Category: interesting stuff

Things are winding down at school. We have 3 1/2 weeks left until summer vacation. I think the teachers are looking forward to the break as much as, if not more than the kids. Here in the sunny South we went from sort of winter to spring, back to winter, and now have skipped ahead to summer. Our son, Josh is getting married a week from Sunday, and the rehearsal dinner is going to be outside, so we’re hoping for a bit of a cool down in the next week. There probably won’t be a Weekend Wanderings post next week, because of all the festivities, so enjoy this week’s offering:

The gospel shell game.
Wow. Just, wow.
Interesting post from Keith Giles.
Friendship and free space.

A mission for God.
Good post from Alan Knox.
The religious feudal system.
Funny stuff from Kansas Bob.

Jesus’ surprising love.
Scot McKnight on reading Scripture.
A gospel-shaped imagination.
Frank Viola on standing.

For leaders only.
Ronnie McBrayer on drawing near.
The Christian life.
Arthur Sido on church competition.

Really?
Beyond atonement theories.
First things first, part 1.
Love and sacrifice.

I hope you have a wonderful week!

Another week has gone by quickly here in the sunny South. Softball season is over and there are just a few days left in the school year. The students are starting to catch a little bit of spring fever, as are some of the teachers. In three weeks, Jan and I will be welcoming an addition to our family. Josh is getting married! It’s hard to believe that we’re old enough to have a son who is old enough to be getting married.:) I’ve heard it said that famous people die in threes. This week, if my count is correct, there were five deaths of folks who were famous for one reason or another. I don’t know, maybe it’s another case of inflation. Anyway, here are the links of the week:
A poem by Andrea Bass.
Good essay from Penny Carothers.
Fasting and feasting.
The last interview with C.S. Lewis (HT: Scot McKnight).
Chaplain Mike wants to ban the adjective, “Biblical.”

J.R. Miller interviews George Barna and Frank Viola.
Love the sinner?
Eric Carpenter writes about recent worship services.
Frank Viola gives 20 reasons why the right and the left won’t adopt him.
In case you ever wondered what radio hosts did while a song played on air.

Good cartoon from naked pastor.
A little girl’s tattoo.
The absurdity of judgement.
Dan Allen writes an open letter to Mars Hill.
No trespassing.

Big and small working together.
Good cartoon from Jon Birch.
Alan Knox has a series on mutuality and the gospel. Part 1 is here.
God doesn’t offer explanations.
Gospels as foundation documents.

I hope you enjoy your week. Remember to get out and smell the flowers!

After a couple of weeks off, Weekend Wanderings is back. The past two weeks have been interesting. A nephew and his family flew in from the west coast for a week. It was good seeing them and we had fun taking them to different places around town. Last Sunday, we celebrated Easter by worshipping at a sunrise service, driving into Charlotte to have breakfast at our favorite little coffee shop, and then celebrating at a church across the street from the coffee shop.

I’m a bit behind in my blog reading, but here’s a taste of some of the good stuff floating around the web:

Good post on trust.
Icebergs, onions, and some other stuff.
Scot McKnight on N.T. Wright.
A disgruntled freedom.
Frank Viola praises dry spells.

What’s in it for me?
Arthur Sido on elders.
The beauty of conflict.
Alan Knox on unity.
Relating to humans.

Kansas Bob asks a good question.
Light of the world.
Alan Knox on resting and working.
Invitation to the journey.
Chaplain Mike on a special day.

Personal Jesus App? Really? (HT: iMonk)
Ronnie McBrayer on Easter.
Bubba Golf! (HT: Scot McKnight)
Alan Knox reviews Viral Jesus.
Jesus as the way.

Have a blessed week!

My two weeks of “forced vacation” are coming to an end. It’s back to work tomorrow. While it will be a bit of a shock to get up earlier in the morning, I am looking forward to getting back to the kids I work with and the softball team. March Madness continues, although the teams I cheer for the most are all out. My Musketeers made it to the Sweet Sixteen for the fourth time in the last five years, but ran into a very good Baylor team. Maybe next year. The trees are almost completely leafed out here in the sunny South. Thankfully the yellow pollen that covers everything will be gone in just a little while. Everything is about two weeks ahead here, so the festival our town holds every year will happen this year after a lot of the flowers have bloomed.

Here are the links for the week:

Frank Viola on our audience.
M. Morford says being a Christian is easy.
Ronnie McBrayer on faith.
Derek Leman on hesed in the Bible (HT: Scot McKnight).
The Mad Theologian on blaming Satan.

God talk.
Lost in Gethsemani.
Pastor as bouncer…
Book review: The Power of Weakness.
Impacted by others?

Matt posts about the best investment.
Nate on crashing.
Anna on lessons from a dog.
Julie on The Hunger Games.
Chaplain Mike reviews How God Became King.

Tats for tatfans.
Christian celebrities.
Waving the white flag.
How-to guide for spontaneous meal prayers.

Rachel Held Evans on why she left the church (small c), and why she returned to the Church (capital C).
The last loaf of bread.
Alan Knox has a series on the church that perseveres. Part 1 is here.
Arthur Sido on the bigness of the Gospel.

As you may have read in my last post, I’ve been off work most of this week. It was nice sleeping in a bit, and I was able to catch up on some things that needed to be done around the house and in the yard. Don’t worry. I was careful and didn’t further strain anything. I have found that I would rather be on the field coaching than in the stands watching. It has been warm and sunny this week, even though Spring doesn’t officially begin until Wednesday. The groundhog missed it this year, at least here in the sunny South. It remains to be seen if this is a preview of a hot summer.

Anyway, here are the links:

What would St. Patrick do?
Nate is going home.
Fishing for men.
Lent and mud season.
This is not too far from how some see Jesus and the Bible

Unity as witness?
Good post from Alan Knox.
A good idea, or not? (HT: iMonk)
Good question.
Goldman Sachs and church.

Grown-cold love.
Messing up the lyrics
McDonaldization.
Lent and forgiveness.
Sinner saved by grace?

Jared Wilson on grace.
Becoming spiritual community.
Good question from Jon Acuff.
Extreme hovering.
Novocaine.

A Gospel of unity.
Living Water.
Brokenness.
Getting to know Patrick.
A refuge in the wilderness.
Is anyone else afflicted by this?

Have a blessed week!

It has been an interesting week. Softball season kicked of with a tournament this weekend. My girls lost three games, but they improved in each one. There is some potential there and we may have a pretty decent season. We’ll see. The weather is beginning to be consistently springlike, and I think the chance of any more winter weather is gone. God continues to remind me gently that he is the one in charge, and I’m learning to trust more.

On to the links of the week:

This is getting to be a problem.
The Forgotten Beatitude Part II.
Many have been guilty of this.
This is kind of expensive.
Becca Nelson is under construction.

Boy, I needed to read this.
This is sad.
John Armstrong on John Piper and tornadoes.
An interview with Ronnie McBrayer about his book.
Nate Pruitt is dreaming.

Good words from Jon Acuff.
Constantly crucified.
Arthur Sido on tithing.
Edification as worship.
Learning to lose.

Just a reminder.
Have you ever been lost?
Hopefully, this doesn’t surprise anyone.
Thoughts on shepherding.
Carol Smith Turner writes about her favorite mistake.

That’s all for this week. May the Father bless you!

February has passed. March came in like a lamb here in the sunny South, with a high temperature of 80. We’ll see if March goes out calm or ferocious. Pray for the folks who have lost homes and loved ones in the storms the last couple of days. The devastation in some areas is incredible. Hopefully, this is not a harbinger of things to come.

On to the links:

Eric Carpenter on tension.
This encouraged and challenged me.
Bobby Auner has a story of restoration.
The dance toward God.
Unconquerable.

The wilderness of life under the Law.
Alan Knox on communication.
Grazing on Astroturf.
Ronnie McBrayer says, “Don’t waste it.”
Good question at More Than Cake.

Eat pray love.
Storm at sea.
A nice bit of poetry.
Skye Jethani interviews Rob Bell.

“This is all we can do.”
The wilderness of falsity.
Did you sign up for this?
What are we fired up about?

Have a blessed weekend!

It’s been quite the roller coaster this week here in the sunny South. Sunday brought us cold temps and rain. By Thursday, it was in the 70s and sunny. This morning, it’s 35 on our back porch. It’s been up and down for me as well. After a restful long weekend, I spent two days at home with some kind of nasty stomach virus or something. Yesterday, I went back to work, and now it’s the weekend again. Enough about me. I know why you’re really here.

Here are the links of the week:

Let go of your baggage.
Mark Galli on Lent (HT: iMonk).
Ben Sternke on the cost of non-discipleship (HT: Scot McKnight).
Aspiring to be a nobody.

How God views your local church.
Feast.
Eric Carpenter writes about what he’s for. I am for that as well.
Brant kills things.

Bobby Auner’s exodus from church camp.
Arthur Sido on the attraction of cultural Christianity.
Patience and progress.
Circle or cross?

Interesting idea for Lent.
Come and die.
Follow your fears.
Does this seem familiar?

Fr. Richard Rohr on Lent.
Membership is no substitute.
Resurrection spirituality.
This is very encouraging to me.
Holy ignorance.

Have a restful weekend!

No new news here from the sunny South, so we’ll get right to the links:

Eric on the Ten Commandments.
Life as an avatar.
Rush of love.
A parable.
Smoke and mirrors.

Resilience.The business of religion.
The end of football?
Free to be ourselves.
They don’t know you.

The R-word.
Good question from Keith Giles.
Ronnie McBrayer on Barbie.
Charles Redfern on the “New Evangelicals” and politics.
The end of church?

The Story and daily life.
Good post by Jeff Dunn.
Arthur Sido on conformity.
Alan Knox on what we owe.
iMonk classic on grace.

I hope you have a blessed week!

Winter has made a bit of an appearance here in the sunny South, at least what passes for winter around here. No snow, but the temperatures have dropped below normal the past few days. Basketball season is over. My JV team finished with a win, but the varsity missed out on post-season play. Next year.

Here are some of the good links from this past week:

Arthur Sido on being the church.
What is your church gathering dependent on?
The church as Noah’s Ark.
God is a verb.
Misfits of the church.

Shrinking the gap.
An empire built on love.
Are you looking for a pastoral job?
Zack Hunt on abandoning evangelicalism. Part 1 is here.
John Armstrong on hope.

Sinners in the hands of the prodigal’s father.
Ronnie McBrayer on the “will” of God.
Have you ever felt like this?
A good post from Jon Acuff.
Coffee!

Tim Chester on hospitality and the Gospel.
Andrew Jones on the American church.
Excessive evangelicalism.
Alan Knox on eating and drinking.
This is good. And important.

Have a wonderful week.