Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem,
how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare, down to its foundations!”
O daughter of Babylon doomed to be destroyed,
blessed shall he be who repays you
with what you have done to us!
Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones
and dashes them against the rock!
(psalm 137: [...]
Archive for the ‘church’ Category
Where do we put our rage?
Posted in church on January 31, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Fearfully and wonderfully made… gay?
Posted in church, life, theology on July 26, 2008 | 2 Comments »
The big questions go around, and come around, and often seem to knock you off your feet in the process. Questions of faith and sexuality are huge, not only because of current debate in the Church of Scotland and Anglican communion, but also because of the personal heartbreak I’ve sadly seen them cause
Watching John Barrowman’s [...]
The Disaster of Success/ The Benefits of Failure
Posted in church, musings, quotes on June 23, 2008 | 2 Comments »
So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at [...]
When the minister wishes someone wouldn’t come to church…
Posted in church, emerging churches, ponderings on June 20, 2008 | 4 Comments »
I’ve no great wish that this woman start coming to church. Which maybe sounds dreadful for someone in my position. But it’s true. I don’t.
That wouldn’t, I think, solve anything. In itself, it wouldn’t really meet the needs of her heart at all. It might even get in the way.
But getting a feel for [...]
Parkour Worship
Posted in church, emerging churches, musings, video on June 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Portsmouth Cathedral has been one of the venues for the city’s arts festival, and has hosted a parkour (free running) to music event. It is AMAZING. Think jumping over the font, running up the walls… Go watch the video at the Beeb here. Now.
Wouldn’t it be great if some churches could get into this. I [...]
We’ve got the Unitary Constitution. So can we doing something now please?
Posted in Scottish, church, photos, theology on June 8, 2008 | 4 Comments »
So today, in the shortest congregational meeting of my life so far (although, not actually all that short), the congregation of the church of which I am parted voted to adopt a unitary constitution. I have been trying to understand how this is going to make things different. Sometimes drawing pictures helps me think, so [...]
Photos of Pictures
Posted in church, life, musings, photos on May 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
It was disturbing in a way. Keen herds of american tourists in brussels, dashing from their airconditioned bus to the gallery, safely protected from the dangers of trams, cars and non-english speaking folks. They went round the gallery at a fair pace, not surprising since they had to be back on the bus in an [...]
There are some things I do not feel like doing.
Posted in church, ponderings on April 15, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
There are some things I do not feel like doing. But I force myself to do them anyway.
I try to go to the gym twice a week at the moment. Aside from the predictable health benefits, it’s good to get out the house, and it’s good to go and challenge yourself on a regular basis.
I [...]
If you think you are standing…
Posted in church, video on March 13, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
If you think you are standing… be careful that you do not fall.
This is a video I made for church a few weeks ago, it ties in with the sermon series on Corinthians at the moment. Broadly speaking, I think people found it helpful and though provoking. Basically I was trying to help thing through [...]
The hypocrisy of wearing a suit to a communion service
Posted in church, ponderings, theology on January 28, 2008 | 4 Comments »
So, it was communion sunday yesterday at church, and another opportunity to reflect on the alien world that church can be. See here for previous post, ‘a tale of two communion services’.
Dmains brings out the suits when it’s communion sunday. Along with the frowns. It was noticable that every man serving communion was wearing jacket [...]
