Christian Carnival CXXXVII (137)

I want to thank Vaughn for his idea for this weeks structure:

what flashed into my brain when you said 'structure' was 'a house'... ie 'windows' for worldview posts, 'foundation' for Biblical themes, living room for family issues, front door for work/church related, etc

Hey, great idea. I will use my house. So, the door is open, come on in, I will get you a refreshment, and you can enjoy . . .

The Open House Edition

When you get to the front door you first go into
The "Formal" Living Room
Well, not so formal but the original idea was we wouldn’t use this room much, in order to keep our face to the world cleaner. Now, it is where my wife and mother-in-law (primarily) share their community life together and their faith - and we have realized our face will never really be clean.

• Von sent a letter to a friend and his wife - from Von and his wife. In it they talked about building a trusting relationship between the couples. Von's Take: "You Can Trust Us"



• Cindy Swanson at Notes in the Key of Life presents "Katrina: One year later, a Mississippi church continues to rebuild"

* * * * *

Down the first hall on the left is
My Wife's Dressing Room
for putting on the armor of God to meet the world:

Ephesians 6:13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

• Leslie at Lux Venit writes about the need to memorize scripture and get "Bible Saturated"

* * * * *

Then
The Office/Library
where we research, write and study our own and other peoples ideas and beliefs

• Hammertime at Team Hammer's Musings presents "What Inerrancy is Not". This is the first of a three part series.



• Martin at Sun and Shield asks "How important is a doctrine of origins to Christians?". He began by thinking it wasn't very important, because there is so little in the New Testament about origins. Now he's not so sure.



• Jeremy Pierce at Parableman points us to some interesting arguments made by "N.T. Wright on the Virgin Birth". I want to thank Jeremy for the other suggestion I received for a structure for this Carnival: Psalm 137. He used Psalm 136 to build Carnival 136 around.



• sjpeer at Getting Finances Done presents "How to create a zero based budget". Hey, we pay the bills in the office as well. I saw no indication at the website whether the author is, or isn't, a Christian; but we are called to be wise stewards of what God gives us.



• My own post at Brain Cramps for God was answering a request on "The Ministry of the Holy Spirit"



• Richard H. Anderson presents "Early Christian Artwork" posted at dokeo kago grapho soi kratistos Theophilos. Does this give us a clue about the earliest views of Christ?

* * * * *

Also, our
The Bedroom
where we deal with rest from our weariness, and of course, our sex life as followers of Christ.

• Father David at Left of Calvary thinks a "Settlement Means the Church can only Blame Itself" and must re-examine its views on intimacy

* * * * *

Last down that hall is
The Bathroom
where we can unload some of the baggage we have gathered, while cleansing and renewing ourselves, after being in the world

• Leslie Carbone unloads about "Overbearing Government"



• People talk about the parallels between Superman and Christ, but where do the other characters fit in? This week at Light Along the Journey John explores how Lex Luthor may fit into the big picture in the post The Path of Pain.



• Penitens, A Penitent Blogger calls on followers of Christ to "Hold the Traditions" trying not to "focus too much on the things of darkness and evil."



• H.H. Patriarch Anthony at Fides et Veritas unloads "On Prejudice in the Church" and prays "for an end to discrimination in our world and especially in our churches."

* * * * *

To the right out of the living room is the
The Kitchen
where concoctions of all types are prepared, and many of my children's science experiments were carried out.

• Matt at Random Acts of Verbiage takes a somewhat brief look at "Creation Science" and the problems he has with it. He says science and religion are NOT contradictory!



• Eric "Funky Dung" Williams presents "Plan B: Not Abortifacient But Not a Panacea Either" posted at Ales Rarus. While Eric does not believe that Plan B is abortifacient, that does not mean that I think over-the-counter access to it is a good idea.



• Tom Gibson at Thinking Christian reviews "A Meaningful World: How the Arts and Sciences Reveal the Genius of Nature", a very thoughtful and unique argument in favor of design in nature.

* * * * *

Attached to the Kitchen, is the
Breakfast Nook
where we are fed.

• Karen Marie brings us a prayer-meditation on

  John 6:67 So Jesus said to the twelve, "You do not want to go away also, do you?" 68 Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. 69 "We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God."

  called "Domine, ad quem ibimus?" [Lord, to whom can we go?] From the Anchor Hold

* * * * *

From, there you can go out into
Our Backyard
where we do have some nature to get away in to decompress and appreciate God's creation.

• Have you heard about the bridesmaid that traveled over 10,000 green miles from Ireland to Australia? Will a new appreciation of creation help you lose weight? Don at The Evangelical Ecologist has a lot more fact and faith-filled links from "Around the Web".



• Don also points "green Christians" to a thoughtful essay by freelance Christian author Erica Henry: "And the Lord God Planted a Garden"

* * * * *

The other direction, is our
Garage
where we store many tools and accessories for our life's projects and recreations

• Lillie Ammann at A Writer's Words, An Editor's Eye looks at how she was a "Catalyst: God's Tool"



• Mark at Kingdom>>> Church>>> Culture believes each of us has a story. Some of our story elements are common, others are unique. In "Storytelling", he looks at the five essential components of a story

* * * * *

From the living room again, you can go to
The Family Room
where we enjoy entertainments, recreations and games together.

• Tyler at Codex: Resources for Biblical Studies presents the 7th in a series on "Jesus Junk and Christian Kitsch". Like all kitsch, what one considers kitsch is a matter of perspective (one person's art is another person's kitsch), though Tyler thinks that many would agree that most of what he highlights in this post is rather "kitschy."



• Karl at Noneya (as in "business") asks "Why is Christian Music So Boring"



• Adam Graham at The Lost Genre Guild examines Christian fantasy novels and asks "What Good is Christian Fiction?"



• Bedroom or living room? OK - living room: Catez from Allthings2all reviews "Big Love: Polygamy in Prime Time" - a TV show about a polygamous family outside Salt Lake.

* * * * *

Also, you go into
My Daughter's, or My MIL's, Rooms
where our lives are intertwined with generations of faith and love

• Diane at Crossroads: Where Faith and Inquiry Meet responds to a sermon by Paul Washer at a Southern Baptist youth conference that will probably earn the speaker a place on the "No Future Invite" list - as well as serious Confusion Points on the issue of salvation.



• Laurie Bluedorn at Trivium Pursuit tells us that CHASK and NATHHAN Need Help. CHASK is Christian Homes and Special Kids. NATHHAN is the National Challenged Homeschoolers Associated Network

* * * * *

We exit that front door to take action on
The World
both spiritual and secular.

• Jack Yoest presents "Media Alert: Charmaine On ABC News Now Debating Plan B" posted at Jack Yoest.



• Boring Made Dull asks "Is it Christian to Support Increasing the Minimum Wage?" posted at The Boring Made Dull.



• Mick at Romans 15:4 Project looks at a tough choice, and an alternative, in "Christian Politics - Illinois Governor 2006".



• David Ker at Lingamish says "I hear humanity singing" and asks that you join in a collaborative celebration of the world's 6,912 langauges by contributing a line to a multilingual poem.



• I have included a post by Ali from Eteraz on his "Muslim Experience in at Ann Coulter Chatroom" because followers of Christ need to know how their reflection (or lack thereof) of Christ's love and mercy is viewed from outside the faith.



• Lennie at CrossBlogging shares Mick's view above of "Christian Voter Options in Illinois".



• Weekend Fisher from Heart, Mind, Soul, and Strength continues her series on Ethics and Violence with "Turn the Other Cheek": "Why wimping out does not count as 'turning the other cheek', and how 'turning the other cheek' confronts evil."



• Andre at Every Square Inch looks at Walmart and the Culture War. Should we as Christians be responding to every moral or ethical issue in the name of "culture war"?

Thanks for coming by. Please hang out as long as you like - you know where the goodies are now so please help yourselves.