Methodist Blogs Weekly Roundup # 56

Here's the week in review in the Methodist blogosphere:


Steven Manskar wrote about what it means to "take up your cross."

Andy Bryan blogged about the Missouri legislature's efforts to assert a Christian history to America and the culture of entitlement and UMC connectionalism.

Andy Stoddard lectionary blogged for March 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10.

At Bandits No More, Richard Heyduck wrote about the murder of a previous church member. Steve Heyduck wrote about re-reading Barth on community and his concerns about the way his Conference manages its budget.

Beth Quick wrote about the presence of women in the blogosphere, and the Methoblogosphere in particular.

Betty Newman used a washbasin as a model of our relationship with God.

Bruce Alderman wrote about Constantinian Christianity in America.

At Connexions, Joel Thomas the UMC understanding of the Apocrypha, whether criminal law should reflect the doctrine of Total Depravity (Best of the Methodist blogosphere!), and the burden or lack thereof of Wesleyan perfection. Richard Hall wrote basic guidelines to interpreting the Bible.

Dave Warnock wrote about switching to the Ruby on Rails web platorm.

Steve Heyduck reviewed the movie Crash.

Gavin Richardson wrote that bloggers should write with prophetic voices.

Gerry Charlotte Phelps advised Christians to learn another language for the sake of evangelism.

Grandma Jean is making prayer shawls.

Growing Up wrote about the spiritually cleansing power of rain.

Henry Neufield blogged about how science reporting in the media is too brief to be accurate, Brian McLaren's views on kingdom language, a vote on the sales tax in his county in Florida, issues in determining date and authorship of the Bible, rising American distrust of Islam, false representations of the other side in creation/evolution debates, how to be a grace-filled church, congregational size as a measurement of orthodoxy, the Bush Administration's failure to expect criticism, and dating the Book of Daniel.

Jay Voorhees wrote that even great Christian leaders, such as Bernard Law, can fall into sin. He also blogged about a Christianity that lays on the other side of patriarchy.

John Battern blogged about Christians staying in touch with the secular world, whether or not the UMC has high expectations of members, and the vain search for personal validation.

John Wilks wrote that taking up the name 'Christian' requires a transformation toward holiness.

Jonathon Norman wrote his understanding of what it means to be ordained.

Josh Tinley blogged about the turmoil of airline travel and how personality cults in baseball have created the steriod problem

Chris Kindle artblogged from the Carnegie Museum of Art.

Larry Hollon wrote about the decline of the newspaper business, the ongoing reconstruction of New Orleans, communication in an era of individualism, and organization in era of mass communications.

Mitchell Lewis blogged about having enough faith to pursue God's mission.

Mark Winter wrote about what the spirituality of children implies for the church and comparing worship service styles and baseball.

Craig Moore asked readers to define the evangelistic mission of the church.

Michael Daniel wrote about the prophecy of Fred Phelps and what parents expect from churches for their kids.

Mike Lamson differentiated between ministry to, for, and as postmoderns.

Jeff Lutz wrote about his work on the board of Walk to Emmaus.

Louie Gannon blogged about how Christians should understand fear.

New Reality Blog wrote about why the younger generation is abandoning church.

Olive Morgan blogged about sex trafficking in Europe, raising children without corporal punishment.

Peter Raser wrote about the Tom Fox, the member of the Christian Peacemaker Teams who was murdered in Iraq.

Jason Woolever wrote about what the Bible and Lincoln have to say about schism in the UMC and the hierarchical nature of UMC leadership.

Theresa Coleman heard the legendary Fred Craddock preach and recounts tales of good ideas gone bad.

Sandpiper reviewed the book Extraordinary Faith and wrote about trusting in God when things don't go your way and the purpose of funerals.

Lorna Koskela reviewed the book So Much More and wrote about authentic confession, the asceticism of Jesus, walking through Lent, and our devotional body language.

Stephen Fife saw human virtues and foibles in Peter.

Kurt Boemler wrote about his experiences getting drunk.

Brett Royal explained how a loving God can condemn people to Hell.

Thoughts from a Clay Pot wrote about the exploding growth of the Methoblogosphere.

Tony Mitchell wrote that Lent, like church in general, it a time of preparation for mobilization.
Jim McKay wrote about the minimum wage in West Virginia and a worldwide snack competition.

Shane Raynor launched Wesley Daily, a new Methodist webzine.

Brian Russell blogged about the critical elements of discipleship and the mission of his church planting.

Additions? Corrections? Do you know of a blog that should be included in the MBWR? Woult you like to have the MBWR e-mailed to you every week? Leave a note in the comments or e-mail locustsandhoney2005 at yahoo dot com!

UPDATE: More added to Jim McKay, corrections to Bandits No More's annotations, and Brian Russell added.