July 2007

I have an acquaintance who hates democracy. At least he says so, and I believe him. This is because he wrote “You have no right to use the state’s power of the sword to force me to pay for the education of your children.” He goes on, in effect (though I’m paraphrasing and you can’t [...]

{ 10 comments }

Jesus loves me! This I know,
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong;
They are weak, but He is strong.
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
The Bible tells me so.
Jesus loves me! This I know,
As He loved so long ago,
Taking children on His knee,
Saying, “Let them come to Me.”
Jesus loves me [...]

{ 2 comments }

Here are five texts on which I’d love to hear a sermon.
Leviticus 21:18, 20-21: For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, … or a hunchback, or a dwarf, … or a man … with an itching disease or scabs or crushed testicles. (NRSV)
II Kings 2:23: Elisha left Jericho to go to Bethel, [...]

{ 7 comments }

Continuing on from yesterday’s post, here’s Wood on the ‘cognitive dissonance’ in which he claims most Christians find themselves.
This is perhaps obvious, but Christians strike me as being in a permanent state of cognitive dissonance. It’s like this: the Bible says that the Christian message is for the underdog, the weak. It stands apart from [...]

{ 0 comments }

Interesting conversation over at PamBG’s Blog about the “Religious Right”, a subject whch has come up here a time or two.
But what is the ‘Religious Right’? Let me quote one blogger who identifies as ‘Religious Right’ rather than quoting the myrid pejorative definitions of ‘Religious Right’ in cyberspace. This particular blogger thinks that the ‘Religious [...]

{ 26 comments }

Here’s a hymn I wrote over a year ago, which Ben Myers was then kind enough to post at Faith and Theology. Ben and I are both admirers of George Herbert (on whom I posted at Connexions at the beginning of Lent), to whose great poem “Prayer” the hymn pays homage. We will [...]

{ 0 comments }

My new friend David Hallam reports that a church in the West Midlands has been picketed at service time in protest by local residents over a decision to put a mobile phone mast on the roof. The local newspaper quotes a Councillor for the area
“I support this because it’s letting the church realise the [...]

{ 0 comments }

Ian has a Romans 7:19 moment as he declares Procrastination is not a time management problem
I think, in some ways, time-management tools and systems create problems for procrastinators. Tools and systems are classic distractions. (I’ll look at distractions in a later post.) You can spend hours building, filling and tweaking your system without ever getting [...]

{ 0 comments }

Don’t get me wrong. The Wii is huge fun. But this parody ad is genius.
Via What I surf today

{ 1 comment }

I have a wireless router that I use to get the internet on a laptop and a Palm PDA.
There is a recurring but irregular problem whereby both devices can ’see’ the network, but for some reason are not able to connect. ‘Waiting for network’ or some such is the message. Turning the router off and [...]

{ 6 comments }

I heard on the radio today that the market for ‘Extra Virgin olive oil’ has reached record levels in the UK - £71 million last year. It reminded me of an incident that happened back in the days when I had a propr job. (They made me work 5 days a week and everything!)
I was [...]

{ 2 comments }

In which Richard lights his pipe and settles back into his rocking chair as eager new bloggers gather in anticipation of his wisdom.*
So you’ve got a new blog. Congratulations! But what will you do with it? These are my few tips for making your blog all that you want it to be.
First, what are you [...]

{ 4 comments }

As Britain once again received a deluge and large areas of the country were flooded, Sketty Methodist Church did the sensible thing and went away for the annual church camping weekend. One or two cried off, but most of those who booked, a group of around 30, turned up at Nicholaston Farm on Gowerwith their [...]

{ 1 comment }

A while ago Richard reposted “Can I have my word back please?” The word he was referring to was evangelical.
Words bleed and blend and spill into all sections of our lives, evangelical has been used by media (particularly - but not limited to the US) to identify and group people that are often concerned [...]

{ 32 comments }

JESUS, in whom the weary find
Their late, but permanent repose,
Physician of the sin-sick mind,
Relieve my wants, assuage my woes;
And let my soul on thee be cast,
Till life’s fierce tyranny be past.
[...]

{ 0 comments }

One way or another, I’ve been involved in lots of conversations recently about the Bible and how we read it. When Christians disagree, very often the “nub” amounts to a diiferent way of reading the scriptures. There are many approaches to the Bible, but not all of them are helpful. What is needed is [...]

{ 16 comments }

(Apropos Richard’s link below)
1. It is impossible to have a “Decade of Teenage Sex”.
2. Teenage sex never treats people as souls with ears.
3. Teenage sex does not have a market for rings to wear to school in violation of dress codes.
4. Teenage sex does not usually occur outside St. Mary’s Church [...]

{ 3 comments }

I’m not a huge Harry Potter fan. I quite liked the first book, but the rest of the series has not been anything like as good. And none of it is as original as we keep being told. (Jill Murphy did it first, and better, with the ‘Worst Witch’ series) But I can’t resist sharing [...]

{ 0 comments }

Why evangelism is like teenage sex.
via Craig

{ 0 comments }