Supplied by a UK colleague:
Here are some things
I hope you will find encouraging and informative:
#1 John Lennox on witnessing in an challenging culture; #2 Grant LeMarquand on
preparing for the challenges of ministry; #3 Ele Mumford at the seaside; #4 the
challenge and encouragement of Psalm 119; #12 Please pray for the victims'
families from numerous massacres in the last 10 days and those being charged
with insulting Islam, including now in the UK; #14 Some articles on the US
court decision on marriage and some examination of the Pakistan blasphemy laws.
Prayers for you for the coming week
SERMONS AND TALKS
1. The Premier Lecture 2015 - Against the Flow - Professor John Lennox [Do you
sometimes feel like you need to be encouraged in your faith, especially with
the challenges you face in an increasingly secular culture?]
http://tinyurl.com/q2w4af5
2. 2015 Graduation Commencement Address - Bishop Grant LeMarquand - TSM
http://tinyurl.com/nufxfqh
3. The Wisdom of the Cross - Ele Mumford [1Corinthians 1:18-20] - St Peter's
Brighton
http://tinyurl.com/qfus8h2
4. Psalm 119
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkEfuY2hKPE
Commentary
5. Preaching Ideas and Commentary - Rev Peter Carrell
http://preachingdownunder.blogspot.co.nz/
6. The Sunday Readings - Rev Stephen Trott
https://laworgospel.wordpress.com/
7. The New Testament in a year with Rev Andrew Goddard
http://www.sjtl.org/category/reading-nt/
WORSHIP
8. The bells of St Peter ad Vincula, Combe Martin in Devon - BBC Radio 4
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0606md6
9. Sunday Worship from First Lisburn Presbyterian Church in Northern Ireland -
BBC Radio 4
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0606mdj
10. Sunday Hour - BBC Radio 2
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05zzyd8
11. Choral services from the chapels of King's College Cambridge
http://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/choir/webcasts.html
and St John's College, Cambridge
http://www.sjcchoir.co.uk/webcasts
and Trinity College, Cambridge
http://trinitycollegechoir.com//webcasts/listen-again/
and New College, Oxford
http://www.newcollegechoir.com/webcasts.html
PRAYER
Please pray for those under trial for insulting Islam in Egypt, Pakistan, Sudan
and now the UK; for Charleston in South Carolina, Tunisia, France and Kuwait in
the aftermath of mass killings; for the Church of England and the Scottish
Episcopal Church; for Christians and all facing persecution and crime in Syria
and Iraq and Iran; for those affected by the earthquakes in Nepal; for peace in
Burundi, Ukraine, Israel and Gaza; and for the Diocese of South Carolina.
12. Topical Prayers - Church of England
http://tinyurl.com/6wnk2pk
Prayers for the Church of England from Lent and Beyond
http://tinyurl.com/mvux2u3
UK: Belfast Pastor Faces Prison for "Grossly Offending" Islam -
Soeren Kern
http://tinyurl.com/qxle3l9
Imam defends pastor who called Islam 'satanic', says he will go to jail with
him - CT
http://tinyurl.com/pwd6mcg
Egypt: Coptic boys on bail, anti-Islam charges pending - WWM
http://tinyurl.com/pgf3lvf
Egyptian convert still in jail having served his time - WWM
http://tinyurl.com/p6c72oz
Sudan: Prosecution closes case Sudanese Pastors trial - CSW
http://tinyurl.com/pwz2575
South Carolina:Prayers from Lent and Beyond
http://tinyurl.com/kssn33y
CURRENT AFFAIRS
13. Sunday Programme - with Edward Stourton - BBC Radio 4
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0606mdd
Food for thought
14. What Churches and Clergy Should Note from the Same-Sex Marriage Ruling -
Christianity Today
http://tinyurl.com/q89w45a
SCOTUS Decision: Best Articles & Videos - David Murray
http://tinyurl.com/q4j9wt7
and a round up from First Things
http://tinyurl.com/pklw9jw
Don Carson Responds to SCOTUS
http://tinyurl.com/pusn758
A Prayer Litany for Marriage from the ACNA college of bishops - Lent and Beyond
http://tinyurl.com/nnm4bte
Al Jazeera digs into Pakistan's blasphemy law in two-part series - Julia Duin
http://tinyurl.com/py83pxx
Our Story Begins: Hudson Taylor - OMF
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRwa0-QHf7Y
FINALLY
15. Facing the Canon with Anthony Delaney - J John
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0rBAmUGCT8
16. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me - Elgar - St John's College Choir,
Cambridge
http://www.sjcchoir.co.uk/taxonomy/term/348
17. Trails End - Randy Halverson Vimeo
https://vimeo.com/124181194
God bless you
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Monday, June 29, 2015
#LoveWins
The gospel in a Tweet is, #LoveWins.
Funnily enough, that is also the hashtag celebrating the US Supreme Court's decision to act as the parliaments of various countries, including my own, have acted. (Wait that doesn't sound right: the Supreme Court is not the US legislature ... but that is another issue, internal to the body politic of the States).
Christians in the US are either celebrating (led by President Obama himself) or concerned. The latter include the US Catholic Bishops, a coalition of evangelicals, ACNA, and the Diocese of South Carolina.
It is worth noting, via First Things, that c.100 million US citizens likely disagree with this ruling (i.e. agree with the 4 judges who were outvoted by the other 5). Chief Justice Roberts himself disputes whether this matter had anything to do with the constitution. Arguments about this will run and run. Yet where will it end, since some conservative Christians' minds may be changed?
Obviously 'marriage' in the sense of a permanent contractual relationship between two people is undergoing redefinition in Western culture, supported by legal redefinition. In the majority judgement, Justice Kennedy writes,
There is now no legal sense in several Western countries that 'marriage' means: 'The most profound human union because it embodies the union of male and female bound by the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family.'
Yet it is difficult to see that a majority of Western Christians are going to let go of the concept of a 'something' (which used to be called 'marriage') being a union of a man and a woman. For this majority the US Catholic Bishops speak:
Nor is it possible to see that the ever increasing Muslim population in Western countries is going to let go of the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman.
Might we yet see a new word for what 'marriage' used to mean?
Meanwhile for those Christians not supporting gay marriage, who believe the Gospel = #LoveWins, there is a question of how we connect with those who believe that Gay Marriage = #LoveWins.
What can we affirm about the love which binds two people of the same gender together according to the law of the land on marriage?
If we cannot find affirmation I suggest we are in grave danger of being viewed as those who discriminate against gay and lesbian people in a society which rightly abhors discrimination against people groups.
The gospel does not require gays and lesbians who commit to loving another to be put beyond the pale. While conservative churches rightly claim that they seek to put no one beyond the pale, the difficulty now is that we are being perceived as putting people beyond the pale.
Incidentally, this is also a time for conservatives to continue being, well, conservative.
The Supreme Court ruling does not change the fact that conservatives in Western societies have concerns about the future of the family: we should continue to argue (as the US Catholic bishops do) for the rights of children to be brought up by a mum and a dad, as well as arguing that the word 'mother' or 'father' should not be demeaned by a person of the opposite gender claiming to be what they are not.
We should continue to ask what 'bisexual' means in a context where commitment to monogamous marriage (gay or straight) is being celebrated. We should continue to be wary of future progression towards legal polygamy (given that no rational arguments against legalisation now exist in Western countries which have legalised gay marriage).
Speaking more personally about the state of my own inner thinking, as I read across the internet through these days, finding impressive arguments for and against the Supreme Court decision, I am freshly struck by the way in which what I have personally understood marriage to be all about is undergoing examination. I realise, to give one line of questioning, that within a Western cultural framework, fuelled by childhood books and TV programmes in which the hero and heroine met, fell in love and got married, I have assumed marriage is primarily about love and secondarily about faithful commitment between two people intending to create a family. (Someone I read said that much better but I cannot find the link). From that 'romantic' perspective, Western culture has always been on track - though we knew it not until recently - to affirm gay marriage because the State, in the end, cannot and should not stand in the way of love between two people.
#LoveWins!
It is from the 'family' perspective on marriage that the greatest objections to gay marriage arise (so it seems from my reading). If marriage is about two people uniting to reproduce, committing to fidelity in order to provide security for their children, then should the law permit marriage between two people whose union does not lead to reproduction? (A secularist could ask that question.) Ditto: ... then should church canons define marriage to include two people whose union does not lead to reproduction? (That is an ecclesiastical question tied to permitted actions of ministers in respect of blessing and (for some churches) sacramental action).
In sum: is God at work through this time to refine our understanding of marriage? Not merely refining us in the sense of 'getting back to the Bible' or 'recommitting to tradition' but also in the sense of challenging specific cultural assumptions that have become enmeshed with our understanding which we have described confidently as 'biblical' or 'traditional'?
To return to the question above concerning the gospel = #LoveWins, in our engagement in so-called culture wars and in church debates over marriage, how might Christian love win?
Funnily enough, that is also the hashtag celebrating the US Supreme Court's decision to act as the parliaments of various countries, including my own, have acted. (Wait that doesn't sound right: the Supreme Court is not the US legislature ... but that is another issue, internal to the body politic of the States).
Christians in the US are either celebrating (led by President Obama himself) or concerned. The latter include the US Catholic Bishops, a coalition of evangelicals, ACNA, and the Diocese of South Carolina.
It is worth noting, via First Things, that c.100 million US citizens likely disagree with this ruling (i.e. agree with the 4 judges who were outvoted by the other 5). Chief Justice Roberts himself disputes whether this matter had anything to do with the constitution. Arguments about this will run and run. Yet where will it end, since some conservative Christians' minds may be changed?
Obviously 'marriage' in the sense of a permanent contractual relationship between two people is undergoing redefinition in Western culture, supported by legal redefinition. In the majority judgement, Justice Kennedy writes,
"No union is more profound than marriage for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family."That Kennedy is willing to include same gender couples in this otherwise admirable definition of marriage demonstrates that in this redefinition of marriage, gender diversity is immaterial.
There is now no legal sense in several Western countries that 'marriage' means: 'The most profound human union because it embodies the union of male and female bound by the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family.'
Yet it is difficult to see that a majority of Western Christians are going to let go of the concept of a 'something' (which used to be called 'marriage') being a union of a man and a woman. For this majority the US Catholic Bishops speak:
'The unique meaning of marriage as the union of one man and one woman is inscribed in our bodies as male and female. The protection of this meaning is a critical dimension of the “integral ecology” that Pope Francis has called us to promote. Mandating marriage redefinition across the country is a tragic error that harms the common good and most vulnerable among us, especially children. The law has a duty to support every child’s basic right to be raised, where possible, by his or her married mother and father in a stable home.
Jesus Christ, with great love, taught unambiguously that from the beginning marriage is the lifelong union of one man and one woman. As Catholic bishops, we follow our Lord and will continue to teach and to act according to this truth.'
Nor is it possible to see that the ever increasing Muslim population in Western countries is going to let go of the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman.
Might we yet see a new word for what 'marriage' used to mean?
Meanwhile for those Christians not supporting gay marriage, who believe the Gospel = #LoveWins, there is a question of how we connect with those who believe that Gay Marriage = #LoveWins.
What can we affirm about the love which binds two people of the same gender together according to the law of the land on marriage?
If we cannot find affirmation I suggest we are in grave danger of being viewed as those who discriminate against gay and lesbian people in a society which rightly abhors discrimination against people groups.
The gospel does not require gays and lesbians who commit to loving another to be put beyond the pale. While conservative churches rightly claim that they seek to put no one beyond the pale, the difficulty now is that we are being perceived as putting people beyond the pale.
Incidentally, this is also a time for conservatives to continue being, well, conservative.
The Supreme Court ruling does not change the fact that conservatives in Western societies have concerns about the future of the family: we should continue to argue (as the US Catholic bishops do) for the rights of children to be brought up by a mum and a dad, as well as arguing that the word 'mother' or 'father' should not be demeaned by a person of the opposite gender claiming to be what they are not.
We should continue to ask what 'bisexual' means in a context where commitment to monogamous marriage (gay or straight) is being celebrated. We should continue to be wary of future progression towards legal polygamy (given that no rational arguments against legalisation now exist in Western countries which have legalised gay marriage).
Speaking more personally about the state of my own inner thinking, as I read across the internet through these days, finding impressive arguments for and against the Supreme Court decision, I am freshly struck by the way in which what I have personally understood marriage to be all about is undergoing examination. I realise, to give one line of questioning, that within a Western cultural framework, fuelled by childhood books and TV programmes in which the hero and heroine met, fell in love and got married, I have assumed marriage is primarily about love and secondarily about faithful commitment between two people intending to create a family. (Someone I read said that much better but I cannot find the link). From that 'romantic' perspective, Western culture has always been on track - though we knew it not until recently - to affirm gay marriage because the State, in the end, cannot and should not stand in the way of love between two people.
#LoveWins!
It is from the 'family' perspective on marriage that the greatest objections to gay marriage arise (so it seems from my reading). If marriage is about two people uniting to reproduce, committing to fidelity in order to provide security for their children, then should the law permit marriage between two people whose union does not lead to reproduction? (A secularist could ask that question.) Ditto: ... then should church canons define marriage to include two people whose union does not lead to reproduction? (That is an ecclesiastical question tied to permitted actions of ministers in respect of blessing and (for some churches) sacramental action).
In sum: is God at work through this time to refine our understanding of marriage? Not merely refining us in the sense of 'getting back to the Bible' or 'recommitting to tradition' but also in the sense of challenging specific cultural assumptions that have become enmeshed with our understanding which we have described confidently as 'biblical' or 'traditional'?
To return to the question above concerning the gospel = #LoveWins, in our engagement in so-called culture wars and in church debates over marriage, how might Christian love win?
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Change is coming and it won't be long
I am calling Cardinal Kasper the patron saint of persistent prelates.
Last year he figured as point man for the push within the Roman church for change to rules regarding communion and remarried divorcees.
There was a push back, but it looks like the Kasper shove is coming back into the maul, and steering it towards the try line. The Tablet reports here. (Note this report also)
Oh, I know, those who doubt the maul will head in that direction will be vocal. "The church is bound by ... this and that."
But that could be to underestimate the current Pope. He is a realist, not an idealist. He knows that the church (all churches, he understands Protestants and Pentecostals pretty well) in the West is in trouble. On certain matters it is becoming too much like the Pharisees (i.e. emphasising the rules) and less like Jesus (i.e. emphasising mercy). Only the Jesus shaped church has a chance of winning back the West.
He has not taken the name Francis for nothing.
And this means something for Anglicans. We may be responding to cultural change with - take your pick - greater urgency, less regard for tradition, etc, but perhaps we are going to be more in tune with Rome than looked the case when (e.g.) the Ordinariate began.
And there is a challenge for Anglicans. Rome changes with a significant regard for unity. We Anglicans do not always have that regard.
Though currently - amidst a round of Motion 30 workshops in the Christchurch Diocese - I am impressed by our local commitment to finding a way forward to stay together.
Last year he figured as point man for the push within the Roman church for change to rules regarding communion and remarried divorcees.
There was a push back, but it looks like the Kasper shove is coming back into the maul, and steering it towards the try line. The Tablet reports here. (Note this report also)
Oh, I know, those who doubt the maul will head in that direction will be vocal. "The church is bound by ... this and that."
But that could be to underestimate the current Pope. He is a realist, not an idealist. He knows that the church (all churches, he understands Protestants and Pentecostals pretty well) in the West is in trouble. On certain matters it is becoming too much like the Pharisees (i.e. emphasising the rules) and less like Jesus (i.e. emphasising mercy). Only the Jesus shaped church has a chance of winning back the West.
He has not taken the name Francis for nothing.
And this means something for Anglicans. We may be responding to cultural change with - take your pick - greater urgency, less regard for tradition, etc, but perhaps we are going to be more in tune with Rome than looked the case when (e.g.) the Ordinariate began.
And there is a challenge for Anglicans. Rome changes with a significant regard for unity. We Anglicans do not always have that regard.
Though currently - amidst a round of Motion 30 workshops in the Christchurch Diocese - I am impressed by our local commitment to finding a way forward to stay together.
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Spiritual and Sacred Links - Wednesday 24 June 2015
Supplied by a UK colleague:
The face of the world has turned to Charleston this week where out of tragedy of the loss of nine church members to a gunman, a remarkable Christian witness has shocked the world even more as they live out the words of Jesus: 'Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.
#1 and #2 are two sermons from Charleston, the first from the church which lost members to a gunman on 17th June; #3 Vaughan Roberts on Jesus being all you need; #4 Dr Richard Hays of Duke University on how the two Testaments inform each other #12 how The AME church in Charleston is recovering and the remarkable witness it is making worldwide. Please pray for it. #15 the Turin Shroud continues to baffle and inspire; #16 and #17 encouraging and #19 a song for Charleston from Christian song-writer Steven Chapman and there are prayers for Father's Day.
Prayers for you for the coming week
SERMONS AND TALKS
1. Sermon at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston today - Rev. Norvel Goff [Psalm 46] [First service after reopening after losing nine members]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7T7QQ90Jtk
2. Do not be overcome by Evil, but Overcome Evil with Good - Brian McGreevy - St Philip's Charleston audio today
http://tinyurl.com/omudybp
3. Jesus Who'll Satisfy You - Vaughan Roberts [John 4:1-42]
http://tinyurl.com/ok2w637
4. Did Moses Write About Jesus? - Dr Richard Hays - Lanier Theological Library Vimeo
https://vimeo.com/129713917
Commentary
5. Preaching Ideas and Commentary - Rev Peter Carrell
http://preachingdownunder.blogspot.co.nz/
6. The New Testament in a year with Rev Andrew Goddard
http://www.sjtl.org/category/reading-nt/
WORSHIP
7. The bells of Lincoln Cathedral - BBC Radio 4
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05zc8hp
8. Sunday Worship from Wellington College in Berkshire commemorating Waterloo - BBC Radio 4
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05zc8j6
9. Choral Evensong from King's College, London - BBC Radio 3
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05yl2rh
10. Sunday Hour - BBC Radio 2
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05zzxr4
11. Choral services from the chapels of King's College Cambridge
http://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/choir/webcasts.html
and St John's College, Cambridge
http://www.sjcchoir.co.uk/webcasts
and Trinity College, Cambridge
http://trinitycollegechoir.com//webcasts/listen-again/
and New College, Oxford
http://www.newcollegechoir.com/webcasts.html
PRAYER
Please pray for Charleston in South Carolina and Emanuel AME Church known as 'Mother Emanuel' for its foundation; for the Church of England and the Scottish Episcopal Church, Christians and all facing persecution and crime in Syria and Iraq and Iran; for those affected by the earthquakes in Nepal; for peace in Burundi, Ukraine, Israel and Gaza; and for the Diocese of South Carolina.
Charleston, South Carolina
12. A Call to Prayer from the Bishops in South Carolina
http://tinyurl.com/ne5mtan
Victims' Families Address Charleston Shooter In Court With Forgiveness
http://tinyurl.com/ou6ov65
Emanuel AME Church holds first service since killings - USA Today
http://tinyurl.com/orrs9wb
Moving Photos Of Sunday’s Service At Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church - Buzzfeed
http://tinyurl.com/pm2ywrh
13. Topical Prayers - Church of England
http://tinyurl.com/6wnk2pk
Prayer for Father's Day
http://tinyurl.com/on8hgkz
Prayers for the Church of England from Lent and Beyond
http://tinyurl.com/mvux2u3
South Carolina:Prayers from Lent and Beyond
http://tinyurl.com/kssn33y
CURRENT AFFAIRS
14. Sunday Programme - with Edward Stourton - BBC Radio 4
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05zc8j0
Food for thought
15.How did the Turin Shroud get its image? - BBC
http://tinyurl.com/ow95mjf
Elizabeth Elliot - Christianity Today
http://tinyurl.com/navyv5p
Elisabeth Elliot on the Christian Father - Christianity Today
http://tinyurl.com/pyk4unn
The Church Is Not a Sanctuary: On the Ground in Charleston - Peter Beck
http://tinyurl.com/om3mab2
Thriving Churches in a Hostile Culture - GC
https://vimeo.com/100309193
Vein Repetition - David Keen
http://tinyurl.com/o7bg4kc
A 4 Step, Simple Strategy To Have a Less Stress-Filled Life - RE
http://tinyurl.com/ne89jps
FINALLY
16. Worcester Cathedral Voluntary Choir
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqlKqEM7_zE
17. Phil Chadder, Prison Chaplain
https://vimeo.com/123711390
18. How Beautiful Upon the Mountains - Stainer - St John's College Choir, Cambridge
http://tinyurl.com/nmo4y5f
19. Song for Charleston - Steven Curtis Chapman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnFmHKVyRGg
God bless you
The face of the world has turned to Charleston this week where out of tragedy of the loss of nine church members to a gunman, a remarkable Christian witness has shocked the world even more as they live out the words of Jesus: 'Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.
#1 and #2 are two sermons from Charleston, the first from the church which lost members to a gunman on 17th June; #3 Vaughan Roberts on Jesus being all you need; #4 Dr Richard Hays of Duke University on how the two Testaments inform each other #12 how The AME church in Charleston is recovering and the remarkable witness it is making worldwide. Please pray for it. #15 the Turin Shroud continues to baffle and inspire; #16 and #17 encouraging and #19 a song for Charleston from Christian song-writer Steven Chapman and there are prayers for Father's Day.
Prayers for you for the coming week
SERMONS AND TALKS
1. Sermon at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston today - Rev. Norvel Goff [Psalm 46] [First service after reopening after losing nine members]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7T7QQ90Jtk
2. Do not be overcome by Evil, but Overcome Evil with Good - Brian McGreevy - St Philip's Charleston audio today
http://tinyurl.com/omudybp
3. Jesus Who'll Satisfy You - Vaughan Roberts [John 4:1-42]
http://tinyurl.com/ok2w637
4. Did Moses Write About Jesus? - Dr Richard Hays - Lanier Theological Library Vimeo
https://vimeo.com/129713917
Commentary
5. Preaching Ideas and Commentary - Rev Peter Carrell
http://preachingdownunder.blogspot.co.nz/
6. The New Testament in a year with Rev Andrew Goddard
http://www.sjtl.org/category/reading-nt/
WORSHIP
7. The bells of Lincoln Cathedral - BBC Radio 4
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05zc8hp
8. Sunday Worship from Wellington College in Berkshire commemorating Waterloo - BBC Radio 4
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05zc8j6
9. Choral Evensong from King's College, London - BBC Radio 3
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05yl2rh
10. Sunday Hour - BBC Radio 2
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05zzxr4
11. Choral services from the chapels of King's College Cambridge
http://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/choir/webcasts.html
and St John's College, Cambridge
http://www.sjcchoir.co.uk/webcasts
and Trinity College, Cambridge
http://trinitycollegechoir.com//webcasts/listen-again/
and New College, Oxford
http://www.newcollegechoir.com/webcasts.html
PRAYER
Please pray for Charleston in South Carolina and Emanuel AME Church known as 'Mother Emanuel' for its foundation; for the Church of England and the Scottish Episcopal Church, Christians and all facing persecution and crime in Syria and Iraq and Iran; for those affected by the earthquakes in Nepal; for peace in Burundi, Ukraine, Israel and Gaza; and for the Diocese of South Carolina.
Charleston, South Carolina
12. A Call to Prayer from the Bishops in South Carolina
http://tinyurl.com/ne5mtan
Victims' Families Address Charleston Shooter In Court With Forgiveness
http://tinyurl.com/ou6ov65
Emanuel AME Church holds first service since killings - USA Today
http://tinyurl.com/orrs9wb
Moving Photos Of Sunday’s Service At Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church - Buzzfeed
http://tinyurl.com/pm2ywrh
13. Topical Prayers - Church of England
http://tinyurl.com/6wnk2pk
Prayer for Father's Day
http://tinyurl.com/on8hgkz
Prayers for the Church of England from Lent and Beyond
http://tinyurl.com/mvux2u3
South Carolina:Prayers from Lent and Beyond
http://tinyurl.com/kssn33y
CURRENT AFFAIRS
14. Sunday Programme - with Edward Stourton - BBC Radio 4
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05zc8j0
Food for thought
15.How did the Turin Shroud get its image? - BBC
http://tinyurl.com/ow95mjf
Elizabeth Elliot - Christianity Today
http://tinyurl.com/navyv5p
Elisabeth Elliot on the Christian Father - Christianity Today
http://tinyurl.com/pyk4unn
The Church Is Not a Sanctuary: On the Ground in Charleston - Peter Beck
http://tinyurl.com/om3mab2
Thriving Churches in a Hostile Culture - GC
https://vimeo.com/100309193
Vein Repetition - David Keen
http://tinyurl.com/o7bg4kc
A 4 Step, Simple Strategy To Have a Less Stress-Filled Life - RE
http://tinyurl.com/ne89jps
FINALLY
16. Worcester Cathedral Voluntary Choir
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqlKqEM7_zE
17. Phil Chadder, Prison Chaplain
https://vimeo.com/123711390
18. How Beautiful Upon the Mountains - Stainer - St John's College Choir, Cambridge
http://tinyurl.com/nmo4y5f
19. Song for Charleston - Steven Curtis Chapman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnFmHKVyRGg
God bless you
Saturday, June 20, 2015
Cuban Sanity in Mad, Bad World
What a tough week for humanity this week.
The bad: Refugees on the move through Africa, Middle East, Asia. Shootings in a church in Charleston, SC. Greece on the verge of ... bankruptcy, or maybe not, the alternative could be a further enslavement to the dictates of the EU ... or Russia. Killings continue at the hands of ISIS. Syria is a bloody mess. Etc.
The mad: NRA line in the States that the killings in the church would have been limited if churchgoers had had concealed weapons. What the?!?!!? Note to the USA: the rest of us really do not understand you at times. Greece's economics and politics which got them to the current bad situation. Various politicians in Australasia (I'm thinking of you Tony/Bill/John/Murray/Nick) demonstrating less than competent handling of various matters.
Sanity: I haven't read Pope Francis' Laudato Si encyclical but it looks a corker. Can we learn the language of love in our relationship with the earth or will we continue harassing her? (May or may not comment further, but there is a LOT of comment on the internet, so I hardly think my twopence will add much to the reception).
Then there is this. I am reading Thomas C. Oden's A Change of Heart: A Personal and Theological Memoir (Downers Grove: IVP, 2014). Oden is the Forrest Gump of twentieth and early twenty-first century theology. His academic life leads him to meet Bultmann, Barth and Benedict XVI. He becomes a liberal, attends WCC events, begins to change his mind and becomes a conservative, initially wowed by Augustine and Aquinas, then passionate about the patristics. He has been in thick with Packer, Neuhaus and Pannenburg.
Enough of the names. I want to share with you two items of sanity. Both from a visit Oden made to Cuba in 1993.
First, Oden describes a sermon he heard in a charismatic church. I think it is a sermon we need to hear again.
'The preaching was as impassioned as the praise. Its power was palpable as I heard the words telling all of us that it was about a war with Satan in the hearts of each one of us.
We were told that although the final outcome at the end of history is already known to the faithful, the struggle continues this side of the end. We face an adversary who presents himself as a friend, and we cannot afford to be naive about this combat.
As you are mocked by others who do not understand and will scold you, do not complain. Be ready to view sacrifice as a privilege of participation in the way of the cross. Rejection is to be expected, even within your own family.
You are called now to make a decision that could be the most important decision of your life: receive Jesus in your heart and trust him for the forgiveness of your sins.' (pp. 236-37)
Then Oden records a visit made to an aged Presbyterian theologian, Rene Castellano.
"The aging professor had been imprisoned early in the Cuban revolution and was now considered a saint among seminary students.
He told me in clear, moving English:
"God only illumines the next step, not long distances ahead. We would prefer God to illumine the way for a long distance ahead, but the flickering light of the Word shows only the next step.
God called Abram, 'Leave Ur. I will then tell you where you are going.'
To Paul the Spirit said, 'Go to Macedonia. I will tell you there what next.'
The risen Lord said to his disciples, 'Go to Galilee. You will find me there.'
It is humbling for the pilgrim to not know what is over the hill, to have no more foreknowledge than the next person. But this is a part of our spiritual growth: to take small steps without knowing what is ahead but trusting God to bring good out of evil. (pp. 237-38)
Both excerpts are fortifying in this tough week for our mad, bad world.
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Christianity's greatest challenge starts with S but does not end with X
Damian Thompson pulls no punches in a recent Spectator column. He nails down the key word to understand the present and future state of Christianity in the West. Despite appearances in headlines to the contrary, the word which starts with S does not end with X. Secularisation.
Secularisation is the key word, but, as Damian says, it requires 'unpacking.'
In other words, secularisation is the phenomenon when faith slips out of one's life because other beliefs - newly plausible explanations for the the point and purpose of living - creep in. Loss of family structure is arguably a critical element in widespread loss of Christian plausibility - a loss that may come through moving from one place to another, or through marriage breakdown.
Thompson also makes the point, vital for churches to understand, that secularisation does not only happen through forces external to the churches. It is creeping into the churches. (In the British context in which he writes, Thompson, a conservative Catholic, is fiercely critical of secularised Catholicism).
Indeed, to go back to that other S word which troubles the churches of the West today, sex, many of our debates are precisely because of the infection of secularisation dis-easing the churches about beliefs which formerly were plausible to all and now only seem plausible to some.
Within the British scene, Thompson is pessimistic:
Now, let me conclude on a pessimistic note! If Western Christianity dies out, we Western Christians have the consoling thought that Christianity will yet live ... in the East. But how long will faith last there, between the squeeze of growing militancy among Muslims and the rise of Western style secular plausibility as materialism sweeps across the planet?
OK. Let's not conclude there. If there is a one word description of our greatest challenge, secularisation, there is a one word response in respect of Who holds the key to a new future: God.
Secularisation is the key word, but, as Damian says, it requires 'unpacking.'
"The deadliest enemy of western Christianity is not Islam or atheism but the infinitely complex process of secularisation.
Or, to put it another way, choice. Long before digital technology, social mobility was undermining what the American scholar of religion Peter Berger calls ‘plausibility structures’ — the networks of people, traditionally your family, friends and neighbours, who believe the same thing as you do.
I’m not saying that my Catholic grandparents accepted the doctrine of transubstantiation only because the people closest to them shared that conviction: faith can’t be reduced to social processes. But supernatural belief is hard to sustain once plausibility structures collapse.
You go away to university and suddenly almost nobody believes what you do, or did. Your siblings move to different towns, so you won’t see them in church any more. Your laptop plugs you into any social network that takes your fancy. Even if you’re born again as an evangelical Christian, life pushes you from one congregation to another. Many Evangelicals get bored and turn into nones."
In other words, secularisation is the phenomenon when faith slips out of one's life because other beliefs - newly plausible explanations for the the point and purpose of living - creep in. Loss of family structure is arguably a critical element in widespread loss of Christian plausibility - a loss that may come through moving from one place to another, or through marriage breakdown.
Thompson also makes the point, vital for churches to understand, that secularisation does not only happen through forces external to the churches. It is creeping into the churches. (In the British context in which he writes, Thompson, a conservative Catholic, is fiercely critical of secularised Catholicism).
"It can’t be stressed too often that the secularisation that happens inside churches is as important as the sort that happens outside them."
Indeed, to go back to that other S word which troubles the churches of the West today, sex, many of our debates are precisely because of the infection of secularisation dis-easing the churches about beliefs which formerly were plausible to all and now only seem plausible to some.
Within the British scene, Thompson is pessimistic:
"James Davison Hunter, an orthodox Christian, believes he has found a way out of this maze: follow the instructions of Jesus and ‘faithful presence’ will change hearts, if not society. This seems to me to ignore the reality that religions invariably die, at least on a local level, when no one can be bothered to attend their services. As a Catholic, I believe that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church founded by Peter. There will always be someone to take the place of ‘the last Christian’. But not necessarily in Britain, where the death rattle has begun."
Now, let me conclude on a pessimistic note! If Western Christianity dies out, we Western Christians have the consoling thought that Christianity will yet live ... in the East. But how long will faith last there, between the squeeze of growing militancy among Muslims and the rise of Western style secular plausibility as materialism sweeps across the planet?
OK. Let's not conclude there. If there is a one word description of our greatest challenge, secularisation, there is a one word response in respect of Who holds the key to a new future: God.
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Spiritual and Sacred Links - Tuesday 16th June 2015
Supplied by a UK colleague:
SERMONS AND TALKS
1. Will You Give Your Yes to God? [Acts 2:1-11] - Rev.
Russ Parker - St John's John's Island Audio
2. Are We Ignorant of Satan’s Designs (Genesis 3:1-15) - Dr
Kendall Harmon - Christ St Paul's Audio
3. It Takes a Movement to Reach a City - Tim Keller - CS
Lewis Institute video
Commentary
4. Preaching Ideas and Commentary - Rev Peter Carrell
5. The New Testament in a year with Rev Andrew Goddard
WORSHIP
6. The bells of All SaintS, Odiham in Hampshire - BBC Radio
4
7. Sunday Worship from All Saints, Odiham celebrating Magna
Carta - BBC Radio 4
8. Choral Evensong from Wells Cathedral - BBC Radio 3
9. Sunday Hour - BBC Radio 2
10. Choral services from the chapels of King's College
Cambridge
and St John's College, Cambridge
and Trinity College, Cambridge
and New College, Oxford
PRAYER
Please pray for the Church of England and the Scottish
Episcopal Church, Christians and all facing persecution and crime in Syria and
Iraq and Iran; for those affected by the earthquakes in Nepal; for peace in
Burundi, Ukraine, Israel and Gaza; and for the Diocese of South Carolina.
11. Topical Prayers - Church of England
Prayers for the Church of England from Lent and Beyond
Iran: Pastor Saeed Abedini 'Viciously Beaten' in Iranian
Prison, Told His Only Way Out Is to Deny Jesus Christ - CP
South Carolina:Prayers from Lent and Beyond
CURRENT AFFAIRS
12. Sunday Programme - with Edward Stourton - BBC Radio 4
Food for thought
13. 8 Keys to Personal Prayer - Winfield Bevans
An Open Letter to Britain - J John
FINALLY
14. Tribute to Araucaria, the late Rev John Galbraith
Graham - Guardian Vimeo
15. O Jesus, I Have Promised - The Scottish Festival Singers
God bless you
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