Links for the weekend

Astronauts onboard the International Space Station take picture of a stunning comet.

Chris Massey pits Ray Comfort and N.T. Wright against each other about evangelism. Really good.

Shane Smith of Vice travels to Siberia to track down North Korean labour camps. Funny and frightening at the same time. (You should also watch Vice’s piece on “Jesus Of Siberia”.)

Andrew Brown says that the godless miracles of Kim Jung-Il are, “probably the purest example of religion as it is imagined by atheists.”

Your podcast is not your pastor, warns Trevin Wax.

Mark Vernon, professional agnostic, appreciates the all-encompassing scope Christian morality.

Randal Rauser levels a question for the Calvinists: Does God hate those he doesn’t save?

Francis Collins remembers his friend, Hitch. Of all the positive obits about Hitchens this last week or so, two negative ones stand out for me (because I basically agree with them): Rod Dreher’s outrage at Hitch’s praise for Stalin’s persecution of the Russian Orthodox church and Glenn Peoples’ reminder that he was a better orator than thinker.

The film-makers behind Hellbound? want to know your view on hell.

How Luther went viral.

Bruce McCormack’s Kantzer lectures on the doctrine of election are available as mp3s.

Denis Alexander’s evolutionary Christmas message.

Is ethical purchasing a new form of legalism, asks Kurt Willems.

According to Sarah Howell, prayer doesn’t work and it’s not supposed to either.

Is youth ministry killing discipleship?

Paul Wallace names the top ten peacemakers in science-and-religion.

Honesty is the best policy, according to Peter Enns, when it comes to raising children in the faith.

Musicians who look like Jesus (more or less).

Lee introduced me to Ghost Brigade last week and I’ve been listening to them obsessively ever since. Most excellent doom metal.