Christian Carnival CCCXXXII

Welcome to the June 16, 2010 of the Christian Carnival, #322. Today I’m just presenting the posts in order with a little bit of commentary. I enjoyed a number of these posts. I hope you do as well.

Starting us out with a controversial topic, we have Rodney Olsen who presents some thoughts on how important it is to communicate on controversial issues, such as abortion, and  presents Rethinking Abortion, including an interview (audio) with a Christian politician in Western Australia who is trying to reduce the number of abortions in his state.  I admit I enjoy a vigorous and yet respectful debate on such a topic, though the opportunity to have one is quite rare.

Anyone else have trouble saving?  Yes, it’s hard to stretch that paycheck!  FMF presents The Seven Pillars of Financial Success, Pillar 4: Saving for the Future, telling us that saving a portion of what you make is one of the key biblical financial pillars.  I always love posts that start from Proverbs!

John Fraiser chooses to take on C. S. Lewis and his Lord? Lunatic? Demon?? or? trilemma.  He finds some value in the argument but doesn’t think it will stand up as an all encompassing argument.  Be sure to read down into the comments for some further clarity.

Warren Nicholson Y. Fernando finds a prayer in a Beatles song, and presents his faith interpreted through the song with  In My Hour In Need: Let It Be By The Beatles posted at 24k Forever!!!!.

If you’re like me and don’t think that much of folks preaching out on street corners or in the park, then you need to read Street Preaching and “Church in the Park” posted at who am i? by Barry Wallace.

Michael Fierro presented Luke 7, the most wondrous chapter in the Bible posted at New Testament in Review, but it’s outside the date range for the carnival, so I’m linking to Cliffhanger:  What does Paul say (Acts 22-24), which does fall in the right date range.  (Alright already!  He got two links.  He’s blogging through the New Testament–can’t resist that.  Sue me!)

I find that time in the car often provides the best opportunities to have a conversation with my wife, and Ridge Burns found the same thing to be true in his post Conversation.

Andrew says he used to wonder why Christians were so anxious to share.  He explains it in Why Christians are eager to share Christ. Are you eager?  If not, this post will tell you why you should be!

The story of Esau selling his birthright is pretty well known, but what was the big issue with that action.  Russ White presents Esau’s Birthright.  He says,  “The selling of Esau’s birthright seems straightforward–but what we to make of it? Is it more than just one story among many along the road to the creation of Israel?”

Clay at Christian Colleges presents a list of Top 10 Biblical Learning Blogs.  He says, “God is everywhere. So, it should come as no surprise to find Him on the internet also. Hey, He’s probably even got his own Twitter account. The Big Man Upstairs has gone high tech, and here are the Top Ten Biblical Learning Blogs to help you ‘Follow’ Him.”  I’m pretty biased about the list since my Participatory Bible Study blog is in first position!

Brian Marchionni presents 5 Must Read Bible Scholars (for the non-academic) posted at Boston Bible Geeks, saying, “If people in your church are wanting to learn from top-notch Bible scholars without forking over the big bucks to go to seminary, these 5 scholars would be a great place to start (with reading suggestions).”  That’s what he said.  What I say is get on over there and argue about who should or shouldn’t be on the list!  That’s where the real fun is.

michelle is blown away by the greatness of God, so she tells us about Answered Prayers. I think it’s hard to go wrong with personal testimony, so I love it!

Weekend Fisher explains why she is not a Mormon in a post titled (unsurprisingly) Why I am not a Mormon: Introduction posted at Heart, Mind, Soul, and Strength.  Just the question I was going to ask!  She describes it this way: “A Christian takes a look at why she is not a Mormon — both for the sake of the earnest, kind Mormons she has known and for the sake of the agnostics who use the Book of Mormon as a smoke-screen.”

Dave Taylor believes that if we don’t continue to exercise faith, it atrophies until it degenerates into just an intellectual concept, something more likely to lead to strife, friction, and pointless controversies.  He explains why in his post Going, going …gone? saying, Disciple’s Journal. I’ve always wondered why this should be controversial. Of course we don’t always like it–exercise is hard! But the Bible says it a number of times. Dave Taylor lays it out point by point.

And since I didn’t get anything worthwhile posted on my own blogs, let me present Sometimes You Have to Act First, which I wrote for the World Prayr blog. That one goes well with the one about active discipleship that came before.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of christian carnival ii using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.