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Scattershooting hither and yon . . .

*If you haven’t been to see “The Blind Side,” do it this week. The movie has been the surprise hit of the Christmas season and may end up at #1 in box office receipts after this weekend. 

*Sandra Bullock plays the strong-minded Leigh Anne Tuohy who along with her husband Sean took Michael Oher off the streets of Memphis and ultimately adopted him into their family. Oher became an All-American playing left tackle at Ole Miss and now plays the same position for the Baltimore Ravens. Bullock says that it was a blessing to meet real Christians:

Bullock says thanks to the Tuohys, who attend Grace Evangelical Church in Memphis, she now has “faith in those who say they represent a faith.” Getting to know Leigh Anne Tuohy, says the actress, showed her that religious faith can be authentic. “She was so open and honest and forthright,” Bullock shares, “and I said, wow, I finally met someone who practices but doesn’t preach.”

*New York magazine has published a lengthy profile of Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan. The article is basically positive, illustrating that it’s possible even in a highly secular society to have a huge impact for Christ. 

*Then there is the story of a born again Coptic priest in Egypt who uses a bold television outreach to win Muslims to Christ. Here’s how the article begins:

Egyptian evangelist Father Zakaria Botros is one of the most controversial figures in the Middle East.

He’s a born again Coptic priest who’s led thousands of Muslims to Christ via the Internet and television– and militant Muslims want him dead because of that.

Zakaria is perhaps the most hated man in the Middle East. He’s confronting Islam with an “in your face style” of TV and Internet evangelism.

“Muslims are fainting. They are brainwashed,” he said. “They believe that Islam is the most beautiful religion in the world.»

The article says that Al Qaeda terrorists have placed a $60 million bounty on his head. That has made him cautious but still unafraid:

“Because I believe that I am in the hands of God and He protects me and there is no fear,” Zakaria said. “Jesus said don’t fear and there are about 366 promises in the Bible, don’t fear.

So, Islam’s public enemy number one presses on.

“People see the program on the TV, but I see the hand of God’s work among all of them in the heavenly TV,” he said. “I see by faith what God is doing among Muslims today.

“I’ll be so happy to have my life ended on earth because I will start my eternal life with Jesus Christ whom I love,” Zakaria added.

Scattershooting on a beautiful day in northeast Mississippi …

2) You can listen online to my sermon called “Ballistic Christianity” preached last Sunday at Pontiac Bible Church.

3) Steath Attack arrived at the Moody warehouse in Chicago two days ago. I haven’t seen my first copies yet. It will take a few weeks for the book to show up in bookstores. So far we have plenty of folks who want to review the book on Amazon.com. We can use more bloggers who want to review it. We also have free copies that we can give away to 25 people with a mailing list (snail mail or email) of at least 500 addresses who are willing to mention Stealth Attack to their list.

4) Check out the Pastor’s Prayer Summit in Portland, Oregon, July 24-26, 2007.

5) Kingdom Come, the last installment in the “Left Behind” series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, hits the bookstores on April 3. Tim and Jerry will be interviewed that same day on Good Morning, America.

6) A recent Yale research study on the environment and global warming including this finding: 58% of those surveyed agree that “as the Bible says, the world was literally created in six days.” Surprise, surprise.

7) Some people think the “senior pastor” model of church leadership is out of date. I don’t think they are correct, but you can read their reasoning here and here.

8) John Armstrong asks What Does It Mean to Bear the Cross in the West?

9) A small group of Israeli rabbis wants to reinstitute animal sacrifices on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

10) Have you ever wondered how many other people out there share your name? I just discovered an easy way to answer that question. Go to HowManyOfMe.com and fill in your name. I discovered there are 238,173 people named Ray. It’s the 275th most popular first name. There are 30,148 Pritchards in the U.S., making it the 1170th most popular last name. And there are 24 people named “Ray Pritchard” in the U.S. I’m not sure what to make of it, but it seems like something I ought to know.