Time for your midweek break and some news and opinion pieces you may have missed:
- Don't tweet these: 25 Things You'll Never Hear God Say.
- Why the Robin Williams death is hitting so hard.
- If you were one of the two SIM workers who contracted Ebola, would you even consider going back to Africa? The two are now immune; can't spread the disease or contract it.
- Straining at a gnat? You decide. An argument against communion by intincture.
- Christian faith and depression medication: An article at Patheos turns up at Time Magazine.
- Essay of the Week: Five Ways to be a Better Atheist.
- We know that women outnumber men in most churches. Here are five ways leadership can get men on board.
- Interesting topic, especially online: How to Give and Receive Criticism. (It's a terrible article.)(Just kidding!)
- The responsibilities of a worship leader include a teaching ministry that goes far beyond just teaching songs.
- With 20 locations, is LifeChurch.tv still the multi-site leader? The 20th opened over the weekend in Wichita, KS.
- For one writer, in the U.S. Christian Twitterverse, some things create much internet heat, while other current events rarely get mentioned.
- While written with mainline UK churches in view, this article on personnel and human resources issues in multi-staff churches applies here as well.
- Bahamas pastor (hey, someone has to do it) Thabiti Anyabwile on secular psychology versus Biblical counseling.
- A look at the guiding principles which shape sexual morality in 2014 …
- … and from the same author, some stats on what that morality looks like.
- With the school year not yet underway, a serious security breach at a Canadian Bible college.
- The wife of a former-policeman turned missionary reflects on events in Missouri last week.
- As if there aren't enough forums for poking fun at Christianity, now there are irreverent board games and card games.
- Deconstructing overused Christian clichés.
- We seem to have a new Christian movie announcement every week, though in this particular case, with a name director (Last Temptation of Christ) the drama mixes with church history …
- … Then there's the documentary Holy Ghost, opening September 6th and shot with no script. Watch the trailer.
- Protect your brand: You'll soon be able to get a .church domain for your church website.
- Who says they never come back? John Ortberg does his annual return to Willow Creek. (Choose audio or video.)
- Also at Willow, founding pastor Bill Hybels still amazes me. This summer sermon was the setup for a Baptismal Service which followed. (Choose audio or video.)
- It must be one of those military exercises you hear so much about: First you remove all the Bibles from the guest rooms, and then you put them all back …
- … Meanwhile, in England, Travelodge has removed all Bibles to respect diversity.
- Rev. Cindy Kent springs to the defense of Cliff Richard in the latest wave of allegations of past impropriety.
- Well, I rather expected this: "Please note that Pastor Mark Driscoll is generally unavailable for interviews through the end of 2014."
- Another volley in the worship wars: Apparently modern worship "declared itself a viable choice."
- Increasingly in the UK, families cannot afford funerals.
- Bulldozers readying the site for the Answers-In-Genesis (Ken Ham) Noah's Ark attraction inadvertently uncover evidence proving that the earth is billions of years old. (Okay, I totally made that one up. Sorry. Couldn't resist. Won't happen again.)
- Pastors, your people do really miss you when you're gone, but there are reasons for taking a breather.
- Canada's Christian-owned, family-friendly network, CTS is being re-branded as YES-TV.
- Tabloid-style-link: Justin Bieber: Is he reconnecting with Selena, with church?
- Another exciting episode in the life of Isaac Wotts, Church Custodian. (Actually, there are no other episodes.)
- A group consisting of Ray Boltz and Jennifer Knapp (among others) grows with an announcement by Vicky Beeching.
- Hey, it's okay to be in ministry and be living with someone because, “Paul wasn’t married…Many significant Bible characters were not married. Marriage is not a prerequisite for being in the pulpit.” (You gotta admire the logic, or the chutzpa.)
- Finally, has anyone else noticed that the Mormons have all the cool baptism songs?
Paul Wilkinson is available to speak or sing on any dates you had previously booked with Mark Driscoll, Vicky Beeching, or Gungor and may be contacted through his blogs, Thinking Out Loud and Christianity 201.
