Christian Carnival CCLXIII

WE LEAD OFF with The Journey of Foster Parenting: Part 2 posted at Colorado Christian. Money quote:

One thing my wife and I we're wondering is "Are we old enough to do this?"

LOL! Ask any parent out there and they will all say "Nobody is!" Just make sure you have plenty of baby butt paste. Read Part 1 too.

From Weekend Fisher's Blog Heart, Mind, Soul, and Strength, this post: What is the shelf life of oral tradition? This blogger takes a look at the days when the church was switching from preferring word-of-mouth to preferring the written word. An interesting point I hadn't thought about before.

Richard H. Anderson recaps the history of Negro Spirituals and how they went mainstream. Check out dokeo kago grapho soi kratistos Theophilos.

[Note: Two posts for him popped up through Carnival website. So just in case here's the other called Day of Rest, very practical for our current financial crisis. ed ]

More on the financial side. Some people are equating debt relief for poor countries with the biblical Jubilee. Is that appropriate? Chris B has a post called Debt Relief and the Jubilee at Homeward Bound. 

And this question about giving money to a church by Free Money Finance: Should You Care Where Your Tithe Money Goes?

On one hand, there's a school of thought that you should make sure your tithe is spent as wisely as possible and, if it isn't, then you should take some sort of action (like maybe leaving the church, giving less, trying to ensure it's spent appropriately, etc.)

Then there's another school of thought that says you're not to worry what your church does with the money. You're actually giving it to God and when you give it to the church, your responsibility ends. How it is spent is the responsibility of the church's leaders.

Most church leadership is responsible to either the congregation or diaconal supervisors, so that helps. Another option is to join your church's stewardship or missions committee. The latter could be real eye-opening, not so much where the money is going but how few people are actually giving regularly.

WHILE CHEWING ON that I'm also trying to get my head around Lawrence of Arabia's post on the erosion of identity in non-denominational and evangelical churches. The blog is called Revolt in the Desert. See what you think. Agree with the commenter - the pic in the post is very cool.

Rich sez Be Hot For God at Blogger For Christ.com:

Are you “Hot For God”?  Do you model your life after the teachings of Jesus Christ?  If so, do you exhibit your Christianity when you are out with your friends?  Many people say that they are Christians.  Many people act like they are Christians in front of certain people.  True Christians should act like Christians all of the time.  If you are asking yourself if you are “Hot For God”, then think about the following:  What have you given up for your Christianity?

A list of 25 of the most well-known verses in the bible, thanks to Christian Personal Finance. FWIW, here are my three favorite lesser-known ones:  A warning to youths not to pick on bald guys, a verse to encourage weight loss, and the one my kids all had to memorize.

Fortunately my wife and kids have a great sense of humor. :-)

Rey Reynoso (from the Bible Archive) features Marv, a guest blogger, with "The Thousand Year Itch" which can also be found on his own personal site. "My verses can beat up your verses." Heh. 

Tiffany Partin suggests Life Is What You Make Of It . . . Sort Of at Fathom Deep: Sounding the Depths of God. Right over the plate!

To put it a different way - Is your glass half empty of half full? Our attitude about our situation in life can make a difference. I've been extremely honest about our circumstances. They haven't changed one iota of late; however, I've been more joyful and less despondent. I still have my moments of feeling forlorn, and I don't claim to always be cheery. But, overall, I've been appreciating more of the "haves" in my life and trying to focus less on my "have nots."

WHAT A GREAT segue to this next blog. 

A pastor needs health insurance for his family, so he takes a job as a manager for a shelter and transitional program for the homeless and working poor.

I could be employed doing something that has nothing to do with my life mission. Instead, here I am. And I love it. Why?

Brian Niece blogs this experience of the gospel in action at Why I?m Serving as a Shelter Manager posted at Sacramental Living. Read the whole thing. Unemployed right now? Print it out, stick it in your pocket, and read it every day. You rock, bro.

Josanne Anthony continues on this theme with a really encouraging post called It's Only Me, posted over at The Radiant View.

I often think about when Jesus sat and ate with the sinners and publicans.  The religious people of the day looked on in their self-righteousness and had a critical additude that Jesus would take time for the "unimportant" folks.  Once again, the Lord displayed His love for all mankind.  Everytime I think of this story, I picture Jesus laughing and joking with the sinners and publicans.  His love for us that was manifested in the flesh intrigued folks and drew them to Him-He didn't snub His nose at them.  Jesus, the great Physician, came to help the sick-He didn't push them aside for more "important" folks and think, "It's only the sinners."  He loved them enough to die for them.

What happens when Hegelian synthesis becomes the norm in Christianity? Diane R digs into this at The Results of Synthesis-Part 1 at Crossroads: Where Faith and Inquiry Meet. I think Diane would appreciate Schaeffer (if she hasn't already read him).

A God story! Michelle's thoughts are at Exodus 15:11 - ??Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?? over at Thoughts and Confessions of a Girl Who Loves Jesus.... Are you brave enough for this prayer?

I had such a great day today. I woke up. I thanked God for waking me. I told Him I would follow the plans He already made for today. I told Him to test me, that maybe today I would pass the test for a change.

Jeremy Pierce is one of my favorite guys. His piece on Rash Vows at Parableman is deep: 

There seem to be cases in the Bible where a rash or immoral vow must be honored and other cases where they seem not to be, and the biblical authors seem to side with either answer. Does this show a conflict between different biblical authors, or is there a plausible and coherent explanation for the differences?

BLOGGING IS A great way to stay plugged in to the culture. My niche is creation care, obviously. Tom Gilson posts about a simple but powerful strategy to send our leaders a message about abortion. Check out Red Envelopes for Life at Thinking Christian.

Ken Brown sez Enganging Culture Means All Culture--Not Just What's Hip at C. Orthodoxy. "Jesus commanded us to 'deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me,' but it's a lot easier to pamper yourself, take up your Starbucks and follow what's cool." - DUDE! Your meddling. 

And does the bible discriminate against women? How do you handle the apparent bias towards men in Christianity? Angela Williams Duea tackles this in Is Christianity Sexist? at angelawd. Of course, there's always that old saw about God making Eve to fix Adam's shortcomings.

Couple good book reviews for ya. First, JLS looks at Vintage Church by Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears at Pastoral Musings.

Driscoll tackles the meaning of church. Too many people have no idea what a church is. Hint: it is not two or three guys meeting in Jesus’ name, drinking beer, throwing darts, and calling it church.

Oh, rats. Will have to re-think that one now. Anyway, Henry Neufeld reviews The 24/7 One Year Chronological Bible at Participatory Bible Study Blog.

One of the great errors of many deep Bible students is to get so focused on the trees (such as the details I discussed above) that they don’t get a picture of the story.  This Bible will help fulfill that need.

I'm not a big fan of the The Shack, but Raffi Shahinian's stab at finding some nuggets is helpful. Visit The Shack: Top 10 Theologically Dead-On Excerpts at parables of a prodigal world.

FINALLY, RANI OFFERS a prayer to help us become uncommon Christians among Christians and non-Christians. This Prayer of the Week at Christ's Bridge is so good, here's the whole thing:

Dear Lord,

I would like to thank you for the wonderful day you gave us. I thought the weather was nice and we had some enjoyable family time.

I need your help to become an uncommon Christian. I know I need to choose only your choices for me and I need to submit myself unreservedly.

Show me what worldly thought and desires I need to shut out. I will submit myself to you, so you can begin to cleanse me. I know with your help I can be an uncommon Christian.

In your name, Amen.

AFTER READING ALL these great posts I can say humbly that you are all most uncommon in your love for Christ and sharing the Good News. Been an honor being your host this week.

Hey - Just one more from me, if you'll oblige. As I type this our eldest daughter Kate is on a plane departing off from Boston Logan Airport with a QUEST group associated with the Baptist Convention of New England. They are on the way to Durban, South Africa for a two-week missions trip.

We'll be following their journey at their blog. Her mom, brother, sister and I covet your prayers for travel mercies, and that God will use these young people in a mighty way for His kingdom. Thanks!

Grace and peace,

Don

[Note: Christian blogging is a grace-filled enterprise. Sorry in advance for any mis-links or missing posts. If I didn't get yours for some reason, or you have other comments or questions you'd rather send directly to me, drop me a note. db]