Gospel.com Blog

It feels a bit early to be talking about events that take place in mid-2006, but you know how time flies. With that in mind, I note that the dates have been set for Unity Festival 2006, and tickets for the uber-concert are now available.

The people behind the Unity Festival are also organizing a little something called Rock the Coast, a music festival to be held next spring at an amusement park in west Michigan. Go on, mark your calendars!

Ever wondered what Mary and Joseph’s home might have looked like, or what sort of environment Jesus grew up in? Follow the Rabbi has an interesting look at a typical Galilean home from Jesus’ time. Useful information, especially as we ponder Christ’s birth and early life this Christmas.

‘Tis the season to sing Christmas carols, and two Alliance ministries are giving us an inside look at some classic holiday tunes. The Center for Church Music has the full scoop on “Away in a Manger,” including a history of the song (whose exact authorship is still subject to debate) and a devotional to go along with it.

The Christian History Institute is another good place to check for trivia about holidays and famous dates, and sure enough, they’ve got some good stories about Christmas music. Read the harrowing story behind “Silent Night,” the true story of Good King Wenceslas, and the enthusiastic newsman who wrote “Angels We Have Heard on High.” So sit back, crank up those Christmas tunes, and read a bit about the musical history of Christmas.

With Christmas almost here, more ministries are putting out worthwhile Christmas resources. Here are two to add to your bookmarks:

• Luis Palau’s How to Make the Most of the Holidays for Evangelism. Not sure how to go about sharing the Gospel with your friends and neighbors this year? Evangelist Luis Palau has compiled quite a few simple suggestions for sharing your faith this Christmas.
• Ron Hutchcraft’s Christmas Moments. Last Christmas, Ron Hutchcraft put together ten short holiday messages, with a special focus on those who are feeling lonely, depressed, or frustrated amidst the hype and hectic-ness of Christmas. You can read the messages, or listen to ‘em online in RealAudio.

We’ll have more Christmas resources as the week progresses and Christmas inches closer!

The Ravi Zacharias ministry website has some excellent new articles online this month. For starters, try this interesting piece on “squandering” life, in which Betsy Childs compares our culture’s idea of the successful life with the Biblical ideal.

With all the attention being given to the Narnia film, you might never guess that C.S. Lewis had a lot to say about, well, non-Narnia-related subjects. In our excitement over his fantasy novels and his Christian faith, are we ignoring his advice about how to understand art and literature? A recent article at Youth Specialties explores the issue:

…while millions of Christians celebrate Lewis’s lasting legacy, many of us routinely contradict his guidance about how we should treat literature and art….

Lewis was critical of well-meaning people—whether preachers or politicians—who sought to “use” art for their own purposes. No matter how legitimate or lofty these purposes were, Lewis felt that art always suffered in the process.

“‘Using’ is inferior to ‘reception,’” wrote Lewis. “Because art, if used rather than received, merely facilitates, brightens, relieves or palliates our life, and does not add to it.”

Are we Christians, who’ve promoted and endorsed the Narnia movie and books for their Christian themes, guilty of “using” art in this way? Does our eagerness to highlight the story’s Gospel message caused us to distort and damage the simple joy of the tale? Food for thought.

Arab Vision, which as you may have guessed focuses on evangelism and ministry in the Arab world, has collaborated with Interserve to start up the new St. Francis Magazine. The magazine aims to discuss religion and missions in the Middle East and Arab culture.

There’s already a decent library of articles there–you might start with this piece on Jesus’ ‘Jewishness’ and how it impacts Arab evangelism or this article on general challenges for Christian theology in the Middle East (both in PDF format).

After months of speculation, debate, and hype, it’s here! I refer to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, of course. Reviews and commentary are already rolling in from around the Gospelcom Alliance. Check that page regularly over the next week or so–we’ll be adding new Narnia-related items as they come in!

Alistair Begg (and his wonderful Scottish accent) can now be heard on your iPod–his daily messages are available via the Truth for Life podcast.

More and more ministries are making their devotionals and messages available via podcast–I notice that Back to the Bible is podcasting their Bible Minute daily program as well.

If you’re waiting impatiently for the Narnia film to arrive, here are three items that may interest you:

Ron Hutchcraft Ministries has put together a collection of eight articles that look at different aspects of the Narnia story. Very useful for getting at the “real meaning” behind the tale, and particularly helpful if you aren’t terribly well-versed in Narnia lore.

Secondly, there’s a good roundtable discussion going on over at the HJ blog. The HJ crew is looking at an ominous quote by CS Lewis–”There is death in the camera,” referring to film’s power to “kill” our imaginations–and talking about whether or not the Narnia movie will do damage to the imaginary Narnias we envisioned in our minds as we read the book.

And finally, the American Tract Society has put online a new evangelism tract called The King of Narnia. You can read the whole thing online, or email it to your favorite Narnia geek.