Christian Carnival CLXXII

Welcome to Christian Carnival CLXXII

*First up is Bev at Glory in the Cross in her post,
Mary Listens, Martha Labors. Here is one of the gems I gleaned from this post - Are we filling ourselves up with enough of Christ that we have plenty to give away and share with others? Our God-given treasures need to be cared for too.

*Mark at kainos considers the ongoing legalism in some Christian circles as almost "another" religion in his post,
The Apostasy of Legalism.

*Erich at Counter Culture tells us that Christians around the world are pressured to give up their faith in Christ because of the horrible things they will suffer. He asks us to pray for them in addition for our loved ones in his post, Almost Persuaded.

*Ishtar tells about the struggle she is having with her mother having cancer, as well as her love affair with Niger. in her post, Back to Square One at her blog, Ishtar News.

*Guy, a missionary in in Guayaquil, Ecuador asks a bit discouragingly, What am I doing here? at his blog, The M Blog.

*A question many of us would like to ask our pastors is asked by Jennifer in her post, An Open Letter to the Pastor; Has My Church the Spirit? at her blog, Diary of 1.

*David at Lingamish writes about, I Have a Problem with Temptation. No, it isn't temptation per se; it's the word temptation. What exactly is the meaning of this word? Read David's post to find out.

*Mama Duck at her blog, Lil Duck Duck shows us,
A Mothers Day Card for Grandma.
I thought this was nice. Mama Ducks' three year old talks to his grandmas regularly on the cell phone.

*Martin at Sun and Shield asks, Can we really define conservative and liberal? In his post, Conservative: What is That? he presents many definitions that people give to conservatism. I found the list of 12 items really interesting and informative.

*Here is an interesting thought. God punishes eternally because sins are eternal. Finite People and Eternal Punishment - Jesus, the Glorious Exception is the sixth part of the series about Finite People and Eternal punishment by Ali at his blog, Kiwi and an Emu. In this installment we see that only "one human is able to bear infinite severity and so escape infinite duration of punishment - Jesus Christ."

*Tina at We are in Jesus asks us as Christians to focus on Jesus instead of focusing on our differences in her post entitled, Unity in Diversity.

*Bud at Bud's Blog informs us that Zondervan is about to release their "Z Graphic Novels series. I had never heard of this series. If you want to know too, then go to his post.

*Michael at Tantalizing If True writes that the Chinese church doesn't need conferences, CD's DVD's and other stuff to help them grow. They are doing fine without many of the things we in the west take for granted. They do experience persecution however. Read about this in the post, Sung's Razor.

*Mark at pseudo-polymath talks about Freedom and Trinity considered in the light of the work of John Zizioulas in his post, On Freedom and Communion.

*Dana at Principled Discovery asks, Is every Christian who seeks to "restore" the nation and promote its Christian heritage a dominionist? in his post, I'm a dominionist, isn't everybody?

*Elizabeth at A Biblical Home makes a very good defense for Christian children not attending public school in her post, Defense of Public Schools???

*Tom at Thinking Christian says that teens have a lot of questions about creation and morals and a host of other issues. How should we handle these questions? Read his answers in God Can Handle the Questions

*Cindy in Notes in the Key of Life asks, "Is Christian fiction watering down the gospel message? Are there still some authors that remain true to the gospel message? Read her answer in, Focus on Christian Fiction.

*Kathleen of the Vegetable Soup blog tells us that in some countries it is life threatening to become a Christian. Also, your family turns against you which can be heart breaking. Her post, Dear Mom and Dad is a letter, from one of the Turkish Christians who recently was martyred, to his mom and dad.

*I remember the first time I attended a church that did not teach the common dispensationalist rapture theory. Frankly it was refreshing to hear another view. Bruce at it seems to me gives us this other view. He has done a wonderful job in presenting in part 1 of this important topic, the real meaning behind the so-called "rapture" verses in his post, Why I will Not Be Raptured. .

*Barbara of Tidbits and Treasures tells us that like designer clothes, we are all like "designer originals" made in God's image in her post, A Designer Original.

*Chasing the Wind tackles the problem, "Why do so many people follow false prophets?" Read God's Word is Essential to find out why and what people should be doing to avoid this (hint: the answer is in the title of the post).

*John at Brain Cramps for God takes us on a tour of the blogosphere of last week. He visits atheists' claims about prayer, the prosperity message and the parental notification debate among other sites at Weekly Tour

*Jeremy of Parableman asks if we can really separate the Intelligent Design view from its religious context? He gives his response to an academic paper by a philosopher of science in a philosophy of religion journal that claims Intelligent Design arguments smuggle in religion by requiring a conclusion that the designer is a supernatural being in Elliot Sober: Confusing Religion and Philosophy.

*Henry at Participatory Bible Study has done a good job of summarizing the key tenets of what has become know as the New Perspectives on Paul (NPP) in his post, NPP: A Starting Position.

*Rey at Bible Archive shows that once we get beyond the theological yakety-yak, we see the simple fact that God is concerned with the salvation of those who aren't saved yet in his post, God's Undiluted Salvation.

*At Devotionals From Father Chip we find that Jesus' ascension was the perfecting work of His atonement. His ascension was in a perfect body which gives us a hope and a glimpse of our resurrected bodies in the post, Liturgy Lesson for the Fifth Sunday after Easter: Ascension.

*This post hit home with me since I took care of my bedridden mother for 6 years after her massive stroke. Lillie is in a wheelchair and sometimes still has seizures, but she is thankful that she isn't completely paralyzed and that she can write. In fact, she wrote a novel. You will want to read this one for sure in her post, National Stroke Awareness Month: My Stroke - the Aftermath at her blog, A Writer’s Words, An Editor’s Eye.

*John of Light Along the Journey asks
if Peter Parker was as a "good person" as the scriptwriters for the movie described him?
Find out his conclusions in his post, On Spiderman 3 & Sin Nature.

*In Professor Benedict of Rome we get an intimate glimpse of Pope Benedict as a Master Teacher and debater, who is well qualified to seriously enter the debate between Islam and the West at the Britannica Blog.

*Ian at Philosophical Orthodoxy tackles Jesus' message to the Jews and Gentiles in his post, Notes on Romans 1:1-6.