Christian Carnival CIX

Welcome to the 109th edition of the Christian Carnival! Valentine’s Day was Tuesday, and the theme of this week’s carnival is love. True, some (well, okay, most) of the categories are lame, and true, categorizing some posts the way I did was really a
s t r e t c h . But since love is patient and kind, I’m trusting you’ll bear with me on that.

1 Corinthians 13:1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

—Update—
I inadvertantly left out Kenny Pearce’s excellent post, “Reevaluating Genesis” which he sent on Tuesday. (Sorry Kenny!)

Also, Daddypundit’s entry, Love the Lord, had a bad link which has now been corrected.
—End update—

Love of the Lord
Dave Taylor at Disciple’s Journal gives us Why do you remember what I have forgotten? Wrestling with God over the reality of forgiveness, I discovered some surprising—and truly liberating—truths about what must take place to recover and maintain spiritual integrity.

Micah Girl muses on the wisdom of the internal combustion engine and the wisdom of God in her post If all truth is God’s truth, what about wisdom?

The Rebelution sent in “The Room” by Joshua Harris: May the beauty of salvation embrace you, may your need for Christ capture you, and may the power of the Cross overwhelm you. A riveting presentation of the Gospel, written by Joshua Harris.

Coming back to the Carnival after some technical difficulties and some other needs outside the Internet, Bill at White Ribbon Warriors gives us a post about Christian meditation. The challenge lies with us as believers to draw away from the busyness of life and hear from God. Think meditation isn’t for you? Consider what Bill says in Meditate on This!

This week at Light Along the Journey John explores what a radical paradigm shift 1 Thessalonians 5:18 really is in his post The Radical Paradigm of Thankfulness.

Jeremy Pierce at Parableman presents Moses and Paul: Christian Un-Hedonism.

Adam Graham at Adam’s Blog presents Lead Us Not Into Temptation.

Love of Worship
Random ManiYak at Random Yak presents A Life of Dependence Upon God – Songs of David, Psalm 54.

How about some practical applications of the Bible study on music in worship that has been going on at Mother-Lode proposes some nourishing ideas in
A Hungry Worshipper Q&A.

Daddypundit mediates on the Scripture behind a new worship song in a post entitled “Love the Lord”.

Love of Others
Rev Bill gives his thoughts on love and marriage in The Day Of Love.

Pastor Bill of Chapelccino has returned from another trip to the still-devastated Gulf Coast. He and his church team helped out many people there, and he describes it in “More of the Same.” (This one’s near and dear to my heart since I live just outside of New Orleans and I’m grateful for every church and private charity that is serving by helping with Katrina rebuilding – thanks Pastor Bill!)

David at all kinds of time tells how true love can really trust the untrustworthy in a trusting love.

All of our good deeds, volunteer work, and service to others don’t make us special. They just make us Christians. rev-ed at Attention Span reacts to Jesus’ call in Luke 17 for us unworthy servants to stop feeling like we are owed for doing what Christ called us to do in the first place. Read “Just Doing My Duty.”

As part of his continuing series on education, JR at RightFaith asks serious questions about the complex relationship between the homosexuals and Christians. He cuts through the emotion-laden words like “hate” and “love”, to offer a well-reasoned, biblical perspective on homosexuality in his post, Examining the Complex Relationship Between Christians and Homosexuals.

Greg at Rhymes With Right presents Rock On, Father! It is easy to put the pastor on the pedestal, and to forget that he (or she) is a human being with interests beyond the church. Take a look at one young man who has melded that interest with ministry in an unexpected and delightful way.

FMF at Free Money Finance presents Giving Away Part of Your Life.

Hal Paxton at The Great Separation tells us pornography is not victimless and here is proof. What’s more it is a sin that affects the Church. Read The Victims of Pornography.

A Penitent Blogger reflects on temptation, pseudo-logic, and grace in “God made me this way.”

Diane at Crossroads sent in Control and Codependency – The Controller. Being controlled seems to be a problem in many Christians’ lives. This post, the second of a series looking at control and codependency, is about controllers and what makes them tick.

Love of Children
Cindy asks an important question at Notes in the Key of Life. It’s ten o’clock. Do you know what your children are blogging? Recent news stories have put sites like MySpace.com in the hot seat–and highlighted the need for parents to monitor their children’s Internet habits.

They’re celebrating in heaven and at HCS’s and Gen’s Place because “daughter wishes to be baptized after accepting Christ. ” Congratulations!!

cb at cb.blog presents Say It Ain’t So, Jim! on the Sanctity of Life/Stem Cell debate.

Love of Country
DawnXianaMoon.com: Randomness brings us Commentary on the State of the Union, Part II, the second part in a series on Bush’s address.

Xyba at Once More Into the Breach presents Army Silences Chaplain After Prayer Criticism.

Ales Rarus asks, How should Christians interact with secular government? in Making the Best of a Bad Situation.

P.I.D. Radio submits an audio post, Sinister Forces. Their interview Saturday night with Peter Levenda, author of the three-book collection “Sinister Forces”, raised some disturbing questions: Did the United States sell its collective soul after World War II by importing thousands of Nazis under the CIA’s “Operation Paperclip”? And are elements of our government literally practicing what amounts to political witchcraft?

Love of Nature
In Reevaluating Genesis Kenny Pearce summarizes and evalutes some recent arguments on Christian blogs intended to suggest that “young earth creationism” is not in fact the teaching of Scripture. The arguments are found to be, on the whole, inconclusive, but surely sufficient to warrant a serious reevaluation by Evangelicals with regard to the manner and timescale of the creation.

Prophet For Hire gives us St. Patty’s Day Comes Early for Christian Leaders – an examination of the Evangelical Climate Initiative’s statement, “Climate Change: An Evangelical Call to Action,” from a Scriptural viewpoint.

Martin at Sun and Shield makes Some noise about bark. It’s some musings about tree bark (no fooling!)

The New York City area had its highest snowfall on record, and Donna-Jean of Liberty and Lily sends in her pictures of “Treasures of the Snow.”

Love of Reading
Just about everybody has read The Purpose Driven Life. Katy at Fallible is all about the purpose-driven life. What irks her is The Purpose Driven Funeral.

Tidbits And Treasures presents Living Under God: Discovering Your Part In God’s Plan This is a book review of Living Under God. It is a great book on lessons in stewardship of the Word, filled with many life applications, both from the Bible and history. I highly recommend this book.

Kevin Holtsberry at Collected Miscellany gives us a review of the book Landon Snow And the Auctor’s Riddlee by R. K. Mortenson. The book is an explicitly Christian children’s fantasy novel where the characters pray and read the Bible as a normal part of their lives.

Interesting posts I can’t figure out out to categorize
From Sharing Spirit we have Flat or Round World? – “The world is flat” is the reductionism thinking and “the world is round” being equal to quantum thinking.

Rod Heggy of Terra Extraneus asks, What Ever Happened to the Sermon? I have heard many sermons lately that were transparent in the poverty of preparation. What happened to the preacher’s duty to acquire a grasp of the original language, a knowledge of the author and intended audience, and some knowledge of the historical context? The ministers who have had the greatest long-term impact are careful workmen of the Word, rather than after-dinner speakers. Ministers who skim the surface end up with a spiritually shallow congregation.

DeputyHeadmistress at The Common Room presents Funny Stuff That Isn’t Really Funny

Mark Olson at Pseudo-Polymath presents Casting Out Neurological Imbalances.

Richard from dokeo kago grapho soi kratistos theophilos describes how allusions help make better sermons and increase our understanding of the text in The Importance of Allusions in Luke.

The bloke in the outer asks, Was Judas Misunderstood? and describes a recent move to revise Judas’ image.

Northern ‘burbs blog gives us Fixin’
the Church – There are some trends I see in some churches that need to be corrected so that the church can be more effective tools of God in drawing people into the family.

John Howell posted his next article on Natural Law – Natural
Law: What Constitutes It? – at Brain Cramps for God.

From Faith Commons we have What is Emergent Theology and Why Should You Care? The Kingdom of God grows and flourishes despite our ignorance and our efforts. Our task is to cast the seeds, the rest is done by God. That, my friends, is the real emergence.

And finally, because Valentine’s Day was this week, I shared a true love story called The One Who Stayed. (Part One|Part Two)