Maggi Dawn posted a great quote from Douglas Adams that sums up my thoughts about our forthcoming move. Given that Adams barely saw any purpose to life – at least I read him as existentialist-nihilist – this is a remarkable and beautiful quote.
The Move – God’s Word From An Atheist
Maggi Dawn posted a great quote from Douglas Adams that sums up my thoughts about our forthcoming move. Given that Adams barely saw any purpose to life – at least I read him as existentialist-nihilist – this is a remarkable and beautiful quote.
One Of Those Weekends
I had two morning services on Sunday. My main one at 10:30 was at my primary church in Rainham. I was preaching on the Lectionary Old Testament lesson from Genesis 12:1-9, where Abram is called. I wanted to say something that I thought was important and relevant about the nature of being on a spiritual journey. I really thought it was right for them.
Before that, I got to trial it at Christ The King, Princes Park at the quiet, traditional said communion service at 8:45. It went down a storm. The Anglican vicar Keith Foot said it would be worth repeating at my farewell service there next month when many more would hear it, and it chimed in with things he had been trying to say to the congregation.
At Rainham, however, it went down like a lead balloon. And it was a poor congergation, numerically speaking. You just can’t win sometimes, can you? My ability to second-guess God is as poor as ever!
You can find a link to the sermon here, if you’re interested.
The Dickens Festival Revisited
Went back to the Dickens Festival today (see my entry yesterday). Had a nice welcome when we went for lunch at Rochester Baptist Church, whose premises are close to the High Street, where much of the festival takes place. In conversation we discovered that this year Medway Council had banned them from doing outreach at the festival. How close are impositions on religious freedom coming in this country?
See my previous post about hospital chaplains and the news that the University of Leicester NHS Trust want to ban the Bible from bedside lockers (here in the Daily Mail and here in the Daily Telegraph).
Mene Mene
Mene Mene is an amazing project in Leeds to distribute the words of Jesus in public spaces in intriguing ways.
Thanks to Dave Walker at The Cartoon Blog for the link.
Pope Benedict XVI And The Renunciation Of Power
Ekklesia News reports a powerful address by the new Pope in which he calls Christians to renounce power and wealth in favour of serving others. The article ends with this comment:
‘But some are likely to point to the apparent contradiction of it coming from the head of one of the world’s richest and most powerful institutions.’
Quite. But that shouldn’t stop the rest of us engaging in some serious self-examination, should it?
Pope Benedict XVI And The Renunciation Of Power
Ekklesia News reports a powerful address by the new Pope in which he calls Christians to renounce power and wealth in favour of serving others. The article ends with this comment:
‘But some are likely to point to the apparent contradiction of it coming from the head of one of the world’s richest and most powerful institutions.’
Quite. But that shouldn’t stop the rest of us engaging in some serious self-examination, should it?
The Urgent Need To Distinguish Evangelicalism And Bible Teaching From Fundamentalism
Maggi Dawn has today posted an extract from one of Keith Ward’s books on this subject. Ward isn’t a natural ally of my theological thinking these days, but this post calls out a ‘Hallelujah’ from me. Someone, somewhere, understands the differences between thoughtful evangelicalism and harsh fundamentalism. Now if only our media understood that.
George MacDonald – correction
Quick correction – I mistakenly typed twentieth century when he was nineteenth!
George MacDonald
Amazing article about George MacDonald, the twentieth century Christian novelist, at the Christian History subsite within Christianity Today. His thinking was way ahead of what has been coming out of the ’emerging church’ about the presence of God throughout life and within culture.
Here are a couple of extracts:
“Life and religion are one, or neither is anything,” he insisted. Incensed by seeing professing Christians intellectually assent to Christian doctrine while still adhering to secular attitudes and patterns of life, he dedicated his ministry to demonstrating that Christian truth is at the very heart of life. Life itself is constantly trying to teach that unity. “The same God who is in us … also is all about us—inside, the Spirit; outside, the Word,” he remarked, “and the two are ever trying to meet in us.” That is, every aspect of the created universe and of human experience comes from God. Rightly received, all of life is a vehicle of grace.
Stories, MacDonald discovered, are an ideal means for showing people the sacramental character of life. A prolific writer, he composed poetry, novels, and fairy tales for both children and adults, as well as sermons, essays, and works of literary criticism—over 50 books in all. A shrewd and discerning student of his own life’s experiences, both those of joy and those of grief, he portrayed the truths he discovered in his large gallery of characters. He was careful to teach nothing that his own life did not exemplify.
Big Circumstance 