What's the appeal in Gilligan? Perhaps it's the simplicity of the characters. Seven stranded castaways, each with the same goal of getting off the island, but with their own personalities and backgrounds. This week our carnival entries will be categorized by castaway. So turn off the radio, get comfortable in your hut, grab a piece of Maryann's coconut creme pie and dive right in to a lagoon full of great thinking. Hopefully after this three hour tour, you won't find yourself longing for the world's idea of civilization.
The Skipper
We begin with the Skipper, Jonas Grumby, an old salt in these waters. The Skipper is a mighty sailin' man. And he's the man in charge... the Captain. Since he outranks us, Skipper will oversee posts dealing with religious figures from the past and present.
We'll start with another in a series of posts from Mark at Psuedo-Polymath examining a pair of heroes -- David from 1 & 2 Samuel and Achilles from Homer's Iliad. This is called David and Achilles: Reflections on Feminity.
Is it a festival or a crusade? John Luke of Blogcorner Preacher invites us to Come for the Festival -- a Luis Palau festival evangelism event this weekend in Washington D.C. He laments the need to dress up the cross of Christ in the trappings of popular culture.
Did Jesus Revise the Law? is a look at the sometimes common view that Jesus revised the standards of the law making it higher and more stringent than the Old Testament. This post refers to a series of older posts written by the bloke ...in the outer... that argues that the Law and Commandments of the Old Testament should not be viewed in a legalistic manner and that right from the start, God set out to create a relationship with His people that is based on love, mercy and grace.
The Headmistress from The Common Room discusses Francis (of Assisi) and Clare and their effect on Europe.
Was St. Ignatius' desire for martyrdom a holy quest and an indication of insanity? Next week's Christian Carnival host Matt Jones of Random Acts of Verbiage explores the story in St. Ignatius: Holy or Insane?
At Part-Time Pundit, John Bambenek digs into the Crucifixion in Broken But Not Beaten: Death With Dignity.
Thurston Howell III
Next up is the millionaire, Thurston Howell III. Mr. Howell is a man of power and authority -- a chairman of many boards. He wields influence. Senators and Congressmen all pay him respect. And so, with Mr. Howell's approval, let's look at posts featuring the high, the mighty and the matters of world importance.
The amazing capacity for coincidence and history converge and call for action in small town diners, national museums, or the entire world on the brink of war. Phil from Another Man's Meat examines how so many things come together in Convergence.
Ilona from truegrit wrestles with the idea of a Christian response to war in Warfare.
Bruce of Sprucegoose notes that while America reacts and defends against terrorism around the world, al Qaeda moves its manpower and munitions to areas surrounding Israel. Read more in How Goes the War?
A technique recently proposed would, if successful, produce human embryonic stem cells from oocytes (unfertilized eggs) without any use of human embryos. Martin of Sun and Shield considers a moral objection to using oocytes for such a purpose in his post Natural Law and Oocytes.
The blogger, Angry in T.O. claims that the hard left says the real danger to the world comes from Jews and Christians. But don't listen to their words. Watch what they do. By their actions they seem to be telling a very different story. It's all in Moonbats and Art: Highlighting the Difference Between Words and Action on the blog Angry in the Great White North.
A controversy over a university ministry and a Catholic dissident group is the subject of University Ministry Advertises Dissident Group on GOP3.com: The Triumvirate.
Mrs. Howell and her man.
Mr. Howell would be nowhere without his wife, the social butterfly, Lovie. Mrs. Howell is known in all the best social circles and registries. Whether sending regards to Prince Ranier and Princess Grace or making preparations for the annual Howell Cotillion, Lovie is impressed with the things of the world, so let's look at posts dealing with worldliness.
Are God's blessings given as a reward for our faith? In Is God Santa Claus?, Alan at Imago Veritatis heard a sermon this past Sunday portraying God as a cosmic Santa Claus, ready to hand out the goodies if you will just ask Jesus into your heart. While this is typical evangelical fare these days, it radically misses the point of Jesus's call to discipleship.
What would happen if a Recovery Band played in a park and met a homeless man who is seriously drunk? Louie of The Marshian Chronicles found out what did and didn't happen on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Read along as he guides us through his thoughts and experiences in Meeting Mr. Bear.
Sometimes as he looks around, Bill from White Ribbon Warriors feels like the church in the US is "overfed and underexercised". He wonders if sometimes we don't need to rediscover the GO factor in taking the message of the Gospel from beyond the walls of the church building and to the streets, malls, offices, and other places we go. Be challenged to Rediscover the GO Factor.
Diane from Crossroads: Where Faith and Inquiry Meet wonders why a recent study in England would show that in countries with a higher religious devotion, especially among Western nations, there is a higher crime rate. In other words, the United States, although more religious, has
a higher crime rate than less religous European countries. Discuss it with her on More Religion Means Higher Crime?
Lennie from Cross Blogging offers a brief discussion on the Pro-Family legislation in Wisconsin contrasted by the anti-family rulings about Nude dancers in Oregon and the 1 man-2 woman marriage in the Netherlands in Culture Wars Rage On.
Financial contentment may be a sore subject for some but it is sorely needed message in the church today. That's the point Brad from Happy Mills is making in his post Is "Just Enough" Too Much?
And L.C. Staples of The Staple Gun discusses the relationship between Capitalism and morality in Incurable Capitalism.
The Professor
Next up, the professor, Roy Hinkley. We're not really sure what he is a professor of, but we know he should get a Nobel Prize for developing so many uses for the common coconut. There's nothing the professor doesn't seem to know, including scientific names for butterfly species, obscure tribal languages and a little bat anatomy. And so the professor will oversee our more intellectual fare.
Chad from Eternal Revolution never disappoints and What Is the True Reality? is no exception. If you ask readers of fiction why they like that genre, most often they will tell you that it provides an escape from reality. Chad asks if that is backwards. Is it possible that the dream world of fairy tales and mythology offers a more accurate glimpse into true reality than the material world?
Sherry at Semicolon blows the shofar in celebration of Rosh Hashanah. The Jewish new year's celebration has some lessons for Gentile and Jewish Christians. Read Shanah Tovah.
Why Study Genesis? Rey from The Bible Archive points out that most studies of Genesis end up spending so much time refuting evolution that we miss some important things in the first book in this introductory post to a study of Genesis.
A Request to Any and All Calvinists goes out from philthirteen to help him make sense out of five examples of why he thinks TULIP is an incomplete definition of salvation.
This post by Abednego at Parableman raises questions about Romans 14 and disputable matters, in particular regarding whether masturbation counts as such a gray area. Read Biblical Silence as an Argument for Individual Conscience.
Was Pilate scared of truth? Are scientists afraid of truth? What is Truth? anybudee from What is God Saying To You? asks the questions.
Matthew of Journey in Search of a Soul blogs about Thomas Merton and his ideas about freedom in Free Speech.
Prayers for the dead? Jay of Deo Omnis Gloria asserts that we should be doing it and that Jesus did it twice in Scripture. His post is called Prayers for the Dead.
Cadmus of cadmusings delivers a beautiful written response to the questions and statements about the actual integrity of the Bible. With The Origin of the Bible Pt. 1 he begins a series concerning the Bible that presents its origin, history and validity
Ginger Grant
The island would be nowhere without a little sex appeal. The redhaired siren, Ginger Grant is happy to provide. As a movie star, the lovely Ginger is all over the entertainment scene like Joan Rivers on a red carpet. And so let's retire to the Bamboo Lounge for posts dealing with entertainment and technology.
Over at Cerulean Sanctum, Dan cuts through all the hype about blogging and wonders if it's truly advancing the Kingdom of God in Christian Blogging: A Waste of Time?
Celebrities are on the mind of Sara Horn at Faith at the Front. She comments on the recent celebrity rants against the Iraq war and why they don’t know what they’re talking about. She also reflects on the important religious freedom for Iraqi Christians that she saw first-hand as a writer covering stories in Baghdad. Read Out of the Mouths of Celebrities.
Bob Sterling at Smegmaster.com remarks about the similarity between the new Ipos Nano and his new Gideon Bible in the humorous Steve Jobs and God Team Up to Relaseas Bible Nano.
Maryann Summers
If Ginger's not your type, perhaps it's Maryann. Miss Summers, cute little Kansas farm girl, lives an ordinary, simple life. So we'll let Maryann lead us into carnival posts dealing with living the Christian life.
Paula at Listen In posts about a revealing remark made when her cat comes up missing showing her how much she needs to learn about love and forgiveness in her relationships. She calls it Pet Therapy.
Ever been blessed by a sign? HeyJules from Faith or Fiction? is pretty sure she was. She explains as she tells about going to meet her new spiritual mentor in Satan and the Jiffy Lube Sign.
Here's one from Rev Bill who asks "Do You Really Want To Follow God?" Many people try to
blame others -- or even "the devil" for the fact thatthey can not seem live the life Jesus calls us to live. The one to blame is really ourselves!
Donna-Jean at Liberty and Lily muses about her blessings and the needs of the Gulf Coast in her post The Apple of His Eye.
Robin of Write Thinking writes that God the Father doesn't expect us to become Christlike in an instant. It's a journey made up of many steps toward Him. Explore that idea in Baby Steps.
If you've been through any type of suffering, you have a good idea how important hope is. David from All Kinds of Time examines this idea in Hope in a Time of Suffering.
Susan of Sisters' Weblog: It Boggles the Mind asks why Christians look forward to heaven when, as Jesus said, it is only going to "pass away"? Read Heaven Will Pass Away.
Ever felt stereotyped as a Christian? Have you felt the onus and stigma of being a believer of the book? Bob Cooley takes a look at Self-serving Secular Smugness over at N With Both feet.
In Autumn Fire, a photograph of fiery autumn leaves leads to reflection about finishing well in the Christian life at Points of Light. Don't miss the spam and response in the comments!
Kim at Sharing Spirit found herself wrestling with the whole idea of the choice we have to believe. That's belief, complete with action, not just lip service to our belief. Explore belief and doubt in Believe.
Speak the truth in love we are taught, but for some that's easier said than done. Hope from A Song Not Scored For Breathing blogs about how truth is spoken in the context of a marriage in her post The Full Monty.
And as we Runalong with Pastor Mark, he gives us a short Parenting Quiz.
Gilligan
And our seventh castaway is our first mate, Gilligan. Willie Gilligan, according to the show's creator, Sherwood Schwartz, but you'd never know that watching the show. What you notice about Gilligan is that he always messes something up. It may be by eating the professor's glow-in-the-dark dye or forgetting to tie a message to a homing pigeon, but whatever it is, Gilligan is sure to have ruined any chance of a rescue. So it is only right that Gilligan introduce this section dealing with failure and sin.
Ron at Nothrern 'burbs blog submits one of his posts in his series on evil. It's All My Fault examines the cause of moral evil -- and here's hint: it's in us, not in God.
Over at A Firm Nail, Nailman drives another one home in Valuing God's Word. We are reminded through the story of King Jehoiakim, to not just listen to sermons, but to remember them and apply them in our lives.
Penitens from A Penitent Blogger reflects on how God's grace can overpower obstacles to repentance in Repent Anyway.
MWC at Mr. Smith in Washington comments on judgmentalism and what he is learning as he repents of it. Those of us who find ourselves critical of others' behavior will be especially interested in Confessional: Repenting From a Critical Spirit.
Richard blogs his thoughts about John the Baptist's call to repent in Repentance over on his blog dokeo kago grapho soi krastistos theophilos.
And that's the tale of our castaways, they're here for a long, long time. They'll have to make the best of things. It's an uphill climb. The first mate and the Skipper too will do their very best to make you more than comfortable in your tropic island nest.
So join us here next week, my friend, you're sure to get a smile. From seven stranded castaways (and a lot of great bloggers) here on Gilligan's Isle!
Thanks for watching our show!
No comments:
Post a Comment