Faith: August 2008 Archives
toledoblade.com -- 'Basic Instinct' author writes book about faith
Once a writer of screenplays that explored the dark side of humanity and afflicted with throat cancer, Joe Eszterhas experienced a "Damascus Road" conversion and a miraculous healing. The Toledo Blade does a fine job telling the story. His latest work is Crossbearer: A Memoir of Faith. (Via Get Religion.)
Hulu - Allyson Felix Sprints for Glory: NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams
"Even in my running, my purpose is to bring glory to God." (Via Pyromaniacs.)
internetmonk.com: Baptist Holy Days of (Guilt and) Obligation
A comprehensive list including Mother's Day, the opening Sunday of a revival, church potlucks, VBS programs, Promise Keepers rallies, and the Olin Mills Church Directory photoshoot. (But he omitted any reference to church camp, including the binding obligation on Oklahoma Baptists to make pilgrimage to Falls Creek.)
Dutch, Reformed: Jesus Loves Me, This I Know
"'Who has chest pains?' he asked. 'Stand up.'
"I was somewhat taken aback, yet I stood up because, indeed, for about a week I had been having some pain on the right side of my chest, the cause of which was unclear to me. Since the pain wasn't severe, I had pretty much dismissed it as a nagging inconvenience that would go away soon enough. It certainly hadn't been on my mind during the service. But as I stood there, this man, his face and his voice exuding genuine compassion, said to me something altogether unexpected: 'Don't worry. You'll be able to get all your work done.'
"Until that moment, it hadn't even remotely occurred to me that stress and worry could be the source of the pain, but in an instant it became clear. Then began to wash over me an overwhelming realization that God really does love me and is intensely concerned with my well-being. Even amid my disobedience ('Be anxious for nothing'), here was Almighty God--who was, after all, quite busy running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments--taking the time and the initiative to attend to one redeemed sinner in Nowata, Oklahoma."
Parchment and Pen » The Theology Program Online Classes Begins August 26
Not free, but inexpensive -- $100 each for a variety of eight-week online theology courses from Reclaiming the Mind ministries.
Koinonia: Hermeneutics and Children's Curriculum by John Walton
Walton says that children are being taught, by example through most Sunday School curricula, faulty Biblical interpretation and application. Walton identifies five common errors which distract students from the heart of the Biblical text. For example: "Illegitimate extrapolation: The lesson is improperly expanded from a specific situation to all general situations.... Reading Between the Lines: This occurs when teachers or students are asked to analyze what the characters are thinking, speculate on their motives, or fill in details of the plot that the story does not give.... "
Pulpit Magazine: Christians and the Sabbath
Sabbath still binding on Christians? Calvin says no.
