1. My friend Noah Braymen has written on false unity in the local church – read part 1 here and part 2 here.
2. Layla Elizabeth Gonzalez over at The Hill Chronicles shares that in the midst of Eliot Spitzer resigning as Governor of New York amidst a prostitution scandal, and the new Governor, David Patterson, and his wife admitting to extramarital affairs; therapists are now saying that infidelity is acceptable. Craziness!
3. Man awarded $40,000 for being wrongly tasered by a Utah Highway Patrol trooper according to the Salt Lake Tribune after the state decided to settle the case. The incident which was captured by the patrol car’s camera has been seen 1.7 million times on YouTube.
And to add to that number by posting the video here.
Jared Massey, the guy who was tasered was found not to have committed any crimes during the traffic stop, and also the video clearly shows that the officer did not seek to arrest Massey before he tasered him.
Massey should have just signed the citation and then argue it out in court, but when I first watched this after it happened I wondered… why did the officer taser him? He didn’t appear to be threatening and even his tone of voice seemed reasonable though somewhat argumentative.
What do you think?
HT: Hicktown Press
4. I’m now also blogging at RedBlueChristians.com
The purpose of this blog?
The purpose of the RedBlueChristian.com is to provide Christian bloggers — whether Conservative RedChristians or Progressive BlueChristians — the same blog space to post, discuss, and debate essential and important issues related to the Kingdom of God and American politics.
We desire to promote a healthy biblical approach to politics as opposed to the adversarial “us” verses “them” stance which has resulted unfortunately in sincere Christians talking past each other more often than not.
We want contributors and commenters to think biblically about the crucial public issues of our day without being constrained to boundaries set up for us by any political party platforms or rhetoric.
My first post there was a cross post from here. I won’t always do it that way, but more likely than not, content I post there will also show up here.
5. The Catholic Church can build a church in Saudi Arabia… if they recognize Mohammed as a prophet. Yeah, I’m sure they’ll do that. Read the story here.
6. Nebraska gets a Home Education Week. I think Iowa should as well. I think pigs might fly first, so I won’t hold my breath on that one. Good for Nebraska for recognizing the great education that kids are receiving through home education.
7. John Piper on The Intensity of Christ’s Love and the Intentionality of His Death. HT: Isaiah
8. In my Bible study that I attend on Thursday mornings we were discussing a message given by Joe White at a Promise Keepers that we all attended. I couldn’t find that particular message, but I found another one that was powerful as well.
9. Above is a great gift this spring. Global warming mugs. Apparently when you pour hot coffee into them the ocean starts to spread across the continent as ice caps melt and water levels rise. You can by yours here.
HT: to Orlando @ Ft. Hard Knox – His thoughts on this as a birthday gift.
This could be a nice “Happy” Birthday gift for your liberal friends to remind them they are all going to die a tragic death because of SUVs, cow farts, and light bulbs.
10. Proof that bloggers are mentally ill. Hmmm.
11. I’m starting to look for Mentor Recruitment Ambassadors in Central Iowa.
12. I have never gotten into the TV show Lost on ABC because I have been told unless you’ve been watching it regularly you won’t understand all that is going on. It has been a huge hit with a number of my friends. Well ABC now has all of their episodes online for free – all four seasons. I just finished the first season and am on the third episode in the second season. I’m a Lost addict now.
13. Joe Carter blogs on “The Cold War Against Recruiters“. He contends that Code Pink is not the military recruiters main problem, the indifference of Americans are the problem. He knows this first hand having been a Marine Recruiter.
14. Mark Dever on what evangelism isn’t. He contends that we need to stop mistaking other Christian activities for the spreading of the gospel. He mentions five things that are mistaken for evangelism: imposition, personal testimony, social action and public involvement, apologetics, and the results of evangelism.
15. Ugly husbands are satisfied husbands.
HERE’S SOME ADVICE for women: think twice about marrying that good-looking guy. A team of psychologists recruited 82 newlywed couples and rated each spouse’s physical attractiveness and satisfaction with the marriage. They then observed how the two interacted with each other while discussing personal issues. It turns out that couples where the wife was more attractive were characterized by more supportive interaction on the part of both spouses; but, if the husband was more attractive, he was less satisfied and both spouses exhibited less supportive interaction. The psychologists suggest that a relatively attractive husband may feel he has more extramarital options, causing him to be less supportive of his wife, who, in turn, is less supportive of her husband. On the other hand, because women are less focused on the physical appearance of their mate, a more attractive wife is less likely to harbor resentment about her spouse and, meanwhile, has a husband who counts his blessings.
16. I posted a few days ago on black liberation theology. I came across a quote by James Cone who is the father of this brand of liberation theology that further illustrates my issue with it.
Black theology refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community. If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him. The task of black theology is to kill Gods who do not belong to the black community … Black theology will accept only the love of God which participates in the destruction of the white enemy. What we need is the divine love as expressed in Black Power, which is the power of black people to destroy their oppressors here and now by any means at their disposal. Unless God is participating in this holy activity, we must reject his love.
Source: Asia Times
17. Why We’re Not Emergent (by Two Guys Who Should Be) by Kevin Deyoung, a pastor and Ted Kluck, a journalist is a book I want to read pretty soon. From what I hear it is a solid critique of the emerging church movement (at least the liberal fringes of it).
The Emergent Church is a strong voice in today’s Christian community. And they’re talking about good things: caring for the poor, peace for all men, loving Jesus. They’re doing church a new way, not content to fit the mold. Again, all good. But there’s more to the movement than that. Much more.
Kevin and Ted are two guys who, demographically, should be all over this movement. But they’re not. And Why We’re Not Emergent gives you the solid reasons why. From both a theological and an on-the-street perspective, Kevin and Ted diagnose the emerging church. They pull apart interviews, articles, books, and blogs, helping you see for yourself what it’s all about.
HT: Melinda at Stand to Reason
18. Chuck Colson’s commentary on a “Storm of Unity” talking about how Sunday morning is becoming a non-segregated hour in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
You can listen to it as well.
19. John Mark Reynolds shares three reasons the Republican Party might survive November. Not good news to Democrats who were expecting a coronation in November.
20. Dr. Craig Blomberg, Distinguished Professor of New Testament at Denver Seminary is interviewed by Justin Taylor. The interview mainly covers the New Testament’s reliability. Pretty interesting.
Shane, you might find the tongue-in-cheek dialogue found at this blog interesting:
churchofblog.wordpress.com
Thanks for the suggestion Mike. I’ll have to check it out.
Another great list, Shane. Always enjoyed your compilations, and I’m glad you found the sermon by John Piper encouraging.
Shalom!