June 01, 2005

Christian Carnival LXXII

Welcome to the Christian Carnival, a weekly roundup of posts submitted by a variety of Christian bloggers of different persuasions. Each blog submits one post, so this is a way to get a sampling of what people consider their best posts from the past week.

I have categorized posts by selecting verses which I thought related to their content, at least peripherally.

Please let me know if you think I've made a mistake, either on any of the links (which is entirely possible), or on categorization, or on my summaries.

When I've hosted the Carnival in the past, I've given an "Editor's choice" to the posts I thought were best. This time, because there are so many posts, the task is somewhat beyond me. So instead, I'll just say that two of my favorite posts were Sticks and Stones: The Power of Words and Pyromarketing and the Purpose Driven Life. But there are a number of good posts.

One final note: My links to the posts below do not necessarily mean I agree with them or endorse them.

The Christian Carnival

Words/Speech/Anger: "My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires." (James 1:19-20)

"And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will." (2 Timothy 2:24-26)

Prayer: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 4:6-7)

Faith: "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." (Heb. 11:1)

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast." (Eph. 2:8-9)

Memorial Day: "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers." (1 John 3:16)

Politics/Government: "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God." (Romans 13:1)

Comfort/Encouragement: "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." (2 Cor. 1:3-7)

Exhortation: "Brothers, I urge you to bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written you only a short letter." (Heb. 13:22)

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Mt. 28:19-20)

Testimony: "First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds. That is why the Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me. But I have had God's help to this very day, and so I stand here and testify to small and great alike." (Acts 26:20-22)

Man's condition and the law: "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God." (Romans 3:10-11)

"Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin." (Romans 3:19-20)

Theology and doctrine: "Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true." (Acts 17:11)

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

The gospel, the church, and the Spirit: "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!" (Galatians 11:6-9) [Editor's note: My inclusion of this verse does not mean I am accusing Rick Warren of preaching a different gospel, as I have not read his books. Rather, I am pointing out that it is essential to determine whether any teaching is faithful to the true gospel.]

Intelligent Design/Science and Faith: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men." (John 1:1-4)

Miscellaneous: "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." [Philippians 4:8]

[Editor's note: I apologize for lumping these last entries into a "miscellaneous" category, but I have used up my entire year's supply of creativity.]

God's grace extends a welcome to all people.