Christian Carnival XXXV

is up at Rebecca Writes. Looks like some good stuff this week. Coincidentally, Rebecca chose a George Herbert theme to present the posts; I read my first Herbert this weekend. My submission was my review of Life of Pi.

Other highlights:

Reynaldo Reynoso at the Bible Archive writes about God's work and man's response:

Healing is for the sick and salvation is for the sinner and Jesus said it the best to those haughty Pharisees who sniffed at Him asking “What, are we also blind?” He turned to them and said that they were not blind, for if that were the case they would need Him to heal them…yet they say they can see and that being the case their sin remains.

Theophilus at notes from the front lines has a challenging piece on the disconnect between our prayers and the confidence we actually have in them:

We were talking about how the "many people" who had gathered at Mary's house to pray for Peter's release from prison refused to believe it when he showed up on their doorstep in the middle of the night. Why not? They were obviously committed on some level to prayer -- they were meeting in the middle of the night to pray specifically for Peter, after all -- so why didn't it seem as if they were praying with any level of confidence or boldness? Why couldn't they believe it when God actually answered their prayers?

On the other hand, Ray Pritchard has a piece about the power of corporate prayer:

When we pray, things happen (in us and in the world around us) that would not have happened if we had not prayed. God has ordained that the prayers of his people are part of his plan to bless the world.

Belief Seeking Understanding has a nifty piece about the object lesson inherent in a drug store in the middle of nowhere. Hey, anything centred around roadside attractions is OK by me:

In 1936, as they were about to leave, they noticed a number of cars traveling on the nearby highway, and they realized that after driving through South Dakota on a hot day with no air conditioning, a glass of ice water would be like manna from heaven. So they made these series of Burma-Shave-like road signs, mentioning that they offered free ice water. It was a smash hit! Even a drugstore in the middle of nowhere can remind you of the words of Jesus when He said "And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward." Even a drugstore in the middle of nowhere can remind you of the words of Jesus when He said "Give and it shall be given to you."

Finally, despite her admitted inexperience, Ambra Nykol delivers a devastating counterblast against abortion on demand because of potential birth defects:

The lovely song of many women who have terminated their pregnancies for defectal reasons is of course, "I did it for love". This type of "love" believes that certain types of children will be better off dead in the womb than suffer in life. I suppose I can understand the logic. When the doctors are telling you that a child may not live beyond three months when born, why not end a life now to avoid more pain and suffering than necessary in the future. Why not? Because we are not God and we don't get the luxury of making such decisions. I realize this defies human logic, but that is the essence of faith.