(More graph humour at Graphjam)
I guess it’s the tradition now ;^) Gotta come up with some humour…
So an evangelist and a pastor are out hunting, when suddenly a grizzly bear comes at them out of nowhere. They both turn and sprint back to their hunting cabin as fast as they can move — with the bear in hot pursuit. The evangelist reaches the door first and hurridly pulls it open. The pastor is right behind him, and flings himself past the evangelist into the cabin. The bear is hot on his heels, and charges inside after him, whereupon the evangelist slams the door shut from the outside. An anguished cry rings out from behind the door as the pastor screams, “What are you doing?!” The evangelist replies, “Hey, I just bring ’em in — once they’re inside, they’re your responsibility!”
Alright, then. Congrats to Robbymac, celebrating five years of blogging.
And on with the linkage….
- Kevin Cawley links up some notes on The Death of Christian Bookstores — not everyone will mourn. Yes, Bill, I saw your ears perk up.
- Makeesha Fisher reviews the Five Mindfulness Trainings of Buddhism and the Twelve commitments of Christian neo monasticism
- Bill Reichart: Rick Warren on the cover of TIME
- Lainie Petersen guarantees you’ll laugh at the Demon Squirrel Story. I know I did.
- iMonk’s Recommendation and Review: The NLT Study Bible — sounds very worthwhile, perhaps the best new study Bible since the NIV Study? Dare we hope so highly?
- Kathy Escobar visits her metaphorical Egypt — take special note, those of you that have a “CLB“
- Jared Wilson spills all you need to know about the Osteens in court… and it’s all about entitlement. Jared is spot-on… and this is one of the reasons I left my last church. Not to mention that whole prophetic thing that Pam Hogeweide describes… and I never even bothered to subscribe to “that list.”
- Scot McKnight is interviewed about his blog and other matters. Speaking of Scot and his blog, he’s got some great words for teachers
- Craig Blomberg (now blogging) posts on Demystifying Bible Translation and Where Our Culture Is with Inclusive Language. The piece gives some good insight into what went into the making of different translations, like the ESV, NLT, and TNIV. I disagree about the supremacy of the TNIV, though. Crossway has released the book of Jonah in the ESV Study Bible, as a downloadable PDF.
- Speaking of Bibles, I know some people like those editions that take you through the entire Bible in a given period. My youngest daughter just read her age-targeted Message Bible in two days, and informs me that she really needs a new one now. Still, it sounds like the shorter time-frames aren’t as popular: “The One Week Bible” [is] Not Catching On, so Tyndale “Two Lifetimes Bible”.
TSK says: GloboChrist: The Book to Read. The full title is GloboChrist: The Great Commission Takes a Postmodern Turn. Looks interesting.- Grace says we should practice less
- This is a riot, from BW-III: Britain is Repossessing America— I’m John Cleese, and I approved this Message; I have to say, some of these are pretty good ideas… #2,3,5,11,15…
- Darryl Dash says a mega-church is rediscovering the Gospel — from an article in Themelios, which is now being published in digital format (iPaper & PDF). Great move — I hope we see more theological journals moving this direction. Also from this issue:
It must by now be questionable whether the word “mission” retains any residual value for missiology. Humpty Dumpty’s approach to language—“When use a word, it means just what choose it to mean, neither more nor less”—perhaps reflects his creator’s diagnosis of a degenerative disease that afflicts some words, a sort of linguistic entropy or inflation. If so, this pathological condition seems to have caught up with “mission,” and perhaps with terminal effect. The opening sentences of Bosch’s Transforming Mission point this way: “Since the 1950s there has been a remarkable escalation in the use of the word ‘mission’ among Christians. This went hand in hand with a significant broadening of the concept, at least in certain circles.”2 If words are defined by their use, then the variety and breadth with which “mission” is used suggest that Neill’s prophecy may have been fulfilled: “everything is mission, nothing is mission.
Sound familiar?
- More post-charismatic questions: Who’s to Blame for the Prosperity Gospel? (Dan Edelen; note it’s “blame” and not “credit”) Stripping Down To Christ Alone: Rethinking the Gifts of the Holy Spirit (Frank Viola) and Navigating New Moves of the Spirit (Jason Clark, on Mr. Bentley). In a related vein, Ed Stetzer is Thinking about Apostles and a “coalition” thereof (I guess they don’t travel in groups like a herd, a flock, a pride, a murder, or even a school). Not content, Ed has even More Thoughts on Apostles, where he links to Peter Wagner’s definitions of the various kinds of apostles. Hmm. Given enough categories, I guess everyone could be an apostle… which brings us to the notion that if it means everything, then it means nothing.
- One of the most fascinating “disorders,” in my mind… Seeing is Hearing: New Type of Synesthesia Discovered
- Ryan Bell quotes Sr. Joan Chittister’s telling of a story from the Desert Fathers that has all the goodness of a Zen koan (it’s a good thing).
Not much to say… images say it all. I want→→- Someone else noticed that People Can’t Talk to Pastors… I would include other leaders. When my wife and I stepped down from the leadership team at my CLB, we noticed people seemed to talk to us more, or had an easier time doing so once we weren’t formally in leadership positions. That ought to send out alarm bells.
- Turns out that some types of media never really go away for one obscure not readily-apparent reason or another.
- I’ve found out about an easy way to increase your IQ — sort of. I think I’m going to try this for about 18-20 hours a day for a full week….
Is this brilliant, or what? (HT: Scot McKnight) I could really use one of these…
This is hilarious: a song about Wayne Grudem that features not only the hand jive, but the lyrics,
Go Wayne Grudem with your intellectual writing style,
(Wayne Grudem go Wayne Grudem)
Go Wayne Grudem you make ha-rd doctrines less of a trial
(Wayne Grudem go Wayne Grudem)
You are extreme, but God’s supreme, oh Wayne Grudem
Classic. You can get the lyrics as well, in case you want to sing along.
Well, that’s a wrap for another fine Saturday of linkage.
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