Quizmaster Sven

sven has decided that quizes are the new rock and roll. Far be it from me to suggest he has too much time on his hands! Anyway, here's my results from a theology quiz he's devised :

Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 86% Neo orthodox 79% Emergent/Postmodern 75% Reformed Evangelical 43% Roman Catholic 39% Charismatic/Pentecostal 36% Classical Liberal 36% Fundamentalist 11% Modern Liberal 11% What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

I did the quiz 3 times, and each time this is what I came out as, although the first two times it was joint first with neo-orthodox. I think maybe I'm just confused! I'm definitely not fundamentalist or liberal though.

I'm Free, To Do What I Want Any Old Time

Today is the first day of the rest of my life, as the cliché goes. Yesterday I finished my exams, and my BA in Theology. My exams didn't go as well as I'd hoped, but I should be on for a 2:1. Now I need to extricate myself from the anxiety ridden, introverted state that exams, essays and a dissertation put me into and get on with life. Here's a list of all the things that've been building up while my life has been on 'exam hold' -

Get a job
Do lots of blogging
Reestablish contact with other humans
BBQ
Read Hitchhikers Guide
Mow the lawn
Watch DVDs
Fix kitchen cupboard
Fix wardrobe cupboard
Fix shower
Finish stairs ceiling
Creosote fence
Incinerate Christmas tree
Take Su out
Finish decorating front room
Wash bike
Go on bike rides
Tidy house
Re-read NKOC trilogy
Clear Out Understairs Cupboard
Clear Out Lean-To
Clear Out Shed
Ronseal Front Door
Paint garden gate
Paint lean-to floor

and lots of other things that I can't think of right now, but first - breakfast in the garden with a nice cuppa.

Brown Pushes Africa Debt Plan

Thank God for Gordon Brown

Pray for the meeting of the G8 finance ministers next week.

Pray for moral courage for all the G8 leaders.

In particular, pray that the US will get on board with this plan (It may take a miracle)

Send an e-mail to all the G8 finance ministers.

Yeeaahh!

You'll never walk alone!

Especially for Michael

This film is a work of genius.

Comments Confusion

I have just realised something quite annoying regarding my comments. On my blog I have been using enetation for comments which on the whole has been quite satisfactory (apart from last month when it went down for a couple of days). I therefore haven't had blogger comments visible on my main page. Today I realised that for the individual entry pages blogger must use a different template as it displays the blogger comments but not the enetation ones. This has meant that if people access my blog via the individual posts (say through bloglines or something) they may leave comments which I don't generally see. Sorry if I have ignored anyone who has left comments in this way (mainly andy and steve I think.) I'm sure there is a way of sorting this out (anyone?) but I can't be faffed to at the moment so for now I will display both sets of comments on my main page.

Top albums

sven has asked people to post about their three favourite albums. It's almost impossible to narrow things down to 3 but here goes :


It sounds clichéd to say it but The Stone Rose's eponymous first album is possibly the best debut album ever. I was lent a tape of the album when I was 15 and was immediately hooked. I grew my hair into a bowl cut and started wearing flares. I wore out 2 tape versions of the album and then got it on vinyl, which got nicked at university :(. How to describe their sound? - 60's inspired psychadelic jangly guitar pop with a heavy dose of funk and Manc attitude. Reminds me of summer and misspent youth.


I can't remember when I got into Stevie Wonder, I think it was sometime at Uni, but when I did I got into him bigtime. As well as being one of the funkiest people ever, he is just an incredibly gifted musician with an amazing voice and surely one of the most influencial black artists of all time. His early motown stuff is great, but it is his '70s output which represents his best work. I was torn between 'Songs in the Key of Life' and 'Talking Book' but I think for shear variety of styles it has to be the double album 'Songs'. It's worth buying just for 'Knocks me off my feet'.


There had to be a Beatles album and I think it's got to be Abbey Road. There is always a huge debate which is the best Beatle's album. Contenders would be Rubber Soul and Revolver but Abbey Road is my favourite. It's one of those albums that you can just put on and sit and listen to just for the sake of listening to it. George Harrison comes into his own with 'Something' and 'Here comes the sun' but the highlight is the medley on side 2 (remember sides?). Pure genius. I feel sorry for people who've never heard it. I have memories of sitting around with housemates listening to this album back to back for entire evenings, trying to play along with our guitars.The best album by the best group of all time.

Travesty

My favourite sweets in the world are midgets gems, I have enjoyed them my whole life. But they had to be Lion's Midget Gems, no other brand would do. The best thing about them was there chewiness. They were rock hard and shiny, like gems in fact. The best ones were the black ones, which were liquorice flavour. These were quite strange and mysterious, and unusual for a jelly sweet. Not everyone liked them, which was ok 'cos it meant more for me.
Well, Lion's have been taken over by Maynard's (the wine gums people), and they've CHANGED THEM! They're not shiny any more, and they've made them soft and squidgy like all the other poor immitations. Worst of all, they've changed the black ones. The positive spin that they put on this it that they've introduced a new, blackcurrant flavour, but of course the liquorice has gone. The blackcurrant is ok, but not a patch on the originals. Of course I will be writing to Maynard's to complain about this outrageous travesty of justice, but I may never get over this.

weekly round-up

Well it's the end of my three-week Easter holiday (it's a hard life, I know). I've finished my last essay - hoorah! Just got my dissertation to finish off now, which I'm about half-way through - boo. Then 5 exams and it's all done. I feel a bit in limbo at the moment, I can't wait to finish, but I don't know what the next stage of the game is yet. I get strangely aloof when I'm in the middle of college work, I realise people have been speaking to me 5 minutes after they started, I forget to shave, I gibber to myself incomprehensively, that kind of thing.

Anyway, enough about me. My friend Andy White is one of the most passionate guys I know. He dreams big dreams, and pursues them. He's been faithfully serving his community week after week for longer than I can remember. He's been over at Cincinnati Vineyard for a conference and God has blessed him with a little pressie. I must ask him to introduce me to his friends.

I'm not sure if I've ever blogged about 'emerging church', we've never really owned that label here in Coventry Vineyard, but I have been inspired, and challenged (and at times frustrated) by the conversation. Anyway, perhaps inevitably, the whole thing is starting to come in for some stick from certain quarters. With the release of the third in Brian McLaren's trilogy, The Last Word, and the Word After That, and Don Carson's Becoming Conversant With Emergent the heat may be about to be turned up. Andrew Jones has posted an open blog post to Carson which I thought was quite gracious. I know Carson is a respected scholar and no doubt a busy guy, but let's see if he's really interested in becoming conversant. I'm just not sure the blogosphere is on his radar screen.

Sven must surely be one of the most prolific bloggers on my blogroll and he's consistently readable. Actually, it's quite annoying how someone can be so articulate and consistently funny and interesting. I take solace in the fact that he occasionally looks like this, and he cuts himself shaving like I do. I've been enjoying his series on the story of Jesus in Mark's gospel: Intro here, then a who's who, then part one, and part two

nuf for now

electioneering

Well it's that time again. So who's it to be? The warmonger, the fascist, or the one who won't get in? What me cynical? Someone once said that voting Labour is like wiping your backside, it's got to be done but you don't exactly enjoy doing it. A necessary evil you might say. The alternative is unthinkable to me.
It seems Mr. Howard wants to make immigration one of his main electioneering points. I find this worrying because it is, as the Lib. Dems argue, a complex issue which cannot be reduced to soundbites because it is so open to misinterpretation, historic anxieties and xenophobia. I know that people have genuine fears, mostly unfounded in my opinion, and fed by our best-selling newspapers The Sun and The Daily Mail and the evil Express. I just hope things don't get ugly.
Some myth-busting facts about asylum here

Howard's 'solution' to the immigration problem is to provide 24 hour surveillance at ports. (Well, at 35 of them anyway, there are 100s). An idea that has been denounced as uncosted and unworkable by a former immigration officer, and all this with £35 billion worth of tax cuts.
Having shown my colours, I promise this will be the last time I blog about the election (well maybe).

The Revolution Will Be Blogged

Well, after my 40 day Lent blogging session I decided to give myself a week off (blogging that is). I enjoyed the daily blogging on the whole, but towards the end it became a bit of a chore. Now I'll revert to just blogging when I feel like it, so back to once a month then.

I have started my work with Prof. John Hull and I'm finding it both fascinating and rewarding. It's only basic office work but he is an amazing guy to be around.
I've started my next essay which is on whether people can find salvation in other faiths. I have been re-reading Lesslie Newbigin's "The Gospel in a Pluralist Society which is just awesome. Found a website with a ton more Newbigin stuff here. Link added.

The blogging phenomen just continues to grow, and some authoritarian governments are getting worried about it according to the BBC

Good Friday

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were an offering far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine
Demands my soul, my life my all.

Lent Day 37

Blogger seems to have eaten my entry from Monday, but thankfully I suspected it was playing silly devils so I saved the post and have reposted it, I think I may have lost a comment from sven though.
Today is the day when I hack my essays down to size, which is always a painful process. I'll be glad to give them in tomorrow though, which is my last day of lectures, ever! (Well, until I do a post-grad. degree anyway, probably in retrirement;) )
Looking forward to the Easter weekend, when my sister Rachel, with her husband Karl and baby Jamie are coming up for the weekend. They're the family in the pictures on flickr, by the way. Cool article on the BBC about flickr here, seems it's becoming the photo sharing website of choice for many bloggers, oh.. and Yahoo!

Lent Day 35

We had our last lecture on the gospel of John today. This has been a fascinating course on an amazing book. Someone once said that the gospel of John is like a pool that's safe for a child to paddle in but deep enough for an elephant to swim in, and I can certainly see the truth in this. It's definitely simple, and yet profound at the same time with hidden depths of meaning. (Although, one of my fellow students did make the rather bizarre claim that he didn't see any symbolism in John)...mmm let's see...
Jesus: I tell you the truth, no-one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.
Nicodemus: You mean I need to enter into my mother's womb a second time?
Jesus: Yes

I must admit I was a little disappointed this year when I found out that we wouldn't be taught NT by Dr. Moxon who was my favourite lecturer, but Michael has more than made up for it with his southern drawl, great sense of humour and inexhaustible fountain of knowledge. (this is called creeping, I want an A ok?)
I'm getting there with my essay, 1900 words, or 2300 including notes, 3 days 'til deadline.
Michael sprung a surprise part time job opportunity on me today. He has been assisting John Hull a blind professor at Queen's college. It turns out he needs another assistant so I went to meet him and had a quick chat. If I'm suitable and I can fit it in around my studies it should be an interesting little sideline.

Lent Day 34

Spent the day working on my essay on the sacraments in John's gospel. Finished off the reading, made about 1500 words of notes but only actually wrote about 400 words. Still, not a bad start. Had to give Su the airport express base station to remove the internet temptation. Suzy went shopping with a friend to the Bullring and came back with a pressie!



I am now officially a happy bunny :)

Lent Day 32

Well, I've fallen behind on the daily blogging thing a bit. I'd like to say it's because I've been so busy writing my gospel of John essay, but I haven't made much progress on that either. Went 10 pin bowling last night. I was the only bloke in the group so I held off a bit to give the girls a chance. Scored 168.
So, it was Paddy's day today. I'd forgotten until I went past a pub in Coventry and saw a bloke coming out with one of those big, silly, green hats. Michael almost missed it too. St. Patrick is one of those people who I would love to know more about. Blogs to the rescue! Here, here and here are some reflections (all from Americans I might add). sven bemoans all the fake Irish folk just looking for an excuse to down a few pints of the black stuff. This reminds me of my student days. All I can say is: lots of black stuff in one end in the evening = lots of black stuff out the other end the following morning.

For any more St. Paddy's info, just ask google :

Lent Day 30

Another Meeting Place night tonight. Went really well, nice atmosphere, good conversation. I talked about Jesus healing the man born blind, the 6th sign in John's gospel. I think this is one of my favourite stories in the gospel. The guy starts off a blind beggar and ends up seeing Jesus face to face and worshipping him. This is the story of every Christian, in a way. The story reads really well, and everyone seemed to be listening intently, which is quite rare. Got chatting to one of the guys who has been coming for years, who is a spiritualist (and possibly schizophrenic to boot). He was telling me of his conversations with Sigmund Freud, someone called Saint Emilion, and his wife (who has been dead for 27 years). Never quite sure how to react when someone tells you stuff like this. I usually just smile and nod, occasionally suggesting that he shouldn't believe everything the spirits say 'cos they're liars. Another guy was brought up Roman Catholic, then spent years as a Mormon and now doesn't know what he believes. Another guy is an alcoholic self-harmer who describes himself as a Goth/Neo Pagan. Another is a guy who describes himself as a Christian but who rejects the whole Old Testament. In other words, quite an interesting bunch. It is just an amazing privilege to be able to share something of Jesus with these people. Crazy, mixed up, messed up, broken people, who God loves and sent His son for.
A lot of people there think I'm training to be a vicar. 'When do you get your dog collar?' they ask. I try and explain that I'm not actually in the Church of England, but as noone's really heard of the Vineyard it's hard to explain without making it sound like a cult. I say it's kinda like the Church of England but with jeans and hoodies.


And now for something completely different :
This post from sven is pure genius. It manages to send up the religious right, the Da Vinci code, feminists and goodness knows what else all at once.

Bono

Naive rock star with a cause... or modern day prophet ?

watch this and see what you think.

Stan Grenz

Theologian Stan Grenz has passed away following a brain haemorrhage. A ton of people have blogged this already. e.g. Jason Clarke, but I thought I'd chip in a little tribute too. Before I started my theology degree, I read Who needs theology? which he co-authored. This book made me realise how exciting, relevant and vital the study of theology can be, far from the dry and dusty subject that many believe it to be.
A lot of people have written about postmodernism. Much of this writing is confusing, ill-informed or reactionary. Stan's primer on postmodernism is none of these, and is probably the best introduction to the subject I have read. I know Stan was a much loved and highly influencial figure and will be sorely missed. Brian McLaren gives a eulogy here.

Lent Day 27!

I've gone back in time! I'm showing my free church ignorance of tradition here. I was pondering how come I could be on day 30 of Lent when there is over 2 weeks left 'til Easter. Then I remembered that the Sundays in Lent don't count, 'cos they are feast days! I was four days ahead. Good job I realised or else I'd have been celebrating Easter on the day after Palm Sunday.
I was pleased to discover the blog of my one of my lecturers, Michael Strickland. Go easy on him, he's a Mirkin.

Lent Day 30

Had to do a 10 minute presentation this morning for my hermeneutics class on African-American black theology. Impossible to cover in 10 minutes of course but it was fun to research. I have always been fascinated by the civil rights movement in the '60s (must be all that listening to Public Enemy as a teenager). Found myself listening to some Martin Luther King speeches yesterday, which I always find incredibly moving. The famous I have a dream one at the 1963 March on Washington, and even more amazing the "I've been to the mountaintop" in Memphis 1968, which must have been one of the last speeches, if not the last one he gave before he was murdered, and he knew it was coming.
The rest of the class did South African black theology, Chinese Christianity, Korean Christianity, and Feminist hermeneutics, speaking of which, interesting article on women in the New Testament by Kenneth Bailey here.

Lent Day 28

Lent (and life in general) is going too fast. I can't believe we're four weeks into it, with only a couple of weeks left 'til Easter (and the end of term). Too knackered to think of anything much to blog.
Su's dad came out of hospital today which is pretty cool.

Lent Day 26

I'm supposed to be restricting myself to only reading stuff directly related to my course at the moment, which I mostly am. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow of what's on your mind though. So here's the latest bunch :
Lent Reading :


Following on with the atonement theme, here is one that I picked up a while a go but have just been dipping into recently, this is one of the ones underlying some of Steve Chalke's ideas I think.



Talking of scandal, here is the new one from Ron Sider (always good for a bit of a wake-up call). For anyone familiar with Dalllas Willard's stuff, this covers very similar ground. Arguing for a holistic gospel that takes seriously structural sin as well as personal, discipleship rather than 'cheap grace' and an all round kick up the backside for evangelicals :



In Jesus and the Victory of God, Tom Wright had a section on how the story of the prodigal son retold the story of the exile and restoration of Israel. Well, after he'd written that chapter, here is the book that he said he kicked himself after seeing :


Jacob and The Prodigal - How Jesus Retold Israel's Story by Kenneth E. Bailey

finally, in our 3rd year Old Testament studies we have to look at mostly critical stuff which questions much of the historicity of the OT. Just to keep some balance, here's a tour de force from the great Kenneth Kitchen which calls into question many of the critical assumptions :



That lot should keep me busy for now! I've decided that when I finish my degree, I'm going to take a complete fast from reading, see how I can cope.

Lent Day 24

Went out for dinner tonight at one of my lecturer's homes. Michael and Mary are from Alabama, and we had some proper southern chilli, which is quite possibly my favourite food. Lew (another guy from college) and I took our guitars round and attempted to play some country music to make them feel at home. Mike wanted us to work out this little gem, but we're not quite there yet. Had a wonderful evening, with lots of great conversation.

Lent Day 23

Just realised I have now written more blog entries in the last 23 days than in the previous 6 months combined! It's getting more difficult though, as the days go by. I keep finding myself at the end of the day, tired and then thinking 'oh I need to do my blog.' I never was any good at keeping a journal.
I've finished my 'Daniel' essay. I've just got to get it down from 2750 words (it's meant to be 2000). If I can get it under 2500 I think I'll just give it in.

So who was the 'Son of Man' to the original readers?
Well, that obviously begs the question - who were the original readers? This has been one of the most hotly debated topics in OT studies. The traditonal answer has been that it was written by Daniel, in Babylon, in the 6th C BC. Most modern scholars prefer a date in the Maccabean period, 2nd century BC, in Palestine. Largely the debate has revolved around the view of prophecy. Daniel 11 describes a 'prophetic' vision which describes the events leading up to Antiochus Epiphanes stopping of the daily temple sacrifice in 167 BC with a high degree of accuracy. If you don't believe that prophecy can do this sort of thing then it must have been written after the event. However, John Goldingay makes it clear that he does believe God can do this sort of thing, but still argues for a 2nd century date. I'm fairly agnostic on this one I think, I agree with Goldingay when he says 'Whether the stories are history or fiction, the visions actual prophecy or quasi-prophecy, written by Daniel or by someone else, in the 6th century, or the second, or somewhere inbetween, makes surprisingly little difference to the book's exegesis.'

The phrase 'son of man' just means man or human being. This is true in the 6th or the 2nd century, but I suspect what my lecturer means is 'what could it have symbolised?' Here are the candidates :
The interpretation given in the passage implies that the 'one like a Son of Man' refers to the 'holy ones of the most high'
This could mean :
All the saints on earth
Israel
A subset of Israel
Angels
A combination Angels and Israel

Taking the figure as an individual, the following have been suggested :
Michael
Gabriel
A divine figure inspired by the god Marduk!
A divine figure inspired by Baal!
A divine figure
A messianic figure:
A Davidic king
A high priest
A cosmic messiah

The messianic interpretations are obviously drawn from the fact that Jesus used the "son of man" as his favourite way of referring to himself, but there is very little evidence that anyone read the passage this way until the first century. I think that all the individual/angelic stuff confuses the symbol in the vision for the thing it is intended to symbolise, so the most likely answer is Israel (or faithful Israel). So when Jesus used the phrase he was using it in a new way. Not only was he claiming to be Israel, but the figure who represents Israel who must suffer but will be vindicated by God.
so there!

Lent Day 22

'let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing'. I found this Brian McLaren stuff posted by dave paisley on public worship as spiritual formation really useful in thinking through some of the reasons we gather on a Sunday for worship. He has such a helpful way of putting things sometimes. Of course, over and above all this spiritual formation stuff is the primary reason for worshiping together - to respond to God's love for us by offering ourselves back to Him, giving Him the praise, thanks and glory He deserves and putting him at the centre of our lives.

Lent Day 21

Meeting place again tonight. It was really busy but it seemed to go quite well. Spoke about the feeding of the 5000. We sang the same hymns we sing every single week : At The Name of Jesus, The Day Thou Gavest Lord Has Ended, Amazing Grace, Oh Jesus I Have Promised, Oh Lord My God, When I in Awesome Wonder, Majesty, actually we didn't do Abba Father, which I think is a first.
Su has gone to visit her dad. He seems to be doing quite well and the doctors are really pleased with how things have gone. Please continue to pray for him, if you have a moment.
Have to get up at an unearthly hour tomorrow morning, in order to get to college for 8.30, to lead 10 minutes of worship, then come home again as I have nothing else for the rest of the day. The sacrifices one makes! I know lots of people have to leave the house at 6.30 or even earlier, but for me it's HARD. I'm afflicted with laziness and it's not my fault, ok?

Lent Day 20

Su's Dad had his heart bypass operation today, and everything seems to have gone smoothly. Su's off to see him tomorrow, for a couple of days.
Thanks to everyone who has prayed and supported.
Almost finished my Daniel essay, although as always, I'm way over the word count.
Cool story of generosity here

Lent Day 19

Well my flickr zeitgeist thing seems to work in Safari and Firefox, but not the dreaded IE. (Just out of interest, can anyone else see it? it should be underneath where it says Photos:). So, anyway, in the interests of public service, I thought I'd join Graham and post this little warning :

Lent Day 18

I've added a funky little flickr thing to my sidebar which flicks through some of my favourite photos. I think it looks pretty cool, so there.
My blogroll continues to grow, I think I'm up to 42 or so now. Thanks to bloglines it doesn't take me all day to check them all (just half a day). Recent additions (some of which I still need to add to my blogroll) include :
bigbulkyanglican - a guy called Tom Allen, an Anglican priest up in the Pennines
The destruction of Gog - Richard McIntosh, fan of NT Wright so must be a decent chap, friend of :
sven - consistently funny and articulate theology student in convalescence, through whom I found out about :
The Full Stop - Surreal, hilarious, Vonnegut-like blogging Genius
Gower Street - Jason, an Episcopal priest in Michigan, who likes the Beastie Boys, and interviewed N.T. Wright, which I think is a good combination.
Meam Commemorationem - Anglo-Catholic American? who I think is studying at St. John's in Durham.
NT Gateway blog - Mark Goodacre's NT gateway blog
silken threads - Haven't read much of this yet, but I think it's another theology student who seems to be researching all things 'emerging' church, nice looking blog.
Anyway, that will have to do for now, 'cos it's way past my bedtime.

Lent Day 17

Wow that week went fast! Glad it's the weekend though, even if I have nothing except essay writing to look forward to all weekend. Something weird happened to me on the way home tonight. I got egged! I think it was a 'drive-by' egging, but I can't be sure. I thought this was only supposed to happen to politicians. Got quite angry, momentarily. Thought I was gonna have to pop a cap in someones ass. But I soon calmed down and realised I'm not actually a gangster. I am the egg man.

Fernie 2004

Fernie 2004
Originally uploaded by Jon Taylor.

All this talk about snow got me thinking about last year's holiday in Fernie. Testing out this flickr photo posting thing

Lent Day 16

Where's our snow? As I was cycling in to college today in the slush, mud and sleet I couldn't help but be jealous of those places where it dumped it down properly. I love the snow. I like the way it makes everywhere look fresh and clean and beautiful. I also enjoy throwing it at people. Be careful though, else this can get you into trouble. I enjoyed sven's take on the chaos a bit of weather can bring to the UK. See here for some proper snow stories.

Lent Day 15

Just a quick one tonight. Had a quiet housegroup tonight - just me and Su. Gave us some well needed time to pray and listen to a Wimber tape. It's a bit of an anxious time for Su at the moment as her dad goes in for a triple heart-bypass operation next Monday. Do pray for John if you get a chance.
Heard that guy from "Christian" voice on the radio this morning. They actually threatened to protest outside the premises of the cancer charity if they took the money from the Jerry Springer people. He said something like 'we just want to protect you from a PR disaster if you were to take this money'. He kept talking about the poor, put-upon Christian minority. David Soul is right to call them blackmailers. Made me want to scream. Words fail me.

Lent Day 14

Went to 'meeting place' tonight, it was a lot less hectic than last week. Did a bit of a 'talkey bit' about Jesus healing the man at the pool of Bethesda. Seemed to go across ok. Spent quite a bit of time with a guy who I've got to know reasonably well. I'll call him Ali. Ali is an asylum seeker from Iran. Actually he's a failed asylum seeker in that he's claimed asylum twice and has been refused, and has no more appeals. This means he could officially be detained at any time and forcibly deported I guess. In the mean time he gets no support, has no status, cannot work and is pretty much destitute. I cannot imagine what it is like to be in his position, sleeping out every night in the freezing cold, the snow and the rain. Separated from family and friends, no job and not a penny to his name. Ali, like most Iranians I have met, is gentile, polite, generous and patient. He doesn't complain and has a quiet determination and a hope that his situation will turn around one day. He is a Shia muslim with a strong faith. We talk a lot about God and Jesus and the world and war and peace and stuff. I wish I could help him more.
Father, I lift Ali up to you. I pray you will provide for him and protect him. You know what's best for him. Reveal Isa to him and help him to follow Him. Give me wisdom to know how best to be his friend. In Jesus name I pray. Amen

Lent Day 13

Been listening to some teaching today on how true worship humanises us, overagainst the dehumanising idolatry that we are surrounded with and all take part in to some extent, worship and addiction by Don Williams. I guess the Vineyard church is not really known for it's preaching, but this guy is awesome. Actually Vineyard do have a commitment to good, biblical teaching. Last year at the pastors conference we had Gordon Fee, who is one of my favourite New Testament scholars, speaking on Philippians, and this year we had someone called Simon Ponsonby (fantastic name) from St. Aldate's in Oxford on Colossians. When I hear great bible teaching like these guys do, something inside me just wells up, and on the one hand I think 'Wow, I would love to be able to teach like that', and on the other hand I think I will never be able to, but I think it's a desire that God's put in me. This is quite wierd 'cos I think I'm quite an introvert, and speaking in front of people always scares me to death.
Now, I know we are a much more visual culture, and I know we need to explore more interactive, discussive, less 'monologue' style ways of learning, but I also think that there will always be a place for preaching and teaching and I'd like to be able to do it well. So I'm looking forward to the upcoming Vineyard preaching conference at Trent Vineyard Nottingham.

Lent Day 12

Just got back from a weekend at Su's dad's place. Definitely not a weekend of fasting. In fact quite the opposite. Janet is a great cook and always sees it as a challenge to give me more food than I can eat. This is a challenge which I rise to, and then usually regret afterwards :
Jon: I'll never eat all that! (pointing to a huge portion of banoffee pie)
Janet and family : Go on, you're not going to be beaten by a bit of pie are you?
Jon: Oh, alright then
Janet: good lad
Jon:I feel ill.
It's now 11:40 at night and I'm still full from dinner. (2 platefuls of shepherd's pie, one huge portion of banoffee pie, 2 pints of lager)
Su pointed out to me that I don't have to eat everything that is put in front of me. This is a strange concept that I've never really considered before and may have to give some thought to in the future.
Oh my goodness, I'm blogging about what I had for dinner, things are getting desperate. Still, back to college tomorrow, maybe that will give me some food for thought. (no pun intended)

Lent Day 11

OK so I missed a day. So sue me. Couldn't be helped as we are paying a visit to the father-in-law's this weekend. Everyone's gone out so I've sneaked onto their machine for a quick blog fix.
I would just like to say how much I hate windoze, and in particular, Internet Explorer. I am more and more convinced that I could never go back to the darkside. IE is not only ugly to look at, it is slow, the pop-ups are infuriating, the pop-up banner doesn't work properly, and it has so far crashed on me 5 times. Oh well, I'd better go and write some essay, on a real computer.

Lent Day 9

Only one day left of reading week! Well, I've certainly done a lot of reading, but I haven't actually started my essay yet. So par for the course basically.

Started a book last night which I thought would be good Lent reading, 'Once and for All' by Tom Smail. The blurb says :
'Tom Smail takes the connection between the atonement and the Trinity as the underpinning of Once and for All. If we recognise that the work of the cross has to be seen to involve all three persons, and their relationships to one another, we have a structure that enables us to deal with the problems the doctrine of the atonement raises. This presentation of Christ's atoning work in his cross and resurrection both does justice to its decisive character as a once and for all historical event, and at the same time explores the sense in which a long past historical act can be universally relevant to and effective for everyone.'
A snippet I read last night which is relevant to the debate which adrian, sven and richard have been having following the whole Steve Chalke debacle :
'We shall have much to say about such biblical and classical metaphors and models all the way through our study, but at the moment the important point is that the mystery of the crucified Christ surpasses them all. That is why it is always inappropriate to claim to have comprehended that mystery in some all embracing 'theory of atonement' which can then become the sole measure of acceptable soteriological orthodoxy in terms of which everyone and everything that does not speak in conformity with it can be criticised and castigated. That represents a theological arrogance that itself disqualifies its proponents from speaking appropriately about the cross by which all human arrogance is exposed and deposed.'

Lent Day 8

No thoughts tonight just a few links :
This made me laugh out loud (but then I am a sad nerdy type)
baby got book (requires broadband)
On a completely different note, for those who are wondering what on earth this Lent thing is about, Maggi Dawn gives a potted history which I have found fascinating. It's in five parts : one, two, three, four, five
That's it for now.

Lent Day 7

Tonight was one of the nights where I felt completely out of my depth. On Tuesday nights Su and I go down to something called 'meeting place', which is a drop-in evening meal at one of the churches in town. We give out free soup, sing a few old hymns, pray and have a meal together, but mostly we just chat to people. I say chat, but it's mostly about listening. Often the evening passes without event, and a pleasant time is had by all, but now and again things tend to get a bit chaotic. A few too many people get in with a few too many drinks inside them and things feel like they could kick off at any minute. They rarely do, but it can be a bit fraying on the nerves. Thankfully, we have a good team and we often sense God's presence helping us along. Every now and then I get a real glimpse of the brokenness of some of the lives there. Just tonight a talked to an alcoholic who was sexually abused as a child and is now suicidal, a homeless guy who was in tears 'cos he doesn't know where to turn to next, several others who have lost loved ones recently. The sense of pain was tangeable. I have a part of me that wants to 'fix' things, to sort people out, so I often get frustrated at not being able to do more, say the right thing, pray the right prayer. I so badly want to minister the love of God to these people, but it often feel like we are just applying a band-aid.
Jesus, equip me to be a real minister of your good news, to love in actions and not just words, to see people with your eyes, to have faith to pray, and wisdom to know how to deal with messed up people in a way which will make them depend on you.
Amen

Lent Day 6

Well I made it through the whole Ikea experience, and only lost the will to live for a short while. Poor Su had to spend longer at the store than we had planned. By the time we'd filled up our car with flat-pack book shelves there was no room left for passengers. I had to do the 3/4 hour journey back to Coventry, unload the car, then go back and pick her up. Imagine that, stranded at Ikea on Valentines day. We then went and watched A Very Long Engagement which was very beautiful and romantic, and er.. French.
A good discussion about prayer over at coventry vineyard's blog

Lent Day 5

How not to lead sung worship.
1. Turn up to church late, and a bit stressed.
2. Rush around trying to find microphone stands and lecturns etc.
3. Forget the words and chords to one of the songs you're intending to play, hence having to scribble them down a few minutes before the start. Get more stressed
4. Make sure you don't get time to pray before the service begins.
5. Ensure the microphone stand gets moved around until it is in a position where if you are singing into it, you can't quite see the words/chords.
6. Have the PA turned up nice and loud so you can hear your guitar strumming right in your ear but can't quite hear yourself sing
7. Get quite enthusiastic with your strumming, snap a string. Get incredibly stressed.
8. Continue to play and sing, never quite working out which string has gone, and hense hitting as many duff notes as possible. (see 6)
9. Take your eyes off God, 'cos it's all about looking good after all isn't it :)
10. Try to retain some semblance of piety while in your head you are picturing yourself doing this with your guitar :

or maybe this :


11. Pray to God that the ground will open up and swallow you.
12. Snap at your pastor when he asks you to put on some chilled out music later on in the service and then doesn't like your choice.
13. Go home in a foul mood.

ever have one of those 'church' mornings?
This evening we had an awesome bible study on Hebrews. 'For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are.' Thankyou Lord, I need your mercy and grace, forgive me for being such a muppet.

Lent Day 4

Just been out for a meal for Nick's birthday at a Lebanese restaurant called Habibi. It was very good, but we ate late, and now I'm absolutely stuffed. Spent most of the day doing the reading for my next essay - Discuss the meaning of 'son of man' for the original readers of Daniel. Should be an interesting one. 'Reading' week next week so I'm hoping to get a fair amount of work done. Su is off work as well so there'll be no slacking allowed. I think we may do some decorating as well. This means we have to go to the dreaded Ikea on Monday. Hopefully I won't get crushed or even stabbed.

Lent Day 3

Just watched the Michael Mann thriller collateral. It was pretty cool I guess. It was interesting to see Tom Cruise as a bad-ass hitman. So what's happened today? This morning I had a pretty interesting lecture in our Christianity and Secular Thought module about miracles. We have covered the whole Hume 'miracles don't happen' thing, and today we we're looking at Tillich. Tillich, and many other liberals, in reaction to the view of God as a usually absent Diety who occasionally intervenes in the world to tweek it, saw God as within the cosmos. He redefines miracles as sign-events, which cause no disruption to the laws of nature, but are basically in the eye of the beholder. I guess in reaction to this, many conservatives still hold to the supernaturalist view of God who arbitrarily intervenes in ways we cannot explain which we then call miracles. The truth is, as so often it would seem to me, a both-and. God is involved in the everyday laws of nature, upholding all things, underpinning them. But He is also free to interact with humanity in surprising ways, which may be seen to violate but not destroy the laws of nature. We must be careful of a God-of-the-gaps attititude, whereby things that can be explained by science are not attributed to God and everything else is, but there are more things in heaven an earth than Hume will allow for. Anyway...
this afternoon I worked at Wesley-Owen which is always a strange experience. Listened to some Christian death metal. Latest in the Jesus junk line is the 'Chicken Soup for the Soul' study bible...genius.
Oh yeah, why not send Mandy a letter, courtesy of Christian Aid. Just fill in your name, print out, sign and post.

Lent Day 2

Ok, so I'll give this daily blogging thing a go, and see how long it lasts. I have added a couple of new links to my blog, the New Testament Gateway which is probably the most comprehensive website around for NT scholarship. It is the work of Mark Goodacre at Birmingham University who is supervising the PhD of the guy who is teaching the gospel of John module I'm currently studying, and the Paul page which is dedicated to the 'new perpective' on Paul which I may blog about at some point. I have also been enjoying read the world of sven blog. This guy seems to be studying theology somewhere, and he is incredibly articulate and very funny. Although the poor guy is currently not very well.
Had an old friend round for tea tonight. He's going though a bit of a tough time at the moment, so I cooked him a curry. He asked me what he should do with his life, so I told him he should start following Jesus to which he replied, 'why where's he going? is he going down the pub on Saturday to watch the rugby?' :)

Ash Wednesday

Well today is Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent. We did pancakes a day late with our housegroup tonight as we were out last night. I only managed 5 pancakes, which is quite frankly pathetic. Hayley ate about 12, but then she bounced out of our house on a sugar high which is probably going to get her arrested. It was Pete and Hayley's last night at our housegroup as we are planting them out to start a new group next week which is quite exciting.
This lent Su and I will be mostly...not watching TV, praying together nightly, and I think I'm going to read through the gospel of John. Suzy said I should give up blogging, but I said that was going too far:) Then I was thinking, maybe as a discipline I could actually try and write a blog each day for 40 days! (so expect a significant dip in quality, if that were possible)(although thinking about it, this may turn into yet another essay avoiding technique, so may not be wise). It's interesting how many Christians in non-traditional churches seem to be up for using lent as a season of focusing/fasting/slowing or whatever these days. Just found out my parents are doing '40 days of purpose' at a Pentecostal church in Bedworth. Life is weird.
I'm about half way through my dissertation now, and I'm going to give in a (very) rough first draft on Friday to check I'm not completely barking up the wrong tree. I do seem to be the world's slowest writer, today I wrote about 2 paragraphs all day, and I was really trying!
Well, it's getting late, so I'm just going to treat myself to a new Tom Wright article then it's off to bed.

Jamie's First Birthday

Hardly seems like a year ago since our nephew Jamie was born, but this weekend was the anniversary of that snowy night when Birmingham was gridlocked with traffic and we wondered if Rachel would be able to get to the hospital or not. On Friday night we went down to Truro in Cornwall where they now live. It was great to see them settling in to their new place. When we got there on Friday night, Mum was feeling a bit poorly. Turns out she had some strange stomach bug which proceeded to spread to Rachel, Karl, Jamie, Dad and me over the course of the weekend. Much puking and pooing ensued! Su managed somehow to escape it though. We still had a nice weekend, managing to go for a walk on the beach and pay a visit to a small fishing village, but a lot of the weekend was spent huddled in the living room under duvets. It was so strange seeing Jamie ill. He slept virtually all day on Sunday, and when he was awake he was very floppy and quiet. He didn't even want to play wind the bobbin up!
We're all feeling much better now, and I'm looking forward to going down to the Vineyard Pastor's Conference tomorrow.

On Being A Disciple

More from transforming mission:
'For Matthew, then, being a disciple means living out the teachings of Jesus, which the evangelist has recorded in great detail in his gospel. It is unthinkable to divorce the Christian life of love and justice from being a disciple. Discipleship involves a commitment to God's reign, to justice and love, and to obedience to the entire will of God. Mission is not narrowed down to an activity of making individuals new creatures, of providing them with "blessed assurance" so that, come what may, they will be "eternally saved". Mission involves, from the beginning and as a matter of course, making new believers sensitive to the needs of others, opening their eyes and hearts to recognise injustice, suffering, oppression, and the plight of those who have fallen by the wayside. It is unjustifiable to regard the "Great Commission" as being concerned primarily with "evangelism" and the Great Commandment" as referring to "social involvement". As Jacques Matthey puts it,

"According to Matthew's "Great Commission", it is not possible to make disciples without telling them to practice God's call of justice for the poor. The love commandment, which is the basis for the church's involvement in politics, is an integral part of the mission commandment."

To become a disciple means a decisive and irrevocable turning to both God and neighbour. What follows from there is a journey which, in fact, never ends in this life, a journey of continually discovering new dimensions of loving God and neighbour, as "the reign of God and his justice" are increasingly revealed in the life of the disciple.

college life

As I enter the final 6 months of my degree, I find myself trying to focus on my college work, trying to reduce my church commitments, looking for a job and failing at all three. I'm getting there though - 2 essays down, 3 to go, plus a dissertation and 5 exams. As part of my dissertation reading I picked up transforming mission by David Bosch. It's one that's been on the list for a long time, but I've only just got round to getting it. Now, the sensible thing to do would be to skim through and find the relevant bits for my work, get the quotes and move on. I, however, find this virtually impossible to do. I read the introduction, and couldn't put it down. I'm now working my way through the entire book, and finding it fascinating. This is why it takes me ages to write an essay. (well, that and the internet). Anyway, here' a bit about the early Christians which struck me :

'Christians-so we read in the second century Letter to Diognetus are not distinguished from the rest of humankind as regards their speech, their customs, and where they live. There remains a critical distance between them and reality around them, however. They are kept in the world as in a prison-house, and yet they are the ones who hold the world together.
The way in which they held the world together was, preeminently, through their practice of love and service to all. Harnack devotes an entire chapter of his book on the mission and expansion of the early church to what he calls "the gospel of love and charity". Through meticulous research he pieced together a remarkable picture of the early Christians' involvement with the poor, orphans, widows, the sick, mine-workers, prisoners, slaves, and travellers. "The new language on the lips of Christians", he summarizes, " was the language of love. But it was more than a language, it was a thing of power and action". This was a "social gospel" in the very best sense of the word and was practised not as a strategem to lure outsiders to the church but simply as a natural expression of faith in Christ.' (p48f)

Pixar do it again

As a bit of light relief we went to see The Incredibles the other night. Wow! what a movie. I'd say it's probably the best computer animated movie to date. Better than Shrek? yes. Better than Toy Story? yes Better than Finding Nemo? yes. The combination of x-men and james bond (and lots of other movie tributes) with unbelievable animation, amazing action, ridiculously over the top gadgets, and (unlike a lot of these things) it's actually funny. Go see it! now. Or at least go and watch a clip -

Good Ole Gordon

Gordon Brown was excellent on the today programme this morning. He is leading the call to put a hold on IMF/world bank debt repayments for the countires affected by the tsunami. This could amount to as much as $3billion dollars in a year, which makes the pledged aid so far (vital as it is) look like small change. Of course, this is only a start, and hopefully a stepping stone to significant debt write offs.
He said the time has come when the West should not be choosing between aid and dealing with the underlying causes of poverty but doing both.
Get your white band on Gordon!

2005!

Happy New Year to anyone who happens to be reading,
It looks like 2005 is going to be a really big year for trade justice campaigning. With the UK hosting the G8 summit and also holding the EU presidency, there is going to loads of stuff going on, especially in April when there is a global week of action. There seems to be a real sense that the tide could begin to turn this year in the fight against poverty.
Most prominent seems to be the make poverty history campaign that Christian Aid and others are running. Thanks once againg to steve for some very informative and practical posts.
I have been reading a book which su bought me for Christmas called IOU which I would recommend to anyone who wants to gen up on all the issues involved in global debt (without requiring an economics degree).
I remember being involved in the jubilee 2000 ring in Birmingham and it was really exciting to be part of, but only really a beginning. I have taken my eyes of the issues over the last couple of years I'm sad to say, but my prayer and new years resolution is to make this a year of campaigning and awareness for debt and poverty reduction.
I'm quite excited!
Lord let your kingdom of justice come, your will be done on earth, in 2005, as it is in heaven.
Amen

why?

This must be the question on every person of faith's lips at this time. As the tsunami death toll rises above 60,000 and looks set to continue to rise, it is impossible to take in the pictures we see on the television. We don't understand.
Either God is in control, in which case how can He have let this happen? or He isn't in control. I'm not sure which thought is scarier.
Yesterday, as we were travelling between in-laws for Christmas visits, we got stuck in the M25 traffic. It was stop-start for miles, and I'd eaten a big lunch before we left. With no warning, I must have nodded off, only to be woken by the crunch of our bumper as it crashed into the car in front. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but it was a bit of a shock. As I watched the devestation in SE Asia on the television last night, I couldn't stop the blasphemous thought going through my head - did God fall asleep?
Thanks to steve for posting ways to help.
Lord have mercy, help us to help in real ways, with our prayers, and our pockets.
Amen

My Sentiments Exactly

Haven't commented on the result of the U.S. election yet (ok, I'm a bit slow at commenting on anything at the moment), but I just loved this quote from my favourite bishop :

'Can I add one more thing, conscious that an election has just taken place in America and that many in my country were surprised as well as alarmed by the result?  I take the view that whatever we wanted to happen, even if we think that this is a terrible result, even that puts us in the position of the children of Israel in Babylon commanded to pray for the peace of the city where they were held captive.  More positively, I want to say to George W Bush and those who help him run the world: OK, fine, you have a world empire.  We had one of those and we have spent a century counting the cost of it.  You have a world empire with a strongly Christian flavour in the vote that sustained it.  We had one of those (though not always the same type of Christianity that many in America now embrace, but never mind); and we learned, painfully enough, the deep ambiguities of thinking that in bringing Christ to the world we could ignore the things that were being done in his name.  More to the point, the idea of a Christian empire came to first embodiment under Constantine, whom most Americans (if they’ve heard of him) learn early in life to reject, partly because it reminds them of George III sending bishops to the colonies.  For generations now people have criticized Constantine and his empire. If you now have a Christian Empire, could you perhaps begin to think about how to avoid the mistakes both of Constantine and of Victorian England, and about how to get it right this time?'


good question, Tom

Psyched Out

Aaagh! Ok, so it's been a while! What can I say? I've been busy. Or perhaps I just haven't had much to say. I 've been reading blogs most days, but haven't been inspired to write. Anyway, now I'm in the middle of trying to write an essay, so it's an ideal time, right?
I'm up to my eyeballs in a ridiculously titled human behaviour essay. I'm somehow trying to give an overview of the psychodynamic (inc. Freud and Jung), behavioural (Pavlov, Skinner etc), and humanistic (Rogers, Maslow) schools of psychology, along with the strengths and weaknesses of each and a 'Christian' appraisal (as if there was any one Christian view on all this stuff), all within 2000 words. Oh dear, I've already written over 2000 words, and I'm less than a third of the way through!

Came across this pretty amazing quote from Calvin :
'Our wisdom, in so far as it ought to be deemed true and solid wisdom, consists entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves. But as these are connected together by many ties, it is not easy to determine which of the two precedes, and gives birth to the other. For, in the first place, no man can survey himself without forthwith turning his thoughts toward God in whom he lives and moves...On the other hand, it is evident that man never attains to a true self-knowledge until he has previously contemplated the face of God, and come down after such contemplation to look into himself.'
-Institutes of the Christian Religion (1.1.1-2)

Decisions, decisions

Indecision can be a horrible thing, and I've had a summer full of it. At the end of June, I finished 2 years of bible college, coming out with a quite respectable diploma in theology.
I originally embarked upon the course, partly because I found God had put a passion in my heart to study his word and theology, partly because I was starting to get more involved at Coventry Vineyard, doing bits of teaching, leading small groups etc, and partly because I was sick of software engineering and an opportunity to get out of it via a voluntary redundancy package had come up.
I had a fantastic first year, which was very much a survey of the whole bible, along with modules in pastoral theology, missions, evangelism and lots of other fun stuff. Some of it was new to me, some I already knew, and some parts were downright frustrating, but on the whole I enjoyed it and I was hungry for more.
So, I started the second year. This felt like a real privilege. Su was so supportive. I had a bursary from The Jerusalem trust (from one branch of the Sainbury's family), and combined with a house remortgage, I was able to pay the fees. The work was more in depth, and more interesting. I especially enjoyed Pauline theology and anything by the NT lecturer Dr. Moxon. (some of my fellow students found this stuff mind-bogglingly difficult, but I relished every minute)
All the time I had a growing sense of wanting to be able to teach this stuff, and pastor people, helping them to grow as disciples. Dare I possibly believe that God might be calling me into this role? But I had, (and still have) questions : did I really believe in paid ministry? doesn't this perpetuate a clergy/laity divide? aren't we all 'full-time' for the kingdom? do I really want to deal with the pressure and the problems and the people and the pain? if I was to do this stuff 'for a living', when and where will it be? and what job should I do in the mean-time?
The plan was, to finish the second year, get my diploma, get a proper job, see what develops at Coventry Vineyard and await further instructions. It crossed my mind that it might be nice to finish off the degree, but I quickly wrote this off as a purely selfish notion.
Trouble was, towards the end of the second year, some of my lecturers, and in particular the college principal, Dr. Massey, started to suggest that it might be a good idea for me to do the third year. (well, they would say that, wouldn't they?) Dr. Massey even prayed for me and gave me a 'word' about not leaving foundations unfinished. (I managed to discount this fairly quickly too). I talked to him and Dr. Moxon in depth, voicing my objections. How could I possibly expect Su to support me for another year? How could we afford it? Shouldn't I get a 'real' job and support my wife like a good husband? What about our plans to start a family in the not too distant future?
But it was too late. The seed had been sown. My quandary had begun. All summer I have prayed and thought and weighed up the pros and cons: I might never get this opportunity again, but what's it leading to? it's what God has given me a passion to do, but am I not being selfish? How can I put Su through the pressure of exams and essays again (when, believe me I'm not a nice person to be around), what on earth would su's dad say? what is God saying? SHOULDN'T I JUST GET A PROPER JOB? and on and on it went.
I applied for jobs that sounded interesting, where I would be expressing my pastoral heart and hopefully doing some good - the probation service, the Cyrenians (a homelessness organisation in Coventry), the refugee centre, but nothing came back. I didn't even qualify for dole!
I feel I have had a taste of what it must be like to be unemployed. I have felt depressed and useless. The indecision has been killing me. I was waiting for a clear 'Go for it!' or 'Don't do it!' from God, and nothing seemed to be clear.
Most people I talked to, reflected back to me that they thought it was in my heart to go back. It seemed the main objections were financial, and wanting to know that Su was happy with it.
To cut a long story short, I have decided to go back and finish off the degree. I don't know where the money's going to come from, but we're looking at it as an adventure in trusting God, we need to learn how to live on less money anyway. Having made the decision, I feel at peace, and I'm really excited about going back. Su has been amazing. As I tell her often, she is the best wife in the world, ever!

Lord, I thank you for helping me through this tricky time. I thank you for my wife and the way she supports me and puts up with me. I pray you'd help me to make the most of this year and that you'd reveal more of yourself to me. Make me wise,keep me humble, help me to pass on what I learn and guide me into the vocation you have for me, your grateful servant. Amen.

Time for a change

Had to pick a new template, 'cos it seems blogger have changed the way they store the archive files. Not entirely satisfied with it but it will give me a chance to try and get my head round css. I'm sure after playing about with it a bit it will look ok.

Oh dear, it seems to have lost my old comments. Anyone know how you can edit the archive template?

France

This year we spent our summer holiday in France, camping. For the last 5 years or so we have been down to Cornwall or Devon, which is probably my favourite part of the country. I love the rugged coastline, the waves crashing on the rocks, the surfing and the pasties + cream teas. However, it must be admitted, that the weather is somewhat changeable to say the least. So, in the hope of some sunshine, and for a bit of a change, we decided to head over to France.
After taking the ferry over to Calais, we took a 10 hour drive down to Royan, on the West Coast. The campsite we stayed at was really cool. We had a huge pitch, amongst the trees, and although it was definitely a family site, it wasn't too noisy.

It took me a while to wind down, and for the first few days I was in a totally foul mood (sorry su), but after a few cycle rides, some barbeques, some beach days and plenty of good French wine I was a bit more chilled. I loved the French attitude to food. Every meal is an occasion. At first it annoyed me that it was impossible even to get a simple lunch in under 2 hours, but when I got used to it, it was really nice to take time out and chat or just watch the world go by. In France, (at least where we were), everyone stops for lunch for at least 2 hours, even the lifeguards on the beach announced that they were off for lunch at 12, so could everyone be careful in the sea until 2.30! Once Su and I were cycling through a forest, in the middle of nowwhere, and we saw several couple and families sat eating lunch at the side of the path. They were sat up to tables with table cloths, full crockery and of course the obligatory bottle of wine.
I enjoyed cycling out in the mornings to get bread, croissants or pain chocolat with fresh orange juice for breakfast. Definitely a good way to start the day.

Cycling was fun. They're definitely more set up for it over there. Lots more cycle lanes, and the drivers are definitely more curteous towards cyclists than in England. To overtake they would often indicate and move out to the opposite lane. Several times when we were waiting at the side of the road, drivers slowed to a standstill to allow us to cross.

The other thing we did a lot of was wandering around old churches. From vast gothic cathedrals at Chartres and Orleans, to little 11th century Romanesque village churches and even one monolithic church entirely carved out of a rock by monks at a medieval town called St. Emilion. Fascinating stuff (well I thought so).

The surf wasn't up to much, so I'm still craving some waves, but other than that it was a great week. Lots of time to think and chat through the decision about college next year. Didn't actually decide until we got back, but that's for another blog.

Long Time No Blog

Well it's been about a month since I last blogged. Never been the most consistent of journal writers. I guess I haven't had much to say. I read quite a few blogs these days, and I'm constantly amazed at some people's ability to write thoughtful and interesting pieces on a regular basis. Of course there is a fair amount of people just linking to cool stuff that other people have linked to as well. Then there's the really open and honest personal reflections that some people write. I guess I've never really decided what I would like my blog to be centred on or why I write it.
I think it's mainly for my own benefit. As I don't really keep any other kind of diary, (I would like to, but have never been self disciplined enough), at the very least this blog is a very loose record of some of the stuff that's been going on in my life. I would like it to be an expression of some of the stuff I've been into, a mixture of the trivial and the profound. I don't really mind if anyone else reads it or not. Of course, it's always nice when a comment pops up and a bit of interaction takes place, but I don't want to fall into the trap of keeping a 'hit-count' or keeping a close eye on who's reading the blog.
I received some rather bizarre e-mails recently, which if I was being unkind seemed rather spam-like. They kind of said 'hey, really loved your blog. thanks for sharing your resources with the public. I've linked to you, would you like to to link back to me?'. Just seemed weird to me. Is this the way it works?
Anyway, here are some things I intend to blog about from the last month, if I get round to it - holiday in France, no longer sitting on the fence, diy and self-esteem, and a wet weekend in the lakes.

split personality

Read about these enneagram personality tests over at Jason Clarke's blog and thought I'd give it a go. I did the free trial one, and it came up with a joint top score.

Type Two
The Helper
The caring, interpersonal type. Twos are empathetic, sincere, and warm-hearted. They are friendly, generous, and self-sacrificing, but can also be sentimental, flattering, and people-pleasing. They are well-meaning and driven to be close to others, but can slip into doing things for others in order to be needed. They typically have problems with possessiveness and with acknowledging their own needs. At their Best: unselfish and altruistic, they have unconditional love for others. more here
Type Nine
The Peacemaker
The easy-going, self-effacing type. Nines are accepting, trusting, and stable. They are usually creative, optimistic, and supportive, but can also be too willing to go along with others to keep the peace. They want everything to go smoothly and be without conflict, but they can also tend to be complacent, simplifying problems and minimizing anything upsetting. They typically have problems with inertia and stubbornness. At their Best: indomitable and all-embracing, they are able to bring people together and heal conflicts. more here

Seems scarily accurate from only 36 questions! I may have to do the full thing

Psalm 95

'Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song'

As one of the 'worship leaders' in Coventry Vineyard I spend quite a lot of time thinking about the nature of worship. In Coventry Vineyard one of our main aims is to 'Encourage people to worship God in their everyday lives'. We try and emphasise that everything we do in life can and should be an act of worship. As Graham Buxton says in his book Dancing in the Dark which I have been reading :
'The Christian life centres on relationship with God, from which flows all worship. In its most general sense, worship describes the whole of life. The word derives from the Anglo-Saxon word weorthscipe, which has to do with worthiness or respect.' So we want to live our lives in a way which ascribes worth to God our creator and redeemer. I absolutely believe this.

I do think there is a real problem when the word worship has become synonymous with the music and singing variety - as in 'The Best Worship Album in the World Ever'. I now constantly find I'm having to qualify what I'm talking about when it comes to worship. Instead of 'I'm a worship leader' it's 'I'm responsible for leading some of the musical forms of worship'. Instead of 'let's worship' (before a time of sung worship) it's 'Let's continue to worship God in the form of singing'.

I can understand how some have got sick of the worship=songfest equation and have given up on sung worship altogether. Perhaps this is necessary for a season, to redress an imbalance, emphasise worship as lifestyle and explore other expressions of worship. I think I would struggle with this in the long term, especially in view of scriptures like Psalm 95 above.
What I do have a problem with is when people say that sung worship is just singing some songs. It is no more just singing than praying is just talking. I also think it's a bit harsh to label Christians who enjoy and look forward to times of corporate sung worship as 'consumers' who are just looking to be entertained. I think this may be grossly unfair in many cases.

So how should we refer to those specific times when the church gathers for communal 'acts' of worship - praying, singing, shouting, dancing, bowing, kneeling, reading scripture, contemplation, liturgy, sacrament? I think I would still call them times of worship, but try and continue to emphasise that they should be a summing up, a bringing together, a celebration (or a lament) of our whole lives before God.

Face Your Fears

This film looks seriously good, if a tad scary! I don't reckon Su will be coming to watch it with me. UK release is August 20th I think.

Sitting on a Fence

Keep getting this Housemartins song running through my head at the moment :

Sitting on a fence is a man who sees no sense in fighting
Sitting on a fence is a man who sees no sense at all
Sitting on a fence is a man who strokes his twenty beards
Sitting on a fence is a man who only drinks real ale

But the real problem with this man
Is he says he can’t when he can
He’d rather not get his hands dirty
He’ll still be there when he’s thirty

I told myself to keep my mouth shut
But I still end up saying if and but
I lied to myself right from the start
And I’ve just worked out that I’m falling apart
Sitting on a fence

Sitting on a fence is a man who looks up to his guardian
Sitting on a fence is a man who swings from poll to poll
Sitting on a fence is a man who sees both sides of both sides
Sitting on a fence is a man who looks down on opinion

But the real problem with this man
Is he says he can’t when he can
He’s rather not get his hands dirty
He’ll still be there when he is thirty

I told myself to keep my mouth shut
But I still end up saying if and but
I lied to myself right from the start
And I’ve just worked out that I’m falling apart
Sitting on a fence

Spidergeek

Watched Spiderman 2 the other night. Now I'm not usually one for big blockbuster, franchise type movies, but I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this film, possibly more than the first one, although it does have some really cheesy moments. I know Peter Parker was always meant to be a bit of a dork, but I can't help thinking they overdid it a bit, I mean 'Sort it out, Spidey!'.
I liked the whole thing of being faced with an identity crisis, and losing his powers until he decided what he was supposed to be. He thought he had to choose between fighting justice and getting his dream girl. He tries to go for the dream but can't deny the 'hero' part of him. So he gives up on the dream to pursue his 'calling' and then ends up getting the girl anyway. Aah!
Now, yet again we are waiting for the 3rd film of the trilogy, or will there be more? Is it possible for Hollywood to make a one off movie anymore?

Plagiarism

Enjoyed this C.S. Lewis quote that I saw on Dr. Winn's blog so much that I just had to nick it.

“Everyone has warned me not to tell you what I am going to tell you…They all say “the ordinary reader does not want Theology; give him plain practical religion.” I have rejected their advice. I do not think the ordinary reader is such a fool. Theology means “the science of God,” and I think any man who wants to think about God at all would like to have the clearest and most accurate ideas about Him which are available. You are not children: why should you be treated like children?

“Theology is practical. Everyone reads, everyone hears things discussed. Consequently, if you do not listen to Theology, that will not mean that you have no ideas about God. It will mean that you have a lot of wrong ones—bad, muddled, out-of-date ideas. For a great many of the ideas about God which are trotted out as novelties today, are simply the ones which real Theologians tried centuries ago and rejected. To believe in the popular religion of modern England (or America) is retrogression—like believing the earth is flat” Mere Christianity, 135-136).

I often hear Christians question the validity of theology, 'but what's the point?, what's the application of that?' as if something that does not appear to have an immediate practical application is not worth knowing. Obviously there can be a danger of theologians sitting in their ivory towers inventing irrelevent problems for themselves to solve, but this is no excuse for not doing theology. I think it's Dallas Willard who says that one of the key requirements of leaders in the church is profundity or depth of insight. This can only come from serious thought on who God is and what he's called us to do.
I believe that the best theology should lead to worship - doxology, like when Paul says 'Oh the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgements, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord?..... For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory for ever! Amen'

wedding, church, walk, pub, Tozer, books, blah

Had a great time at Pete and Hayley's wedding on Saturday. I love the way everybody mucks in and helps to make everything come together. It was a privilege to be part of. On Sunday I visited Holy Trinity church for a change. Always nice to worship with a different congregation. In the afternoon we went walking in the Cotswolds, around Broadway, with Tom and Angie. Is there a more pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon? (Finished off with pub grub and a pint of course).

I've been reading some classic Tozer, The Pursuit of God which is always good after I've spent so much time with the academic books. That guy was a prophet, he was saying some of the things Dallas Willard is saying, only 50 odd years ago. Always fresh, challenging, inspiring. Here's one of his prayers I liked :

O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need of further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee, that I may know Thee indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul 'Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.' Then give me grace to rise and follow Thee up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so long. In Jesus' name. Amen

Bought some books last week, for the first time since college, which I 've been working my way through. Post-Christendom by Stuart Murray, which is fascinating, although all the way through I've been acutely aware that it is obviously from an Anabaptist viewpoint. I would like to read a review of this book by Tom Wright. The Journey of Desire by John Eldredge, I haven't got very far with this yet, althought it seems quite similar to his 'Wild at Heart' which I've read, all about being a passionate man, who does what's in his heart, what makes him come alive etc. This is all very nice, and quite inspiring, but I can't help agreeing with the Amazon reviewer who wrote 'The question naturally arises as to the "wayward" desire that lies within us and how it is to be controlled let alone differentiated from our true desires. While the answer isn't clear...." Maybe he will address this later in the book. One called With The Grain of the Universe by Stanley Hauerwas, which is pretty much inpenetrable so far, way over my head. May have to come back to this, and lastly At The Corner of East and Now by Frederica Mathewes-Green, which I thought might be a nice introduction to Eastern Orthodoxy, which I know virtually nothing about, but would like to.

Hoorah!

Todd Hunter has reentered the world of blog. I think this is great news as I really respect him as a very wise bloke. Lets see if he sticks to his plan to post several times a week, I know I can't.

More essays online

I have put nearly all my college essays online now. They are in pdf format. I found I could simply create the pdfs through the print option on Word without using any extra software, which was a lot easier than faffing with the html.

Visiting family

Spent most of the weekend visiting friends and family. Saturday we went to see Karl, Rachel and James. Baby James has chickenpox :(, but he's still smiling :), he's such a chilled out kid, it's amazing. Saturday evening we spent with Steve and Jo in Warwick. Steve and I got beat again by the girls at pictionary. This has got to stop, it's getting embarrasing. Trivial Pursuits next time I think, then we'll show them.

Yesterday was Aiden Randall's dedication up at South Liverpool Vineyard. It was such a good day. There is always a real sense of family when we go and spend time with those guys (Dave & Lorna et al). I love the way they are so open with their home and family. We learn a lot about life from them. When the church were praying for baby Aiden there was such a strong sense of God's presence and his favour, and there was also a deep love evident in the friends and family who were there.

Truffle Shuffle

This animated gif which I found via Eric Keck over at Allelon made me laugh out loud :



The Goonies! what a film.

We had a top weekend up in the Lake District to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. Did loads of walking (bagged 8 peaks over the three days), and the weather was beautiful (for the most part). Just what I needed to clear my head a bit and get some perspective.
Had my 'graduation' ceremony last Thursday, which was kinda nice but a bit strange. Lots of people saying I should go back and finish the degree. Lots of praying still to do on this one.
Spending my days looking for jobs, sorting our house out a bit and waging full scale war on the ants which have decided to take up residence in our kitchen and bathroom

Essays online

I've started to put my college essays online. It's been taking ages 'cos msword seems to produce the crappiest, most bloated html ever, and it takes a bit of sorting out. Any feedback/comments greatly appreciated.

Results

Got my college results yesterday. I managed to get a 72.7% average over the year which obviously I'm really pleased about. In the exams which I was really stressed about I got 71% in Pauline theology, 72% in Christ and the Spirit and 67% in Joshua/Kings. Everyone else seemed to know that I would do well, but I wasn't so sure. The college principal Dr. Massey has been trying to get me to go back next year to complete the degree. (He says it would be a shame for someone of my calibre not to see it through). Whilst part of me would like to do this, I feel the need to get established in a job before we think about having kids. I originally only signed up for a year, so this year has been a bit of a bonus really. If I was to do another year it would have to be a God thing. (so you better shout Lord, 'cos I'm pretty hard of hearing).
I have a love/hate relationship with study. I love the reading, the research and the learning. I hate completing the essays (which usually happens in the early hours of the day they have to be in), I love the sense of satisfaction when they are handed in. I love getting my essays back and receiving feedback on them. I hate preparing for exams, but I actually enjoy sitting them (after the initial panic is over).
I feel the need to do some 'real' work though. I don't think it's healthy for me to spend too long 'in my own head'. I also need to take more opportunities to 'give out' the stuff I've taken in. And I need to learn to stop thinking sometimes.

Weekender

Had a great weekend, the first one for a while in which I have been able to relax properly. Went on a 36 mile bikeride on Saturday to a place called Draycote water near Rugby, which was good, but I was ready to come home after about 25. Must be out of practise. Went out for a friend's birthday meal on Saturday night at a place called Inspire in Coventry (It is actually in a spire). Sat next to someone called Ray who had an amazing ability to tell a funny story containing any 5 random words you gave him (eg balloon, Rolls Royce, pigeon, custard), quite a gift.
Yesterday afternoon, we went to the Godiva festival at the memorial park for a picnic and some servant outreach. We gave away several hundred drinks and chocolate bars in about 10 minutes flat, which was good fun while it lasted.
As for the football last night, well the less said about that the better I think :(

Jason Clarke has posted an interview he did with Todd Hunter about his move to Alpha USA which is quite interesting. I always thought that people who equated Alpha with old-school, bullet point presentations of the gospel (say this prayer, so that you go to heaven when you die), had either not done an Alpha course, or must have seen a really badly run one.

The Faithfulness of God

'Give thanks to the Lord, our God and King, His love endures forever'. We sang these words at church this morning, as we were looking at the whole idea of faithfulness. I love it when I can take my eyes off my own shaky, wobbly life and circumstances and focus on the absolutely unshakeable love and faithfulness of God.
Tom Wright argues that the major theme in the book of Romans is 'The righteousness of God'. He defines this righteousness as God's faithfulness to his covenant promises. These promises were made to Abraham in order to set the world to rights. Although Israel failed in the covenant task, God is faithful to the covenant plan. How has this covenant faithfulness, this righteousness of God, been revealed? Romans 3:21,22 says,
'But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus the Messiah.'
Although this has not been the traditional translation of this famous passage, it is a perfectly valid one, and perhaps the more likely. The 'climax of the covenant', God's plan to set the world to rights, has taken place in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah. He is the faithful one. Forever. I do believe, Lord help me overcome my unbelief.

I is back! Ok so it's been a while. I've finished all my essays and exams now and I promised myself I'd start blogging again when they finished. I think the exams went ok, but I was quite unprepared for how nervous I would get, and how this would affect the rest of my life. The brain does funny things. I've found myself lying awake at night worrying about stuff - church, what job I'll get, everything, and all because of some stupid exams! I'm sure I've been a nightmare to live with (sorry su). I'm feeling a lot better now. I feel like the rest of my life can begin again.
As part of my preparation for my Pauline theology exam, I was dipping into Tom Wright's commentary on Roman's. It's awesome stuff. I was thinking of putting up little snippets from the 'reflections' sections but then I realised it would be a flagrant breach of copyright! Oh well, here is a recent interview he did for Christianity Today.
On a completely different subject this is very exciting.

And here is the little man himself - Mr. James John Sturtridge!

Too cute for words




Aah lurve him sooo much!! (Raising Arizona)