June 2011

The always splendid John Cooper reminds us that the forthcoming Methodist Conference will be asked to re-affirm it’s long-standing opposition to anti-Semitism.

{ 89 comments }

Show of Hands with Cornish group Fishermen’s Friends. Best version of this song I’ve heard in a good while, the Pogues notwithstanding.

{ 5 comments }

There may be some Christians who believe that Israelis are not entitled to live in peace inside secure borders. But if there are, I haven’t met them. Virtually or otherwise. The position of the Methodist Church on this is clear and unequivocal. There can be no excuse for anyone who suggests otherwise, especially if they [...]

{ 9 comments }

“With God on Our Side”
Bob Dylan
(1963)
This song has several things going for it as a National Anthem:
It accurately reflects American identity.
It succintly describes the history of what the US does best: kill people.
It is written by one of America’s greatest poets (who’s just turned seventy).
It is biblical, its title based on Romans 8:31b.
It is a [...]

{ 11 comments }

And can it be, that I should gain
An interest in the Saviour’s blood`?
Died he for me, who caused his pain?
For me, who him to death pursued?
Amazing love! how can it be
That thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
‘Tis mystery all! The Immortal dies!
Who can explore his strange design?
In vain the first-born seraph tries
To sound the [...]

{ 20 comments }

“I am the messenger to deliver the message of redemption, of hope of forgiveness, of gratitude, of evolving people to the best of themselves.”
– Jesus of Nazareth
Oops - I mean Oprah of Chicago!
Here is Dr. Harriet Baber, Professor of Philosophy at the University of San Diego, USA in today’s Church Times:
Oprah addresses the cultured despisers [...]

{ 8 comments }

OK, it’s an ad for an opera. But ’tis smile-making.
Thanks to Will Grady

{ 2 comments }

With thanks to I Think I Believe

{ 1 comment }

It is odd, when you think about it, that for centuries belief in Christ was used to obscure the work of God in other religions rather than to expand appreciation of it. An imperialist framework for christology made it appear that since the Word is incarnate in Jesus, then God is not present elsewhere, [...]

{ 9 comments }

Have your say — the floor is yours. Same rules as usual.

{ 42 comments }

Very sorry to hear of the death of Clarence Clemons, saxophonist with Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band. He had an amazing stage presence and I don’t think his musical influence on Springsteen can be overstated. The great choir invisible will have to add Jungleland to their repertoire.

{ 2 comments }

Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
One in Three, and Three in One,
As by the celestial host,
Let thy will on earth be done;
Praise by all to thee be given,
Glorious Lord of earth and heaven!
If a sinner such as I
May to thy great glory live,
All my actions sanctify,
All my words and thoughts receive;
Claim me for thy service, claim
All [...]

{ 1 comment }

Lord, Who hast form’d me out of mud,
And has redeem’d me through Thy bloud,
And sanctifi’d me to do good.
Purge all my sinnes done heretofore;
For I confesse my heavie score,
And I will strive to sinne no more.
Enrich my heart, mouth, hands in me,
With faith, with hope, with charitie,
That I may runne, rise, rest with Thee.

{ 0 comments }

Over at Faith and Theology, Kim has been posting more theological doodlings. A sample:
The church in the UK is not in decline because people no longer believe in God, rather people in the UK no longer believe in God because the church is in decline.
The New Atheism is an epiphenomenon: it is but the smoke [...]

{ 0 comments }

A rationalistic trinitarian theology, dysfunctional and divorced from Christian life and ethics, has little practical effect. A revitalized trinitarian theology, however, has strong down-to-earth ramifications. The opening sentence of Catherine LaCugna’s influential study God for Us articulates this surprising claim with vigor: “The doctrine of the Trinity is ultimately a practical doctrine with [...]

{ 1 comment }

{ 4 comments }

VICTIM Divine, thy grace we claim, While thus thy precious death we show: Once offered up, a spotless Lamb, In thy great temple here below, Thou didst for all mankind atone, And standest now before the throne.
Thou standest in the holy place, As now for guilty sinners slain; The blood of sprinkling speaks, and prays, [...]

{ 0 comments }

Only in it for the Gold is a consistent source of sensible and informed comment about climate change. Hardly suprising: Michael Tobis, the fellow behind the site, is a working climate scientist. Two good recent posts: How 97F is no longer hot in Texas and why we shouldn’t be excited by the sun’s dimming
An even [...]

{ 0 comments }

More brilliance from ASBO Jesus

{ 0 comments }