Celebrating With a Carnival!

My first real post on Thinking Christian’s new WordPress setup, appropriately enough, is a carnival! It’s Christian Carnival CCI.

 

We begin by recalling that there is a much greater celebration on its way:

 

Christmas is Coming!

Chris Brooks, at Homeward Bound, reflects on the sacrifice Christ made to become human: God In a Manger.

 

What is the Meaning of Advent? It’s about preparation and anticipation of the coming of Jesus Christ. says Sunny at Observations and Principles. Honoring Advent is a good way to bring the focus of Christmas back to Christ.

 

Nick Cross at Crossinator recommends putting the love back into Christmas and removing the judgment: Love Comes to Town.

 

Theresa L. Twogood of Olin E-book E-Publishing says, “I come bearing gifts! Real-zero cost or obligation gifts! Merry Christ Mass!” It’s The Tea Corner, Prayer Closet, & Free Gift For The Holiday

 

 

Living in Christ

James DeLylis shares some cherished moments, “Fishing, Camping, ‘A Day with our Dad,‘” at Healing Through Words.

 

Thoughts on thankfulness from FMF, on freemoneyfinance.com.

 

Theresa L. Twogood of Olin E-book E-Publishing says, “I come bearing gifts! Real-zero cost or obligation gifts! Merry Christ Mass!” It’s The Tea Corner, Prayer Closet, & Free Gift For The Holiday.

 

Shaun Connell speaks of what it means to be living in the Image of the Creator.

 

Amanda, at Imago Dei, tells us about renewal and how it can get sidetracked: Repainting Faith.

 

One sure way to get sidetracked is through Instant Gratification Religion, as we learn from Jody’s Devotionals.

 

God loves His creation. Will His creation love Him? In a post titled “God Loves His Creation,” Michael, of Chasing the Wind, speaks of living according to the purpose that God planned for us in Genesis chapters 1 & 2.

 

This week at Light Along the Journey, John explores what a plot device in Pirates of the Caribbean has to do with the Sermon on the Mount (and also, by the way, with your life) in his post Where Does Your Compass Point?

 

Can we Give As God Directs? Jody Neufeld reminds us that giving is important, but most important is to follow God’s direction.

 

Don Bosch of Evangelical Ecologist has good things to say about “The Loveliest Dwelling Place,” in Scripture and in personal experience.

 

 

Are there problems with leadership in some churches? Diane Roberts of Crossroads makes a convincing case that It’s Christian Co-Dependents Who Are Creating the Problem.

Pseudo-Polymath Mark Olson summarizes his post on Why Marry? this way: Wing to Wing is a wide ranging anthology of select readings mostly from the Western Canon on the question of Courtship and marriage…. we have an excerpt from St. Aquinas included in the anthology to answer the question “Why Marry?”

 

Jan points out, at The View From Her, that every church has its share of difficult people, and we sometimes wish we could just tell them to go ahead and go somewhere else to church. This post is a response to a pastor who suggested exactly that.

 

 

 

Christ and Culture

The Saint John’s Bible: e-Mom tells us the Who? What? Where? When? and Why? of the first hand-written illuminated Bible since the invention of the printing press–a masterpiece commissioned by the Saint John’s Benedictine Abbey in Minnesota.

 

Matthew, at River City Redemption Project, has serious doubts about Peace in the Middle East.

 

Here at Thinking Christian (posted under the old system I’ve just moved away from) I’ve been working the issue of the controversial film, The Golden Compass. What an opportunity this is to speak the truth of Jesus Christ!

 

Parableman Jeremy Pierce writes , J.K. Rowling recently made some comments about destiny in her Harry Potter books. This post explains why these comments should be (1) disappointing for Christians and (2) actually at odds with her books, which fit better with a Christian view of destiny.

2007 is the 300th anniversary of Charles Wesley’s birth. Martin LaBar of Sun and Shield has been posting one of his hymns every Sunday for several weeks, some familiar, some not. This time Martin chose his “Messiah: Prince of Peace,” because of the Advent season. However, it’s as much an anti-war hymn as an advent one.

David Haddon, of Fantasy, Fiction, and Reality, tells of Transcendence in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.

 

Jason Hughey presents a multi-part study in both Biblical and natural law and on his blog, Logical Consistency. The current installment is Part 4: What is a Conservative – The Declaration of Independence & The U.S. Constitution.

 

 

Christian Teaching and Knowledge

Annette warns false teachers, not gleefully but somberly, that they are condemned already, at Fish and Cans.

 

Theophilos provides a perspective on Living Oracles.

 

Lillie Amman, with A Writer’s Words, An Editor’s Eye, has some tips on reading the Bible effectively in response to a question from a reader.