I'm revisiting this category since I'm on vacation and don't feel like writing something substantial today. And I'm sorry for ypos that I know will creep in -- the laptop I'm using doesn't have FireFox on itl, and I don't have the cool spellcheck thing here

Christianity Today's music section has a piece about Centricity Records. I love Centricity -- they're one of the few labels out there that were willing to talk to a little podcaster like he was an important part of promoting their artists. They get podcasting like few other labels do. And the music is good.

There aren't many labels right now that get new media, or even electronic marketing and the use of the Internet. They have a MySpace page, they have a website. But beyond that, they're stuck in the old school attitudes toward marketing. They are missing the whole "Web 2.0" boat, and that's a shame.

The Internet is getting back to it's social roots. It's returning to the Usenet days, when community was built around a subject. I'm not sayi8ng anything really new here, but it bears emphasizing -- to make full use of new technology, you've got to be social, you have to have a new media strategy beyond "ignore them, and they'll go away."

Because guess what? They will go away. And you'll lose. Watch what's happening with the music industry right now. They're going nuts trying to figure out how to deal with digital music and portable MP3 players. The radio industry is trying to figure out how to deal with people who want to listen to their own playlists and not the station's playlist. So far, all they've done is stick their fingers in their ears and make "nanananananana" noises, hoping this new technology will go away. They've been doing it since high-speed Internet connections made streaming music (and video) possible. They'll still be doing it when the next big thing comes out. ANd eventually, they'll go out of business.

I'm thankful for labels like Centricity, who actually get it. It means that artists will have options in the future. And it means that the rest of us will, too.

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Remember the Blogroll Cruise? When I cruised through my blogroll quoting people that you should be reading? Well, I'm doing it a bit differently now.

Looking at the blogroll(s), there are a LOT of blogs I don't read, for whatever reason. And there are plenty of blogs I DO read that aren't on there. I'm working on a fix, but for now, I'm calling the cruise what it really is -- the RSS Reader Cruise.

I rarely read blogs at their web sites anymore. I dump them all into Google Reader and read them there (unless they only send the first 200 characters or something to the feed; then I have to go to the page and finish the article if it's interesting enough. You understand why I don't do that with this blog ...). So here we go:

Jared Wilson. Heck, I read whatever he writes -- if he wrote cereal boxes, I'd read more of those. I learn something every time I read one of his posts. And I love this one. Especially this part

I believe Jesus is for the cool. I believe you can be cool and follow Jesus. I believe there are cool Christians. But what if -- honestly, what if -- Jesus asked you to give up all your coolness to follow him? Would you still want to? What if following Jesus meant dressing up in a suit and having an Alfalfa haircut and listening to CCM? I mean, it doesn't, obviously (and thank God). But what if it did? Would having Jesus still be worth it?

The truth is, a great many of us desperately need to nail cool to the cross.
Life in Christ is about dying to self.

I've always loved parody and satire, and recently discovered Tominthebox News Network. Just read anything there, laugh, and then think about what it's trying to say. I think that's the problem with satire -- it assumes that people think. I'm not sure that's true anymore.

Ditto for SBC Outpests, but for different reasons. They've been silent for a while, but it's worth monitoring.

Joe Thorn blogs about unplugging, which ties in with a book I reviewed not long ago. Technology is good, but it should be our servant -- not our master. That's a lesson I'm trying very hard to learn.

I've got more, but that should keep you for a while.

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I'm planning on a fuller Blogroll Cruise later today, but I just found this and HAD to share. From Phillip Johnson at Pyromaniac. Phil describes himself as "a melted piece of fundamentalist-flavored gum on the shoe of the evangelical movement."

Couldn't have said it better myself.

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More from the SBC Bloggers aggregator this time, picking up where I left off.

Joe Kennedy, who is Live... from New Orleans, has been interacting with a reader named Felipe concerning Catholics and Evangelicals. Tow posts so far, so read here first, then here for part 2.

Don at Locusts and Wild Honey has been posting the newest resolutions that were passed by the Southern Baptist Convention this year in Nashville. Of particular interest is the before and after look at the Resolution on Educating Children.

Aaron at Maranatha offers his comments on A Generous Orthodoxy. Agree or not, he's done a great deal of study and put a lot of thought into this one.

Justin at Marvelous Light is preparing for a missions trip (actually, by now he's gone!).

Matt at Matthewhall.net is offering some theological thought on providence and suffering. Read Matt -- he doesn't blog daily anymore (of course, he's a new Dad, so he's got more important things to do), but when he DOES blog, it's always worth reading. He was one of the first people I put on my daily-read list.

That's it for today -- I'll have more of this ever-expanding list of Southern Baptist bloggers later on this week. If you ARE a Southern Baptist blogger, or know someone who is, tell them about the aggregator, and tell them they need to let me know so I can add them. I THOUGHT about just adding every Southern Baptist blog I found, but there are some people who don't want to be a part of a group (for whatever reason), so I always ask if they want to be included. Unfortunately, I can't visit every SBC blog, so I'm asking for help. Thanks!!

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This installment, I'm cruising through the SBC Bloggers roll. If you want to keep track of these blogs on your own (which I recommend) head over here and bookmark it.
more...

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This is a kind of Blogroll cruise, but I'm cruising the "new additions" to the blogroll.

OK -- one new addition. But it's a biggie.

Way back when I was first really exploring the Christian side of the Internet, I found two sites. One was the Fundamentalist Forums, where I lurked for a few years, off and on, before getting up the guts to post. I still hit that site every day, looking for my next arguement -- or at the very least, some blogging fodder.

The other was a gold mine for me. Phil Johnson's bookmarks. The best and worst of Internet Christendom, all in one convenient list. I hit that page every week or so, just to see what's new. (I'm still waiting to see how Phil categorizes The Sword of the Lord's website.) If you've never been there, do it now -- I'll wait. more...

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This isn't a true Blogroll Cruise -- it's more me talking about WHY these people are in my blogroll. If I can't justify it, I'm getting rid of it. That doesn't mean I don't LIKE it -- it just means that I'm trying to get down to 20 or so blogs (which I said I was going to do a month or so ago).

Al Mohler's blog: DUH! It's AL MOHLER!!! I think a link to his site is a requirement for attending Southern.
Antioch Road: Jason hits a lot of topics that I don't cover, especially political topics.
Back of the Envelope: Even if this wasn't a great all around blog -- the Weekly Webcomic Review is worth a read. He's a Sluggy fan, guys -- 'nuff said!!
Mind and Media: For some reason, I've got this listed as Blog for Books (which I am now changing). Everyone who likes to read should be involved in this -- you get free books!!
Blogcritics: I'm a member, it's worth reading. That covers it all, I think.
Blogs4God: With all the aggregators out there, it's nice to remember the original. It's still worth a read, too.
Bobby's Blog: Read the "Wha' Happened?" post there, and you'll understand. I like the way Bobby writes. He's one of the hidden gems in the Christian blogosphere.

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This is my very first Blogroll Cruise at the new site. So let's get started!! For those who aren't familiar, this is just a look at posts that have caught my attention while surfing through my blogroll. I do this every so often, supposedly as a service to my readers, but actually because I can't think of anything original to write ... more...

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I've added the ESV blog to the blogroll. Unfortunately, I did it too late to get the free Bible.
Oh, well. It's still a worthwhile blog, and an outstanding translation. Maybe they'll have a contest to get one of the Study Bibles when they come out.

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Here we go, on this whirlwind trip through my blogroll.

• The Plodding Pilgrim is talking about comfort. I like the definition that he uses -- it has less to do with feeling good, and more to do with being upheld and strangthened.
• Smart Christian is promoting the Christian Blogosphere Convention. If you can go (I wish I could, but I'll be in classes), you need to go. There is also a need for non-conservative-Protestant bloggers -- Orthodox and Roman Catholic bloggers are needed to conduct some of the sessions that are planned. This convention has potential to result in great things, but without ALL of our support, it could really fall flat.
• Christian Hillsblog is pondering division in the church. I love the very first quote -- pointing out the importance of corporate prayer in the start and spread of revival. We can market people into our churches, but we have to pray to get them into the family of God. Our churches need to be united in this effort.
• Jollyblogger is involved in the "blogging as the new Reformation" debate. I can see the point on both sides -- the Reformation was ushered in in part by the advent of a new communication media. I think it's far too early to tell exactly what the impact of blogging and the blogosphere is going to be. All we can know right now is that there IS an impact.
• Don Elbourne, Jr. (aka Webmaster at the FFF) has a great post quoting the Baptist encyclopedia about St. Patrick. While I sometimes wonder if we can call Patrick a true Baptist, what I've read from his confession leads me to believe that he was a different sort of catholic than most Roman Catholics make him out to be. He certainly would have opposed the Synod of Whitby.
  

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• Espresso Roast is a written by a fellow Southern student (who REALLY should be in the SBC aggregator! Need to email him ...). He's got an interesting report of a case of Bush Rage in Florida.
• Jeri over at Blog on the Lilypad2 is linking to Phil Johnson's report on American Fundamentalism. Jeri's pretty active over at the FFF, and Phil used to be. Read Jeri's blog, then head over to the FFF -- we need some troll repellant over there.
• Nick at NickQueen.com has a T-shirt that everyone needs to buy.
• Wesley Blog reported on the National Council of Churches issuing a warning to Christian relief workers in Asia, cautioning them not to evangelize. Sure -- let's NOT tell the people the major reason we've travelled halfway around the world to help them. Don't DARE let them know about the love of God. Doesn't matter -- if the Christians are doing their jobs right, the people there will see Christ in them, and will want to know. And they will be told.
• Rooftop Blog has an interesting take on China's Most Favored Nation trade status. Seems that trade to China is an excellent "Trojan horse" for missions work. I've always ranted about China's MFN satatus -- why hadn't I thought of this angle?!
  

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Same format today. I'll probably NOT do the cruise on Thursday or Friday, because of school, but every other day, it will be here.

• CoffeeSwirls is blogging the Heidelberg Catechism -- question 27 is today's entry. This is a pretty good idea for anyone -- consider what you believe, and why you believe it.
• The Banty Rooster is up in arms about "gender-neutral restrooms". I agree that this is a really bad idea, which means it will probably be done in the next month or so.
• Lawreligionculturereview is blogging about the Socratic Method -- which is my own personal favorite method in teaching. I LOVE the story related in this post, and figure that, sooner or later, it will happen in a class I'm teaching. At this point, I'd just love to teach students who can think on their feet that way.
• IntolerantElle.com asks the immortal question, "How Twisted is This?" The obvious response, at least to my way of thinking, is VERY. Go there, read, and be outraged.
• Grace Notes 4 Teens asks the other immortal question -- Why are there so many gods? It's an important question to consider, and I plan on getting that book to the top of my read list soon. My read list is huge -- I'll get through it sometime in 2104, hopefully in the fall ...

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I like the "top five" thing I did yesterday, so I'm going to do the same thing. The first five blogs listed in the Church Directory.

• First up, Double Toothpicks. Is atheism in decline? And is the stuff that's replacing it even worse?
• Berkeley Godspot hasn't been updated in a while (uless they changed URLs and didn't tell anyone), but what's there is a great read. I especially enjoy the post on Sproul Plaza and the Christian speakers there.
• Jollyblogger offers the usual outstanding fare. The posts on infant baptism are well-written and interesting, even though I'm still a credobaptist. Maybe David just needs more cowbell. (Hey, he likes the Yeti games, AND snowball fight! He can't be a bad guy!)
• Eternal Perspectives is giving away a Systematic Theology text written by Dr. Robert Cook at Dallas Theological Seminary. When you get done begging for your copy (like I did!), read the rest of the blog. There's too much of worth to list just one or two posts.
• My wife would have enjoyed Bear Witness if she had stayed up long enough to see the page. She loves teddy bears. Check out the moral dilema in this post -- and think about what you would do.

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Returning to the Cruise today, I decided to take a look at the top five blogs mentioned on the "Church Directory" (the Evangelical Outpost list).

• Dunker Journal is talking about colleges and leftism. UVa is "creating power bases" for budding socialists all over America.
  
  
• Cerulean Sanctum wants to know if Christianity is broken. "I wonder if we Christian bloggers are actually doing a disservice to people, especially to those who are struggling in the faith or are considering the claims of Christ for the first time." I sometimes wonder the same thing. Christian blogs have a huge responsibility, and sometimes we forget about it. Sometimes we are the only examples of Christians people see, and we keep acting like the stereotypes they read about in the MSM. Then we wonder why people believe all the stuff that the NY Times says about us.
• Desperate Vision has a post in a similar vein. Also read the post about Artificial Sweetner -- very good reading at this blog.
• Fallible.com asks the eternal question -- What's up with those tennis balls?
• And my old friend Rebecca writes about the Ordo Saludis and other soteriological terms. If you want to actually understand theology, read this blog. I may have to get her to help out with my Systematic II midterm next Friday!
  
  
  

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• Midwestern Mugwump offers a critique of the Iraqi insurgents who apparantly have taken a GI Joe doll hostage.

• Eternal Perspectives gives us another perspective on the whole Unity in Christ issue. We are to be united in Christ -- what exactly does that mean? Does it mean we support everyone who claims the name, or do we have divisions based on doctrine?
• Sacra Eloquia, which is the Crusty Curmudgeon's less-crusty blog, has a great Intro to Philemon post that MIGHT end up being used by yours truely at some point in a Sunday School class (or possibly sermon ...). If this one isn't in your blogroll, you're missing a great blog.
• And make sure that you check out the Southern Baptist Bloggers aggregator that I've set up -- and let all your SBC friends know about it.

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First up, Jollyblogger. I haven't been linking to him much lately, and I am not sure exactly why. Today, he's tough to ignore, with not one but TWO great reads.

First, the McChurching of America talks about the franchising of the Megachurch. I'm torn here, because in a way, it seems that the megas are doing what I want them to be doing -- they are starting new churches rather than keeping a central church that requires its own ZIP code. But I'm not sure that these satelite churches are anything more than elaborate small groups, whose identity is still tied to the "mother church" -- it almost sounds like an Evangelical form of the Catholic parish church. Maybe that's not a bad thing, but THIS jury is still out.

Second, his post yesterday about Blogging and Walls. I have to salute someone who links to a post that criticizes him (although indirectly), and takes the time to respond to it. And I like what David has to say. I kinda like the idea of denominational blog aggregators -- simply because it would help network some of the bloggers out there. I know a few other Southern Baptist bloggers out there (one, Matt Hall, is also at Southern, and he's got links to a couple other SBTS bloggers), and it would be nice to cooperate, and possibly meet up (especially at the national convention) -- maybe even set up a blogging symposium or something to show the average church how a blog would compliment their ministry. There is a LOT we could do, but we don't know each other. For every SBC blogger I know, there are probably 10 that I don't. Denominational aggregators can build a community online, and help that community work together offline. If I had the tech know-how, I'd set up the SBC agg. myself. Maybe if I could get a lesson or two from someone with a few more skills.....?

Rebecca over at Rebecca Writes is one of my favorite bloggers. She was also pretty much my first regular reader, so not only is she a good blogger, but she has great taste! And she's got some great theological writing over at her blog. She's doing a semi-series about the anathemas of the Council of Constantinople which is great reading. She's done a series about the purpose of Christ's death that is outstanding. So I'm going to link to her post about haggis. Why? Because I have a warped sense of humor. Deal with it.

Bobby Griffith is an internet friend of mine -- he posts over at the PCCBoard Forums, and is most likely doing his PhD work at Southern -- in Church History, no less. He's like me, but more Reformed! And he's posted the Christianity Today list of Ten Reasons to Study Church History -- which should be required reading for everyone, IMnsHO.

Adrian Warnock has been accused of being too close to the Jollyblogger -- in fact, he was accused of BEING JB by one blogger (whose link I cannot find right now, unfortunately). So he's decided to disagree with Jollyblogger ... or at least, try to. Careful Adrian -- David's in Baltimore, and probably could get to Fort McHenry before you could get to him -- and you remember what happened the last time the Brits tried to take that Fort.

Now I'm closing. I just found out that I am pulpit supply on Sunday for a small Baptist church, and I have a sermon to write AND a Sunday School lesson for my own church to get ready. And maybe another post or two -- I can always prepare tomorrow .....

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A brief note: I'm not linking to posts on the whole SpongeBob thing. NOT because it isn't an important issue, but because if I did that, I wouldn't have room for anything else on the cruise. Google SpongeBob and Dobson if you want a rundown of those posts.

Allthings2all has an account of a Christian doing what Christians are supposed to be doing -- meeting people where they are. This is something we forget way too easily, and far too often. We are all ministers of the Gospel, after all.

For the Joy is doing a running series on The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience -- about emphasizing living lives that are consistant with our beliefs as Christians. We can never hope to show the world how Christ can change lives if our own lives remain unchanged.

Rolling Stone won't take religious ads. GetReligion exposes their hypocracy. I love it when the intolerant get caught with their pants around their ankles.

More tomorrow, promise!

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JivinJehoshaphat (gotta LOVE that name) has a multi-part series about How Pro-Choicers Argue (the link is to part 5, but there are links in that post to the other parts as well). We should be knowledgeable about how our opponents think and debate, so that we can work more effectively against them. This is a great series -- read it from the beginning, and use it!

Along the same lines, Proverbs Daily has a series about the sanctity of human life. He's up to part 3 right now, with four more parts to the series. This time of year, it seems that we focus on the abortion issue a lot. We all need to take advantage of those who are posting this material, and use it all year round.

The Grey Shadow blogs about bloggers, and being transparant. This has a lot to do with Christians especially, and how we blog -- with humility.

Matt Hall talks about unmortified sin -- and how as Christians we walk a fine line between our quest for a holy life and the pit of legalism. The Bible commands us to live holy lives, but we are so often worried about becoming legalistic that we don't live as we are commanded to. There's a happy medium, and that lies in obedience to God and His commands.

Head over to Bobby Griffith's blog, where he's talking about Christians and our need to use the Old Testament. We owe it to ourselves to read and study the OT -- if for no other reason than the fact that it was the Bible the disciples and Christ read from. The Old Testament is not the "lesser Testament" -- it is just as inspired as the New, and it containts treasure that Christians are forgetting to mine.

Echo Zoe is blogging Oswald Chambers. This is stuff that every Christian should be familiar with -- and even if you are, it never hurts to read it again. And again. Chambers doesn't get old to me.

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First, I noticed that Evangelical Outpost was doing something called Outtakes -- Joe is basically going through his blogroll and commenting on noteworthy posts -- with links, of course.

Next, I saw that Rusty at New Covenant is doing something called Rusty Nails, where he goes through his blogroll and comments on noteworthy posts -- with links.

And now, I see that David at Jollyblogger has started his Jolly Digest, where he goes through his blogroll and ... well, you get the idea.

Far be it from me to ignore such a great idea, especially when it's being done by so many bloggers who I read and respect. So I would like to introduce the Blogroll Cruise, where I go through my blogroll and comment on noteworthy posts -- with links and trackbacks, of course. The idea is to do it daily, but I'm not going to promise that -- I will most likely miss Fridays and possibly Wednesdays. And I'll try to feature blogs that the others don't cover, especially blogs that I think are not getting the attention they deserve.

This first edition will be brief, but here goes:

• 21st Century Reformation has an inteesting piece about blogs and churches as "Power Networks" vs. "ghettos." There has been a lot of discussion about this throughout the evangelical blogs that I read (Razorskiss, Evangelical Outpost, for example). I've been doing some thinking about it as well. Our churches tend to minister to the same group of people, and when we get a couple new members, we are "really starting to grow!" We should be trying to broaden our influence. As bloggers, we get a LOT of inbound links, but they're from people within our community. All of my inbound links are from people who are Christians, and who consider themselves to be, at least part of the time, evangelical bloggers. I have linked back to the people who link to me, which perpetuates the "ghetto" that we blog in. I get hits from people outside the ghetto, but most are from Blog Explosion (and how many stay and read anything beyond the 30 second requirement, much less come back?) or from people hitting the "Next Blog" button in the Blogger bar at the top of the page. I get some interaction with people (though I'm waiting for one in particular to react to the Church/State post I made), but most of the interaction is from within the evangelical ghetto. We should strive to interact with people outside the community -- and there are bloggers who are doing a better job of that than I am right now.
• Speaking of Razor'sKiss (and you REALLY need to check this blog out, it is outstanding!), there's a great post about a potential solution to the problem of the evangelical ghetto, and it sounds to mme like it bears more than a passing resemblance to the idea of the "Body of Christ" analogy in Scripture. Evangelical bloggers have different strengths, and different roles to play. By banding together in a community, we can use our individual strengths more effectively, and make our message clearer to the general population. All of us together can be more effective than each of us separately.
• Blogcorner Preacher talks about the value of salt. Sometimes we forget how apt an anaolgy this really is for our role as Christians, and I can even relate it to the previous two posts! Salt is useless when it's still in the salt shaker, after all -- it has to be poured out onto something with no salt for it to be really noticed and appreciated.
• Sarcasmagorical posts a prayer request -- another use for this community of bloggers. The best thing that we can do for each other is to uphold one another in prayer.

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I feel like running through the 'roll this evening. So here we go!!

• Get Religion has a good summary of the whole ECUSA/neopaganism thing, including a few new developments. Fascinating stuff here.
• Matt Hall has a review of the documentary Super Size Me. I'm afraid to watch the thing, even though I don't eat much McDonalds food anymore. I AM worried, though, because my daughter loves their chicken nuggets.
• An oldie but a goodie -- Ian's Messy Desk brings us the King James Version Baseball Classic.
• Wink and Jeremy are debating the election at Parableman. Things are getting good.
• Spare Change links to an annoyingly addictive game. Gee, thanks!
• Eric Cartman sings Come Sail Away, and the Crusty Curmudgeon has it in all it's Real Audio glory.

More later. Hoping I'll get the Mark study for today done pretty soon.

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