Matt Jones' Random Acts of Verbiage

I am pleased to bring you the 91st edition of the Christian Carnival a gateway to posts from around the Christian blogosphere! Christian Carnival is run by Dory over at Wittenberg Gate and is hosted by a different blogger each week. If you would like to read previous Carnivals and their respective posts, please check out my Christian Carnival Archive. Think Hugh Hewitt will ever contribute?

Without further ado, I bring you Christian Carnival XCI!

I thought I would try and come up with a clever theme like other hosts have done, but realized I am not that creative and as a graduate student I have other things I can do with my time. Plus, a completely random assortment keeps you on your toes! And since I am hosting I can also be self-indulgent and start with my own post.

» Matt Jones of Random Acts of Verbiage… offers a completely un-biased look at the 100-Minute Bible and was quite unimpressed.

» Mark of runalong with pastor mark has a great post to kick of the carnival: speaking of sex… “Abstain from sexual immorality.” But why? We all know the rule, but do we really understand God’s rationale for this difficult command? Paul lays it all out beautifully for us in 1 Thessalonians.

» Phil of Philthreeten with his post Tower of Babel Christianity suggests that God believes that people left to their own sinful devices would be capable of anything…so what does that mean for believers who are guided by His Spirit?

» Otho of The Pros and the Cons tells us that if we Find a penny, pick it up because things we might normally overlook every day may, in fact, be very precious.

» Gullyborg at Resistance is futile! presents More than you might think. Suggesting that the appointment of Harriet Miers is an important diversity choice not just because she is another woman to replace O’Connor, but also because she brings new Faith to the court.

» Joy from karagraphy brings us her post team-work in the Gulf states where she discusses an overview of one small Illinois congregation’s hurricane relief efforts and encouragement to go on or support a work team.

» Bill of Rev Bill offers And Getting Help. There are times the ones we think we are helping are actually helping us!

» Scott Gilbreath at Magic Statistics presents A prayer of Reinhold Niebuhr. A brief discussion of the thought of Reinhold Niebuhr, a neglected 20th-century Christian political philosopher.

» Why do we always seek the cushy life instead of embracing the trouble we have been promised to receive? Why do we seek the Garden of Eden and ignore the Garden of Gethsemene? Last week’s host rev-ed at Attention Span thinks we should be Asking for Trouble.

» Kim at Sharing Spirit offers us The Truth because it seems as though everyone just makes up their own truth and puts the label relative truth on it.

» Katy of Fallible.com asks the question Which Brand Of Toothpaste Do They Use Up There? Interesting question!

» Dick at Viewpoint takes a look at Catholic bishops in England that have produced a list of Biblical passages which are True/Untrue and wonders what criteria they used to make their selections in Eenie, Meenie.

» Wayne of Questions and Answers offers some Lessons from Moses Hitting the Road because he had one of those “I didn’t know that was in scripture” moments. This is the result.

» Martin of Sun and Shield continues a series with The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life, pt. 4. He is excerpting from the nineteenth century public domain devotional book, The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life, by Hannah Whitall Smith. This is a departure from his usual fare, which is more likely to consider origins, Harry Potter, C. S. Lewis, and human embryology.

» Richard of dokeo kago grapho soi kratistos theophilos ( “I think and I write to you most excellent Theophilos [friend of God]“? Is that right? ) offers up Repentance and the Church Fathers a post that continues the discussion about what different people thought about the role of repentance.

» Rick of Brutally Honest laments the fact that Waiting is hard… Waiting is never easy, especially when what awaits could be bad news.

» Bonnie of Intellectuelle asks When does a human life begin? Bonnie examines the biological evidence for determining when human life begins. While the biology of human conception and fetal growth can answer some of our questions, each person’s worldview influences how the evidence in interpreted.

» Hannah Im of the aptly named Hannah Im tells you to Watch Your Anthropology. In the realm of theology, anthropology is the study of mankind. One’s view of anthropology often shapes one’s view of theology. This post (and the following second part), examine the importance of developing a clear and biblically sound view of man and discerning when others are not teaching “good anthropology.”

» Bill of Faith Commons writes about Anxiety, Being and Were-Rabbits. He was blissful before their existence was known. Now that he knows they exist, he’s anxious until he knows where they are not�not in his yard.

» Jeanette of Oh How I Love Jesus asks Matthew 24: Is It Knocking On Our Door? She is asking whether or not we are entering the end times with all the wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes, hurricanes etc happening so frequently. The post also goes into the plan of salvation asking people to be sure they are saved before they die, as it will be too late then.

» The bloke from …in the outer… sends us the first in a series: Regarding Toxic Leadership: Lessons from the Life of King Saul, Part I which is an examination of toxic leadership starting with the Biblical account of King Saul. An examination of this fascinating monarch who started well, and had all the right traits to be a great leader who might have left a great heritage for posterity, but who instead, finished abysmally and tragically. This is going to be the first post in a series that examine what is toxic leadership, how to develop a culture that can identify and avoid it, and to recognize, nurture and cultivate the authentic leadership.

» Barbara from Tidbits And Treasures brings us Nomads In Their Own Country. The New Orleans evacuees were shifted from place to place, having nothing to call their own. And, unless it’s happened to us, we will never know what they have gone through. They’ve become wonderers, having nothing, in their own country.

» Diane of Crossroads ponders the question: Does the Earth React to Sin? If sin is rampant in a certain place, or in a person; does that place or person’s body react in a sort of revolt? Can recent natural disasters and even some plagues be explained in that way?

» Bruce of Sprucegoose has submitted FCC Launches New Web Site. A new web site has been established by the US government that makes it much easier to file complaints about TV programs that step over the line.

» Bill of White Ribbon Warriors posts Of Wile E. Coyote and Commitment. If there was a spiritual application of a cartoon character, it’d have to be Wile E. Coyote. He was committed to his cause of catching the Road Runner. Commitment is missing among society and the church today, and the challenge is to take the Apostle Paul’s plea of Romans 12:1-2 and apply it to our own lives.

» Mark of 3:17 shares the second in a series on Elisha and the Shunemite titled Hope does not disappoint. Can we really trust God? Why does it sometimes seem that his blessings only pave the way for further hurt?

» Jeremy Pierce at Parableman presents Natural Disasters and the End Times. A few thoughts on the theology of natural disasters with respect to the end times.

» Penitens of A Penitent Blogger has a post about Intelligent un-design. A reflection on the connection between morality and the knowledge of God.

» Alexander of Carolina Christian Conservative offers To Be Self-Controlled. Carolina Christian Conservative contributor Alexander Samuels discusses how it takes courage to have self-control in today’s culture and how true self-control is the desire to please God in all we do, adding that a lack of it can certainly lead us down a path of destruction.

» Chad of Eternal Revolution has a lovely post Slip Slidin’ Away: Of Metaphors and Slippery Slopes. This post explores whether allowing for metaphorical interpretation of certain passages in the Bible (versus a strictly literal one) will eventually lead down a dangerous path to disbelief in the central tenants of the Christian faith. (I argue that it does not and that the big misunderstanding here lies in confusion between what is ‘truth” and what is “fact”. The Bible is often more poetry than it is scientific text and, as such, is not all historic/scientific fact, but it is all Truth.) [Amen to that]

» Richard of Law Religion Culture Review sends us Law Religion Culture Review: 10/01/2005 - 10/31/2005. James Rogan, a former Congressman and “manager” during the Clinton impeachment, has written an autobiography describing his conversion to Christianity and other pivotal events in his highly interesting and humor-filled life. Richard J. Radcliffe reviews this recent and best-selling book.

» Tom of Thinking Christian ponders What If…. “We’re a long way from it happening, but I’ve been thinking ‘what if?’ lately. What if someday there was widespread agreement that Bill Dembski, Michael Behe, and others are on the right track? What if evolution was convincingly falsified? What if Intelligent Design showed solid empirical support, and did so in a way that was safe from charges of Bible-thumping?”

» Lennie at CrossBlogging brings us Pope: Exclusion of God in Public Life is Hyprocrisy. The Pope is telling people who believe God is real to live like he is. It means
more than the personal, it means living like God is real everywhere in your
life, both private and public.

» Sara from Faith at the Front reflects on the recent subway scare in New York City and shares a story of an unsettling subway ride for her sister. Read what happened in her post, �Subway Scare in the Big Apple.�

» Ron from Northern ‘burbs blog asks Isn’t it Amazing? God is amazing, in the truest sense of the word. If we don’t experience awe and amazement at what He’s done, we don’t really understand it.

» Pastor Bill Chapelccino is down in New Orleans this week on a work team, with Samaritan’s Purse. He sends in his first audio blog, talking about his experiences on a crew that’s involved in disaster relief and help.

» Donna-Jean at Liberty and Lily writes about “God of the Valleys” - and what she learned while reading the Bible to her children one morning. “The facts of faith must be added to any life equation, any calculation of the future, or the math just plain won’t come out right….Two teams. Two flocks of goats. The hope of victory.”

» David of all kinds of time… takes not of The Desires of Your Heart in looking at Psalm 37:4 in from a different perspective.

» Louie from The Marshian Chronicles is talking about being Poor In Spirit in a series on the Beatitudes. He is experimenting this week, taking one Beatitude each day and writing about how it has and continues to effect him. What does it mean to be poor in spirit, and just how spiritually poor should we be?

» Bob Cooley at N WITH BOTH FEET challenges us to take a deeper look at our understanding of hell… and heaven in “Delving into the dark side…”

» WeekendFisher from Heart, Mind, Soul, and Strength posts Across religions and cultures: Jesus as the shape of hope. Did Christ fulfill Taoism, Buddhism, and Hinduism in the same way that he fulfilled Judaism? And how do we keep out syncretism while following Paul’s example to “look carefully at their objects of worship” before we evangelize?

» DeputyHeadmistress over at The Common Room presents Death Toll In Pakistan Rising, My Prayers Falling…

» Dadmanly of the aptly named Dadmanly writes “A Letter to My Son”. “Mrs. Dadmanly shared with me some questions our son has been asking, and they’re the kind of questions a Mom or a Dad sometimes might have trouble with, but we know they are very, very important.”

Well done everyone, thanks for the selections!

Thanks to all the well wishers in putting this together, if there are any problems or missed posts, please let me know. God Bless and be sure to stop back and say hi sometime!

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Matthew Jones