Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Christian Carnival II – September 29, 2010

Since the inception of this blog, I’ve been participating in the Christian Carnival II Blog Carnival, and for the first time, I’m hosting it. Thanks to everyone who contributed and waited patiently for my Pacific Time Zone posting. Here is this week’s blog list in a not-so-randomly generated order:

“The Lost Proverb: Where are all the True Men?”
Great question. First up is this amusing retelling of Proverbs 31 on PB Jung, submitted by Peter Jung, a new member of the group. I’m not too keen on the idea of having competition in the kitchen: “He is like a professional chef preparing exquisite dishes and selecting choice wines, he gets his ingredients from afar.” But I predict my sister will like this new version: “He exercises (self control), he girds himself with strength (spiritual, mental, physical) and makes his abs flat.”


“Fear and Loathing in America the Beautiful”
Over at Funny about Money, the author of this post discusses her puzzlement over her father’s bigotry and coming to an understanding about his fears real and imagined.


“Lost in the Weeds”
Having only ever seen about 10 minutes of the Showtime series Weeds, I found Dave Taylor’s review over on Inside the Fish very informative. It made me wonder if the show is essentially doing for marijuana what Will & Grace did for homosexuality. The election’s closing in on us, you know…


“Don’t Be a Fish While Fishing”
Andrew, from Rely on God in Your Personal Development, takes an unusual point of view on the devil as a “fisher of men.”


“Copan on the Canaanite Genocide”
Parableman Jeremy Pierce joins in a web-wide discussion about morality, divinely-ordered genocide, and the Israelite conquest of Canaan. I’ll have to find time to go back and read the others’ posts to catch up on the details.


“Life is Beautiful”
On And She Went Out..., Michelle talks about life and the special meaning Psalm 91 now has for her.


“Jewish Thoughts on Wealth”
Free Money Finance offers a short critique of The Jewish Phenomenon: Seven Keys to the Enduring Wealth of a People by Steven Silbiger, a book that contrasts New Testament discussions about wealth with medieval Jewish teachings.


“Psalm 145 - The Missing Nun”
Dust always makes me wish I could figure out how to learn Hebrew. This post, part of Bob MacDonald’s series on the Oxford Psalms Conference (September 22-24, 2010), tackles the Masoretic text’s “missing nun verse” that the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Septuagint, the Peshitta, and other manuscripts have intact.


“What Do I Identify With Too Much?”
A Clay Pot’s Crystal Rodli writes about “giving it all up” for Christ. How this type of sacrifice affected Paul’s identity is something I realized I hadn’t thought about much before.


“10 Ways To Encourage Your Minister Today”
On Money Help For Christians, Craig Ford discusses some of the stress and discouragement church leaders face and how might we as members of their congregations improve things. Tip no. 4 cuts to the chase: “Ask your minister, ‘What are two things we could be doing differently as a church to minister to you?’”


“Friday Reflection: Trevor and Love”
Take a look at the simple but profound wisdom from a comic strip on My Jarrol Spot. Deano tries to put God’s powerful love in proper perspective.


“Contentment”
At Who Am I?, Barry Wallace looks to the Puritans for a better understanding of Christian contentment.


“The Thunderous Sound of Praise!”
LOSWL on INSPIKS talks about W2W Soul’s 100 Days Praise Challenge.


“Scarabs and Sheep”
Discussing how non-Christians try to shame us out of Christianity, Scottyi, on Sacred Raisin Cakes, looks at how the dung beetle can actually be a positive description. Anyone up to appropriating the image?


“My GPS”
On Ridge’s Blog, Ridge Burns talks about allowing God’s Word to steer you in the right direction.


“Potiphar’s Wife”
Russ White, from Thinking in Christ, looks at the connection between lust and anger using the Bible’s most famous seductress as an example. This was a timely read for me, since I’ve recently read the Qu’ran’s version of the story, which paints this woman in a more positive light.


“What’s Your Goliath?”
Kaleb from W2W Soul “interviews” David about his experience and having faith in God’s power to destroy the enemy.


“Democrats in Trouble, Republicans the Answer?”
At Random Musings on Anything and Everything from a Biblical Worldview, Chris Price responds to common arguments given for supporting Republicans in political office. In response, I’d ask, how do we set about “cleaning house” since Christians refusing to vote for major party candidates doesn’t seem to be getting us anywhere.


“When ‘Equally Yoked’ Really Isn’t”
After all of that, if you still have some time, please contribute your thoughts on my recent post addressing the “missionary dating” fad.


Hwyl fawr.