Links for Friday
Here are a few links before I’m off to make cookies and get ready for company.
~Here’s another news article about how colleges are seeking out homeschooled students.
~The comedy duo Barats and Bereta that were responsible for the So Smooth video and Completely Uncalled For video I shared with you last week have now signed a development deal with NBC. I checked out their web site and found that they are Gonzaga grads from Spokane. Didn’t realize they were local boys. (Please note: I did not check out every video on their site, so surf at your own risk.)
~For all of you Lost fans, Sherry at Semicolon has the most plausible theory I’ve seen so far.
~So, we want the first things people see when they walk into our church to be a cash machine? Am I the only one who thinks this is ridiculous?
~John Mark Karr has now been cleared of child pornography charges in California. So the Colorado prosecuting attorney’s office extradited a man who is seriously disturbed and a pedophile into the United States – despite the fact that his story did not line up with the JonBenet Ramsey murder facts – and the US has not been able to convict him of anything. Do you think Thailand will welcome him back? I think not. So he will be free in the United States. This terrifies me.
~Christianity Today has come up with a list called The Top 50 Books That Have Shaped Evangelicals. What do you think? Did they get it right? Did they miss any? I have to admit that I haven’t read more than a small handful.
Happy weekend!
At first glance it does seem strange to have a “giving machine” at a church, but then when I think about it, I’d like it. We rarely use checks. Pretty much it’s just to pay tithing, pay for our buying club purchases, and pay our rent and then here and there oddities. When we moved we had a book and a quarter of checks with our old address on them – left from 2 books bought 2 years before. So obviously we write very few checks. It would be much more convenient to pay tithing using our debt card since that’s what we use to pay for everything else we can.
I’ve read two of those top 50 books. I loved The Hiding Place. I hated A Wrinkle in Time. Granted, I read The Hiding Place because I wanted to and I read A Wrinkle in Time because it was assigned when I was 8. It totally put me off of fantasy books until Harry Potter came along. Go figure.
October 6th, 2006 at 1:35 pmCamian- I can see why it would be more convenient, but my dislike of the idea is how it will commercialize the place of worship. Do we want first-time visitors to be faced with a bank machine when they enter? And also, I think worship isn’t necessarily about what is easiest or most convenient for us. Just my opinion, though.
I read A Wrinkle in Time as a child and loved it, but then recently re-read it aloud to Natalie and wasn’t quite as thrilled. I don’t know what grabbed me so much back then. Love HP though – can’t wait for the next one!
October 6th, 2006 at 1:46 pmI love this quote from the cash machine article:
“You see, our culture lives with a debit card in their hand and so when they come into our church we need to help them and provide them with the convenience so that they can serve the Lord.”
Is “take up your cross and follow me” really about convenience? Aside from the idea it gives to visitors, is this even a good message to telegraph to members?
Incidentally, that $2000 to $5000 price tag for one of these machines is in the neighborhood of two months of our pastor’s salary. Guess I don’t have to worry about seeing one of these in our church anytime soon. LOL
Good to see I’m not the only one turned off by A Wrinkle In Time. I think it was hyped-up way too much for me. I’ve read a few others on that list, but I’m ashamed to say which ones. The ones I wished I’d read I’ve never heard of.
October 7th, 2006 at 6:03 amJodi- It also bothers me that the pastor suggesting this as a “great” thing for churches has a financial interest in the product. When church becomes business, there’s a problem.
October 7th, 2006 at 9:32 amOh, no, no! Carrie, you must have missed this part of the article:
He also rejected criticism that he was using his position within the church to enrich himself, pointing out that the company he helped create, Automated Giving Solutions, was run by his wife.
Huh?
October 7th, 2006 at 2:54 pmWell, I think the cash machine is ridiculous.
I havent heard of, not to mention read, most of the books on that list, but I don’t even know why “wrinkle” is on there myself. I used to enjoy the Christy series on tv
And I like the books about the amish, I forget their names and author, but I think one was The Shunning. I thought they were enjoyable…but they probably didnt “shape” any evangelicals… :-p
October 7th, 2006 at 3:33 pmLawanda – I’ve read a lot of Beverly Lewis’ Amish books, too – they always make me long for a simpler life. Until I think about doing laundry without a washing machine!
October 8th, 2006 at 9:29 amROFL! Too true! But then there wouldnt be as many clothes, either. I am not sure I could live without my computer now either!
I also would not like to sew our clothes. We’d all be in a pitiful mess if we depended on my sewing skills!
October 10th, 2006 at 11:30 amMy kids would be naked if I had to sew their clothes! I am not gifted that in area – at all.
October 10th, 2006 at 1:09 pm