Browsing Archive: October, 2010
Graham Peacock was ministering with
the Methodists in the Colwyn Bay area when I lived there and became
a valuable friend. We managed (just) to meet up this summer for coffee back in
our former stomping ground. He blogs daily and today I want to share this post
of his. It is a story he’s borrowed from elsewhere and is such a powerful
challenge to the way we live our lives.
... Continue reading ...
The British Humanist Association is
on the march once again. Britain beware! Whatever they’re for, we’re
against – right? Well in this case, wrong. What they’re calling for this time
is that on the next census form (2011) the question that asks us what religion
we are is specific enough for those who are not practising any religion
to be able to say so.
And personally I’m all in favour of
this change. The last ce... Continue reading ...
What is the church? It seems that
for many it is the place we go to in order to flee from the world and all the
mess that’s a part of it; a place where we can escape to because it is separate
from the world. Moltmann gives a very different answer. The church, he says, is
‘not “the not-world”; it is the world which is now already turning anew to the
future of God because it follows the call of freedom’ (page 83).
In... Continue reading ...
Rod Liddle and the hair some Welsh people dislike
Rod Liddle is a journalist. There,
I’ve begun with a positive comment about him. Down hill all the way now, I’m
afraid. No, not really. But I do feel like giving him the blogging equivalent
of a good slap. It’s all because of some of the comments he made on his Spectator
blog about the Welsh and our TV channel, S4C. According to Liddle we are a
bunch of ‘miserable, seaw... Continue reading ...
Posted by Dyfed on Monday, October 25, 2010,
In :
Random
A baby dies as the family throw
themselves out of a second story flat in an attempt to ‘flee the devil’. You
can read the full story here but it seems that the family, located in a town
west of Paris, mistook the baby’s father as the devil and were so
frightened they made their escape through a window and the result was a
horrific tragedy.
Here in the UK we have heard stories of churches
ending up abusing children in... Continue reading ...
Some of the best radical Christian thinking on the web can be found at the Clarion Journal of Spirituality and Justice. Here's a great example penned by a friend of Wales, Brad Jersak. He writes about tolerance being Canada's Caesar. Thoughtful and challenging. Continue reading ...
Posted by Dyfed on Wednesday, October 20, 2010,
In :
Politics
I never liked maths at school but
here are some stats for you on the day the Chancellor announces where the axe
will fall in the comprehensive spending round.
Countries ranked by GDP (in US
dollars)
USA 14,119,050
millions
Japan 5,068,894 millions
China
4,984,731 millions
Germany
3,338,675 millions
France
2,656,378 millions
UK ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Dyfed on Tuesday, October 19, 2010,
In :
Random
A little more on getting sorted
today. Yesterday I suggested that one good reason for seeking healing was that
we need it. We are broken, we are imperfect and the best thing would be for us
to seek out God’s healing touch. Today I want to suggest another good reason –
you can decide for yourself whether it’s better than yesterday’s – and that is
we need to get whole for creation’s sake.
There are a couple of majo... Continue reading ...
Posted by Dyfed on Monday, October 18, 2010,
In :
Random
Blogging was light last week mainly
because we were away on the Isle of Wight for the second half. I go there to get some sorting
done, for – and this will shock you – I am not perfect and God hasn’t quite
finished his work in me yet. Maybe I’m a bit like you.
The funny thing is we’re not very
good at owning up to it as Christians, are we – especially Christian leaders.
We like to maintain this venee... Continue reading ...
Posted by Dyfed on Tuesday, October 12, 2010,
In :
Random
Controversy has been building up
over the selling of unlabelled halal meat in British supermarkets. According to
the Mail on Sunday many hundreds of schools, pubs and restaurants are
serving meat that has been slaughtered according to Islamic law and the public
are completely unaware that it is happening. Reaction to the story has come
from two different directions: the animal welfare lobby are concerned about the
pain and ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Dyfed on Friday, October 8, 2010,
In :
Random
Anyone who has lived through the
1970s and 80s in the UK knows well what picketing is –
indeed a pop band was named after the practice. But could you imagine picketing
a funeral? Could you take your placards and stand outside a cemetery shouting
your protest at the family of the bereaved? Well this is what one Baptist
church in the US has been doing for some time now
outside the funerals of American troops killed in actio... Continue reading ...
Holding onto state privileges seems
to take up a lot of church energy these days, especially on the conservative
wing. As it is pushed further to the margins because of the ongoing
secularisation of the West, voices within church are heard protesting against
this trend.
In understanding the church’s existence
as a partner within God’s mission in the world Moltmann offers this devastating
critique of the protest:
If the church... Continue reading ...
Posted by Dyfed on Wednesday, October 6, 2010,
In :
Random
I had my first ever visit to prison
on Monday as part of my ongoing JP training. HMP Altcourse is a 1,300 bed
private prison in Liverpool. It is relatively new complex and does not share the oppressive nature
of some of our Victorian jails as typified on the BBC comedy series Porridge.
It is, of course, a secure environment, with high walls, double locked doors,
and lots of razor wire (for which the government pays a fine e... Continue reading ...
Posted by Dyfed on Monday, October 4, 2010,
In :
Random
How easy cultural norms blind us to
the truth! Yesterday’s sermon at Emmanuel was partly based on Luke 24 and the
story of the two friends leaving Jerusalem after the crucifixion. They were so
obviously disappointed in the events of ‘Good Friday’ but had not realised what
had happened on the third day and so they leave for Emmaus.
As I read the passage I realised
that their lack of understanding about what had happe... Continue reading ...
Why men don’t do church is a problem
many are trying to address, none more so, maybe, than Mark Driscoll of Mars
Hill, Seattle. Part of the solution offered seems to be making the faith
more macho and putting less emphasis on having intimacy with God – which is
seen as the feminisation of the church. But some can see an inherent weakness
in this approach, especially when it comes to de-emphasising peace and l... Continue reading ...
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