Here's the week in review in the Methodist blogosphere:
Steven Manskar wrote about differentiating between Advent and Christmas.
James Gibson wrote about why the secular world wishes to deChristianize Christmas (Best of the Methodist blogosphere!).
Andy Bryan noted that it's ironic that we are so busy during the Advent season.
Appian Way blogged about churches closing on Christmas day.
Ben Witherington wrote about the death of John Lennon and offered a buying guide to Bible translations.
Beth Quick blogged about churches closing on Christmas.
Betty Newman wrote about Christian faith and intellect.
James Swanson blogged about the moral implications of boycotts.
Will Willimon wrote about being a controversial preacher.
Brian Russell blogged about the corporate call to sacrifice in Romans and a missional reading of the Bible.
Bruce Alderman wrote about The Magnificat.
Cole Wakefield suspects that the Christmas story is a myth.
At Connexions, Richard Hall offered Gmail hints.
Contending for the Faith blogged about spiritual warfare.
Dave Warnock wrote about the morality of torture.
Derek Tang blogged about excessive tolerance in postmodernism. He also has another post that I think is about World Cup soccer, but I'm not sure.
Steve Heyduck wrote about the secularization of Christmas.
At Bandits No More, Richard Heyduck wrote about creating role-models for discipleship.
Gerry Charlotte Phelps thinks that concerns over illegal immigration are overblown.
Gospel According to the Hood wrote that when Christians advocate war, they are displaying a lack of faith. He also blogged about a healing view of atonement.
Greg Hazelrig wrote that God favors us and about the gifts of the Magi.
Greg Lee preached about removing Christ from Christmas.
Gavin Richardson is getting married.
Growing Up reviewed The Chronicles of Narnia.
Inside Mike's Head wrote about the oddness of Christianity and Bonhoeffer's thoughts on Advent.
Joel Furhmann reviewed The Chronicles of Narnia.
John Wilks wrote that if you want God's blessings, you need to get on his agenda. He also pondered if evangelicals should try to fix America (Best of the Methodist blogosphere!), that Christians should be more concerned with the plight of the poor than the use of the word 'holidays', and adult ADD.
Josh Tinley wrote about Jim Winkler's critique of the US federal budget (Best of the Methodist blogosphere!).
Just as I Am blogged about what being a servant of Christ entails.
Ken Carter wrote about the spiritual need for humor and the peace of Christmas.
Larry Hollon reviewed Jimmy Carter's latest book.
Maobi wrote about the recent conference of Islamic nations. He also reviewed the Narnia movie, nativity scene disputes, and provided detailed instructions about how to engage in a government coverup.
Mark Winter blogged about Polly Toynbee's critique of Narnia.
Matthew Johnson is disgusted by Christian bookstores.
Michael Daniel wrote about churches closing on Christmas morning and living out Christian love.
Nate Loucks predicted Gammy winners.
Peter Raser shared Christmas memories.
Phil Smith wrote about Buy Nothing Day.
Jeffrey Croft says that a lot of people misunderstand prayer.
Randy Graves wrote a Christian view of nudity.
Rev. Mark provided a Christian view of hazing.
Theresa Coleman synthesized theology and math (Best of the Methodist blogosphere!) and the overindulgence of American society.
Lorna Koskela says that God is bigger than Christmas and wrote about ecumenical boundaries in the blogosphere.
Sky Lowe-McCracken wrote about the controversies surrounding the Narnia movie.
Steven Webster blogged about the movement to overturn JCD 1032.
Movable Theoblogical wrote about authentic Christianity. He also envisioned a different kind of seminary.
Tim Sisk blogged about canceling Christmas services.
TNRambler wrote about the unpopularity of evangelism.
Tony Mitchell blogged about intelligent design.
Tough Times wrote about the bad impression that some evangelicals give others.
Shane Raynor blogged about calling out sin when we find it.
Parbar West wrote about the unification of the Davidic covenant in Mary, Christmas trappings and the meaning of Christmas, and individual vs. group accomodation in the area of religious freedom.
Dave Camphouse blogged about the geographic distribution of bloggers in the US.
Wes Magruder wrote about the murder of a student at an American school in Cameroon.
Thoughts from a Clay Pot wondered by atheists claim to be Christians.
Do you know of a blog that should be included in the MBWR? Leave a note in the comments or e-mail locustsandhoney2005 at yahoo dot com!
UPDATE: Parbar West added.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Dave Campouse, Wes Magruder, and Thoughts from a Clay Pot added.
Monday, December 12, 2005
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26 comments:
I know I was lax there for a while and had virtually nothing to say, but must you confirm it by leaving me out of the weekly roundup? ;-)
Peace,
DC
Which post would you like me to add, David?
John thanks for spending so much time over at see-through faith today.
You asked this question But Lorna, doesn’t the Bible instruct us to keep false teachings and heresies out of the church?
and I've tried to answer it here http://stf.heavenlytrain.com/?p=403
John! You didn't mention my wonderful pictures of the donkey wrassin! Nicest jackass on the web!
Sorry, Theresa. No one can deny that you have a nice ass. The pictures make that clear.
erm John
I'm wondering if we are talking about the same thing when we talk about emergent. I left some more thoughts over on stf in response to your later comment. Could you stop by and herp clear up my confusion.
I can easily be wrong you know :)
Sorry, Parbar. It's fixed now.
Mark Waltz wrote some good stuff about the Christmas season. His first two posts are good. www.typepad.com/markwaltz
oops... http://www.markwaltz.typepad.com/
John,
The post about blogging locations and the plethora of bloggers in the East/South and lack thereof in the West. With your readership I would be grateful to hear of other Westerners
Over at Preach Peace, Wes and Leah Magruder have been dealing with the murder of one student by another in a classroom full of teenagers at the American School in Yaounde, Cameroon. They need to be on the roundup so they can receive more prayer.
John, thanks for the comment, and I think my post "If Jesus isn't God," should qualify. Yeah, it's derivative, but I think it contributes something even so.
Mark Waltz -- is he Methodist? Or better put, is he theologically Wesleyan?
John,
The folks at Granger Community Church received their charter from the UMC in 1988. That would make him Methodist...
Okay, all updates are up now.
Yeah, I was talking about the World Cup. You know, the one billions of people will be following next summer.
Are you sure, Dave? I can't find anything to that effect on their website.
I know I wasn't the one asked, but Granger CC is, apparently, UMC. Here's one piece of evidence, and here's another.
It's pretty buried on their website, under "fine print," under "more information" to newcomers. (Not that Granger being part of the UMC necessarily means you should seek out a blog by one of their pastors.)
Hey John - thanks for continuing to do this round-up. I really appreciate it!
John,
Once again just a quick note to express my gratitude for your roundup. Its value is immeasurable.
John,
As a member of the North Indiana conference, I can confirm that Granger Community Church is a United Methodist Church in name, although it hardly acts like one. It is the largest congregation in the conference, but has not paid apportionments for years. There is nothing about the church facility, literature, website, etc. that connects it to the UMC. It functions more or less as a non-denominational congregation, although our new bishop is working hard to bring it into the fold.
Thanks, Larry. That's intriguing. Well, until I can see some sign that the Granger boys are theologically Wesleyan, I don't plan to include them.
When they first appeared on the Methodist Blogroll, I was curious about them. I noticed that one of them showed a picture of a "baby dedication." I asked if this was a baptism, and the blogger (I don't remember which) said that they only baptize adults.
Larry, with all due respect, what you said about GCC is not true and hardly a fair accusation. I am from the NIC as well and work closely with many of the pastors from Granger. In the year 2000, GCC paid 100 percent of their apportionments, in 2001 they paid 83 percent, in 2002 they didn't pay any, in 2003 they paid 8 percent, and in 2004 they paid 19 percent. To say that they haven't paid any in years is not true.
When our new bishop (Coyner) came to Indiana, he brought many of our pastors to GCC and said, "Guys and gals, this is what I want you to be more like." This, opposed to our former bishop who, in his eight years, never visited the church.
John, As always, many thanks for this remarkably helpful roundup.
Andy B.
Nate - sorry, didn't mean to make an untrue statement about the Granger church in regards to apportionments. While it seems strange to go from 100% to 83% to 0% and then up to 20%, I am grateful that the church is participating. [Then again, in my new appointment, the apportionment chart would look kind of similar, but this church has been declining during those years, while Granger has seen some growth].
No one can argue with Beeson's sucess there in terms of numbers, and I think more congregations should take after it in alot of ways. No doubt our conference would be healthier if our congregations understood how to live out mission and vision in the way Granger does.
I have been told that they will re-baptize people there. I don't know if it is true or not, but if it is true, I would have a problem with that.
Larry, no problem.
I understand your apportionment woes. At LC, we've paid all our apportionments for the last 20-30 years at 100 percent. This next year (2006), though, due to the tithe system, will be our first year that we won't pay 100 percent. The tithe system really hurt us bad. Fortunately, our DS told us to pay whatever we can pay and that'll be fine with him.
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