Posted in Faith, tagged 66, 66 clouds, Bible, bible books, Christ, Christianity, Church, faith, scripture, sixty-six, video, visualisation, whole bible, word cloud, wordle, YouTube on 4 March, 2011| 4 Comments »
Just saw these wonderful video clips from 66 Clouds. They show wordles – word frequency pictures – of every book in the Bible and another of the whole Bible. Fantastic! They also do posters, but the cost of shipping to the UK might be prohibitive – maybe worth enquiring though, eh?
First the whole bible:
And here are all the books in order:
[HT: Dan Green]
Posted in Church, tagged Advent, Christianity, Christmas, Christmas tree, Church, date, faith, Fun, poll on 30 November, 2010| 11 Comments »
A small debate began on Twitter last night that I thought I’d like to expand. When do you put your Christmas tree up? Is it a symbol of Advent or of Christmas itself?
My family were always pretty disorganised and the tree would not go up until Christmas Eve. Although since the Twitter discussion, where there some pretty strong proponents of Christmas Eve tree decorating, I’m not sure that it was only because of disorganisation.
Since I got married, in a spirit of marital compromise (the Vicar comes from an early tree family), the tree has gone up earlier, and now the official date is as soon as we’ve bought our tree (always real, natch) and as early as possible after the Engineer’s birthday, which is 5th December. So this year, we may spend the afternoon of the Engineer’s birthday purchasing the tree, and possibly even decorating it.
I’m actually quite keen on having the tree up early now. I enjoy having the twinkling lights up through Advent, and especially since we have festive events in the Vicarage. We also have our Jesse Tree, of course, to take the kids through the story of the first Advent of Christ. And the nearer to Christmas, the bigger the flap in the Vicarage. It’s a busy season for Vicars, you know…
So what do you think? Leave a comment if you’d like to explain!
Posted in Church, Family, tagged Christian, cross, dove, faith, Halloween, Jesus, pumpkin, redeeming Halloween, Star of David on 3 November, 2010| 2 Comments »
So a few friends seem to have been carving Christian pumpkins for Halloween, so I thought I’d pop them up here in a gallery.
The young people of FourFourty, St Patrick’s Wallington, carved a wonderful selection of pumpkins. Here’s a group picture:
Cassie carved one with a rainbow as well as a cross in it:
Dan, an ordinand at Oak Hill, carved this very impressive pumpkin. His daughter loved it, particularly the way the cross at the back projected onto the wall.
Maggie is a head teacher, and she carved this one and was taking it into school assembly this week.
Sarah Phillips of Hope House Press sent me her pic too.
Phil Ritchie claims that his Christian pumpkins represent Peter and Paul disputing at Antioch.
I only wish the disagreements in the Church of England could be resolved with such broad smiles.
Here’s ours again. Cross, Star of David and dove, to give a bit of a bible overview theme. We had a very useful kit bought in Waitrose (I was shopping with my mother, you understand, our nearest Waitrose is miles away, both physically and financially). The kit had mini saws, which meant that we could do quite fancy patterns.
Posted in Church, Faith, Polls, tagged All Hallows, All Souls Day, Christian, Church, faith, Halloween, Light party, poll, pumpkin, pumpkin devotional, results, survey, tracts, trick or treat on 22 October, 2010| 3 Comments »
I closed the poll for the Halloween discussion last night. It was interesting to see how many churches are doing something at Halloween, and how the increasing popularity of the festival challenges us to think through how to respond in a godly way to our changing culture. Some of us find the whole thing a bit scary, though, it seems.
| Light Party |
24%
|
|---|---|
| Turning the lights off and hiding behind the sofa |
22%
|
| Giving out sweeties to trick or treaters |
16%
|
| Giving out tracts to trick or treaters |
16%
|
| Other |
14%
|
| Pumpkin Devotional |
4%
|
| A Light up the Night type walk |
2%
|
| Trick or Treating |
0%
|
| Going door to door giving out treats |
0%
|
As ever, the most fun and inspiring part of the poll has been the ‘other’ answers. I was very encouraged to find out that people would be praying. Not necessarily so sure about trying to get the Vicar drunk though. And I can’t be the only one who finds the prospect of a Churches Together disco extremely alarming, surely?
| All Souls Day Eve Prayer/All Hallows Evensong | 2 |
|---|---|
| Barn Dance (though I’d rather be behind the sofa!) | 1 |
| Churches together Disco | 1 |
| Trying to get the Vicar drunk | 1 |
| Saying that we are Christians and celebrate happy things – so come back at Xmas! | 1 |
| Away on half term holidays | 1 |
I enjoyed having another poll up again. Anyone got ideas for another?
Posted in Church, Family, tagged Christian, Christian response to Halloween, Church, faith, guising, Halloween, Light party, Light up the night, pumpkin devotional, tracts, trick or treat on 14 October, 2010| 15 Comments »
Recently I was reminded that Halloween is just around the corner (thanks Cassie!) and have been thinking about the different ways that churches and individual Christian families can respond. The idea of celebrating darkness and things of the night goes against the grain with Christians who have been rescued from the dominion of darkness and brought into the kingdom of the Son (Col 1v12-13).
In previous years I have attended a ‘Light Up the Night’ walk in Wolverhampton and friends in Wolves have organised a Light Party. Someone else I talked to had organised the young people from their church to go door to door with lanterns giving out sweets and treats rather than asking for them. In our small church, we’re not really at the stage of being able to organise a party or walk, but we always ensure we have a supply of sweeties and Christian tracts to give to the visiting ghouls. The Good Book Company and 10ofthose supply some, although I feel there’s probably a gap in the market for something a little less wordy.
I also get the visiting kids to perform a joke or song for their sweeties. In Scotland, where the Vicar grew up, Halloween was a night for guising (it’s mentioned at the bottom of the Wikipedia page) – dressing up and going door to door with a wee show for the residents, for which they would give you a treat. So beware, you’ll need to have practiced if you come to my door at the end of half term.
And just the other day I was pointed to a blog post with a devotional based around carving a pumpkin. It’s a lot less weird than it sounds and I think I might try this with my kids this year.
So, how will you and your church be responding to Halloween this year? I’d love some extra inspiration. I’ll leave the poll open for a week.
Posted in Faith, tagged Christian, Church, Colossians, Congo, faith, Give me this Mountain, Helen Roseveare, Lizzie Smallwood, missionary, Northern Women's Convention, Out of the Saltshaker, Rebecca Manley Pippert, women on 12 October, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Well, once I’d got my act together, we were off and there in time to get a seat. For the first time ever, the conference was sold out, so it was packed with about 1,000 women from around the north of the country. I spotted friends from all over: Leeds, Preston, Sheffield, Chester, Newcastle On Tyne, Wolverhampton and Tipton. It was mentioned from the main stage that the last tickets sold on the Tuesday beforehand. I think they were sold to me! In by the skin of our teeth again.
Lizzie Smallwood’s talks from Colossians on The Complete Woman were challenging and encouraging in equal measure as she reminded us to ‘become what you are’ but also to have ‘a good clear out of our behaviour wardrobe’. The Holy Spirit, said Lizzie, is God’s beauty consultant – your very own Gok. Did I mention that Lizzie is a vicar’s wife? Yay!
Helen Roseveare is now in her eighties and has been a Christian for over sixty years. And yet her joy and delight in knowing Christ continue to overflow as she speaks, as fresh as if she were a brand new believer. She spoke of how she is continuing to learn and grow in wisdom even at her advanced age. It was wonderful to hear her and be reminded of the privilege that she spoke of – to know Christ and also to suffer for him. I want to be like her when I grow up.
I came home and immediately started reading her autobiography, Give me this Mountain, which tells the story of her missionary life, including the five months she spent as a captive of rebels in Congo. This year the talks and seminars from the conference will be available free in audio on the conference website, but the main talks and Helen Roseveare‘s seminar will also be on dvd for just £10 – you need to email the conference office to order. If you didn’t make it to Manchester, I highly recommend getting it. We’re getting a couple of copies to share around folk who weren’t able to come along.
Next year’s conference is on Saturday 8th October 2011, and the speaker will be Rebecca Manley Pippert, author of the classic book on evangelism, Out of the Saltshaker. Book early next year – I’m going to!
Posted in Books, Faith, tagged A Foot in Two Worlds, book group, Christianity, Church, church growth, discipleship, faith, homegroups, John Chapman, nurture, reading, small groups on 5 October, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Last week I blogged enthusiastically about John Chapman’s book ‘A Foot in Two Worlds’ and mentioned how I’d be discussing it that evening with a new group. But as is the way of things, two out of the three group members couldn’t make it, so we cancelled. So we’ll be trying again tonight , and I’ve managed to recruit one more member and although one person still can’t make it, I’m hoping that we’ll at least have a go. There should be four of us. I’ll report again afterwards.
The Vicar is keen to start more small groups in the church, as even in a small church like ours it is hard to get to know people well. Our community is tightknit and some people have known each other for many years, some even from school days. So when newcomers join us, it can be very difficult for them to get close to the church family. Small groups are a great place for that to happen, and for young believers to be nurtured and discipled. I’m praying that this group proves to be a productive engine room of growth.
Posted in Faith, Uncategorized, tagged A Foot in Two Worlds, book group, book review, Chappo, Christian life, Christianity, faith, John Chapman, joys, reading, struggles, study on 28 September, 2010| 1 Comment »
I’m a bit of a fits and starts reader when it comes to ‘proper’ books. My mother says I have ‘narrative hunger’, which means I will read a crisp packet just to keep words flowing through my head. These days the internet seems to fill that gap, and my reading of books has dropped off. But this summer I really enjoyed getting back to real reading and I’m hoping to continue this pattern as the holidays become a dim memory.
The Lord must have known my need to read, and not just read escapist fiction, and so somehow I have ended up convening a small study group of women from our church, two of whom were confirmed just the other weekend. Looking around for a confirmation gift for them, I came across a fairly new book by Australian evangelist John Chapman.
‘Chappo’ is a wonderfully engaging and straightforward communicator and I’ve loved listening to him (sermon tapes on holiness and evangelism) and reading his books (especially ‘Know and Tell the Gospel’) over the years. The book I chose for our friends – and then this little group – is called ‘A Foot in Two Worlds’. Its subtitle is ‘The Joy and Struggle of the Normal Christian Life’.
I’m now two chapters in, and I thought I’d try and summarise my reading on the blog, so I can be really clear when I lead our discussion tonight. The book very helpfully comes with a discussion guide at the back, which is a great boon for my fuzzy head.
The book has only seven chapters, and with the first and last chapters being introduction and summary. This means we should be able to finish it over five sessions, which I think is a manageable course length.
Chapter 1: Christianity is not for wimps
Chappo begins with the joys of the Christian life, reminding us that when we become Christians, God forgets our past, giving us continuous forgiveness and sending the Holy Spirit to live with us.
But he also gives us the full picture:
Right from the beginning, I also found living as a Christian much more difficult than I had imagined… Some days I felt overwhelmed. It seemed an endless grind…
He describes us as ‘people with a foot in two worlds’:
We have one foot firmly planted in this world and, at the same time, one foot planted in the world to come, where everything is perfect.
Chapter 2: This Present World
In his second chapter, Chappo helps us to think about the fallen world we live in, remembering how it is good but fallen, firstly with a brief sweep through Genesis 1-3. He also has a good section on the devil, giving some nicely alliterating points about the Father of Lies:
So he summarises
This…world. While it is good, it isn’t good enough. I am meant to be dissatisfied. Thankfully that isn’t all there is.
I am very much looking forward to discussing this with our little group. Chappo doesn’t shy away from the difficulties of the Christian life, but nor does he ignore its joys. There’s lots to talk about here.
Posted in Church, Faith, tagged blessed, blessedness, Christ, Church, Exodus 20, faith, Psalm 1, sermons, Ten Commandments on 20 September, 2010| Leave a Comment »
This Sunday the Vicar preached for the first time in our ‘Blessed’ sermon series, looking at nine psalms that speak of how God blesses us. This week we were in Psalm 1.
Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.Psalm 1v1-2
At the end of the sermon the Vicar read the ten commandments so that we could spend a few moments meditating on them. And here are two kinetic typography clips I collected last week. And this was a sermon I didn’t proofread before it was delivered…
Posted in Faith, tagged Bible, Christianity, Colossians 2, faith, Northern Women's Convention, scripture reading, sermon, Thabiti Anyabwile on 9 September, 2010| 2 Comments »
We had a helpful sermon series on Colossians earlier in the year, and I’m looking forward to hearing Lizzy Smallwood speak from the same book at the Northern Women’s Convention on 9th October. In the meantime, this is a brilliant reminder of the riches of Chapter 2.
[HT Dan Green]
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