adventure

Israel Attacks Gaza

2008-12-29T22:21:00.003Z

Israel has now been attacking Gaza for three days. I've blogged in various places before about the rocket attacks on Israel (eg here) which are clearly unacceptable and should be condemned. It's easy to explain (which is obviously different to condoning) the motives of a disenfranchised and suffocated Palestinian people with Gaza effectively cut off.

But cycles of violence are never going to be broken if homemade rockets that rarely injure get met with anhilation and significant deaths of women and children. It's hard not to avoid the cliche of driving the disillusioned into the arms of terrorism.

25 Dec

2008-12-25T12:22:00.000Z

Happy Christmas all!

24 Dec

2008-12-24T22:19:00.001Z

Well here we are, I've blogged my way through advent.

Liked this Christmas message in the EDP from the Anglican bishop of Norwich.

God places his confidence in very ordinary and unlikely people. He lets them get things wrong. He encourages them to take risks. All this is to bring hope to those who are anxious, depressed, and uncertain what the future will bring. The Christmas story is a sign of God's confidence in people like you and me, a confidence that comes from love. God's confidence in us is the best reason for wishing you a very happy Christmas.

Couldn't do better than that.

23rd Dec

2008-12-23T20:13:00.002Z

Jay Jacobson from fractalism.com

Waiting for what you can't imagine...

Sitting this side of advent, or even shortly after the birth of Christ. Who could have imagined...

Firefox and Facebook

2008-12-22T20:54:00.002Z

Also just discovered this handy addition - a facebook toolbar for firefox.

Assuming you're signed up go here.

Everything in your toolbar, messages, status updates etc.

Open Office

2008-12-22T20:39:00.004Z

I've been regularly checking back at openoffice.org for version 3.0. Basically the website says it's an en-us version. I'd been waiting for an english uk version.

I was doing some searching today to find out when that would come out and discovered that if you have a uk intel chip it automatically converts it from your pc settings.

Suffice to say, it's been downloaded and looks great. Much improvement on v2.x which itself was pretty handy :-)

You can download from here.

22nd Dec

2008-12-22T12:29:00.004Z

One of the things that strikes me is how sickly sweet the portrayal of the birth of Christ is. It's a big leap to go from meek and mild, carol lyric passive to a God who is relevant and engaging at the point of everyday reality - good times and bad times. Given that the Christmas story is about incarnation, God moving into our reality it's annoying that our descriptions of Christmas almost suggest there's not much to say.

21st Dec

2008-12-21T19:42:00.004Z

When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

The activist response - to spread the what they had seen.
The contemplative response - to treasure and ponder.

But a response all the same.

20th Dec

2008-12-20T19:37:00.004Z

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

I know I've used this passage before but I liked the image. Got me thinking about digital communication and what would be a contemporary equivalent. Would the angels have set up a group on facebook, arranged a flashmob or would there have been a huge increase in traffic on twitter?!

But then I guess the point is the angels went to the shepherds. Equivalents for us wouldn't be people with access to technology, probably on the edge of society. Funny then how middle class faith has become....

19th Dec

2008-12-19T19:50:00.000Z

Have you not heard his silent steps?
He comes, comes, ever comes.
Every moment and every age,
every day and every night
he comes, comes, ever comes.
Many a song have I sung in many a mood of mind,
but all their notes have always proclaimed,
"He comes, comes, ever comes."
In the fragrant days of sunny April
through the forest path
he comes, comes, ever comes.
In the rainy gloom of July nights
on the thundering chariot of clouds
he comes, comes, ever comes.
In sorrow after sorrow
it is his steps that press upon my heart,
and it is the golden touch of his feet
that makes my joy to shine.
—from Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore

18th Dec

2008-12-18T18:36:00.000Z

But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD,
I wait for God my Saviour;

Micah - a book in the bible

17th Dec

2008-12-17T18:57:00.007Z

Wait
             Anticipate
                                 Don't be late

Bide
             Your time
                                 In the line

Expect
             Will come
                                 Again

16th Dec

2008-12-16T19:29:00.007Z

When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him." So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son."

When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
"A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more."

One of the things you notice in the advent story is that there are no ambivalent responses. There is worship, extravagent gifts, extensive journies and murderous intent.

Even before his adult ministry Jesus was provocative, a stumbling block, an inspiration.

That set me off on two lines of thinking. One along the lines of CS Lewis' "trilemma" which in brief argues that you cannot hold the view that Jesus is a good moral teacher unless you accept his divinity. This is because were Jesus not divine He would either be deluded or deceptive. My point is not that the argument of Lewis is watertight, rather that for most people I've spoken to, the notion that Jesus is a good moral teacher is a comfortable technique to keep at arms length Jesus' story. "Good moral teacher" is often an ambivalent and disengaged position statement. Rather than an engaged conclusion.

The second line of thought I wandered down was the notion that the extreme responses capture in a smaller scale the reality of Christian living. Or at least for me! I lurch from amazement and wonder to anger and frustration. In the words of a new testament writer - working out ones faith in fear and trembling. That to me is why faith is worth it - it's an adventure becasue it's not easy; full of hope because it's not glib; of value because in the rest of life we assume there are no quick fixes.

15th Dec

2008-12-15T11:10:00.000Z

And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

Is it that after encountering God there's no going back to how you were?

14th Dec

2008-12-14T15:02:00.000Z

the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.
When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh

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

13th Dec

2008-12-13T12:54:00.003Z

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."

I'd love to know how far the Magi/Wise men travelled. What they saw on the way, how long it took, what they talked about on the way back. I wonder how they made sense of the king who wasn't a king. I wonder if the journey back was more of a trudge compared to following a star.

I'd love to be confident that I would notice signs announcing the presence of God amongst us....

The Magnificat

2008-12-12T22:20:00.000Z

As part of my blogged advent calendar I briefly covered what is called Mary's Magnificat - her song of praise and celebration in Lukes gospel. See here.

I liked Heather's take on it with a poem by Phoebe Willets that includes the phrase "with God it is good to be a woman." See here.

12th Dec

2008-12-12T19:48:00.004Z

O Star of wonder, star of night
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to Thy perfect light

11th Dec

2008-12-11T19:28:00.004Z

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

The story of Jesus' arrival seems one of such folly. The Christ child carried by a young virgin, announced to the ruffians on the hillside. Disgrace. Nothing went right - was comfortable or safe. Such vulnerability and risk.

But then I guess to risk is to dare.

Ambient Wonder - 11th Dec

2008-12-10T19:45:00.004Z

This Thursday between 6:30 and 8:30 Ambient Wonder is creating some space amongst the hurly burly of late night Christmas shopping. We'll be in St Stephens which is the church by Chapelfield mall. There's more info on the website, or if you're on facebook we've an Ambient Wonder group we've just started.

The idea is that people can stay for as briefly or as long as they like. There'll be a range of things to do from drinking free hot chocolate to some activities encouraging us to pause amidst the hectic pace of the season and reflect and connect with who we are and who God might be.

Some might call it bite sized and festive!

Pop in and say hi if you're about.

10th Dec

2008-12-10T19:05:00.003Z

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests."

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

The Shepherds end their involvement by going to Bethlehem.

I wonder whether they went straight away, what their opening line would be to Mary and Joseph, what they talked about the next time they were back in the fields. I wonder how the sheep responded to the choir of angels, I wonder how favoured they felt having been terrified moments before, I wonder what it's like to be a shepherd.

9th Dec

2008-12-09T20:27:00.003Z

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

I like in Luke's gospel how the story of Jesus is built around people on the margins of society. A choir of Angels greeting shepherds isn't quite an announcement in the Times for the birth of a king! I also like the fact that so many of the people were surprised. Things weren't neat, predictable, planned. People were interrupted, knocked off course - terrified even! I like that the baby Jesus is the untamed God.

8th December

2008-12-08T19:40:00.004Z

A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham:
Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob....
........and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to break the engagement quietly.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us."

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Joseph is an interesting character - understated, often overlooked but full of faith and courage. He heard God, stood alongside Mary in the face of the societal disgrace that would have been hurled at her, courageously took his wife and Son into Egypt for their safety. I'm sure much personal cost.

Here's to Joseph - another player in the drama of salvation.

7th December

2008-12-07T14:50:00.001Z

Light of the world
You stepped out into darkness
Opened my eyes, let me see
Beauty that made this heart adore You
Hope of a life spent with You

King of all days
Oh so highly exalted
Glorious in heaven above
Humbly You came to earth You created
All for love's sake became poor
Tim Hughes

More on Zimbabwe

2008-12-07T11:52:00.002Z

I'm a big fan of John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York. He was in Uganda under Idi Amin and was a judge imprisoned for his judicial independence.

He has written in todays observer calling for the International community to end Mugabes regime. The article is worth a read. Here and here.

He concludes

The time has come for Mugabe to answer for his crimes against humanity, against his countrymen and women and for justice to be done. The winds of change that once brought hope to Zimbabwe and its neighbours have become a hurricane of destruction with the outbreak of cholera, destitution, starvation and systemic abuse of power by the state.

As a country cries out for justice, we can no longer be inactive to their call. Mugabe and his henchmen must now take their rightful place in the Hague and answer for their actions. The time to remove them from power has come.

6th December

2008-12-06T13:35:00.002Z

Madonna with Child by Ron Garvis

And Mary said:

"My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,
for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation."

According to Thomas Aquinas, human redemption depended upon the consent of the pregnant teenager Mary.
May I be an active and willing particpant on all that is good, holy and just.
Amen

Zimbabwe and Health

2008-12-06T08:53:00.006Z

I read this article in the Guardian. The article describes the deterioration of the once excellent health service. Hospitals are empty with no patients and no staff - since staff earn less than their bus fare to work. Slightly different to our "controversial " NHS 3 year pay deal and the incremental pay increase many get each year on top of inflationary increases. Patients turn up at Zimbabwean hospitals in order to die outside. The Accident and Emergency departments are open in places but turn people away as they are not doing surgery. A cholera epidemic sweeps the nation. The long term public and mental health issues are still unarticulated. Not surprisingly the weak, the old, mothers and children are often the worst affected.

I experience a range of emotions - anger, helplessness, frustration and actually a large dose of desensitised nothing.

The conditions are clearly horrific. I acknowledge the international principle of promoting good governance, not interfering in sovereign states but come on! Part of me hopes someone can pretend there's oil in a remote part of Zimbabwe so that the international community actually does something.

I'm tempted to have a rant about structural racism and sexism but I'll save that for another day... ;-)

5th December

2008-12-05T19:29:00.003Z

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel (which means God with us).

Isaiah - a book in the bible

4th December

2008-12-04T23:10:00.007Z

We have bigger houses but smaller families; more conveniences but less time.

We have more degrees but less sense; more knowledge but less judgement; more experts but more problems; more medicines but less wholeness.

We've been all the way to the moon and back but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbour.

We build more computers to hold more information to produce more copies than ever but have less communication.

We have become long on quantity but short on quality.

These are times of fast foods but slow digestion; tall men but short character; steep profits but shallow relationships.

It's a time when there is much in the window but nothing in the room.
14th Dalai Lama

The Word became flesh and blood,

and moved into our neighborhood.
We saw the glory with our own eyes,
the one-of-a-kind glory,
like Father, like Son,
Generous inside and out,
true from start to finish.
John's Gospel in the Bible talking about Jesus coming

3rd December

2008-12-02T20:54:00.004Z

Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.”

Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen?”

The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. ........ For nothing is impossible with God.”

Inspire me to live in the freedom you intended,
with a heart untroubled and with complete trust in you.

Amen

2nd December

2008-12-02T20:48:00.007Z

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!”

This advent may we know that God favours us, may we be aware of the divine presence with us and may our best laid plans be interupted by Christly chaos.

1st December

2008-12-01T18:00:00.001Z

Beginning to look for something
Unsure of what I'm seeking
Waiting for uncertainty

Anticipation
Exhilaration
Expectation

The clock's ticking

Scuffy Edge

2008-11-30T22:51:00.001Z

I liked Matt on the embryonic Ambient Wonder blog here.

"In my experience, movement forward in a creative community is (and should be) a little bit more all over the place than that. It's kind of, unpredictable, nuanced, experimental, and (here and there) wrong. People have ideas, other people contribute, and we end up with something that is somewhere ahead of where we were before.

So perhaps we're more 'scruffy edge' than 'cutting edge'. We are cutting something, but in our own, warts and all, ramshackle, makeitupasyougoalong kind of way. It seems to be a little how the early Church functioned. Perhaps I just wanted to coin a new phrase. Your Thoughts?"

Beginning of Advent

2008-11-30T22:37:00.005Z

The idea of the extraordinary happening in the context
of the ordinary
is what's fascinating to me.

Chris Van Allsburg

Advent Calendar

2008-11-30T22:30:00.001Z

During December I'll be doing my own virtual advent calendar with thoughts, musings and meditations on the Christmas story.

Return to Blogging

2008-11-18T22:25:00.000Z

After a complete loss of inspiration and impetus I plan to return to the blogosphere. If any readers are still out there were there things you liked about my blog that I might emphasise?

P :-)

Ambient Wonder Autumn Term

2007-09-17T19:07:00.001Z

Our autumn programme starts next week for Ambient Wonder.

This term our theme is Notice More - a different view. You can download some publicity here.

We're surrounded by immense creativity, in the natural world and in the culture we're part of every day. People express who they are through many media – writing, art, music, photography, new media forms, dance. In their self-expression its possible to experience their passions, doubts, questions, inspiration – in short their work expresses something of their spirituality. This can lead us to pursue our own exploration of meaning, wondering at the Divine.

With that in mind we'll be exploring image, word and music as gateways to experiencing more of God.

Emerging Church - Burn the witches

2007-08-15T18:51:00.001Z

Apologies for absence - holiday, boredom, no inspiration. Usual stuff, you know.

Anyway, saw this on an apologetics site. Really funny that the emerging church is listed with Buddhism and other such faiths to combat. See here for a chuckle.

See here and the links for a down right wince and guffaw......

Now don't get me wrong, regular readers will know I'm all for a reasoned critique and theological debate around missiology, ecclesiology, soteriology, sociology and whatever ology takes your fancy. . . ironically all I could think of in response to the above was rather rude and dismissive, so I won't type it.

Bath Time Theology

2007-06-27T18:18:00.000Z

I was in the bath with Rhianna this evening.

Dad, you're as fun as God.

That's nice, is God fun then?

Yes. And he's big. Bigger than a giant.

Why do you say that then?

Well he created the world. And God's in charge. He's in charge all the time. And he's in charge of insects. Can I have a shower now.

Welcome Back

2007-06-19T20:37:00.000Z

Good to see Heather and Monty back in the blogosphere. :-)

Ambient Wonder this Sunday

2007-06-13T19:06:00.001Z

The theme is the Supernatural. Should be fun, especially if like last time the ratio of people who'd call themselves Christians to those who wouldn't was 1:2!

More information here.

Research in Emerging Church

2007-06-13T18:47:00.000Z

I've just had a nice email from a PhD student to people associated with ambient wonder and I thought I'd share some of it here if others are interested. You can see her blog here from which the following is amended.

She's moving into the fieldwork stage of her project, exploring the beliefs of individuals involved with emerging Christian communities. She's particularly interested in how contemporary Christians make sense of the world in which we live.

She would like to hear from you if you are interested in taking part in any stage of this research, but there are two fixed criteria:

You must be resident in the United Kingdom
You must be involved with an emerging church (however you define the term) and/or engaged in an emerging conversation between Christianity and contemporary culture

Her contact details are on her blog if you want to get in touch.

Feminism

2007-06-11T15:48:00.000Z

Admittedly this is a lazy post...

Carl has started an interesting debate off the back of a radio 4 programme on whether there's a need for feminism any more. You can see his blog here.

I posted a while ago on the subject here and then here and here.

I quote from Elaine Storkey on what the premise is of feminsim:

"Modern Western society, argue the feminists, unlike its preindustrial counterpart, is a society in which women are dependent, manipulated, vulnerable, passive and exploited and men are dominant. Society is designed by men for men, and women are seen as functioning to uphold and support the male domination. Thus womens work, whether at home, in the factory, in the office or hospital echoes daily her total dependence upon and subordination to the man."

I find that hard to argue against.

On an aside I note that some of the biblical texts started to crop up in Carls comment. One of the theologians who has had the most influence on me is the late Stanley Grenz. He wrote an excellent book on women in the church challenging many of the stereotypical evangelical proof texts, although a bit dated now as written in mid nineties. You can order it here.

Paul Mckenna on Desert Island Discs

2007-06-01T20:19:00.000Z

Caught the end of his interview today. Unfortunately you can't do listen again which is annoying as it sounded really interesting. Certainly his last to songs were cracking

I Didn’t Know I Was Looking for Love by Everything But the Girl and Movin’ On Up by Primal Scream.

He did this great quote near the end.

"I'm in the hope business. I don't know what's possible but I'm up for getting stuck in and seeing what is."

Amen

Freeganism

2007-05-30T21:16:00.000Z

I heard a really interesting article on the Today programme this morning. You can listen again here. The topic was "freeganism", which if I'm honest I'd never heard of. The article itself I thought was a good piece of journalism. I've not listened again, so not sure what's on the bbc site but there was a docu piece and then an interview with a minister.

I was interested not least by conversations I've been part of over on Carls blog about Christianity, environmentalism and vegetarianism. Seriously. You can read more here, then here, then here and most recently here. Very thought provoking on exploring whether Christians should be veggies. Part of the debate has been of course about consumerism, responsible consumption and the like. The conversation has started to coalesce on the tension between a single issue and environmental living as a whole.

Freeganism is an example of what an extreme version might look like.

"Freegans are people who employ alternative strategies for living based on limited participation in the conventional economy and minimal consumption of resources. Freegans embrace community, generosity, social concern, freedom, cooperation, and sharing in opposition to a society based on materialism, moral apathy, competition, conformity, and greed. After years of trying to boycott products from egregious corporations responsible for human rights violations, environmental destruction, and animal abuse, many of us found that no matter what we bought we ended up supporting something deplorable.

We came to realize that the problem isn't just a few bad corporations but the entire system itself. Freeganism is a total boycott of an economic system where the profit motive has eclipsed ethical considerations and where massively complex systems of productions ensure that all the products we buy will have detrimental impacts most of which we may never even consider. Thus, instead of avoiding the purchase of products from one bad company only to support another, we avoid buying anything to the greatest degree we are able. The word freegan is compounded from "free" and "vegan". Vegans are people who avoid products from animal sources or products tested on animals in an effort to avoid harming animals.

Freegans take this a step further by recognizing that in a complex, industrial, mass-production economy driven by profit, abuses of humans, animals, and the earth abound at all levels of production (from acquisition to raw materials to production to transportation) and in just about every product we buy. Sweatshop labor, rainforest destruction, global warming, displacement of indigenous communities, air and water pollution, eradication of wildlife on farmland as "pests", the violent overthrow of popularly elected governments to maintain puppet dictators compliant to big business interests, open-pit strip mining, oil drilling in environmentally sensitive areas, union busting, child slavery, and payoffs to repressive regimes are just some of the many impacts of the seemingly innocuous consumer products we consume every day. "

Taken from a freegan site here. The site is pretty interesting. On one hand it is an opting out of society but actually it's still part of contemporary culture radically reinventing of it and dependently dancing with it.

I'm not sure I agree with the outworking but there is something about the radicalism and passion that I find appealing and challenging.

Tim Lenton wins poetry Prize

2007-05-15T21:25:00.000Z

Congrats to Tim whose won an International poetry prize. See here. Tim is part of St Augustines and has done some great stuff for Ambient Wonder.

You can see his site here.

Tetrapak Recycling

2007-05-15T18:36:00.000Z

Carl posed the question on his blog as to what environmental habits we find hardest.

One of the things I thought about was recycling things that to me are obviously recyclable but I don't know how.

Fortunately I live in Broadland District Council and they are really good with recycling. We've a wheely bin that collects paper, plastic bottles, yoghurt pots, card etc once a fortnight and a bottle bank just round the corner. What bugged me though was fruit juice cartons and the like. But with the joys of google I found this site which shows you where you can recycle them in your neck of the woods.

Thanks Carl for the prompt.

Maggi Dawn on Atonement

2007-05-14T18:36:00.004Z

I liked her blog here.

She offers a bit of a critique of the current (ish) debate on Penal Substitution but moreover gives an approach to approaching the whole issue - in essence a guide to thinking through the atonement.

Little stat I didn't know, she quotes someone who outlines 27 different theories of the atonement....

New Version of Thunderbird

2007-05-08T20:24:00.000Z

Version 2.0 of the excellent open source integrated e mail client/newsfeed reader is available for download. You can do so from here.

It is a significant upgrade with a much improved look, feel and new gizmos! I've only just downloaded it but am already really impressed.

Some of the new things as described on the website: -

Thunderbird 2 offers a variety of ways for you to organize and display your folders, whether by favorites, recently viewed or folders containing unread messages. As always, you can also set up RSS and newsgroup folders to stay on top of news and your interests. Thunderbird 2 also allows you to maximize your message view pane by opting for a folder drop down menu instead of the traditional sidebar.
Thunderbird 2 allows you to “tag” messages with descriptors such as “To Do” or “Done” or even create your own tags that are specific to your needs. Tags can be combined with saved searches and mail views to make it easier to organize email.
Thunderbird 2 offers message history navigation that allows you to click “forward” and “back” much like in your Web browser. You can now quickly toggle between messages and folder views.
Thunderbird 2 makes it even easier to integrate and use various Web mail accounts from one inbox. Gmail and .Mac users can access their accounts in Thunderbird by simply providing their user names and passwords.
Mozilla has updated Thunderbird’s popular junk mail folders to stay ahead of spam. Each email you receive passes through Thunderbird's leading-edge junk mail filters. Each time you mark messages as spam, Thunderbird “learns” and improves its filtering so you can spend more time reading the mail that matters. Thunderbird can also use your mail provider's spam filters to keep junk mail out of your inbox.
Thunderbird protects you from email scams which try to trick users into handing over personal and confidential information by indicating when a message is a potential phishing attempt. As a second line of defense, Thunderbird warns you when you click on a link which appears to be taking you to a different Web site than the one indicated by the URL in the message.

What's stopping you - go download it now! Continue the free opensource revolution!

I'm drawing on wider theological influences now....

2007-05-07T14:51:00.000Z

I liked this blessing in a Brambly Hedge book by Jill Barklem that I read to Rhianna: -

Then in the name of the flowers and the fields,
the stars in the sky,
and the streams that flow down to the sea,
and the mystery that breathes wonder into all these things,
I pronounce you mouse and wife.

Atonement Theories

2007-05-05T19:19:00.000Z

Carl has posted on Penal Substitution triggered by an article by NT Wright and some of the toing and froing about a UCCF event. I've recently had an exchange on this topic via email with someone from UCCF in the context of a role I'm a volunteer in. I must say very charitable conversation it's been too.

For those who might find it all a bit confusing, here are some resources I gathered from the above exchange of ideas: -

Arguments against "Penal Substitution": -

In the words of Steve Chalke - here
Argument Presented in a debate on the issue hosted by the Evangelical Alliance. Stuart Murray - Williams presented: - here
A good summary blog of arguments against: - here
A couple of good blogs on how this view relates to Isaiah 53 here and here

Arguments for "Penal Substitution": -

An article critiquing the above position: - here
The other side of that evangelical alliance debate - here and here

I've put penal substitution in quotes above because for some it comes down quite a lot to semantics and the creation and subsequent rejection of, as NT Wright calls it in the article that Carl links to, a "caricature."

Bits and Pieces

2007-05-05T18:32:00.000Z

It's been full week since my last blog. So much for getting back into posting regularly but as you'll see i's been distracting.

A couple of days after my last post my Gran died unexpectedly. The funeral was this Wednesday. I read a poem and a bible reading. In between had the difficulty of telling my sister who lives in the states and was really close to my gran. Sarah is coming over in a couple of weeks and bringing with her Katie, her 1 year old daughter. I know she was really looking forward to sharing Katie with Gran for the first time.

I also told Rhianna which was rather strange. She said something sweet though. When ever she's met Gran she's always also met my other Nanny, so I guess in her mind they're a bit connected. She said, referring to my Mum and Dad, "But who will Nana and Gramps bring when they bring Great Nanny?"

Last week we went to Centre Parcs for what was intended to be a well earned break. Due to work commitments I'd not had a proper chunk of leave since when I went to the States to visit Sarah in November. Fortunately it was the local centre so I was able to come back for the funeral.

Anyway, some fun photos are on my photo blog.

At last....!

2007-04-26T19:35:00.000Z

Sorry for the lack of blogging - guess the result of utter exhaustion. But at last, a few weeks shy of his first birthday Finnan has at last gone through the night seven nights in a row! Woohooooooo!

On an aside, details for Ambient Wonder and the new term on the website.

www.ambientwonder.org

Should be back more in the blogosphere again. Look forward to catching up! :-)

Next Ambient Wonder

2007-03-15T21:36:00.000Z

The Doner Kebab Specialists

2007-02-20T21:19:00.000Z

Well you have to laugh really. Who'd have thought it was such a sophisticated industry. Noticed this website on the side of a van whilst driving home from Newmarket today.

God Tube

2007-02-18T20:40:00.000Z

After blogging previously about posting sermons on you tube and the debate that followed in the comments, I scarily stumbled across this....! Remember,

"God Tube - Broadcast Him"

Review of Ambient Wonder - Journeying with God

2007-02-02T20:41:00.000Z

Latest review up on the website - here

Media, Culture and Change and engagement

2007-01-19T19:20:00.000Z

Great post/quote/link from Jonny B -

He links to a blog by Gill about posting sermons on youtube - which is well worth a read. She says that "posting sermons on YouTube seems to me, in cultural senstivity terms, like building a large Victorian church in an Indian fishing village."

Jonny develops this talking about term from one of len sweet's books - "categorical imperialism - i.e. imposing the categories from one world/media into a new one rather than understanding that new media change everything." He then quotes marshal macluhan:

"official culture still strives to force the new media to do the work of the old media. but the horseless carriage did not do the work of the horse; it abolished the horse and did what the horse could never do"

What do you think?

28th Jan Ambient Wonder

2007-01-16T22:41:00.000Z

Next Ambient wonder based on the tradition of walking a labyrinth.

Participation in Worship

2007-01-15T21:13:00.000Z

Interesting blog post from tallskinnykiwi on participation in worship here. It picks up on Alan Hirsh's book "the Forgotten Ways". There's an interesting conversation in the comments too critiquing both alternative as well as other forms of service. The blog is worth reading and the book looks worth a purchase! (You can download the first chapter from TSK's blog)

For me this is the heart of what we are trying to do with Ambient wonder. We're committed to planning in a participative way (couple of non Christians who'd never been to an event added a fun dynamic at the last one!) and want our times together to extend from that. There's miles to go whether it be in access to people from a host of backgrounds - class, education etc. to name but a couple of obvious ones for alternative worship. I'm pleased though that at the moment everyone who wants to gets space to contribute both prior to an event in creating the space for others to inhabit or simply in being an engaged part of one of our evenings.

Interestingly after last night one of the comments I had was specifically by someone noting the removal of centralised power.

Blog review from me of last night will follow, but in the mean time the structure of last night is on the ambient wonder website.

Reminder re Ambient Wonder

2007-01-14T10:14:00.000Z

Ambient Wonder starts it's regular adventure this evening. The website gives some more information about what Ambient Wonder is and how it came about. For those who can't be bothered to click through, very simply it's part of St Augustine's in Norwich. St Augustine's does a variety of things that don't quite fit within the model of everyday church. It does have a Sunday morning service but it also does loads with the local estate (note the word with and not for or to), runs Developing Consciousness and Into Christ Consciousness which are places for Spiritual seekers to encounter the Christian faith. Put simply a room full of Reiki healers and the like! Ambient Wonder fits into that. If you wanted to label it, some people would call it alternative worship/emerging church. What does that mean? Very simply it's not lot's of singing or preaching, it deliberately seeks to create space to participate and question, using all our senses rather than simply presenting stuff from the front.

We start tonight at 7:30 exploring beginnings and endings. We will be meeting fortnightly with the first event in a month a more stripped down version with deliberate space for dialogue and conversation. Future dates are here.

Funny

2007-01-13T21:37:00.000Z

Don't often blog them, but thought this was both funny and quite classy. Taken from an Amnesty international gig.

Funny mime routine to Torn by Natalie Imbruglia.

2007

2007-01-03T20:28:00.000Z

Happy new year all!

It's been a tough 2006 for us as a family as well as a rewarding one. My overarching sense looking back is sleep deprivation!

I'm looking forward in 2007 to: -

Ambient Wonder (St Augustine's Alternative Worship/Emerging church thing in Norwich) launching as a regular event from Jan 14th.
Getting more sleep - I'll let you know when Finnan does a week of sleeping through the night. Get the champagne corks ready!
Now that we are getting back into a routine as a family time to read, blog and the like!
Having a chance to do more photography and keep the Images blog more uptodate.

Anyone got a gmail invite they can send me?

2006-12-29T14:40:00.000Z

Please.....

Happy Christmas

2006-12-25T15:36:00.000Z

Have a great day!

Beta Blogger

2006-12-15T19:40:00.000Z

I've not switched yet. What are the advantages and are some of the early glitches fixed?

Update on family things

2006-12-15T19:34:00.000Z

For those people interested, further to Heather's update here, for H one ear got better then the other got bad now they're both neither poorly or completely better. R is better from Chicken pox but Finnan has them bad and is on anti biotics and his face looks like he's been beaten up. We've had car problems and a close relative of Heathers is very ill with cancer and deteriorating rapidly.

In short, the word bugger is a fun word to say at the moment. :-)

On a lighter note, heard this site referred to on the radio driving home. For all you house blingers out there.

Modernity, politics and journalism

2006-12-07T20:17:00.000Z

I love listening to PM on my way home. Not least because I think Eddie Mair is a marvellously mischievous and astute presenter. Today there was an interview with MP Ann Clywd about the situation in Iraq. At the point I joined the interview Ann and Eddie were debating whether things were better in Iraq. I was struck by how "modern" the conversation was. There had to be one overarching truth. It either was better or not. Ann argued that removing Saddam had made things better, there were no longer executions without trial therefore Iraq must be better. Notwithstanding the rampant imperialism, I think it misses the sophistication that a more postmodern and therefore relative assessment brings. Namely where you stand affects your perspective and alternate perspectives may be equally valid.

If I am a prisoner - Iraq is inevitably better if I now can rely on a trial rather than summary execution. If I am oppressed and silenced by a dictator then democracy makes my world better. However, if I had running water, a relative tolerant society and I am now living in an almost de facto civil war, without basic amenities and fear for my physical safety from roadside bombs, foreign soldiers etc then obviously Iraq is not better! Why the necessary black and whiteness rather than the reality of the shades of gray that come from the individuals and their stories.

Personally I was against the war in Iraq - for the reasons we went to war and the fact that I'm not convinced war can be justified morally (and from my personal view theologically) - yet clearly for some the outcome is better. For others it is clearly dramatically worse.

But then I guess, interviews would be more boring and therefore lower listeners if subtle analysis was the order of the day rather than the "yah boo sucks" adversarial nature of British politics that the media mirrors/feeds. (?)

Howies sold to Timberland

2006-12-06T22:31:00.000Z

The excellent clothing company howies has been sold. Great products, great ethics. You can see the rationale of the owners here. Makes it sound positive, hard to form a judgement of them because I don't know them.

This blog though is a clue as to some of the anti-sentiment they might generate.

I think that raises an interesting tension, is big business automatically "bad"? If the market wants ethically consumed products and even if the motivation of the provider (moral, legal whatever) is simply to make a profit and the best way to do so is to deliver fairtrade/ethically produced products, is it still ethical consumption?

On an aside, heard an article on the radio that UK diary farmers get 17p per litre but it costs 19p to produce. A farmer was saying why can't we have a fairtrade label for English produced goods?

Blogging Hiatus

2006-12-06T22:23:00.000Z

Was really looking forward to some momentum once the jetlag wore off. Alas Rhianna has chicken pox, Finnan a major cold, Heather a very major ear infection and hasn't really got out of bed the last 4days so I've had to take time off work to hold the fort and not got near the computer much.

More soon, prayers appreciated!

Disc golf

2006-12-02T03:36:00.000Z

One of the things I came across in the US was Disc Golf. The European tour is here and the british association here. Laugh, oh my word! Basically it's the game of golf but with frisbies. You have to land it in a basket or hit a post. The frisbies are smaller than the usual play on a beach type and you buy them like golf clubs (obviously cheaper - about $10). Some are for distance and some for accuracy.

I found it funny that what invariably began as something urban and street based, no doubt impromptu courses and targeting lamp posts or trees has become something respectable and surburban.

Having said that, I fancy a go at it!

Jetlag 2

2006-12-02T03:30:00.000Z

Thanks Mark for your comments in the previous blog. Looks like it's an alternate night problem! Anyway, at least the second test has started and England are doing great!

Jetlag

2006-11-30T03:22:00.000Z

Who needs sleep anyway.....................

New Free Anti Virus Software

2006-11-29T16:45:00.000Z

Personally I don't like Norton antivirus. I don't like Microsoft because it's Microsoft and bug-ridden software, which is why I use alternatives that are open source - whether for my office functions, internet or email.

I don't like Norton because it's a nightmare to use and get rid of. I also use free alternatives to norton. My software of choice is from Grisoft and you can download here a new free version of their anti virus as well as an excellent anti spyware programme I've just started using.

(If you're a current user of the free anti virus note you'll need the new version from mid Jan 2007.)

Update on the wreath story

2006-11-29T16:34:00.000Z

Remember the family that had the wreath on their house shaped as a peace sign. See here. They were being fined $25 a day because it meant they were "against the war". They can now keep the wreath up and the 5 member of the association that applied the ruling were fired. Too funny.

Thanks to my brother in law for the update!

More blogging and photos when jet lag leaves me!

Waiting for my plane

2006-11-27T23:54:00.000Z

How boring is denver international.........

Some local US news stories that caught my eye

2006-11-27T14:35:00.000Z

Did you know that there are companies that put up Christmas lights on your home? - See here. Convenience and safety....

A resident has been asked to take down a Christmas wreath in the shape of a peace sign. See here or here. The person is going to be fined $25 per day if it's not taken down. Well you know, it's not like Christmas is about Peace on Earth or anything. Apparently the symbol is divisive, unpatriotic and as one well informed resident complained possibly even a sign of satan!

I'll miss these stories when I fly home later today. But at least UK local news has it's own cutting issue pressing stories. Like chickens on roundabouts for example. See here. When we first moved to Norwich from London several years ago these chickens were headline TV news on the first day - and they still grab the headlines!

Peter Grant Keeps Digging

2006-11-27T14:22:00.000Z

More here and here.

Oh dear! His original quotes were worse than I thought and he passed up an opportunity to retract them. tuesday night at Carrow Road could be an interesting game!

Sporting performance continues to deteriorate

2006-11-26T01:52:00.000Z

Since I've been in Denver any team I'm vaguely interested in has done appallingly. England were humiliated in the rugby, Norwich drew (thanks Craig for the text updates!) and Peter Grant the Norwich manager is starting to confirm my first impressions.

Admittedly he ingherited a poor squad but has struck me as a right moaner and critical about everything. Now he's turned on the fans - could be a mistake. See here.

Interesting he suggests the "passion might be going one way". I've not seen much from the players this season, seen two tactically inept managers nor much ability from the players come to that..... No wonder the fans might be running out of patience.

Ashes to Ashes.....

2006-11-25T15:25:00.000Z

Funnily enough there's not much coverage of the cricket out here. Although given the first test that's not necessarily a bad thing. My lifeline has been the online bbc commentary, which is genuinely LOL.

Have a look here.

Christmas Pudding

2006-11-22T16:48:00.000Z

Well who'd have known there was so much to a Christmas pudding - see Maggi Dawn here.

American Advertising

2006-11-21T22:52:00.000Z

Things that made me smile last night watching TV: -

The new Mazda SUV. I was the only one who thought their slogan of "the SUV you didn't see coming" was ironic
A broadband company that had trademarked the word "faster"
An advert for a toyota pick up truck. Basically set by loch ness. Nessie pulls it underwater, spits it out and it drives off. Small print - "this is not a real example of the performance of the Toyota whatever it's called"

Sport in the US

2006-11-21T00:55:00.000Z

Yesterday was a sporting day. Unfortunately I brought the wrong lead so can't upload any photos but will do when I get back to the UK.

In the morning I went to watch the final of Sarah's nephews American football team in a local competition. They are 8yrs old. The final was in a small stadium. Before the match people stood, incredibly silently and respectfully, took off caps and turned to a US flag as the national anthem was played. The parents were wearing face paint and the merchandising of their team. It was loud, raucous and brash.

In the evening I had the privilege of going to watch an NFL game, the Broncos vs the Chargers. I'm a big american football fan so that was pretty close to the top of my wish list of things I'd love to do. It was a great evening and an amazing atmosphere in the stadium.

I'm going to reflect further but my first impressions were that I have never seen such an ingrained competitive and patriotic culture as the US and I think you see that in other areas of the public/political realm.

Greetings from this side of the pond

2006-11-18T14:47:00.000Z

I've arrived in Denver and so far flu rather than Jet lag seems to be the only cause for concern! Not a bad flight. One of the things I like about flying is watching movies you wouldn't otherwise. I therefore need to confess to watching my super ex-girlfriend! The other movie I watched was Pirates of the Caribbean which is of a different quality shall we say.....

Anyway, more soon!

PS Saw this, isn't being part of a global village great!

Off to the states

2006-11-16T19:31:00.000Z

Tomorrow I'm off to the states to visit my sister. She lives with her husband and baby daughter who I've not had the privilege of meeting yet. I'll be there for thanksgiving which will be fun. Although will be a bit strange as normally Heather and I do a thanksgiving dinner together as one of our family rituals and she'll still be in the UK with Rhianna and Finnan.

Anyway, blogging might be erratic over the next couple of weeks.

New Public Theology Think Tank

2006-11-15T23:01:00.000Z

Quite like the look of Theos as a good contribution to conversation. High profile contributors and good analysis.

"Pride And Prejudice And Niggas"

2006-11-13T22:40:00.000Z

As I was driving home tonight, listening to pm, there was an interesting article on a west end show with the above title. An advertising company has refused to carry posters advertising it unless the "N-Word" is removed, as have London Underground and several newspapers, since people might find it offensive. The show was previously at the Edinburgh Fringe and now moves to the capital. On PM they interviewed the guy (who is black) behind the play, Reginald Hunter. The poster, if you are bold enough and want to see it, is here....

The interviewer skirted around the "n-word" without ever saying it and asked whether the companies should carry the poster and what was behind the title. I can't remember the exact quotes but the response was very powerful. With regards to whether the posters should be edited, Reginald replied that clearly words get their meaning from context and that words should serve us and not the other way round. In this context he said there was nothing offensive. The title for him was about honesty and he spoke at length about being honest even if there were consequences. To edit the title would be dishonest since for him the title was about looking at his heritage and casting off the things that held him back.

On one hand it is a tricky one. Posters in public space could be viewed by anyone and offence could be taken, so how clear is the context and therefore does it matter how transparent is the irony? On the other hand is the censorship simply another form of oppression, given the source, and keeping certain language in a minority context?

Remembrance Sunday - more than a name

2006-11-12T15:41:00.000Z

Today is of course remembrance Sunday. The service at St Augustines began with a two minute silence and then the names of those people from the parish who had died in the two world wars were read out. If I'm honest remembrance Sunday has never been particularly important to me and as the names were being read out I must confess to internally muttering to myself about the pointlessness of the activities. Why read out a list of names that no one knows and therefore do some sham of remembrance?

As it happens what occurred next was very moving. The local historian had been invited along to give a 5 min talk on the first name on the parish list. John Henry Abigail. He was one of several brothers and called up at 18, no doubt undernourished. We were told where he was born, where he lived and interestingly got insights into his upbringing. The NSCPCC had not been in existence for long and had contact with his parents who were warned about wilful neglect of their children and his father was an alcoholic. He was seriously injured during part of the battle of the somme and was taken to the Norfolk Battalion training camp to recover. Whilst there he heard that his father was sent to jail for wilful neglect of his brothers and sisters. He absconded to sort out family affairs and gave himself up. This happened again when both his father and mother were jailed for wilful neglect at a later time. They were given a months hard labour and his brothers and sisters sent to the workhouse. Again he gave himself up within a couple of days.

He was also punished for deserting. One punishment was to be strapped in minimal clothing to a gun carriage and left in the open air all day. This was during one of the harshest winters on record. When he was physically able he was sent back to the front line. This time to the battle of flanders. (That may be wrong - rhianna started talking to me at that point!). He left the battle field and was found soaked to the skin and hungry. He was given a lenient sentence. Well a suspended one at least and given an opportunity to redeem himself. He again deserted just before a particular battle. I can't remember which one, other than to say in one day 6million shells were fired over the heads of the advancing soldiers. He was arrested and shot for cowardice and deserting in the face of the enemy. He would have been paraded in front of his battalion. His executioners drawn from his own comrades.

He was one of those who received pardons (not the crime but acknowledgement about the punishment being disproportionate) as a result of the recent armed forces bill.

It really bought home that each of the names on the list would have had their story and in the case of JH Abigail, a tragic upbringing and life experience that gives context even to seeing his name on a list of deserters, let alone a list of 1st world war day.

We will remember.

ambient wonder update

2006-11-11T10:44:00.000Z

I'm continuing to update the website. Do give me feedback and keep popping back. I'm still using the beta page creator with google. Bit quicker in the short term than digging out dreamweaver but I may resort to that yet as the google editor is pretty basic at the moment!

I've mentioned before that after Christmas Ambient Wonder is going to go fortnightly. This Sunday (12th Nov) we're holding an open planning time for want of a better description. The idea is to bring people together who've been part of the journey so far and anyone else who wants to be part of the next phase. The evening will involve some planning (done in a way akin to what ambient wonder is trying to be!), some sharing of vision and of course one hopes encounters with God! As well coffee and stuff ;-)

I'll let you know how it goes if you can't make it.

The Worlds best browser just got better

2006-11-06T19:51:00.000Z

Firefox 2.0 is now available to download.

English (British) version can be downloaded here.

Living the Life of the Cross

2006-11-03T21:46:00.000Z

The purpose of this talk was to build on the previous sessions and look at what they mean for how we live our lives when we get back to our daily lives rather than the rarefied atmosphere of a spiritual retreat.

Intro
I used a Brennan Manning quote to open : - "The single cause of atheism is Christians who acknowledge Christ with their lips but deny Him with their lifestyle. An unbelieving world simply finds that unbelievable."

No Passengers
I looked at the tension between faith and works and the idea of not receiving God's Grace in vain eg 2 Cor 6. I picked up on the next part of Phil 2 and the idea of working out your salvation with fear and trembling. Cue brief detour to explore the fear of God. Looked at sanctification and the idea in 2 Cor 3 of being transformed from "glory to glory."

I then spent time on Mark 8 and the idea of denying yourself and taking up your cross and the echoes with Jesus' self emptying in the first talk. I looked at Rom 12 and the message which paraphrases it as "Take your everyday, ordinary lifeÂyour sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around lifeÂand place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out."

How do you live the life of the Cross?
The idea being in John 17 as the Father sent Jesus so Jesus sends us and in Phil 2 our attitude being the same as Jesus. Therefore we deal gently with those who are stumbling, have a ministry of reconciliation and should not put stumbling blocks in peoples way. I looked at the idea of being ambassadors and how we could be confident the gospel would offend. Paul being the master of overstatement describing it as "spreading the fragrance of death!"

Embracing the accomplishments
I looked at the Westminster Catechism - "The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him for ever." Looked at Jesus being a role model and example. Looked at 2 Cor 4 and being hard pressed etc but not giving in.

I then concluded by looking at our mindsets and being people of influence wherever we find ourselves and whatever choices we have before us.

I then gave an opportunity to respond, simply by standing as a way of bringing one's internal conversation from the private ttheeh public realm and in doing so say that yowerere committing to somethinrespondingng to something God was saying. A good few did.

Echo of the Nuremburg Trials

2006-11-01T22:35:00.000Z

"Naturally, the common people don't want war" but "the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country"

Goering, reported to have said this in Nuremburg Diary by Gilbert.

The Accomplishment of The Cross

2006-10-31T21:19:00.000Z

This was the middle talk. The purpose was to look at what the cross accomplished for us as individuals but also as a community and therefore to set the cross in a corporate context.

Message of the Cross
I started off looking at 1 cor 1 and the "message of the cross being foolish". I intimated that the cross couldn't be separated from the resurrection and 1 cor 15.

Redemption and New Beginnings
I explored the tension between the cross leading to redemption and at the same time making us new creations. The idea being one draws a line under the past, one takes the past and builds on it. I went on a brief tangent about conversion and journey vs crisis as different approaches and therefore how that relates particularly to people like me who've always grown up in a Christian family and don't necessarily have a before and after story.

Atonement and Forgiveness
I looked at the Old Testament examples eg Lev 16 and the idea of appeasement, covering and reconciliation. I touched on the idea of substitution but didn't really dwell on Penal Substitution. Between you and me, I have a hunch that might come back and bite me....

I picked up on Col 1 and how we are no longer aliens etc. and being reconciled to God. I explored forgiveness in this session and things like "as far as the east is from the west, that's how far God has removed our sins from us". But I also took the opportunity to look at the gospel and the cross as more than sin management and pose questions about how the gospel needs to relate to more than the sad and the guilty!

People and Creation
I picked up corporate and creation themes so it wasn't just individual salvation that was covered. I looked at the idea of the cross reversing the fall which included redeeming the created order and picked up again on Col 1 including the idea of Shalom (peace) to mean restoration of relationships, wholeness and echoes of the themes of the Kingdom I'd introduced in the session before.

I also looked at different views of salvation in particular how much of it is viewed as future orientated eg Heaven/Hell avoidance vs the here and now dimension in the traditional evangelical gospel and posed the question of whether the Jewish and biblical narrative and pre Constantine church might have had it the other way round.

Linking back to the idea of early Christians being followers of the "way" I looked at the Cross creating a community of believers who embodied the Kingdom and the role of Jesus as a role model therefore. And hence why the road to the cross is as significant as the cross itself.

Power and Pentecost
I looked at passages like Rom 5 and being more than conquerors as well as the cross being the watershed before Pentecost and the direct access to God open to all with the coming of the Holy Spirit. I also then linked to the Glorious Christ and judgment.

Incarnation
I then dipped back into the individual dimension looked at issues of our culture and the idea that practically the cross had to work for "me". I therefore explored different doorways into Jesus rather than just the forgiveness of sins route. As a practical example how the cross is accessible for doubting Thomas, belligerent peter, the guilty sinner, the earnest seeker, the sceptical follower etc. I dipped into Heb 4 again and the idea of sympathising with our weakness.

I spent some time also talking about the cross granting access to and intimacy with God.

Conclusion
I closed by linking to how the things the cross accomplished link to culture and posed the question what might be key to our society? I touched on identity, acceptance and choices. What do you think are some of the key areas that the cross connects with in our culture?

The Road to The Cross

2006-10-30T19:32:00.000Z

This was the first talk of the three.

The purpose of the session was to set the cross in the context of what went before and to try and jump through Constantine and Christendom. The idea being that the Early Christians were known as followers of the "way", the gospel writers spend more time talking about Jesus' life than his death and to provide a bridge to what it means for us to live the life of the cross like Jesus. Below I'll just give a brief summary and people from the UEA might pop in and share some stories. Hope so, cos that'll make the conversation fun!

The Road Begins
I started by looking at the pre-incarnate Christ. The Jesus of Gen 1, Col 1 and John 1. Namely involved in creation, sustaining creation, firstborn over all creation, the glory of the father. Also in John 1 the idea of dwelling amongst us and the link to the Old Testament and the idea of the Tabernacle as a place in which the glory of God dwelled.

From Heaven you came helpless Babe
I then started looking at Phil 2 where Jesus' divinity is affirmed but he then humbles himself, taking on the nature of a servant and so on. I also looked at the vulnerability of the incarnation simply from a human perspective of being a baby and growing up.

First Stop
I looked at Jesus' baptism and temptation. At the baptism clearly Jesus was without sin but still chose to affirm his common humanity yet God affirmed from heaven his divinity. In addition his temptation further provides a commonality with us as per Heb 4-5 which talks about Jesus being tempted in every way, just as we are.

Blink and you've missed it
I also looked at how the road to the cross was not always easy to spot. I touched on Marks Messianic Secret, the role of parables etc.

The soundtrack
I looked at Luke 4 and the message of the Kingdom and explored the people who Jesus had encounters with emphasising the acceptance and servant hood of Jesus.

Destiny
I also touched on the sense of purpose and destiny in Johns gospel and phrases like "he walked through the crowd because his time has not yet come" when they tried to kill him in Luke as linked to above.

I concluded with some reflective questions: -

Imagine yourself watching the life of Jesus as a movie. Where do you see yourself, which character are you? At which point do you encounter Jesus?

UEA CU House Party

2006-10-29T20:11:00.000Z

This weekend I've been speaking at the UEA CU houseparty. I went to the UEA and actually started going out with Heather at a UEA CU houseparty many moons ago so it brought up some funny memories! I love talking at the UEA CU. Without fail I can guarantee I'll come away with something that will have encouraged or inspired me. This weekend was no exception - and I'm not just saying that in case some of them drop by!

One of the opportunities I appreciated but hadn't anticipated was the numerous conversations I had with people about mental health.

I had three talks and I'll post the content over the next few days. They were on the theme of the cross.

The Road to the Cross
The Accomplishment of the Cross
Living the Life of the Cross

Overall I think the talks hit the spot I was aiming for! My delivery varied as the affects of sleep deprivation took their toll but God as ever was gracious and still spoke through the white noise I created!

Ambient Wonder website

2006-10-28T14:43:00.000Z

Just started playing with Google and their products which offers free hosting and shed loads of cools stuff including a wysiwyg editor, e mail hosting, google calender etc. In particular the page creator.

With it I've just started playing with an Ambient Wonder website.

First draft is here.

Photo Blog Updated

2006-10-21T19:25:00.000Z

A few portraits

As viewed by a 3 1/2 year old

2006-10-20T20:10:00.000Z

Just back from a week at centre parks, so more and that and Heather's fancy dress party over the next couple of days. In the interim Rhianna has done her first picture of daddy. It'd be rude not to share it.....

I'm just glad I managed to salvage it before she started giving me measles........ She's a bit zealous with a red pen for my liking.

Ambient Wonder

2006-10-09T18:37:00.000Z

Next Ambient Wonder Oct 29th 7:30

The next Ambient Wonder will then be on the 3rd Dec as part of St Augustines morning worship and as part of the "into Christ Consciousness"weekend on the theme of advent. After Christmas we'll then being going regular: -

14th Jan - AW Light
28th Jan - AW
11th Feb - AW Light
25th Feb - AW
11th March - AW Light
25th March - AW
Fri 6th April - Good Friday event

The idea is that once a month will be the fuller programme (that takes more time to plan!) and the other one will pick up on the values but do it in a slimmed down version.

We've an evening on 12th Nov at St Lukes for a vision and creativity. So if you want to be involved pop along then.

For some background on Ambient wonder, why the name and how it came about see here.

And if anyone wants to help design a whizzy website....drop me a line. :-)

I can confirm it's winter

2006-10-05T18:38:00.000Z

Came home and Heather's put the heating on.

Although 5th Oct is close to a record for lateness.....