Christian Carnival LXX

Long Day's Journey Out of Night

*******

Night - Evil and Temptation versus Faith

In Unspeakable Sin and the Goodness of God, Dr. Ray Pritchard wrestles with a perennial issue ripped from today's headlines: "After a father was arrested for murdering his daughter and her best friend in a community not far from where I live, I received an email from a young father who wonders how to reconcile this sort of evil with the goodness of God. Here is my attempt to deal with this age-old question."

In Child Murder & What It Means To Be Human, The Marshian Chronicles says that calling despicable child murderers "not human" is not only untrue - "it's a deadly spiritual trap. This first post in a new series explores what it really means to be human."

In The Chthonic Unmentionable, Cerulean Sanctum relates that "C.S. Lewis said there are two errors regarding demons: paying too much attention to them and paying too little. In Evangelical churches today, the trend in error is distinctly toward the latter. In an age of dereliction of truth, this is to our peril."

In God's sovereignty over natural disasters, and its practical importance, A Physicist's Perspective says that "In response to a commenter who suggests that God abdicates authority, so that some events which come to pass (like natural disasters and the acts of the wicked) are against his will, I argue from the Bible that God is so sovereign that he controls even natural disasters, and works even the actions of the wicked to accomplish his eternal purposes. This has tremendous practical application, for if it were not the case, we could not trust his promises to us."

In Fruit of the Self, Seek Truth's "entry is a simple one based on Galatians 5:16-26. It is a call to compare our lives to the standards Paul has laid out for us in this scripture and to work on the parts that don't measure up. Instead of focusing on the fruit of the Spirit, the post focuses on the things Paul says come from following our sinful nature, the'fruit of the Self', and asks that we each look for evidence of this fruit in our lives as places to make improvement."

In Dealing with envy, all kinds of time... shares "a brief look at my experience with envy."

In Covetousness, Sharing Spirit observes that "when God provides so abundantly for us, especially in the US, we still want more. The season of our discontent. The funny thing is, the blessings flow abundantly through our contentment and confidence when we trust in the Lord and His word."

In The Brickyard Calls To Us, rev-ed at Attention Span reflects about longings to be "somewhere else. It happens to us often, whether it's the call of God in our lives, the call of temptation, or even the call of a favorite place. For rev-ed, it's the Indianapolis Motor Speedway."

In Shame, Shame, Shame, Apprehension reflects on "how shame and guilt are different, but (that) Jesus suffered and died for both." (Apprehension is the new blog of Douglas Bass who used to blog at Belief Seeking Understanding, but had to retire it due to "technical difficulties.")


Sic Transit Gloria Mundi

In Kwame Brown, Sun and Shield muses "about what appears to be a failed career as a pro basketball player."

In What is Your Life? It is Even a Vapor…, a ticking time blog tells how "this past Friday, I got a fresh reminder of the truth that our lives are like a wisp of steam that appear for a short time and then vanish."

*******

Pentecost

In When the Day of Pentecost had come, the blog dokeo kago grapho soi kratistos Theophilos (editor's note: cf. Lk 1:3) offers "reflections on Pentecost and the inclusive mission to the nations."

In Circles for Pentecost, Notes provides a "Java applet for Pentecost Sunday."

In Pentecost - birth of a missionary community, Under the Acacias "reflects that with the coming of the Holy Spirit comes a missionary appointing" and that "from 1st-century Israel to 21st-century West Africa, Pentecost is still flowing."

*******

Christianity and Society

In Perspective, Vessel of Mercy "tells of how God shows her when to look at situations with a different perspective and how God will give us His heart for the poor and the oppressed."

In Conversation Starter: The Death Penalty, "visitors to the Evangelical Diablog - the blogosphere's new site for thoughtful and respectful dialog - discuss whether or not Christians should support the death penalty. Stop by and share your thoughts."

In The Gathering Storm, The Doctor Is In takes "a look at the threat of 'theocracy' hyperbole."

In Dogs, Fleas, and Conservative Politics, Another Man's Meat has "some lessons for conservative Christians in all the political hullabaloo in Washington these days."

In Why Catholicism is Good for Society, Deo Omnis Gloria gives "a quick overview of the benefits of a society immersing itself in Catholic moral teachings."

In Relativism, Leadership, and Pope John Paul II, Vita ab Alto has reflections "concerning God and religion in general and the late Pope John Paul in particular."

In Catholic protestors barred from Communion, Boxing Alcibiades "...explains why this decision on the part of Church officials was correct and justified."

In Intra Christian Branding, Blogotional offers "the middle post of a three post interlinked series examining the marketing concept of branding and how it is affecting the church and Christianity in politics."

In Bible Illiteracy, Dadmanly relates that "the Bible Literacy Project report makes clear that young Americans know very little about the Bible.... At a time when secular minded activists think it appropriate to eradicate any Biblical references from educational settings, this inattentiveness to core American values is very troubling."


Evangelizing

In Naturally Supernatural, The Gad(d)about reflects on a method of evangelizing.

In Vox Apologia - The Trilemma, the Northern'burbs blog (following up on a discussion at Vox Apologia) gives "an analysis of the usefulness of the 'Trilemma' in apologetics."

In Confessions of an introvert, CallmeTeem shares "some thoughts about being introverted and ministry."

In Preaching to Believers or Nonbelievers?, the blog Crossroads ponders a "question circulating around the Christian blogosphere recently": Should our churches preach to believers or nonbelievers or both?"

In Shaking the Foundations of a Fragile Faith, PlaidBerry reflects on "skepticism and the need for a solid intellectual understanding of Christianity as a prerequisite for a strong faith."

*******

Different Perspectives on Christian Formation

In Firefighter Parables #2 - Firefighting Regulations from Team Hammer's Musings "the relationship of firefighters to their regulations and emergency procedures is used to highlight a way to help determine who, in the culture of freedom of the US, is a Christian and who is merely claiming to be one."

In OCS: Obsessive-Compulsive Spirituality, Eternal Perspectives reflects on a time in his own spiritual journey: "Probably because it fit with my personality at the time, I confused obsessing about God with being filled with the Spirit and abiding in Christ."

In We can rebuild Him..., The Online Pilgrim offers "thoughts on the effects of holiness theology after finishing up four years at a Wesleyan School."

In The Weeds in My Garden, the Christian Carnival's faithful guardian (Dory) at Wittenberg Gate "compares the sins in our lives to weeds in her garden. They need to be attended to quickly and carefully."


Books, Movies and Television

In Book Discussion: The Wizard, Pseudo-Polymath has "just finished reading a pair of books from the fantasy genre." He says that "these books were both intensely mythopoetic, reminiscent of Lewis or MacDonald" and he attempts "to compare and reconcile the Creation myth contained in the story with the Christian account."

In From the qualitative to the quantitative, Off the top offers "Part VII of a review of The Abolition of Man by C. S. Lewis. In reducing himself to mere 'Nature,' Man in fact conquers (subjects) himself along with the Nature he attempts to conquer for his own benefit."

In book review: Bad Ground, promptings says "Dale Cramer's second novel is as good as his first."

In Struggling to Matter, Randomness shares "thoughts provoked by a science fiction series... on unconditionality in relationships and leaving a legacy."

In Why I Cried Watching a Lifetime Movie, Ragged Edges discusses how the surprising "messages about abstinence and adoption conveyed by the movie 'Mom at Sixteen' - and the personal lessons I took from it - were more than worth the price in pride."

In Movie Review: 'Kingdom of Heaven' on LawReligionCultureReview, "Richard J. Radcliffe reviews the current movie, 'Kingdom of Heaven,' about the crusades, starring Orlando Bloom."


Building up the Christian blogosphere

Christian Carnival Founder Nick Queen offers the Return of the Out of the Wilderness Showcase!

In Calling All Intellectuelles, Marla Swoffer announces a "contest to win a spot on a new team blog of intellectual evangelical women that I'm starting with another blogger."

In Humility, The Blogosphere, And The Family Of God, the blog Beyond The Rim... offers excellent "thoughts on how the Internet and the blogosphere exposes us to so many remarkable Christians that it in some ways prefigures the Kingdom with the result that the only possible response is increasing humility."

*******

Living the Scriptures

In Internals, the blog Beneath The Dirty Hood muses on Proverbs 11:2 and "that little tug-of-war that goes on inside you dozens of times a day."

In The Great IM, beginning with Isaiah 58:9, Listen In reflects on how "God speaks to us in a variety of ways and in a variety of settings" and "compares talking to God to modern messaging.

In Cheeseburger in Paradisio, the blog Questions and Answers elaborates (with references to Genesis) on this question and answer: "Do you ever think and dream and dare I say fantasize about what heaven will be like? I want a Cheeseburger in Paradiso!"

In E.T. No Phone Home, Weapon of Mass Distraction has a podcast "interview with Guy Malone, missionary to Roswell, New Mexico. We discuss the Genesis 6 paradigm and the parallels between the 21st century and "the days of Noah".

In Pointing to the Lamb, the blog Christianity is Jewish, "going back to Genesis," reflects on "God's consistency in pointing us to His Son as a special way to come to Him."

In Chronology in I Samuel 16:1-18:5, Parableman notes that "many scholars question the integrity of I Samuel on the grounds that the chronology of the events surrounding David's appearance on the scene seems contradictory. This post defends two ways of looking at this section of the book: one involving a thematic organization of material that isn't chronological and a second that defends the order of presentation in Samuel as chronological."

In Exclusive interview opportunity with the ESV Translation Committee, Adrian Warnock's UK Evangelical Blog is "delighted to announce that I have been honored with an exclusive "interview" with the Translation Oversight Committee of the English Standard Version of the Bible. I will be asking them ten questions, which they promise to answer!"

In Renovaré Spiritual Formation Bible, Kevin at Collected Miscellany says that "Fans of Dallas Willard and Richard Foster, or who are interested in Christian spiritual formation, will want to check out the Renovare Spiritual Formation Bible released this week by Harper San Francisco."

In Woes of A Love Letter, The Bible Archive ponders the question "What happens when someone reads a love letter like we read the Bible?"

In What happens when a loser finds a friend, the blog ...in the Outer... offers "a meditation on Luke 19: 1-10, the story of the despised chief of tax collectors who found a Friend in Jesus. May the insights of this story inform our lives, our churches and our mission today."

In N T Wright on Justification and Righteousness in Paul, World of Sven offers an extensive reflection: "N T Wright's rethinking of the doctrine of righteousness and justification in Paul's writings has caused a stir lately. Here's a detailed summary of his arguments on righteousness. Not all Reformed folk will agree with him, but he makes some very important points."

In 1 Corinthians 13 for the Bible translator, Better Bibles Blog paraphrases "the beautiful love chapter of the Bible... to remind myself and other Bible translators that no matter how well we try to translate the Bible, if we do not love others, our efforts are worth nothing. As we translate the Bible, we need to translate the Bible into action, through a life of love."


Walking with each other in Christ

In Let the competition begin!, A Penitent Blogger (yours truly) reflects on a competition to which Christ is calling us.

In the post Sufficient in Christ, Mr. Standfast shares "just a bit of spiritual encouragement based on Colossians 2:10."

In A Gift to be Cherished, Bear Witness shares "thoughts about putting God's gift of salvation to use rather than leaving it wrapped up on a shelf."

In It's Not Just You and Me (Part Two), Gladmanly continues a reflection on the Gospel according to Luke, talking "about yielding to God, and how we can become vessels of God’s love."

******

The night is far spent, the day is at hand:
let us therefore cast off the works of darkness,
and let us put on the armour of light.
Romans 13:12