Christian Carnival CCXXXV

The 235th Christian Carnival has been posted at Everyday Liturgy, which is one of those great blogs that I first found by reading the Carnival. Looks like there’s some great stuff there, so it’s definitely well worth checking out.

The Christian Carnival is posted every Wednesday, as a weekly collection from Christian bloggers. In order to participate, all a blogger has to do is submit a post, which is very easy using this form. The submission will go to the host, and it will go up on Wednesday. The purpose of the Carnival is to promote Christian posts, so that’s about as strict as the rules get — “Christian” could include Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, etc..

Although the posts are from Christians, they don’t have to be about theology, and could be about politics, family life, or just about anything else, as long as it’s coming from a Christian point of view.

So, please, check it out, and I’d encourage Christian bloggers to participate.

Obama’s Prayer

I had promised myself that I was done writing pro-Obama posts, but then I heard the radio talkers complaining about Barack Obama’s prayer at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. Apparently, someone committed the wrong of snatching the piece of paper on which he wrote the prayer and publishing it.

I heard the prayer, and I listened to the comments. Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh each expressed their shock about this kind of awful false prayer. I’m going to cite here James Taranto’s Best of the Web piece, from which I take the text, though Taranto cites from elsewhere:

Lord–

Protect my family and me.

Forgive me my sins, and help me guard against pride and despair.

Give me the wisdom to do what is right and just.

And make me an instrument of your will.

Tell me, what exactly is wrong with this prayer? According to Beck and Limbuagh, it’s not how real people pray. I guess they have a point … I try to construct my sentences a bit better than that, I try to avoid starting sentences with “And,” and I usually go on a lot longer.

Good News from South Dakota

No, not good news. Awesome news. Amazing news.

Hat tip, high five, and overly-enthusiastic handshake to Kevin Tracy for this one.

The last abortion provider in South Dakota has closed its doors. It’s a victory … no, it’s not the end of abortion in the US, much less the world, but it’s a win. It’s also encouraging. For my own part, I live surrounded by liberals and libertarians, and it usually feels like the pro-life cause has little hope of winning. However, there are other parts of the nation.

Congratulations, South Dakota. May the rest of us catch up with you soon.

A Turtle

Some might argue that, with the weight of issues in a Presidential campaign, House campaigns, the US active wars collection, housing crisis, credit crisis, and everything else spinning out of control, it’s silly to blog about a turtle. However, the fate of this turtle had a rather-profound effect on my family’s day, and I think it’s symptomatic of a problem in US culture.

Supporting Joe in Ohio

Joe Schriner, my pick for this Presidential race, is focused now on the state of Ohio. He’s looking for help, and I’d love for this blog to be part of that.

Here’s what he’s asking:

***And we need supporters in the state, and outside, to e-mail supportive letters-to-the-editor about our campaign to as many Ohio newspapers as possible. (Go to Ohio newspapers.) ***Toward the end of the letter, would you please note that for a vote to count for us in Ohio the voter must write (or type) in both: Joe Schriner / President and Dale Way / Vice-President. And to ask poll worker for help if necessary. Note to our supporters: This is quite important to the campaign at this point and if you could write the letters sooner than later it would help a lot. Thanks. (If we have a significant showing in Ohio — Remember Ohio during Campaign 2004? – it will be enough to make the campaign a national story and provide a great springboard into Campaign 2012.) –Joe

What’s Mike Huckabee Up To?

I admit that I haven’t been writing much about Governor Huckabee lately. It’s not that I haven’t wanted to, I’ve just been tied up.

But today is Vertical Day 2.0, and this seems like it’s about time to get back to looking at the good governor and man that the Republicans should have nominated for President.

HuckPAC is looking for ideas from normal people as part of the Vertical Day concept. For those who don’t remember, Vertical Day last year was a celebration of reaching higher and getting things done, rather than getting bogged down in the politics of Right and Left. Republicans who think that they don’t need to listen to Democrats are shutting out nearly half of the thinking in this nation … Democrats who think that they don’t need to listen to Republicans are shutting out much of what’s left. Partisans who think that they don’t listen to listen to us independents are shutting out the rest.

Vertical politics has the goal of getting past that nonsense. Not throwing out cute little zingers at each other, really trying to find solutions that matter and which last. Not compromising values, but finding ways to work together. For several years, politics has been devolving into name-calling and partisan squabbling. It looks a lot like my children fighting. Vertical politics calls us to grow up, basically.

Christian Carnival CCXXXIV

The 234th Christian Carnival is being hosted by some guy calling himself “Wickle” at A True Believer’s Blog, and you should … wait … who? Where? Hey, that’s me! I guess that explains all of that e-mail I’ve received.

Some hosts do really clever and witty things. I’ve been kicking around ideas ever since Jeremy at Parableman said he’d really let me host. So, when it’s all said and done, I came up with nothing that worked. That, and I’m afraid of messing it up (You don’t even want to know how many times I’ve rechecked those Roman numerals). Ah, well …

For those who don’t know, the Christian Carnival is a weekly collection of posts from around the blogging community. Christian bloggers submit their posts, and the host puts the collection up each Wednesday for your reading pleasure. If you’re a Christian, you should check it out. If you’re a Christian blogger, go ahead and submit something. I’ve found several of my favorite blogs through the Carnival, and I’m sure that there’s someone else out there who would love to see what you’re writing.

As a housekeeping matter, I’d like to apologize to those who sent posts from outside this week’s date range (as a weekly Carnival, posts should be dated from the previous Wednesday to Tuesday the day before the Carnival). I didn’t catch that when I was reading the posts, and I should have. I will update to add replacement posts if you get back to me. I have, though, included the out-of-range submissions at the end. Jeremy Pierce mentioned this back in May when he hosted the Carnival.

So, with neither further ado nor profound creativity on my part, here are this week’s Carnival posts:

Jonathan at Christian Interpretation of Dreams appears to be kicking off a new blog, posing the question “Do Dreams Have Christian Interpretations?” (I was pretty sure I knew his answer before I read the post!). He suggests, ” Christian Interpretation of dreams can reveal something you should be knowing.”

FMF at Free Money Finance points to Proverbs to get us thinking about the merits of “Looking Poor, Being Wealthy.”

Rodney Olsen of RodneyOlsen.net asks, ” Is regret giving us a distorted idea of what ‘might have been’ and making us yearn for a life that we’ll never experience?” and then offers help with his post, “Living With Regret.” I guess you can skip this one if your life is and has always been perfect, you’ve never made a mistake, and … ummm, … yeah, you should take a look at what he’s got to say.

CaseyP at The Limitless poses some challenging questions and situations in “Churches: Havens for Weary Souls or Spiritual Dr. Kevorkians?” As Casey puts it, “In light of some recent experiences, I wonder if churches help or hurt those in need?” Reading the post, I think that Casey is expressing his thoughts and feelings pretty clearly.

Diane R at Crossroads: Where Faith and Inquiry Meet presents “Postmodern Philosophy for the Rest of Us–Part 5″ She asks the question, “What will the future church service look like if we are to meet the different generations’ expectations and thinking?” and then sets out to offer some answers and look at those problems.

Raffi Shainian at Parables of a Prodigal World explains, “A bit of humble soul-searching is essential to any Christian gathering.” Toward that end, he offers up “10 Items of God’s Grace, and How I’ve Misused Them” in one of those explorations of shortcomings that hits pretty close to home. Simply stated, and simply brilliant.

Drew of Notes from Off-Center has some thoughts about “Revivalism as Carnival” and explains, “There is a certain carnival characteristic of the phenomenon of revivalism that hearkens back to 19th Century big tent revivals – at least as they present themselves now. There is an infusion of capital entrepreneurship and a caricatured, if not jaded, focus on the plight of the individual.” Presumably, of course, he isn’t saying that carnivals are necessarily bad things, right? (Yes, I amuse myself …)

David A. Porter at A Boomer in the Pew offers “5 Truths – How to Discern False Works of the Holy Spirit” and includes the example of a man who claims to have been led by the Spirit to kick an elderly woman. Uh-huh. (Fixed the link … sorry.)

This week at Light Along the Journey John is following along with Tim Challies and a large group of bloggers as they read through Jonathan Edwards’ treatise Religious Affections. His first blog on the preface is titled Satan Loves Excited Christians. He goes on to promise, “No, that’s not a typo in the title. Yes, I know that needs explaining.” You’ve got to admit, that’s a great way to grab attention! It’s also a great post with a lot to consider.

Jot and Tittle from The Jot and Tittle offer “Grand performance or weirdest show they’ve ever seen,” a post that deals with children leaving the nest, and gets there by way of sloppy joes, egg buns, and Ho-Ho’s.

Ken Brown at C. Orthodoxy presents “a review of The Dark Knight focusing on the film’s treatment of good and evil, selfishness and sacrifice” in “Self-Interest and Sacrifice in The Dark Knight.”

Over at Parableman, Jeremy Pierce offers “Reverend (Redux), Self-Plagiarism, and the Ease of Forgetting.” As he says, “Reflections on the title ‘Reverend’ from a post in last week’s Christian Carnival, leading to some reflections on memory and inadvertent plagiarism.”

Henry Neufeld at Participatory Bible Study Blog discusses a terrible plague afflicting some churches … As he says, “One pastor believes Christians spend too much time studying their Bibles.” “Horrors! A Plague of Bible Reading!” Of course, he goes on to add, “I’m sure it will shock everyone around that I disagree.”

Jody Neufeld at Jody’s Devotionals offers “Devoted to God” as one of a series of devotionals on the earliest days of the church. Some challenges there for those of us (yes, I’ll admit it) who like to say that we’d like to see more of a return to the early days of the Church.

Tom Gilson at Thinking Christian serves up a response to a response to William Lane Craig’s Christianity Today cover article on apologetics with “Religion Dispatches: Rumors of God’s Death are Greatly Exaggerated.”

Heath Countryman at Esprit d’escalier discusses being “A Telemarketer For God” and presents the thought that evaluating a Christian’s life might be a bit more than simply keeping score.

At Heart, Mind, Soul, and Strength, Weekend Fisher shares an ancient Jewish story about “Animals Too Large for Noah’s Ark.”

Lastly, I put up a post entitled “Wrestling,” which starts with a story about a Quaker wrestler during the Second World War and winds up having something to do with the relationship between modern and just war.

Although outside the date range for this week, I’m following Parableman’s lead from May and including these posts:

Eaglewings at A View from the Nest offers “Black and Whites,” and discusses the need to remain true to convictions and beliefs.

Christian PF at Christian Personal Finance asks the question, “Is buying the iPhone a sin?” and offers a video of one individual who has a very strong opinion about that very point.

So, there we have it. Next week, the Carnival will be hosted at Everyday Liturgy, and if you’re interested in submitting a post, please click here. Thank you to everyone who participated in this week’s Carnival, thanks to Jeremy for giving me a shot at hosting, and thanks to everyone taking the time to read this.

If I’ve somehow missed your post, please let me know and I’ll do my best to fix it.

Wrestling

(Sorry about how much this post rambles … I’m sure that it doesn’t look like weeks’ worth of work, but it really has taken most of my blogging time for a couple weeks. It’s been all over the place, at one point approaching 3000 words, discarded entirely, etc.. I hope that it’s worth the read, anyway …)

Originally from Quakers Are Funny, and I found it at the web site for the Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum:

One World War II Quaker conscientious objector had been a professional wrestler. When he and some other inmates of the Coshocton CPS camp in Ohio made a trip into town, they were hassled about their pacifism by some local youths, who insisted that only force could change the Germans’ views.

In response, the ex-wrestler took off his coat, challenged one of the local boys to a match, and promptly threw the townie across the room. He then asked the youth, “Now do you believe that force won’t change people’s views?”

“Heck, no!” the local boy hollered back.

“That’s exactly my point,” said the Quaker, who put on his coat and left.

Missing the Point

I’m going to be all over the place in this post, so I hope that you’ll bear with me.

Moreover, I figure that this one might cost me some friends. Still, I have to talk about this.

A few weeks ago I heard this story, and wondered whether I wanted to write anything about it. I regret that I haven’t yet, but I suppose the saying has some truth to it, Better late than never.

I was prompted to write it, after all, by two different things: one was hearing an incident mentioned on the radio quiz show “Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me.” Apparently, Onenewsnow.com is one of those groups that dogmatically refuses to allow the term “gay” to be used in reference to homosexuality. This kind of thing usually just gets me to roll my eyes, but this story turns humorous and pitiful at the same time.

Christian Carnival CCXXXIII

The 233rd Christian Carnival is up at Diary of 1, and it’s great reading. I haven’t even read the posts, yet, but Jen put a lot of humor in the middle of it. The joke centered around the Good Samaritan might be my favorite. Then again, maybe it’s something else.

Since I haven’t written anything lately, I’m not participating this week, but I still think you should check it out.

Enjoy!