Christian Carnival CXXII

Welcome to the Christian Carnival, Body of Christ edition! This is the second time I’ve hosted, and it was very exciting to see how much it has grown. However, I’m afraid I have to start the Carnival with a disclaimer. Several submissions did not meet the criteria as stated over at Wittenberg Gate:

As the goal of this Carnival is to highlight Christian thought in the blogosphere, entries will be limited to blogs that share that goal. Blogs with content that is focused on a business, that has potentially offensive material Christians may not want to link to on their sites, or has no reference to distinctively Christian thought may not be included in this Carnival.

If you’re not listed, the strong possibility is that, based on the above statements, I didn’t think your post met the criteria. It’s a judgement call and I did the best I could. A couple of other reminders - You may contribute any post written during the seven days preceding the Christian Carnival (Wednesday). You may contribute only one post per blog. Additionally, for those of you who used the Conservative Cat Carnival or Blog Carnival submission forms - THANK YOU. It makes assembling the carnival a lot easier. Now, on to the Carnival!

Since Katrina, I have learned some valuable lessons about what it means to be part of the body of Christ. As I was reading these posts, it occurred to me that they address different aspects of our faith that could be represented by parts of the body.

Brains (Theology)
In response to a recent statement from Emergent-US declaring that the use of creeds by that organization would be “unnecessary, inappropriate, and disastrous,” Dory of Wittenberg Gate addresses the question, Do Creeds Promote Unity or Division? Read her answer and then join the ongoing discussion.

Are theological terms really important? Perhaps they are as they relay important concepts. But what happens when many pastors today don’t know these terms and concepts. A poll of pastors taken recently is truly shocking. Read Imputation? Amputation? Computation? Huh? at Crossroads.

In Kyrios Theos, cvw at Christianity Is Jewish reminds us, “He is not your god to create, change, adapt to your personal needs! The only way He is your God is if you are willing to come to Him and worship Him for who He is and what He said. And I don’t mean what He said in The Da Vinci Code! Or the gospel of Judas, Philip, or Thomas!”

Jeremy Pierce at Parableman presents Are Complementarians Subordinationists?.

Kevin Surbaugh at Becoming and Staying Debt Free presents Life Insurance and the Single.

Sun and Shield’s entry for this week is entitled “Technological Ability from God,” and is a brief musing on the possibility that God specially gives some persons ability in this area.

At Thinking Christian in Is God a Poor Designer? you can read the first of a series of three (so far) on how we got into the mess we seem to be in.

Face (Expressions of faith)

What does Neo have to do with Nicodemus? This week John at Light Along the Journey finds out when he explores Spiritual Sight.

The Random Yak at Random Yak presents A Joyful Noise, describing his reborn life after nearly dying unsaved.

Heart

At Imago Dei in Christians Judging Others the question is asked, Why is it that Christians are so intent on holding nonbelievers to a godly standard? Changed lives do not come from condemnation. Changed lives do not come from judgment.

Scott at Random Responses posts on An Obedience Of The Heart and asks, If God looks on the heart, what does He see in yours?

Hands & Feet (Service and Evangelism)

Donna-Jean of Liberty and Lily has written about her recent trip to the Gulf Coast. The women’s team from her church was able to complete a job begun by their church’s men’s team many months earlier. Here is their story. [Donna-Jean: THANK YOU, and your church, for serving in this way. Our church building was ruined, and many in our congregation lost everything, but the way the whole body of Christ has ministered to us has been phenomenal. And now that we have settled down into a borrowed building and more than half the congregation is back in the city, we're going out and cleaning up neighborhoods, gutting houses, and showing lost people the love of Christ. This was made possible by Christians who came to New Orleans from all over the country to do the same thing for us that your church did in Mississippi.]

Bill Watterson at In the fields of Boaz presents Only one!.

Adam Graham at Adam’s Blog presents Following the Story Teller, a defense of Christian fiction.

Don Bosch from The Evangelical Ecologist Blog says, I’m always interested in why Evangelicals seem (on the surface anyway) so bearish on the environment. Something clicked the other day when I heard a quote from C.S. Lewis in a sermon on the ecumenicalism. “Clever arrangements of rotten eggs do not make a good omelet…”

Brain Cramps from God posted “Ask an
Evangelical” in Street Prophets, a Daily Kos community where folks have explained and answered questions on their spiritual perspectives - and this site, while about “faith and politics”, is not exclusively for followers of Christ. So far it’s an interesting discussion, be sure to check it out.

Mike McLoughlin at the Faith at Work blog submitted Resolving the Faith Work Tension in Christian Professional Practice and addresses some concerns of Christian professionals.

Miscellaneous

NerdMom presents Nerd Family: Math and Faith posted at Nerd Family.

A Penitent Blogger gives us Ordination, a reflection on Christian ministry.

Chris Alexion at Welcome to the Fallout gives us a Bunch of Monkeys on the Ceiling, Says Camping, a satirical news piece on radio host and end-times guru Harold Camping.

Mikhail Subach at Portal of effective, interesting and happy life presents Christening, describing his daughter’s christening.