God and Santa Claus -- In the latest entry of his“Lies That Will Kill You” Series, Brendt explains why God is not a cosmic Santa. And as he says in his post, it’s “not going where you think it is.”
Weird Tool of the Day -- The Birthday Calculator can tell a number of interesting facts about the day you were born, including how many days you’ve been on the earth (13,430 days for me), the US population at the time (179,323,175), your age in dog years (5.256), and how many days left until your next birthday (84). I could have probably done without the knowledge, though, that I was conceived “on or about 25 November 1968 which was a Monday.”
Cheese Fest Vince Black has started a series of short posts devoted to “Christian Cheese” (cheesy evangelistic efforts):
Recently I have been disgusted by "Christians" who think they are reaching the world with cheese. You have probably seen examples - the bumper sticker stating "Jesus is my co-pilot" and the shirt with "body piercing saved my life" printed under a gruesome picture of nail-pierced hands. I wonder how many positive conversations for the sake of the gospel have arisen because someone read a shirt, bumper sticker or billboard. Is this really an effective way of reaching the lost? I don't get it?
Me neither. But I do think entry #4 contains words of wisdom.
Sharks and Jets Watch -- Catholic blogger Teresa (The Crockery) makes some excellent points about the state of the Christian blog community: “When I am only interested in reading blogging by Christians of my own denomination, something is rotten in the great communion of bloggers.” Perhaps we can start a Catholic/evangelical exchange program where we “adopt” someone from the other side of the Tiber. We might even learn something about how to be a real community.
On Books -- Christian Book Reviews has a slew of reviews on books by “traditional Christian” authors. Check it out. (HT: The Crockery)
Podcast Watch -- ID The Future has launched a new podcast on intelligent design. The weekly five minute podcast has news and views on evolution and ID, brief interviews with key scientists and scholars developing the theory of ID, and commentary from Discovery Institute senior fellows and staff.
1
"I wonder how many positive conversations for the sake of the gospel have arisen because someone read a shirt, bumper sticker or billboard."
For some time after I became a Christian, I thought tracts were a waste of time. If someone had given me one I would have surely thrown it away. Then I noticed that one of my friends at church was always stocking up on tracts every Sunday. I asked him "How did you get saved." From reading a tract was the reply. God can use pretty much anything and it's helpfull to have the unsaved party know that you are a Christian. It might not be your or my style, but it's better than silence and my friend has good success with the tracts.
2
Thanks for the pointer! Odd that it didn't generate a pingback, though. Those usually happen simply by someone linking. Oh, well, heading over to StatCounter now. ;-)
posted on 05.27.2006 9:25 PM3
Joe writes: "I could have probably done without the knowledge, though, that I was conceived “on or about 25 November 1968 which was a Monday.”
Yes, God forbid you should ever reflect upon the fact that your existence on this planet was the result of an act of love. Better to drift along secure in the knowledge that you were the result of an angry and furious deity expressing its vengeful will.
Truly, I fear that I will never understand you people. Ever.
4
Raven
Obviously you don't know much about the God in whom we believe. Then again, if your lack of understanding actually causes fear, there may be hope for you yet.
5
I could have probably done without the knowledge, though, that I was conceived “on or about 25 November 1968 which was a Monday."
Yeah. But it could be worse.
As you know, we share a birthday, but I'm a few years older. Calculations suggest I was conceived on or a few days after JFK's assassination, which I find extremely creepy. And I can't bring myself to ask my mother about it.
(Though, on the bright side, since we share a birthday, we also likely share a conception date! I feel so close to you right now.)
" . . . weekly five minute podcast . . ."
How come you're not podcasting?
posted on 05.31.2006 10:44 AM