Christian Carnival #85

Welcome to this week's Christian Carnival. Put on your seat belts and away we go........

*A really happy event one moment; a tragic event another. Hey! Aren't we supposed to just have good things happen to us? Find out at The Marshian Chronicles in the post, Cry Out!.

*The Gaza pullout is supposed to resolve the Palestinian argument toward Israel, right? HCS and Gen's Place doesn't think so in their post, Militants Evicted From Gaza--WRONG!! Homeowners Evicted--The Insanity Builds Higher.

*At first I didn't know where this post was going but then when I got to the end, WHAMMO! You've just got to read this--but please, please don't stop reading until you get to the end.
The post is Of Hair Dye, "The Man," and God's Plan at the Happy Catholic blog.

*Resistance is futile! tells us about what Australia is doing about militant Islam in that country. But is this a dangerous precedent for the future persecution of Christianity or other religions? Do read this post at Separation of Church and State.

*Questions and Answers makes us think when he asks the question, what would it take to turn us into Josephs? Do we have to go into slavery? Read his answer in The Grace of Joseph.

*Which statement is correct?
1) The job of the Christian is not to make the Bible "relevant" to the world in which we live.

2) We allow the Word to use us and to reshape us (and our world).

Transforming Sermons tells us the answer in The startling power of the Word.

*Complaints about hypocrisy from preachers also shows hypocrisy in critics. Hmmm...reminds me of the log in the eye. Read Preachers Shouldn't Think Things Like That... even though the rest of us do at Ideas In Progress.

*What exactly is the basis for moralism? Viewpoint writes,
Atheism seems seductive, but a people who reject God deprive themselves of any grounds for establishing justice in their state,.
The post is entitled, The Basic Principle of Political Philosophy.

*I really like to read about what shepherds do since it helps me to understand some of the Bible's references to God as our Shepherd. Kim at Sharing Spirit has done a great job in telling us about some of the things shepherds use to keep the sheep safe and sound. She also reminds us not to take ourselves so seriously as that is perhaps God's message to us at times. Read this great post at Relieve Me of Myself.

*One of my interests is reading what Christian leaders wrote right after the last Apostle died. I always wonder what they will say and if it differs from what the Apostles wrote in the New Testament. One of my favorite post-Apostolic writers is Clement of Rome. Richard of dokeo kago grapho soi krastistos theophilos has written about one of the things Clement wrote to the Corinthian church. Check out Prayers Rendered for Caesar? about praying for those in charge of the civil government. A very timely topic indeed.

*PhilThreten gives five points that both the emergent church and the modern church need to understand to help clarify misconceptions about each other. Since I am trying to figure out what the emergent church believes, this post, What is Emergent? was especially interesting and helpful for me, and I'm sure it will be for you too.

*There is a real treasure of a statement in this post, Grace4U. See if you can find it. Here is a hint: What is the difference between Christianity and all other religions? (clue: second paragraph below the quote in the green box). The answer that Dr. Bob at The Doctor is in gives is mind blowing. I loved it! I think you will too.

*OK, here is the Carnival question of the day:
How did the turtle get way up there on that fence post?
Byron at a ticking time blog
presents a choice of answers in his discussion of Intelligent Design in the post, The Turtle and the Fencepost: On Science, The Search for Truth, and the Teaching of ID in the Public Schools.

*Has anything unexpected happened to you lately to help you see something you should do? Robin at Between Sundays answers this question by looking at another author's blog in her post, Take A Message. . ..

*Darren at Nicene Theology writes,
Ultimately our attempt to recover primitive Christianity betrays our ecclesiology, for it testifies to our belief that the deposit of the faith does not lie with the church instituted by Christ and upheld by the Holy Spirit.
He further explains this in his post, Returning to Primative Christianity.

*For a long time now I've thought that there might be a lot of truth in the preterist end times view. If you don't know what the preterist view of eschatology is, do check out this post, What is the "abomination that causes desolation" in Mark 13:14? by the one and only "Sven" at his blog, Sven's Theology and Biblical Studies page.

*Alex at Jordan's View tells us that the fact that God and His ways are mysterious might not be a bad thing after all in his post,
God Is A Confounder.

*Many people find that their pets are at times their best friends. Paula at Listen In
relates a story of a little girl and her smiling dog, explaining how their relationship correlates to how followers of Christ need each other to get through life together. Check it out at With a Little Help From a Friend.

*My friends regard me as an excellent teacher and they know I love it. Then why would I leave the profession (both public and private schools)? Read Bob's post, So,What About the Performance Reviews? at his blog,
CrosSwords and you will have a good clue as to the insanity out there and why teachers are leaving the professions in busloads. (And no, it's not the low pay).
Hint about what Bob's blog is about: It concerns how many times a student in Britain may say a certain word in school.

*An after dinner conversation, the daily news, and the conflicting messages in the world. How did these bring a longing for His return? Find out at Another Man's Meat in the post, When He Returns.

*There are some astonishing misconceptions about Christianity, and where they may have come from. Thinking Christian tells us what they are in What Christianity is Not.

*Lyn at Thought Renewal presents a short book review on betraying ourselves which then affects all of our relationships. Read the review at Leadership and Self-Deception.

*When you find scads of comments at a post, it probably will be a good read. By noon (PST) yesterday there were 24 comments (one being by yours truly) at this Ales Rarus post,
A Litmus Test By Any Other Name.... It's about a lot of accusations regarding litmus tests, usually from the Right accusing the Left. The thing is, the Right is just as guilty of using litmus tests, and Funky Dung thinks the hypocritical claims otherwise harm the pro-life cause.

*Points of Light is an interesting blog as each post highlights a photo with a short description of a part of God's creation. This week the post is Bigger Than Phil. To find out who "Phil" is (no, it's not the blogger), you've just gotta read this post as well as seeing the beautiful picture too.

*It's always interesting to see what Mark is up to at his blog,
Pseudo-Polymath. This week he's commenting on another person's blog essay regarding modern developments meaning that we might by our own efforts be getting closer to a state of Grace. So did Mark agree with the essay's stand? Read it and see. Genesis 3:16 and Modernity.

*This is actually a question that has been bothering me for while, so I appreciated Jeremy at
Parableman doing a post on what justification really involves. Read his answer at What Justified the Prodigal Son?.

*I'm hearing lots of talk today about people leaving churches. Christianity is Jewish weighs on in this controversy in Guard the Deposit Entrusted to You. She tells us what she did...and why.

*If you don't know the animal featured recently at the London zoo, then you must read these two posts. It seems this animal is a plague-carrying breed. Find out about this animal at
Humans in the Zoo at Cross Blogging
and Oh the Humanity! I Mean, Animality! at Northern burbs blog. Obviously the evolution vs. creationist argument will be popping up in both of these posts.

*As we've all heard by now, Hurricane Katrina left a path of devastation through Louisiana and Mississippi. Tidbits and Treasures tells us about one Christian relief effort in
Convoy of Hope Moves In As Katrina Moves On.

*A Sunday morning stunt designed to teach the congregation about
celebrity worship got Ed at Attention Span thinking the red carpet rolled out for celebrities is but a poor imitation of the original, in his post, Red Carpet.

*Beneath The Dirty Hood sent me this comment,
An awkward "I love you' on the sofa in the dark."
Don't worry--it's not R-rated. But it is a short but very effective post, entitled, Psalm 13.

*A Penitent Blogger reflects on the fragility of life and the security of Christ in I thought it was safe.

*I read this in my Los Angeles Times-about the UC system not giving science credit to students who took science in Christian high schools. And can you guess why? I bet you can. But you had better read it here at Education Matters in the post, Christian
High School Sues University of California system .

*Donna-Jean at LibertyandLily has some thoughts on forgiveness - and unforgiveness - and how vital it is that we get it all right. This topic is a hard one for me so I really appreciated this post:
Something to Think About.

*David at all kinds of time... examines the powerful need for prayer in the Christian life, as displayed in the example of Christ, in his post, Christ's one selfish act.

*There has been much controversy recently, especially in the Charismatic movement, about the interpretation of dreams. Pastor Runalong at Runalong takes what I think is a fairly good balanced approach in his post, Does God Speak to Us in Dreams Today?.

*Here is a theological insight from Ben's three-year-old daughter at Faith and Theology in the post, Theology from a three-year-old. Hey--at times three-year olds beat the pros.

*It always mystifies me as to why many evangelicals believe that there is an incompatibility between loving and following God, and being academic. So, I was happy to see one blogger, The Common Room post on this subject in Academic Snobbery.
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*At my blog, Crossroads: Where Faith and Inquiry Meet, I tackle the thorny problem of some bloggers and apologists who at times smear someone in ministry simply because of who they know. You can read it at Guilt by Association?.

THE END