Alas, I thought I was more than dedicated.

(found via the PalmTree Pundit)

On Sunday a friend and fellow father mentioned that he knew I had been busy, because my beginning and end of week posts were running together. In other words, I am barely making my (self-imposed) bare minimum. The new baby is a month old now and life is starting to stabilize. However, sleep is still a scarce commodity and my late night blogging exploits are often foiled.

Tonight I am indebited to my ghost-blogging pastor, who frequently forwards good fodder for the blog. He felt that the following sites needed to be featured here and I could not agree more. While I may not have time to write, or the energy to post my thoughts (let alone think clearly), I can at least undertake the semi-passive activity of surfing the web while tending to the little one.

The Crux Project
http://www.cruxproject.org/

The Crux Project contains “key informational tidbits, brief fact sheets, and pithy editorials that both systematically debunk the many deceptive and damaging myths circulating throughout the culture and replace them with a worldview that truly resonates with reality.” The Crux Project reminds me a lot of the now defunct Christian Counterculture Project, except that the latter was far superior from an end-user standpoint. Make sure that you mouse over the little circles on the right to discover the *cleverly hidden* navigation links. Also, I found myself having to scroll excessively.

Salvo Magazine
http://www.salvomag.com/

Salvo Magazine is published quarterly by The Crux Project. You will no doubt be impressed by their dogged commitment to “Mere Christianity,” that is, their determined and intelligent look at—to use an expression adopted from Paul—the Christian life of the 21st Century in terms of Jesus Christ and him crucified. Unfortunately, the site is similarly overdone. Rather than having to go through the ooh, ahh and wait for every page to load that is typical of many Flash sites, can we not just click straight to the content?

The Fellowship of St. James
http://www.fsj.org/

The Fellowship of St. James is the organization behind The Crux Project and Salvo. They also publish Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity. The following is from their About Us page.

FSJ was incorporated . . . to uphold biblical, orthodox Christianity. It has three goals: (1) to promote and defend classical Christian doctrine, (2) to encourage the life in Christ, (3) and to foster a united witness to biblical Christian truth to a secular society. . . . It seeks to provide a place where Christians of various backgrounds can speak with one another and witness together to the truth of historic Christianity.

. . . founded in a shared belief in the fundamental doctrines of the faith as revealed in Holy Scripture and summarized in the ancient creeds of the Church. The issues that divide such Christians are taken seriously but set aside for the work of the common witness through our publications . . .

Below is a book indicative of what one might find for sale in FSJ’s online store.

Speaking of coffee, they have some pretty cool mugs, too.

Who says that one can drink too much coffee? If these people are right, then there will be a gourmet coffee shop just through the Pearly Gates on the Right (it has to be on the Right; nothing on the Left in Heaven, you know).

If the church is to be merely a dispenser of spiritual goods and advice, a place people pass through to get their religion fix, then we should follow the example of brand-driven corporate giants. But, if we hope to form meaningful communities of Christ-followers we shouldn’t neglect the power of being local. Rather than reading the latest branding book, why not gather mature leaders and listen for the Holy Spirit? How is he advising us to be the community of Christ in this unique place at this unique time?

— Skye Jethani, Out of Ur: Burned by Branding – What churches can learn from the anti-Starbucks movement.

M

OST great and glorious God, who hast appointed rivers to hasten with a rapid motion to the sea, be graciously pleased, I most humbly beseech Thee, to make the stream of my will perpetually to flow a cheerful and impetuous course, bearing down pleasure, interest, afflictions, death, and all other obstacles and impediments whatesoever before it, till it plung itself joyfully into the unfathomable ocean of Thy divine will, for the sake of Thy beloved Son, my Saviour, Jesus Christ — Amen.

— Charles How (1661 – 1745)

A book that we read each Thanksgiving says that when the Pilgrims “caught a glimpse of their destination, the new land where God would be worshipped freely and—in time—where freedom would flourish,” they “shout[ed] for joy and [fell] to their knees to pray, [and] they celebrated by reading Psalm 100.”

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!

Know that the Lord, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!

For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.

I wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving as you feast and rejoice. See also my family blog for another holiday post.