Archive for the “thoughtz” category
Coffee and the basement
by Chris Lorensson on 29 January 2012 with
Stirring sugar into coffee is an interesting thing. We are aware that it will dissolve, but we are unaware of the pace at which it will happen. We make educated guesses based on the amount of steam coming off the liquid as to its heat, on the efficacy of the instrument used to stir, on the pace of stirring itself, and on the volume of liquid and amount of sugar to assimilate.
And yet through all these educated guesses, we know that we cannot make these calculations without proper instrumentation, and that the instrument of our brains has been long incapable of this without external tools. Complex mathematical equations confuse us. We are aware of their necessity and existence, but even more aware of our inability to apply them. For many of us, we know we would be unable to calculate these equations even with the use of the proper external tools, and yet we continue to stir and stir based on our educated guesses.
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When is the right time to give up?
by Geoff Hall on 17 August 2011 with
Is there such a thing as a theology of ‘giving up’, or of ‘calling it a day’?
When those around you tell you it should’ve worked out by now if God was ‘in it’, are they correct?
When no matter what you do ends up with nothing coming into your bank account, is that how you measure God’s blessing on your life? Who is your first commitment to? God, Church, Family, Career, knowing how much your services are worth?
What do we mean by ‘calling and vocation’? Do we think in terms of sustainable income? How come in the same breath as we mention discipleship, we qualify it as something affordable, like a good career choice, or something we do for the church (institution)?
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So, this is what Atheism looks like, up-close and personal?
by Geoff Hall on 9 August 2011 with
If there was any doubt about the true face of Atheism, look no further than London, Bristol and Liverpool. Far from being a cultivating force for good, it simply strips away any sense of the value from human life and social well-being and replaces it with ‘naked force’. It is wilful in the Nietzschean sense of the word; it only seeks its own through brute force. ‘Superman’ is simply a lawless thug on the streets of Britain, the cape and tights substituted by the hoodies and jeans of youth culture! Take a look at the evidence.
So, why does God have such bad taste in art?
by Geoff Hall on 5 August 2011 with
So, why does God have such bad taste in art, these days?
God used to have good taste in music and the investment portfolio included musicians like JS Bach and now includes things like the ‘Songs of Fellowship’. As for art, God used to have a great aesthetic appetite for the paintings of Rembrandt, but now seems more interested in religious kitsch.
Not everyone was convinced by Rembrandt though, and maybe this perceptive comment changed God’s taste in Art?
“Rembrandt is not to be compared in the painting of characters with our extraordinarily gifted English artist, Mr Rippingille.” John Hunt (1775 – 1848)
Quote from: ‘The Book of Heroic Failures: The Official Handbook of the Not Terribly Good Club of Great Britain.” by Stephen Pile. Published by Futura Publications, London. 1982, p215.
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The weariness of an all-night wrestling match
by Geoff Hall on 3 August 2011 with
Wrestling for beginners:
Genesis 32: 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 27 The man asked him, “What is your name?” “Jacob,” he answered. 28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.” 29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.” But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there. 30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”
What do you think of this? How does this reflect on our relationship with God in the 21st Century?
This is how Bono perceived it, in the song ‘Bullet the Blue Sky’.
In the locust wind
Comes a rattle and hum.
Jacob wrestled the angel
And the angel was overcome.
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Struggling with a new context for faith, work and spirituality
by Geoff Hall on 3 August 2011 with
During recent mentoring sessions – café or bar discussions – I’ve participated in the most common theme of conversation, that of people stopping going to ‘church’. Why is that? It is because the world created for ‘worship’ and ‘liturgy’ is akin to entering a false reality, a stale environment of recycled ruach, with the heart set on serving the organisation and not God, in which there is a palpable denial of a credible alternative to a fallen and broken world. This is a world of shattered glass on the pavements, vomit in the car parks of pubs, blood on the sidewalk of life. Is the Secularised society working for you?
These people have not lost a desire, a passion to follow God. It is that they feel obstructed from doing so by the clutter of institutionalised spirituality. The space has shrunk, the God of all Creation is now the God locked up in an old people’s home for the spiritually retired. They wish to be a part of the cultural mainstream, but their ‘church’ has retreated into a sub-culture of a self-referential, maintenance programme. Change is marked by re-covering old chairs in the corner of the room, by dusting-off candelabras, from where light once was emitted. The service of remembrance centres on long lost church members, faithful people, ‘no longer with us’.
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theology (my doctrine is bigger than your doctrine)
by John Jensen on 18 July 2011 with
I am an insecure man, that wants to be liked. I want to be respected more than I want to be liked. And, to be honest, I actually do care about what my peers think about me. I like to believe that I am capable of acting beyond this sinful limitation, but sometimes I don’t.
For instance, I will often name drop when discussing theology. It is an especially successful name drop if I can claim personal relationship with the person. Like, “my friend Alan Hirsch” Or “My mentor Ched Myers, or Neil Cole says” See, I just did it again. In other words, I am well read, and connected, and my thoughts are the thoughts of BIG people. They are BIG thoughts, and I am a BIG thinker. I read BIG books about BIG things. And my theology is right, and correct and you should agree with me.
Last Night
by John Jensen on 14 July 2011 with
Our community meets on Mondays for a communal meal, and some discussion around the bible. This last night my wife lead the discussion time, but rather than continue on in Matthew, we reflected on what we had focused on at our last time together.
Last community meal we looked at the famous story of Jesus dealing with the issue of taxation. But looked at it from a different perspective than the usual, “be a good citizen, pay your taxes, and then be a good Christian too” Rather we looked at the radical, and very subversive message that Jesus showed in the passage, and then lived out in his life. It was all an issue of identity and idolatry. By placing value on idols, “graven images” the people of Israel were losing site of their own image and identity. Jesus shows in this passage that money, bears the image of empire, and is therefore by its very being aligned with, and an idol for empire. But we, are image bearers of the creator of the universe. We are made in the image and likeness of God, and called very good. And we should worry about handing over our own selves to God, and don’t worry about a worthless idol to a kingdom we do not belong to. Read the rest of this entry »
Met Jesus on the Train
by John Jensen on 11 July 2011 with
I met Jesus on the train
This is from 6.5 years ago
Was going to a youth group to speak, and as is my custom here in Australia I got on the train. Went a few stops and had to switch trains at Spencer st station. Waiting for my next train I saw Jesus sitting there waiting for the same train.
He was drunk, cussing at people, muttering under his breath and smoking. He took long pulls off of his liter beer bottle. Everyone tried to stay out of his way. I was staying close just in case he did something stupid. His nose had been broken a few times it seemed so I was ready to step in and defend the public if necessary. Read the rest of this entry »