Christian Carnival CCC (300) - Silver Denarii Edition

As Jeremy said when he assigned me this Carnival - the 300th is a big edition. So, wanting some kind of theme - I put "three hundred" into a Bible search. Other than "mighty men" and shields in the Old Testament, I came up with this passage:

John 12:1-8 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom he had raised from the dead. So they prepared a dinner for Jesus there. Martha was serving, and Lazarus was among those present at the table with him. Then Mary took three quarters of a pound of expensive aromatic oil from pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus. She then wiped his feet dry with her hair. (Now the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfumed oil.) But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was going to betray him) said, “Why wasn’t this oil sold for three hundred silver coins and the money given to the poor?” (Now Judas said this not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief. As keeper of the money box, he used to steal what was put into it.) So Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She has kept it for the day of my burial. For you will always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me!”

The Cast of Characters

Jesus
Leadership/Grace/Love/teaching

Kaye presents "Whiny Brats" posted at Silencing the Stones.

After getting a bit frustrated with my son, I have a bit of a revelation about myself.

Angela presents "Fool, Foolishness, Folly" posted at He Speaks To Me.

A study of

"Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him. Answer a fool as his folly deserves. That he may not be wise in his own eyes." (Proverbs 26: 4-5 NAS)

Lazarus
Redemption/Salvation

Rick Schiano presents "Let Go, Forget the Past, but not All of It" posted at Ricks Victory Blog.

There are two men in the Bible that made huge mistakes and went through majoring grieving because of those errors. They are Peter and Judas. Let’s look at the lives of these two men and see what happened to them to cause this grief.

Andrea presents "Sin and the Snake" posted at Unfailingly Loved.

We play with it, and we play with it and we play with it – until it plays with us.

Mary
Discipleship/follower/student

michelle presents "Meditation On Isaiah 58:1-12" posted at Stepping Out In Faith To The Nations...

What does fasting really mean to me? What is the kind of fasting the Lord wants from us? I know in the past, when I’ve tried to fast for things, for answered prayers, for selfish reasons, I haven’t had much success. That kind of fast is just too hard or it is I am fasting for all the wrong reasons.

Becca presents "Mothering as a Journey" posted at Inspiration for Mothers.Com.

Spiritual journeys are not about reaching the destination - for when you reach the destination the journey is over - they are all about how you travel.

Barry Wallace presents "Pride, that epidemic vice" posted at who am i?.

After a week of fall break, or “fall reading days”, things are once again back in full swing here at Southern. Our latest lecture in Biblical Counseling concerned the putting off of pride, and the putting on of humility. Dr. Scott, I believe, very accurately described pride as an “epidemic vice”.

Michael presents "Security in God" posted at Chasing the Wind.

Where do you find security in times of trouble? Wealth? Job? People? David teaches us in Psalm 62 that security is found only in God.

Herbert Anderson presents "Top 50 Blogs for Online Scripture Study" posted at A Blog of Biblical Proportions.

Do you like to analyze scripture from the Bible? Or, do you simply want daily solace through a meditative verse? The following list of top fifty blogs for online scripture study includes blogs that range from the daily verse variety to scholarly studies that include Hebrew poetry and more.

Melissa Hedding presents "Grown Up" posted at Finds For Families.

How parenting helps us grow more Christ-like.

Jody Neufeld presents "What should a congregation following Jesus Christ in ministry look like?" posted at Jody's Devotionals.

A congregation following Jesus would . . .

David Porter presents "God's Survival Guide for Enduring Economic Hard Times" posted at A Boomer in the Pew.

This current recession has been very difficult for a great many in our nation . . . One of the first things that the Christian must wrap their minds around is that God is in control, is sovereign, and in a most mysterious way has ordained this.

loswl presents "Conquering The Sinful Nature" posted at W2W Soul: Windows to The Woman's Soul.

Woman to Woman, if we’re really honest with ourselves, we have either said or thought similar expressions of frustration, upon failing a test or trial that we have faced and continue to face.

Martha
Servanthood/Missions/Ministry

Richard H. Anderson presents "You satisfy the hungry heart" posted at dokeo kago grapho soi kratistos Theophilos .

“The proposition of a priestly agenda for reconciliation” is a provocative thesis

John
Reportage/observation/stories/evangelism/apologetics

Ken Brown presents "Stargate, the Christian Story, and the Role of Humanity in the Universe" posted at C. Orthodoxy.

Stargate Universe well illustrates the problem (watch it on Hulu). The show follows a group of people who have been transported to an ancient starship hurtling through the far reaches of the universe, “several billion light years from home.”

John presents "Free Will and the Quantity of Evil" posted at Brain Cramps for God.

A post about free will and the "problem" of evil

Weekend Fisher presents "Did any of the gospels claim to have been written by an eyewitness?" posted at Heart, Mind, Soul, and Strength.

Weekend Fisher reviews a misstatement of facts in Bart Ehrman's Lost Christianities. Part of a series on stock claims against the New Testament.

Brian Marchionni presents "False Hope in Advertising" posted at Boston Bible Geeks.

A series of ads funded by eight atheist groups are being posted in the New York subway system. The ads will show a blue sky with the words, “A million New Yorkers are good without God. Are you?”

Jeremy Pierce presents "Fate Without Providence" posted at Parableman.

J.J. Abrams wants to have fate without providence.

Diane R presents "Great Book out on Secularism and Christianity" posted at Crossroads: Where Faith and Inquiry Meet.

What happens when a secularist becomes a Christian? A review of a great interview with a former secularist.

Henry Neufeld presents "Comforted" posted at Jevlir Caravansary.

She wasn’t comfortable with this visit, but it was her duty. He had lost his son just three weeks earlier and she had conducted the funeral. The death had been sudden, tragic. The man had lost his wife only three years earlier, and his son was his life. At the funeral he had been devastated. Now he looked peaceful, almost happy. It was very strange . . .

Marcus Maher presents "Book Review: Are You the One Who is to Come?" posted at Seeking the truth....

This is the first of what I hope will be a series of book reviews on new books in theology or biblical studies (no more than 12 months old). I hope to provide one review per month.

The Perfumed Oil
wealth/possessions/finance/work/politics

FMF presents "A Man Skilled in His Work" posted at Free Money Finance.

I've never written about what the Bible has to say about your career. I have talked about the value of hard work (which the Bible regularly highlights in Proverbs), but never your job/career itself. So let's talk about it now, starting with this verse:

Jay Richards presents One Best Way on Immigration? posted at The Enterprise Blog.

The blog is about the NAE’s recent resolution on immigration reform, specifically questioning whether the policy endorsements of the resolution follow from any distinctively evangelical belief.