New Kid on the Blog

A number of conversations, particularly centered around a hymn chosen for this past Sunday, have prompted me to resurrect this blog... or a least post something, just this time, maybe with a hope to dropping by every now and then with a thought or two. Oh, I'm well, thanks. Life at St John the Divine, Victoria, continues apace.  There are some immensely good people and immensely good things going on here, and those I am privileged to work with and alongside are a blessing to me.  I have been writing every day for Lent on the church website , and often find that rather than returning here, many of my thinkings end up on the staff blog there.  You'll also find many of my thoughts on the s ermon podcast (as well as some very fine preachings from my colleagues) as well. So, back to the hymn.  The hymn in question was 'And Can It Be?' - a great Wesleyan Ode to the redemptive work of God in Christ.  Here's a Songs of Praise (UK TV show) version: It's a ...

The Ten Commandments... parts Five & Six   Yes, it has been a while, and I have lots of stuff I could be posting - but as I had a specific request to put the text of a talk I did this evening on line here it is.... I should say that the version I did this evening had a fair amount of improvisation around this text, particularly towards the end when my prepared notes became a bit sporadic...  Ten of the Best – the 10 Commandments for today   Respect….  The philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein said ‘That about which you cannot speak, is that about which you must remain silent’… Time to sit down then, maybe….   Nahhhhh, when has not knowing something ever been a barrier to a good sermon…. so here we are Commandments 5 & 6 (at least in the Jewish and Protestant translations of Scripture) are -  12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. 13 “You shall not murder...

I realise that my last post said 'tomorrow' but that as it was posted after midnight it should have said today - I'm not so confused that I think Ash Wednesday is on Thursday! So far Ash Wednesday has been a good, thoughtful start to Lent. Despite my struggle to get up this morning...yawn... the Morning Service went very well, as a group of Mission Community members from various different villages shared bread and wine, a time to reflect and pray, a litany of penitence and all had a smudgy ash cross inscribed upon our foreheads. I then went off to Yarcombe, where a 'frugal Lunch' marked the beginning of Lent - bread and soup, but very nice bread and soup it was. Lunch ended with a presentation by the Street Pastors from Taunton, a very good presentation, which talked of the practical ways in which this group, started in London in 2003, is now active in towns and cities all over the UK and seeks to reach out with care and love to those in our cities and towns lat...

Tomorrow is the start of Lent and we will be observing this important day with Holy Communion and the imposition of Ashes twice tomorrow. In marking this day I am going to confuse myself by publishing my thought for the week out of the publishing order! This is my thought for this week, even though I still have a few to catch up on... Don't Give Up Pancakes are done, now it’s Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent. These days, Lent is normally associated with giving up chocolate or cigarettes or coffee or wine but I would like to encourage you with three words: “Don’t give up!”. The reason for fasting in Lent was to prepare for the great celebration of Easter forty days later and to have a time of discipline before the most important day of the Church year – that didn’t have to mean giving things up, but doing things differently. I recommend you do something different this year, go to Church or to a Bible Study meeting, read a book about faith, make time for a bit of silence or p...

Here, only a few days late, is the sermon I preached at my early service on Sunday Lent 1 (2008) Year A RCL Principal Genesis 2.15-17; 3.1-7 Romans 5.12-19 Matthew 4.1-11 Short Cuts The great thing about living somewhere for any length of time is that you get to know the area, and you find your way around it in such a way that you learn all the short cuts. Having lived in London on and off for twelve or so years I used to be quite adept at find the back routes to places which avoided the traffic – or at least, may have taken us a little out of the way, but meant we did not have to sit behind a row of cars for ages. I am just getting to the stage now where I am getting the hang of where to go and when during the day to avoid traffic. Though I have to say that riding the motorbike has made me lazy, as I rarely find myself stuck behind anything when I can nip around the side. [more]