Jason Upton is a singer/songwriter. His songs and messages reflect a life fully lived in relationship with God, family and friends.

Jason lives in Wisconsin with his wife Rachel and their four children but he’s currently on the road visiting a number of communities around New Zealand, Australia and in coming days the UK. I recently spoke to Jason in an interview for 98five Sonshine FM.

Jason has an amazing story of meeting his biological mother around the age of thirty. It’s a remarkable and heart warming tale that’s well worth hearing. You can hear listen to the story and the rest of my interview with Jason by clicking the play button on the audio player at the bottom of this post.

A system that teaches that the way to love and inner peace is through forgiveness sounds very positive but is A Course in Miracles all that it claims to be?

A Course in Miracles was originally published in 1976. Dr. Helen Schucman wrote the book but doesn’t claim to be its author. She says that what she wrote was based on an “inner voice” which she identified as Jesus.

With some of the teachings in A Course in Miracles contradicting biblical teaching, most theologians have criticised its contents, yet it’s a surprise to find that some Christians have embraced the book and taught it within their churches.

My regular Wednesday morning guest on 98.5 Sonshine FM is Rev Dr Ross Clifford who is the Principal of Morling College in New South Wales. Each week we chat about a range of issues relating to spirituality and belief.

Last Wednesday we took a closer look at A Course in Miracles. Ross sounded some strong warnings over the book and pointed to some of the differences between the Jesus we see in its pages and in the Bible. You can hear our conversation by clicking the play button on the audio player below.

Welcome to the April 11th 2012 edition of the Christian Carnival. There is some great reading here and I’m sure you’ll enjoy working your way through the list of posts. I hope you’ll take the time to read and ponder the very good posts that are listed below.

The weekly Christian Carnival is an opportunity for Christian blog writers to share their best posts.

As always it’s a real honour to be able to present the Christian Carnival.

Please take the time to read through each post … it’s worth it. You might also like to link to this week’s carnival so that your blog readers can enjoy the variety of styles and thought. Another way to spread the word about the Christian Carnival is to click any of the buttons below this post to share the carnival on Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon or any of the other sites represented.

Let’s get started!

Ridge Burns says, “This year, I want to be astonished by the Resurrection. I want to be astonished by the work of Christ. I want to be astonished by what God continues to do in my life.” Read his post Astonished at Ridge’s Blog.

In Depending on Prayer, posted at InFaith’s Mission Blog, Gabe Stayton tells how he saw immediate results in Shiloh BIble Camp’s ministry when his wife asked others to pray.

Apologetics

Jennifer from à la mode de les Muses is discussing Psalm 23 and a speculated link to the Sumerian language in her post Thoughts on Psalms.

How do we as Christians deal with anger? That’s the question Disciple asks in the post Anger over at Closer2THEE.

At my main blog, RodneyOlsen.net, I’ve published a post about Evidence for the Resurrection. “The fact is that if we look at writings from the time and at the Biblical records we can find evidence that needs to be taken seriously.”

Devotional

“While being tempted in the desert, Jesus quoted the book of Deuteronomy saying: “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God”. And we know this: there is food for the flesh and food for the spirit.” In his post Christian fast food: the bread of life in XXI century, Taras Kaduk of INSIDE THE WHALE asks about our spiritual diet.

Annette from Fish and Cans has posted Day by Day – John 17:1-8 saying, “I am humbled by Jesus’ concern for us and all he did.”

Next in the I Am series, I Am the Door is a post by Kirra Antrobus at Thoughtful talking about Jesus as the door.

At the Jesus in the City parade Fadi decided to take a shortcut: instead of going with the parade around the many downtown city blocks, he decided to take a shortcut and meet the floats on the way back. That experience inspired him to write Hypocritical Christian Part 1 at INSPIKS.

Good Teacher is a post submitted by Rebecca LuElla Miller at A Christian Worldview of Fiction. It’s a meditation on Mark 10:17-22. “Only God is good, and God in the flesh stood in front of the man. If he could have answered, I called you good because you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God, wouldn’t Jesus have gone straight to “Follow Me”? But Mr. Got-It-Together was hung up on what he needed to do, not what he needed to believe.”

Theology

It makes sense that we want to connect with God during difficult circumstances. When Barbra’s mother was sick last December, she found that all of her prayers were directed towards her mother’s well being. Praying for Healing at Prayers for Special Help is a collection of prayers for healing that have been culled from rare religious texts and donated from her pastor.

Russ and his small group has been going through the Scriptures, starting in Genesis, in a chronological format, for over 5 years. This week they’re focusing on the Day of Atonement, it’s meaning within the Mosaic Law, and it’s meaning to Christianity. Narrative 075: The Feasts at Thinking in Christ is a post of the slides from that study.

In a confronting post, John Marcott is Dealing with the Worst at Walking Towards the Light saying, “You have to deal with women and children literally starving to death due to a drought that they each prayed intently to end…”

Finance

Managing money God’s way and from a biblical financial stewardship perspective is important and in Biblical Financial Stewardship: How We’re Trying to Manage Money God’s Way at One Money Design, Jason shares some things he’s doing to grow in this area.

Thanks for reading. Don’t forget to spread the word. Feel free to click any of the buttons below to share the carnival on Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon or any of the other sites represented.

If  you want to take part in the next carnival you can submit a post here.

Evidence is not necessarily proof. Evidence simply helps us establish facts to help us reach a verdict.

Some evidence can be so compelling that it is serves as proof but other times the evidence is like the pieces in a jigsaw puzzle, giving us a clearer picture with every piece we manage to place correctly.

When we talk about the Easter story we can think that the idea of Jesus Christ dying then being raised from the dead is either something you blindly believe or something you reject out of hand. We may think that with the events in question being so long ago that there’s no evidence to review to make an informed decision.

The fact is that if we look at writings from the time and at the Biblical records we can find evidence that needs to be taken seriously.

My regular Wednesday morning guest on 98.5 Sonshine FM is Rev Dr Ross Clifford who is the Principal of Morling College in New South Wales. Each week we chat about a range of issues relating to spirituality and belief.

Today we discussed five pieces of evidence that many Christians and sceptics agree need to be evaluated if we’re looking to come to a conclusion on the authenticity of the claims of Jesus’ resurrection.

If you’re serious about looking at the evidence just click the play button on the audio player below to hear our conversation.

Please take the time to watch the video above. In it I tell the story of escaping Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, as rioting escalated and smoke from burning barricades filled the air.

Haiti is just one country where Compassion is working. All over the world, often in difficult circumstances, Compassion is working to release children from poverty. They can only do their job if we’re prepared to get involved.

Having seen first hand, both in Haiti and Dominican Republic, how effective Compassion’s work is, I am determined to do more to help. That’s why from the 12th to the 14th of February 2012 I’ll be taking part in the 25000 Spins Great Ocean Road Challenge.

I’ll be riding 290 kilometres in three days and I need your support. By sponsoring my efforts on the challenge you’ll be releasing children from poverty. You’ll be giving children a real chance at life. Please visit my fundraising page and make a contribution. Maybe you can afford to sponsor me for a dollar a kilometre, maybe 50 cents a kilometre, or perhaps you’d just like to donate $10, $20, $50 or any other amount.

The other thing I’d ask you to do is to spread the video as far and as wide as you can so that it make the biggest impact in releasing children from poverty. Please put it on your blog, share it on Facebook, use the sharing buttons below and do whatever else you can do to help raise much needed funding to support the work of Compassion.

I really enjoyed watching That’s Christmas, a video from St Helen’s Church, Bishopgate. It’s well worth a look if you’re interested in the real story behind Christmas.

What’s the most unusual telling of the Christmas story you’ve heard?

In their article The Beatbox Bible: Rapping vicar rhymes the story of Nativity and becomes internet hit, Britain’s Daily Mail is reporting that a beatboxing vicar has retold the Christmas story in a rather unusual way.

Reverend Gavin Tyte (aka TyTe) was a professional beatboxer before dramatically changing careers and his Nativity video has had more than 15,000 views on YouTube in three weeks.

The 40-year-old vicar of Uplyme Church, in east Devon, raps: ‘Welcome to Beatbox Bible’, before continuing his sermon online to parishioners.

Enjoy watching the vicar’s efforts in the video above.

Welcome to the latest edition of the Christian Carnival. There is some great reading here and I’m sure you’ll enjoy working your way through the list of posts. I’m guessing that many bloggers are busy with preparations for Christmas as there have been very few submissions this week but that should give you the time to read and ponder the very good posts that are listed below.

The weekly Christian Carnival is an opportunity for Christian blog writers to share their best posts from the previous week. The topic of the post doesn’t necessarily have to focus on Christianity but it must reflect a Christian worldview, and the writer must be Christian to qualify.

As always it’s a real honour to be able to present the Christian Carnival.

Please take the time to read through each post … it’s worth it. You might also like to link to this week’s carnival so that your blog readers can enjoy the variety of styles and thought. Another way to spread the word about the Christian Carnival is to click any of the buttons below this post to share the carnival on Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon or any of the other sites represented.

Let’s get started!

We can certainly achieve a lot more when we work in unity with others. Ridge Burns is writing about Partnerships over at Ridge’s Blog. “Last Friday night I went to a banquet for InFaith’s Kids for Christ in Dallas, led by Joe and Lindsey Anderson. It was a pretty incredible experience, as kids and supporters of the ministry packed the room, getting together to raise money for Christmas gifts for the urban poor children Joe and Lindsey work with.”

Sarah looks at a thorny theological issue in her post Calling All Theoblogians: Creation and Evolution at This is what Sed said. “There is no dispute that God created or could create in six 24 hour days, but they believe the word ‘day’ in Genesis means ‘a period of time’. They believe the earth is millions of years old, and not thousands which is the claim of Genesis.”

Devotionals

Joe Plemon believes that the key to Moses’ greatness was a financial decision…an amazing one. Check out his post Moses’ Amazing Choice: The Key to His Greatness at Personal Finance By The Book. “Moses, by any standard, was a great man — he was instrumental in liberating an entire nation from slavery. Yet his path toward this success was cluttered with obstacles, the most prominent being the huge wealth at his fingertips by virtue of being an adopted son of the leader of richest nation in the world.”

Do you struggle with waiting? Do you sometimes feel that you need to keep putting hope on hold? Ashley Reid presents The Expectancy of Change: Why it’s Worth the Wait posted at The Real. “We are currently in a season of expectancy. For some of us, we have been struggling day to day to keep a smile on our face, make ends meet or just find joy in this thing called life. For others God has promised us something great, something new, a breakthrough, relief, a blessing or miracle. However, with all of this prophesy and expectation consuming our hearts, it makes us anxious, weary and tired of waiting.”

Narratives

Are we living the lessons we teach others? Lee Beldon presents The Sunshine Lady and a Big God over at Mission Blog. “I have been teaching the Rackerby people about having a big God. It is easy for me to teach about God and to tell others about a big God, but to live it for myself is another thing. You see, in my mind, for God to supply my need for a car is up to my resources; I have to figure it out as how to pay for a car replacement. God can take care of my congregation and supply their needs, but I have to be a good steward and do it myself. ”

I’ll finish with my own post which is designed to give unchurched friends a basic understanding of the Christmas story. I hope you enjoy The Real Meaning of Christmas. “Why do we still celebrate Christmas? Is it still relevant or just a chance for another holiday? Does Christmas hold any real significance for people today? What’s the real meaning behind the 25th of December and why do we make such a fuss about it?”

That’s it for this week.

In light of the lack of submissions this week, if you’re still looking for some great reading you might like to explore some of the links provided on the blogs that have been submitted. Maryann has an excellent list of links to explore here.

If you’re a Christian and you missed out this week, how about choosing something to contribute for next week’s edition? It doesn’t have to be a masterpiece, just a post that outlines your point of view or is designed to get others thinking. Being part of the carnival could be a great way to gain a little extra traffic at your blog.

The easiest way to get involved is to submit your article through the Blog Carnival Submission Form. Otherwise, you can email the submission address.

Thanks for reading. Don’t forget to spread the word. Feel free to click any of the buttons below to share the carnival on Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon or any of the other sites represented.

Why do we still celebrate Christmas? Is it still relevant or just a chance for another holiday? Does Christmas hold any real significance for people today? What’s the real meaning behind the 25th of December and why do we make such a fuss about it?

While you look forward to unwrapping your gifts this Christmas I wanted to take a few moments to unwrap the real Christmas story and ask what it’s really all about.

We all enjoy giving and receiving gifts on Christmas Day but it’s important that we take time to remember what Christmas really signifies.

It’s more than just the gifts and the jolly man in the red suit. It’s more than a ‘feeling’ or ‘spirit’ that makes us feel warm inside. It’s more than time with family enjoying good food and good times.

December 25th

While it’s generally accepted that the 25th of December isn’t the actual date that Jesus was born, it’s the day that has been chosen for celebrating Jesus’ birthday. That means Christmas is really a big birthday party.

So why should we be invited to the birthday party? Jesus was born around 2000 years ago. Why do we still celebrate his birth?

Who Was Jesus?

Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God. In fact, and this is where it gets tricky, according to the Bible, Jesus is actually God in human form so this is no ordinary birthday.

Here’s a little bit of the Christmas story from the Bible. This account is from a book of the Bible written by a guy named Luke.

At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was now obviously pregnant.

And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no vacancy for them.

That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. ‘Don’t be afraid!’ he said. ‘I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.’

Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,
‘Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.’
When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’

They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.

Aha! So that’s where the manger and the shepherds come in.

God With Us

That’s pretty much the story of Christmas. God living among the people he created. It’s an amazing thought but it’s even more amazing when you thread the whole story of Jesus’ life together. After all, usually when we celebrate someone’s birthday we don’t just remember the day they were born, we celebrate who that person has become and what they’ve brought to the world.

If we’re still celebrating the life of someone born around 2000 years ago, we’ve got to assume that they lived a remarkable life. If you want to find out more about the remarkable life of Jesus, I’d encourage you to grab a Bible in an easy to read translation and then read one of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke or John) to find out about Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection.