Donna Hester, Christian actress, on the case for Christians in the arts (and not just in church contexts) here. Thanks to Fred Peatross for the link.
Powered By Qumana
Church As Organic Community
The regular Abductive Columns emails by Fred Peatross are always a thoughtful read. Today’s column, Organic Community (you need to log in at InJesus to read it so I can’t provide a direct link) is one of his best. Just take this final paragraph:
Metaphors are powerful. Think of the church as a building, and it becomes building-centric and architecture dependent. Think of the church as an organization, and it becomes preoccupied with programs/ministries. Think of the church organically, and it focuses on what makes for healthy life.
Powered By Qumana
Stumble Upon
I’ve just come across the grooviest web tool since – oh, Google or eBay or Technorati. It’s called Stumble Upon. First, stop using Internet Explorer as your web browser and install the far superior Firefox. Then download the Stumble Upon extension for Firefox. Close Firefox and reopen it.
You now have a Stumble Upon bar near the top. Click on the button to go to SU’s home page to set up a free account and choose your categories.
From now on, whenever you click the SU button in Firefox you will get random websites in the categories you have selected that other SU users have recommended. (You can recommend, too, obviously.)
Two of my first three random sites were excellent: try Politics Explained for a simple and facetious explanation of different political philosophies. Or for something sublime rather than ridiculous try the photograph of Kenneth Parker.
Powered By Qumana
Civil Partnership Act and Gay Marriage?
The Civil Partnership Act 2004, which allows gay couples to register their relationships legally, comes into force on Monday. The General Register Office has just sent out a letter to ministers like myself who conduct weddings. It is headed ‘Changes In Terminology In Marriage Registers’. It states that ‘Civil partnership will be a lawful impediment to marriage’ (and then goes on to lay out new terms that must be used to describe a person’s ‘condition’ at the time of marriage). Isn’t this a bit rich from a government that has told us that civil partnership is not the same as gay marriage?
Powered By Qumana
Ake Green acquitted
Yesteday Swedish Pentecostal pastor (not ‘priest’, please, BBC!) Ake Green was acquitted of hate crimes against homosexuals. I am partly relieved, partly disturbed.
Relieved, because I hold to the conviction that Christian ethics require fidelity in marriage and chastity outside.
Disturbed, due to this extract from the BBC report:
In the sermon, Mr Green told a congregation on the small south-eastern island of Oland that homosexuals were “a deep cancer tumour on all of society” and that gays were more likely than other people to rape children and animals.
A website run by his supporters contains evidence that individual homosexuals are more likely to be paedophiles than individual heterosexuals. This is because although there are three times as many incidents of heterosexual child abuse than homosexual, the relative proportions of heterosexual and homosexual people makes the homosexuals more likely to offend.
Even if this is so, it makes me wonder about labelling homosexuals this way. All child abuse is wrong.
I remember a student on placement with me who told me he had given a midweek church group ‘the biblical view’ on homosexuality. I knew what he meant. But he had missed out God’s love for all people. Had he really given the biblical view?
Powered By Qumana
Big Circumstance 