Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Christian Carnival – June 2013 Edition


Welcome to the June 2013 “Summer Time” Edition of the Christian Carnival. As always, this monthly blog carnival features a number of submitted and nominated posts on a variety of topics written from different religious perspectives. I’ve also added a few music YouTube videos to help set the mood. Enjoy!


Apologetics

Tony Kiar (Walking with Tony) posts “The Big Easy Lie”: The Big Easy Lie operating in the world enables people to forget history, be blind to current events and so live big easy lives of consumerism and false optimism. The fruit of THE BIG EASY LIE in secular society is insensitivity to violence, moral decay and indifference to others.

“Disciple” (closer2thee.com) posts “Human Promises Don't Mean Much”: Have you ever had that one friend that did something so out of character that, even though it happened, you still really can't bring yourself to accept it?

Seth Osenkarski (The Geek's Guide To Christianity) posts “Popularity And The Word: The Truth of the Matter”: We have all heard somebody say, “The Bible and Christianity say one thing (insert any subject here), but I just can’t believe it in the face of such overwhelming scientific proof to the contrary.” What I want talk about today involves the reasons why people will end up compromising and why the whole idea of scientific evidence versus the Bible is ludicrous.

Mark (Ex Church of Christ Blog) posts “The Rude Guy Who Beeped at me in Traffic”: The Bible is never referred to as “the Word”. Only Jesus is referred to as “the Word.”

Jennifer Vaughn-Estrada (The Chic of Domesticity) posts “Thoughts on Colossians”: I have a conspiracy theory. Leaders in the church, consciously or subconsciously, turn every guilt-inducing “Do not be harsh towards your wife” lesson into an ego-boosting “You are Christ and she is the Church” lesson.

Jeremy Pierce (Parableman) posts “Zadok, Conspiracy Theories, and the High Priestly Line”: One common view in biblical scholarship takes Zadok to be a non-Levitical priest who was later retconned into being a descendant of Eleazar, which would undermine the biblical record, which presents him as Eleazar's heir to the high priesthood. This post looks at alternative accounts of what's going on in the texts, which admittedly has some puzzling elements, but it argues that the standard retcon approach is not the best way to handle the data.


Book Review

Jeff LeMaster (No End to Books) posts “The Air We Breathe”: The Air We Breathe is a great story. The characters are genuine and three dimensional. The plot is riveting. The struggles, the hurt, the pain, the loss are all real.

Devotional

Zak Schmoll (A Chapter Per Day) posts “1 Kings 18: I Wish I Had the Courage of Elijah”: We all occasionally feel like we are alone. However, Elijah had similar problems, and he had the courage not only to stand up for what he believed in, but also had the faith that God would help him through all of it.

David Bosch (InFaith's Mission Blog) posts “Faith and Prayer”: David Bosch writes about learning to stop, pray, and listen instead of trying to do it all himself.

Ridge Burns (Ridge's Blog) posts “Point of Reference”: A week teaching in Great Britain reminded Ridge Burns about the need for a point of reference.


Kathryn C. Lang (Kathryn C. Lang) posts “Recovering My Balance”: Through some tests and trials, I am discovering (and re-discovering) my life plan. Do you have a plan?

Silas Eke (Silaroli Bookstores) posts “What Is That in Your Hand?”: Moses is like every one of us. We want to serve God in a very big and remarkable way but we do not, as we assume, have the right tools. “I wish I am better trained!”

Shearon Hurst (Refreshing Times for Women) posts “When Do You Give Up...NEVER!”: A word of encouragement to comfort and strengthen Christians in their walk with the Lord.

Finance

Chris Price (Earn Money in Pajamas) posts “Making Money from Home to Pay off Debt”: Debt is a problem that many people in America experience all too often. There are some ways that can help those who are in debt earn a bit of extra income to pay off these bills.


Other

Ridge Burns (Ridge's Blog) posts “The Communion Table”: Maybe aluminum communion trays and plastic cups don’t do our Savior justice.

Bill Fortenberry (Increasing Learning) posts “The Conversion of Benjamin Franklin”: I was shocked to discover that this iconic figure of the Revolution had documented his own, spiritual revolution in clear detail revealing to all the world his conversion from skeptical deism to a full faith and trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Chukwuma Okonji (IN-SIGHT) posts “A Critical View on Society”: Society, ultimately, is only a reflection of what's on our inside. And the moment that changes, I bet we will barely draw a dividing line between society and paradise, as they would be synonymous.

Elvis Navarro (christianfp) posts “Easter: A Time to Remember Jesus”: The more we think about Jesus, the more I realize what an extraordinary life He led on earth.

Robin Bremer (Kingdom Living with Robin Bremer) posts “Oh, The Blood”: The blood of Jesus made the difference from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant.

Toni Campbell (Lakeside Lessons) posts “Totinh Baggage”: That's how I met Denise. When I offered her some free items her response was “no thank you - I just can't add to the weight of what I already have to carry around.” As she left the event to face the challenge of her burden, I wondered how many of us carry our baggage like Denise...not physically, but spiritually.

Kevin Bickel (InFaith's Mission Blog) posts “Unrealistic Thoughts”: Kevin Bickel rethinks his response to a man who told him he had unrealistic expectations for ministry.


Theology

William Bouker (Mazes) posts “Are You Being Convicted?”: What do you feel when you know you’ve done wrong? Conviction is like guilt but it is a deeper feeling. It works on our basest core.

In closing, I recommend that you check out this link by Bob MacDonald (Dust) for a visual presentation of his new book Seeing the Psalter: Patterns of Recurrence in the Poetry of the Psalms.

Thank you for joining me with another edition of the Christian Carnival. Want more? Check out the most recent edition of the Biblioblog Carnival. If you are interested in participating in our next Christian Carnival, the upcoming July edition, please submit or nominate a June post by the end of this month using the Christian Carnival Submission Form. Also, we’re always in need of hosts, so please take a look at the Hosting page for more information. Thanks again for reading (and viewing). See you next month!