girls saying that the former organization, “become too liberal and has relationships with organizations that support abortion rights and do not share traditional family values…” He then specifically asked the churches to ban Girl Scout cookie sales.
• Leadership Lessons: 7 key things you should know about working with Millennials…
• …which is also a topic this week at Seedbed.
• Skye Jethani is offering a free preview of two chapters of his latest book, What’s Wrong With Religion: Nine Things No One Told You About Faith.
• Write about what you know; especially if you create many blog posts in a single day. Doug Wilson describes covenant renewal pattern worship.
• Update: More on the staff cutbacks at America’s 4th largest church.
• We Fall Down Department: The Washington Post has the corrected version of the AP story dealing with the raid on Benny Hinn’s headquarters while the faith healer was in France…
• …Check out video of local news coverage of the raid.
• Time Travel Department: Roger Olson gets all nostalgic with elements of Evangelical culture from the 1950s and ’60s.
• Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Shepherds, Teachers, oh my! (I admit it’s bit longer than the original.) The writer of this piece contends that APEST is “exegetically flawed,” even though the paradigm is quite popular in missional circles.
• New Blog at Alltop: Kleptomaniac is devoted entirely to the subject of tithing. Where do they stand on this issue? If you need a hint, their URL is TitheNoMore.com.
• Ask me why we’re linking to a 2015 article, 9 Unbiblical Statements Christians Believe. Simple: In its listing of its top ten opinion pieces for 2016, it was the only one at The Christian Post not concerned with the election.
• In the first of two videos at this link, Rob Bell does his best impression of Rob Bell. In the second he talks about the violent Bible stories.
• At the 1:35 mark in this video, Jim Bakker introduces the concept that a ban on ‘fake news’ could result in prosecution against people sharing the ‘Good News.’
• Quotation of the Week: “We had atheists praying for us.” ABC-TV’s Jimmy Kimmel on returning to air Monday night telling the story of his son’s birth with a heart defect…
• …Meanwhile a guest writer at Ann Voskamp’s blog totally knew what Kimmel was talking about. (If you’ve never read Ann before, keep scrolling through the photos.)
  
• ♫ The band Mercy Me talks to CCM Magazine about their last album, Lifer.
• Kids Korner: The Gospel in Four Words, “Wow!” “Uh-oh.” “Yes!” “Aaahhhh.” Releasing in July from Tyndale Kids…
• …For something more adult oriented, you might consider “The Gospel in One Word;” “The Gospel in Three Words;” and “The Gospel in 30 Words.” Chapter titles from Bruxy Cavey’s book re(Union)…
• …Here’s a book review of Wendy Alsup’s Is the Bible Good for Women?
• From out of the cut-rate merchandise sold at Wal-Mart, a voice screams ‘HELP ME!‘
  

If you need help posting bail, there’s always these guys:

Honestly, how could we resist this great quotation from T. D. Jakes? Click the image for commentary.

Finally, some worship service emojis:

The above image is from an article, Appropriate Emoji Responses during church. The first one “When the Welcome and Greeting Time Comes During Flu Season” would be my wife’s desired default during all fellowship times in the middle of the service and toward greeters at the door as well. Introverts unite! Click the image to see them all.

 

Wednesday Link List

Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber join Melissa McCarthy as Sean Spicer on Saturday Night Live two weekends back.

Wouldn’t it be funny if it turned out they were related?

An observation from our friend Shane Claiborne

In addition to what you see here each week, I’ve recently updated the blogroll on the right hand side of the page. I’m generally looking to keep blogs which have been active within the preceding 30 days. It’s an ongoing process and suggestions are welcomed. Also, if you find yourself lost somewhere without your computer bookmarks, make your way to Thinking Out Loud and use our news, podcast and blog links as a portal to some great sites.

This week a slightly shorter list due to time constraints and the Canadian Income Tax Deadline on April 30th. 

Oh… one more thing: A big shout-out to Michael and Jenine in North Dakota. Thanks for your note this week!

• Time bomb comment? The mayor of San Antonio, Texas says atheism is at the root of the city’s poverty…
• …In contrast, being a church-loving Christian is the secret to long life. 
• Point/Counterpoint: Tony Campolo and Bart Campolo have released Why I Left, Why I Stayed: Conversations on Christianity Between an Evangelical Father and His Humanist Son available now in hardcover from HarperCollins. (Sorta like that Bible that Andy Stanley and Charles Stanley did together but with a lot more contrast.)
  
• Church Life: It’s not the music or the quality of the kids program after all. For Protestants, the hot draw is sermon content that illuminates scripture.
• Leadership Lessons: The ups and downs of ministry life is like a roller coaster. 
• This year’s Templeton Prize recipient is Alvin Plantinga. “The Foundation cited Plantinga’s ability to recognize that religious beliefs do not have to conflict with philosophical work; instead, Plantinga has argued, faith can provide crucial contributions to philosophy.” 
• A church in rapid decline: Predicting what the Church of Scotland will look like in 2047. 
• Joyce Meyer Ministries confirms that her degree from Life Christian University was honorary, not earned.
  
• Gateway, the church founded by Robert Morris is cutting staff and overhead by 10-15%.
• Book Review (1): On the other Paul Young thing happening this month, this reviewer says, “Those who trashed this book have my pity…”
• Book Review (2): Top writers in Christian Fiction, Bill Myers, Angela Hunt, Frank Peretti, and Alton Gansky combined their talents for four individual but related novellas.
• Worship Workshop: Two articles by Tim Challies:
  • What We Lost When We Lost Our Hymnals.
  • What We Gained When We Lost Our Hymnals.
• Calling them “an extremist organization,” Russia has banned Jehovah’s Witnesses. 
• A different kind of Christian film: Releasing in India, Warpath documents Australian Missionary Dr. Graham Stains who along with his two children Philip (9) & Timothy (7) were killed by being burned inside their car.  (When you click be sure to read the full description.)
  
• Catholic Corner: The author of the book is credited as “Pope Francis.” The subtitle of the book is Inspiring Words from Pope Francis. And the title? Any guesses? Mother Mary.
• You decide: Is this a news article or an advertisement?
• Architecture: A look at a multi-faith “sacred space,” Snyder Sanctuary at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida.
• ♫ If you live in a radio market where 20 The Countdown Magazine is broadcast, listen this weekend for the 20 Top Praise and Worship Songs.
• Sword Drills, Jesus wept, Pentecostals, The Jesus Movement, emotionalism…all in a single devotional.
• Listicle of the Week: Five things to remember when interacting with non-churched people.
• Blog of the Week: Not sure how far this one goes, but the writer has been posting up a storm at HairMetalJesusFreak. (Yes!) The stuff is well written but the 3-column format just doesn’t work on my desktop.
  
• Provocative Headline of the Week: A tie between Bare, Naked Faith and Why the Lord’s Prayer is Offensive. (Both of these found at the weekly link list at Phoenix Preacher. Thanks Michael and Eric.) …
• …But they missed Bare With Me.
  
• Sigh! Franklin Graham says that U.S. President Donald Trump should not disclose his tax returns.
• Another moral failure at a high profile megachurch. (The language in this is somewhat blunt.)
• Tweet of the Week
• Finally, and I’ll be the first to admit this one is not for everyone, Matthew Pierce takes on the issue of whether masturbation is a sin. (It was 11:38 when I wrapped this up last night; blame this one on lack of sleep.)
  

Is it real or just a meme? “The Newest Testament” first came to my attention when Zach Hunt tweeted one of the covers

Wednesday Link List

Click the image for the story behind today’s lead picture. Welcome to today’s WLL, which a Tuesday night internet outage and the season finale of Trial and Error couldn’t stop.

• Observation of the Week: Is your pastor burned out after a busy Easter season. Have you thought of inviting them over for dinner? Rethink that. “Even when we do try to do something nice – perhaps, we invite them over for dinner – we don’t realize that we are still taking his time away from quality (and very necessary) family time. And, we usually just end up talking about church stuff anyway, so he’s really not getting away from work.”
• Speculative Theology: Did a post-crucifixion Jesus go looking for a post-suicide Judas?
• Provocative Title of the Week: “Sunday Schooling our Kids out of Church.” Samples: “…kids and parents were separated from each other, having different Sunday experiences…” “…we shifted kids out of the main worship experience, en-culturated them in their own program, and robbed them of any touch points with the rest of the body of Christ.  Another way of saying it: by segregating our kids out of worship, we never assimilated them into the life of the congregation.” …
• … A friendly response with an equally provocative title, Killing the Church with Sunday School.
• Couples living together. That’s an issue with younger generations, right? Actually, it’s trending most with the 50+ crowd.
• Memoir of the Week: This Christian high school’s baseball team did not have enough gloves; the Spanish teacher delivered take out after hours; and the school itself didn’t actually have a name.
• Knee-jerk reaction? Baptist Press reports the Bott Radio Network has canceled Hank Hanegraaff’s Bible Answer Man program following his outing himself as a member of a Greek Orthodox church. Most of the network’s repeaters are in Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska. The article also makes it clear that Hanegraaff has been attending this church for two years, and is adamant that his views haven’t changed.
• British writer Simon Loveday passed away in 2016 and didn’t get to see the release of his book The Bible For Grown-Ups: A New Look at the Good Book releasing this month from Icon Books. I don’t know anything about the man’s faith and I doubt you’ll find the book for sale at LifeWay or CBD, but it was the product of a decade’s work. Here’s the publisher page, and here’s one balanced review.  
• Parenting Place: Andy Crouch’s The Tech Wise Family is about “putting technology in its proper place.” This could be the most important book released this month.
  
• Agree or disagree? Do the peeps in your church sit in the same place each week. This author says, “The space we regularly inhabit on Sunday is a sign of our desire to be both bodily and spiritually committed to the local church.” So the ones who roam around aren’t really committed?
• Church and Politics: British newspaper The Independent reports on Americans leaving church following the U.S. Election, describing it as, “an enormous amount of churn in the religious economy.”
• Another Christian college, another LGBT issue. This time the entire faculty senate at Gordon College resigned in support of a staff members who felt that speaking out against college policy on the issue resulted in her being denied a promotion.
• “What if God is virtually everywhere, not just hovering over things, and closer than we ever imagined?” Text and 3-min audio from John Fischer.
• To homeschool or not to homeschool? Going against the Evangelical trend, this mom put her son back in a public middle school for Grade 8.
• At The Phil Vischer Podcast, guest Paul Pastor (my former Wednesday Link List editor) talks about his new book and the gang discuss the most recent appearance of Veggie Tales characters on Saturday Night Live.
• Leadership Lessons: A must read for pastors from David Murray, 20 cautionary warnings about overwork and burnout…
• …At the same blog, a reader brings a confession: “I’m a Master of Divinity and I don’t know my Bible.”
• What is 5Q? “5Q is a typology rooted in the fivefold or APEST (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Shepherd, Teacher) described in Ephesians 4:1-6.” Download a free introduction at this link.
• People see different things. Looking at the new six-volume ESV Readers Edition, I see Bibliolatry; the making an idol of the book. Check out the edition that nobody actually needs.
• Your church receptionist’s greatest ministry impact this month might be a simple statement to the person sent to repair the copier or the UPS driver. Your tech director’s largest ministry accomplishment might be to with one of the vendors who sells the church sound and lighting equipment.
  
• Nothing to see here: Do unborn babies and young children who die go to heaven? Mark Driscoll introduces this topic on his website but doesn’t come through with an answer.
• Print Media Department: Remembering and relaunching Focus On The Family’s Brio magazine for girls.
• Bookmark This One: The classic IVP book, Hard Sayings of the Bible is now online with a Hard Saying of the Day.
• Unless a miracle occurs, St. Joseph’s Chapel across the street from the World Trade Center in NYC will close in June. Their rent is set to rise to as much as $230,000 a year.
• Missed this ♫ in our Easter collection. Check out Grace Has Now Appeared. (But you can learn it now.)
• Our regular ♫-of-the-Week is from the new Mercy Me album Lifer. The song “Even If” was posted just two weeks ago and is over 4 million views.
• The latest Saeed update.
• This is the survey they’re handing middle school kids in California. This is Carl Trueman saying it goes too far.
• Things Pastors Say: The absurdity of saying, “We just go by what the Bible says;” or “We just preach the Bible.” What they really mean is, “You are no longer questioning my views or interpretations, you are really questioning God himself and what God has written.” Nice default position if you can get it. 
• LifeWay bookstore management is pondering some of the closing Family Christian locations.
  
• Next Tuesday (25th) Christian comedian Chonda Pierce is featured in a one-night-only 90-minute documentary Enough in 850 theaters in the U.S.

Friendly Atheist Hemant Mehta didn’t care for these kids acting out the crucifixion, calling it “Jesus Torture Cosplay.” Click the image to read his comments.

Silly Songs With Larry? This is the lower left quadrant of a larger March Madness parody called March Gladness, but then the blog writer simply stopped posting. (Click the image to see it all.) Turns out Matthew Pierce had one of these going as well and that one went the distance.