Christianity

The carnival is back in town and we’ve had another great response this week.

The weekly Christian Carnival is an opportunity for Christian blog writers to share their best posts from the previous week. The topic of the post doesn’t necessarily have to focus on Christianity but it must reflect a Christian worldview, and the writer must be Christian to qualify.

As always it’s a real honour to be able to present such a diverse range of great posts.

Please take the time to read through each post … it’s worth it. You might also like to link to this week’s carnival so that your blog readers can enjoy the variety of styles and thought. Another way to spread the word about the Christian Carnival is to click any of the buttons below this post to share the carnival on Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon or any of the other sites represented.

Jason Koeppe from Live2Worship starts things off this week saying, “I’ve become convinced that we often ask God to lay out the entire plan of something and He in His infinite wisdom knows we either can’t comprehend or take it all in and so I believe He revealed to me in my life a simple strategy for difficult times when we are crying out for the full answer or full plan and He doesn’t seem to be complying. I believe sometimes He just wants us to focus on the next step.” Jason, I couldn’t agree more. Check out the post How To Hear From God – Hearing the Voice Of God at Live2Worship.

Amanda Hunt tackles a couple of issues that I’m sure we all struggle with from time to time. Her excellent post Trust and Patience is at her blog Amanda’s Musings,

Can you name all twelve disciples of Jesus Christ? We may know Peter, John, James, Matthew and off-course Judas, but what about others? Find out more about the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ, their Greek names and meaning and their occupations. Bible SEO presents Jesus’ Disciples Names: List, Meaning and Occupation at Bible Study Exposition Online.

I’m sure you’ve never forwarded those cheesey ‘chain emails’ but obviously many people can’t get enough of them. Jeff tells it as it is in his post If You Love Jesus… Forward Another Brainless Email at ReturningKing.com.

What if we could create millions of dollars only to give it away? How many missionaries could be supported? How many evangelistic outreaches could be funded? How many God glorifying books could be published? How many hungry could be fed? How many lost could be reached? BWL presents My Strategy for Giving Away Millions posted at Christian Personal Finance.

Trent Cotton says, “Trying to explain the doctrine of justification can be, in itself, a weighty subject and often confusing. If you are anything like me, I often do better with analogies or metaphors. With this in mind, let me use an analogy I think best describes the basic, rudimentary differences in the understanding of justification.” Check out Trent’s use of analogy in the pos Confessions of a Converted Catholic: Justification at Christian Men-Christian Warriors.

God can choose to work in our lives in way he wants. Joe Plemon’s post Seven Ways God Works Through Our Finances at Personal Finance By The Book helps us discover some of the ways that he works through finances.

Anthony Delgado presents an interesting look at Fruits of the Holy Spirit—Joy, Peace, Patience & Goodness at eInquisitive. In his post he suggests a very sound reason that we may not be exhibiting the fruits that we should.

Jim Edwards says, “My friend Marlin Bates was an 80+-year-old former World War II Infantry Sergeant under General Collins in conjunction with General Patton. He learned some of the following details only after the War was over. While we were out working on his land near the Mississippi River, he unveiled this fascinating true story about ‘the War to End All Wars.’ It taught me volumes about Satan. I wrote this so we don’t forget.” What did Jim discover? Find out by reading The Yalta Agreement posted at EverydayChristianFamily.com.

Do you struggle at times and wonder ‘where is God in all this’? When God doesn’t seem to be at work, perhaps he has a greater plan. Perhaps he wants you to focus on him and know that he is at work. Compassionate Action posted at Chasing the Wind may be the comfort you need if you’re facing life’s difficulties today.

Looking for help studying God’s word? Bible SEO presents a review of the top four New American Standard (NASB) study bibles available. Find out more in the post NASB Study Bible – Most Popular NASB Study Bibles posted at BibleSEO Blog.

While many of the posts in the carnival give us great instruction and food for thought, Sarah is throwing out the challenge with a very interesting theological question in her post Calling All Theoblogians #8 at This is what Sed said.

In Luke 14:33 Jesus says, “So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” It’s not always a ‘popular’ scripture but it’s certainly one that demands our attention. Are we prepared to take those words seriously? Barry Wallace presents Paying the Price (Discipleship, Part 4) at who am i?.

Do our beliefs about end time prophecy affect how we interact with one another in the here and now? And, how does it affect our financial decisions? Steven and Debra will challenge your thinking with the post One World Government and a One World Currency: Is This a “Sign” of the END Times? at The END TIMES Hoax.

Steven Demmler presents some brief remarks from T.F. Torrance which are put in dialogue with the methodology of the “Jesus Seminar”. You’ll find T.F. Torrance on “Historical Jesus Quests” posted at You Can’t Mean That!.

In an age where we’re more likely to do as much as is needed to get by, Weekend Fisher challenges us with “How much more” — going the extra mile at Heart, Mind, Soul, and Strength, saying, “Learning more from “Going the extra mile” than how to help ancient Roman soldiers.”

We’ve all heard it so many times and very often it can simply be an excuse to attack the ‘actions’ of others, but is it really possible to hate the sin while loving the sinner? Chris Brooks presents Hate the Sin… posted at Homeward Bound. This short, insighful post goes right to the heart of the issue and is a great challenge to us all.

Brian Marchionni believes that when looking at the manner in which the early church carried out their mission we may find some guidance as to how we can approach church planting in difficult economic times. Head to Where and Why of Church Planting posted at Boston Bible Geeks for some ancient wisdom on a modern problem.

If you’ve ever tried to explain deep theological concepts to children you may appreciate the post Blood Sacrifice which Violet N. posted at Bible Drive-Thru. It’s an explanation of the atonment that even a kid can understand from a blog of daily devotions for 8-12 year old kids

Jeremy Pierce looks at a problematic definition of the word ‘heterosexism’ in a post simply titles Heterosexism over at Parableman. I must admit that I’d never even heard the term before so I really appreciated Jeremy’s very comprehensive thoughts.

Parenting can be tough at the best of times and it can sometimes be difficult to choose a parenting style that will not only work but will honour God. Rey Reynoso presents an examination of Michael and Debi Pearl’s method of child rearing found in To Train Up A Child in the post To Train Up A Child: An Examination of the Pearl Method at The Bible Archive. The examination is extensive and sounds several warnings.

They sometimes make us smile and other times make us groan, but do ‘witty church signs’ always convey the truth? Henry Neufeld asks if a sign he’s spotted is really quoting a text in context. See what you think after you’ve read Church Sign: An Eye for an Eye posted at Participatory Bible Study Blog.

The final post for this week’s carnival comes from Jody Neufeld and it’s ‘great’ …. or is it? Jody’s post Jesus Defines ‘Great’ at Jody’s Devotionals, explores whether the definition Jesus gives of ‘great’ is same as ours.

If you’re a Christian and you missed out this week, how about choosing something to contribute for next week’s edition? It doesn’t have to be a masterpiece, just a post that outlines your point of view or is designed to get others thinking. Being part of the carnival could be a great way to gain a little extra traffic at your blog.

The easiest way to get involved is to submit your article through the Blog Carnival Submission Form. Otherwise, you can email the submission address.

Thanks for reading. Don’t forget to spread the word. Feel free to click any of the buttons below to share the carnival on Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon or any of the other sites represented.