Wednesday Link List: Mormon Doubter, Biblical Dog Names, and More

Welcome to the first (official) Wednesday Link List at PARSE. Cleans up real nice, don't ya think?

• A Christian radio host says that the 'yuck factor' children have when first introduced to the idea of gay sex is slowly disappearing. Needless to say, her new book is the target of not-so-favorable reviews.

• Joni Eareckson Tada is nominated for an Oscar … for singing; beating out Taylor Swift and Coldplay. Honestly, we don't make these stories up.

• The naked girl in the iconic, prize-winning photograph of the Vietnam war is alive and well and speaking about her Christian faith.

• The cute story which ended last weekend's sermon may not be a candidate for snopes.com, but sociologist Bradley Wright says that often pastors rely on unfounded statistics that don't survive a fact check …

• … Meanwhile, Wright and pastor John Ortberg have collaborated to produce SoulPulse, a smart phone app to help you gauge spirituality.

• Tony Campolo is preparing to step down as President of an organization he began nearly 40 years ago. But another writer charitably suggests that "200 speaking engagements" hardly constitutes retirement.

• Life in the Inner-City: Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove posts an open letter to his city's Chief of Police about drug enforcement, racial profiling, and treating people as guilty until proven innocent.

• Would you stand by and watch a friend take out a loan at 5,853% interest? The Church of England is launching a taskforce to look into "payday lenders," which are also common here in the U.S. and Canada.

• So what's the best commentary for each Biblical book? Here's an up-to-date list from someone I know chooses carefully from a Pentecostal perspective.

• Rock 'n Roll is a vicious game, and in the modern church, worship leading is a young man's game.

• They may not use the term seeker sensitive, but some Catholics think the sermons are too simple.

• Maybe you should keep your Myers-Briggs results bookmarked next to Genesis 1, because your particular creationist opinion may be determined by your personality.

• (For the record, I feel about Myers-Briggs the way I feel about Astrology, which means I don't believe in it; but then again us Geminis are naturally skeptical.)

• Ministers in the United Church of Canada want to form a clergy trade union. The group is not yet a certified bargaining unit.

• Going Deep: It's hard to talk about the doctrine of "separating ourselves," when there are six degrees of separation (pun intended, and there's only four) we haven't fully defined our terms.

• Essays of the Week: This article from a preacher who struggles with porn, was inspired by this open letter from an 18-year old girl who shares the struggle.

• Striking a nerve? Warning signs for pastors that your relationship with God may be strictly professional.

• A dual-purpose article gives a leader's insight into his process of choosing Christian books, and also argues the principles underlying the notion that leaders are readers.

• A new blog, Mormon Doubter, offers a slightly amended version of the LDS Articles of Faith, in the spirit of full disclosure.

• Oh, to be young again! We had 20,000 people on a farmer's field in Pennsylvania. They have 20,000 in an arena in Atlanta. (With climate control and indoor plumbing, too.)

• I've always thought I was a fan of blended worship, but in fact, the thing I prefer is more rightly called Convergence Worship.

• Turnabout: After an armed home invasion, missionaries in Mozambique receive love from the very people they're serving.

• That February 4th debate between Bill Nye the Science Guy and Ken Ham the Creation Man will be streamed live after all.

• Ministry gimmicks. Pastor stunts. You've already heard about them, now read the top 12 outlandish things that happen at church.

• Podcast of the Week: On Pop Theology talks to Dr. Robert Alter about reading the book of Genesis through a different lens. (Warning! Your mileage may vary.)

• At Desiring God, same-sex attraction as idolatry: " … same-sex desires are cravings for what we want to see in ourselves, but lack."

• Switchfoot's Jon Foreman: "You travel all around the world making a movie and record built around surfing, and really push yourself to ride some really challenging waves, so it's more than a bit ironic to get injured in your own backyard." Thankfully, Jon's gonna be okay.

• If your knowledge of Christian music goes back to the Larry Norman era, we unearthed this classic radio show demo of A Joyful Noise with Paul Baker.

• Mark Driscoll says size doesn't matter; a megachurch can offer the same degree of personal care as a small church.

• Man looks on the outside … and Jared Wilson offers, by way of contrast, a short tribute to pastors who are overweight, but preach weighty truth.

• Eventually, every analogy breaks down, but try this one, "Prayer is like______."

• Multiple Marriages (but not the way you're thinking): British couple Alex Pelling and Lisa Gant got married in 2011. More accurately, they began getting married in 2011.

• Not everybody who homeschools thinks everybody should homeschool.

• A watchdog site focused exclusively on James MacDonald and Harvest Bible Chapel is shutting down.

• Cartoon of the week: That awkward tithing moment.

• Finally, on a slow news day at Christian Post, we were given the Top Five Biblical Dog Names, a good time to mention that I always thought "Browser" would be a great canine name.

Link sleuth Paul Wilkinson is also available to DJ your next youth group meeting or rustproof your dog. He writes at Thinking Out Loud and is editor of the eclectic devotional blog, C201.