The Ponderings of a Meandering Minister…
By the time I left college I had heard quite a lot about ‘abiding’. There’s a strong emphasis on spiritual formation in Methodist ministerial training,the sense being that you can always read a book about something to learn more facts, but if you aren’t abiding ‘in Christ’ your ministry is going to be fruitless. I … Read moreAbiding
It appears I have been neglecting t’blog, which just won’t do. I haven’t stopped pondering, so why the slowdown in posting I hear you ask? Probably in the main it’s due to Twitter – why bother you with a blog post of a few sentences when 140 characters will do the job? So if you’re … Read moreCatchup
We’re a few weeks into the season of Pentecost but it was only a few days ago that I came across a live broadcast from the BBC that was shown on Pentecost Sunday. It came from Kingsgate Community Church in Peterborough, and was so good it even had Chris Moyles glowing about it 🙂 I … Read moreThat’s the Spirit!
I break my ‘it really couldn’t have been that long, could it?’ blogging silence to remind those of you living in Europe to VOTE tomorrow. Obviously I do care about whom you vote for, and if you ask me directly I’ll tell you who my Number 1 is going to and why. But perhaps more … Read moreVote!
If it wasn’t for Easter, I really don’t know what I’d do. If Jesus wasn’t alive I don’t think I could do this. But he is! ALIVE, RISEN, TODAY! And that’s good.
In a sense, I’m at a loss for words. It breaks me to write my first ‘noticing’ of self-denial regarding the people killed in Northern Ireland in the last three days. It seems that the off-duty army personnel threw themselves in front of bullets to protect the pizza delivery men, hours before they were due … Read moreNo Going Back
I just read that Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s wife was killed in a car accident yesterday. After all that the people of Zimbabwe have suffered in recent years, this is one more tragedy. There are no indications at the moment of foul play, although my understanding is that assassination by truck has happened in … Read moreWhat more must Zimbabwe suffer?
It’s Ash Wednesday and so Lent begins. This year, rather than ‘giving up’ something (which is admirable but alas in the past hasn’t made me any more like Jesus, it’s just saved me some money due to decreased chocolate consumption), I want to travel down the path of self-denial. If there’s anything the human race … Read moreThe Path of Self-Denial
The X Factor final has just reached its conclusion for another year, and a star is born… Well done Alexandra! But the star over the next week will be the single that Simon Cowell wants you to buy to make it number one – Hallelujah, originally by Jeff Buckley [note: oops, just discovered it’s a … Read moreHallelujah
I’ve been inspired by these folks (via David’s blog – see right) to be attentive to the notes of Grace displayed throughout Creation during this Advent season. So let’s begin – on my way home tonight I heard Coldplay’s new single. The first verse is: Just because I’m losingDoesn’t mean I’m lost;Doesn’t mean I’ll stop;Doesn’t … Read moreNoticing the Grace