New Kid on the Blog

So, what is the nature of scripture? Hmmm, good question - and one I have been struggling with for most of my adult life, as I have journeyed through many differing traditions and ended up very much within the liberal, broad part of the church! I wonder if sometimes our approach to the Bible is somewhat like a misheard song lyric, every now and then we stop and say 'oh, so that's what it says'.  So here's some Peter Kay with some amusing misheard song lyrics (there's a few rude bits, so don't watch if easily offended)  I riffed off of this for today's sermon at St John the Divine, Victoria - as you'll tell if you listen to the podomatic link below, some of it I stole (acknowledged) wholesale, and then moved on to considering exactly what we are doing when we encounter 'bad' bible bits!

H/T Gurdur for the link :-) 

Love this video - and I say this as one who at one time was very much at home in the culture it parodies!   I like being an Anglican too, a very different way of expressing worship open to a whole raft of parodies too, ... though there is a long and very funny history of that, the Vicar of Dibley, for instance, or Alan Bennet's excellent Beyond the Fringe 'Take a Pew' skit...      John Betjeman had lots of things to say about Church culture, often gently satirising, such as ' Diary of a Church Mous e' or this one:  Blame the Vicar  When things go wrong it's rather tame   To find we are ourselves to blame,   It gets the trouble over quicker   To go and blame things on the Vicar.   The Vicar, after all, is paid   To keep us bright and undismayed.   The Vicar is more virtuous too   Than lay folks such as me and you. He never swears, he never drinks,   He never should say what he thinks.   His collar is ...

Yep, it's my day off so won't write anything today, will share another ASBO Jesus though! This will not be a regular occurrence - just like this one as it carries on the theme of the last one I shared! I would recommend a trip to ASBO Jesus regularly!

The Blog ' The Ongoing Adventures of Asbo Jesus ' often has lots of fuel for thought, this one is no exception. Jon is also a twitterer, you can find him here and I hope he doesn't mind me showing the picture, there didn't seem to be a don't copy command on the website but I will take it down and just put a link up if that's preferred. Whatever, he's highly recommended!

Just a quick link, which seems to be getting a lot of coverage The bus slogan generator After the Atheist Bus Campaign printed 'There probably is no God. So stop worrying and get on with your life.' on the sides of buses, claiming that they were fed up of 'religious advertising' (actually, many of us with any kind of faith aren't so keen on most 'religious advertising') someone had to come up with a way of being able to make our own bus posters on line, and here it is ! Enjoy! Oh, and the campaign did a great job of getting people to actually talk about faith, which is a good thing - maybe I should contribute to the campaign to keep these posters going :-) My favourite response was from the Church Times cartoonist Noel Ford. ..not sure if this is copyright, if so then i will take it down if requested... Go see the Church Times site anyway, its worth a bit of a look around....

Every week into my email box drops another edition of Ralph Milton's Rumours - an often insightful and thought provoking look at the week's readings with a sense of humour, and a few general comments on life. Rumours is available by email subscription at rumors-subscribe[at]joinhands.com (its free!) and by checking out the Rumours Blog here ... Anyway, enjoy.... The panicky world learns that a giant meteor will crash on earth's surface in 10 days and end it all. Reaction? * Roman Catholics: converge on Rome for solemn papal prayers. * Episcopalians: stage one last cocktail party before the end. * Lutherans: “ein deutsches Bierfest” for the same reason. * Baptists: hold biggest revival in history for one last attempt to turn the whole world Baptist before the end, whether the world wants to or not. * Methodists: organize small groups for heart-burning prayer and testimony. * Quakers: sit quietly and await the end. * Mormons: plunge into the Great Salt Lake in earth's...

Despite the fact that there is a woman vicar in the picture below, this is in fact a snapshot of my study.... spooky. Apologies if this is fuzzy, it doesn't seem to have saved very well, perhaps worth going to see the original here Thanks again Dave for summing up the clerical mind so very accurately

Saving some of the best until last here is one of my favourite books of all time.. So good that even though it is out of print, as far as I can tell, I will still recommend it. Though i see Amazon have a variety of imprints available through their marketplace, and I am sure Amazon.com do as well as our .co.uk branch! The story of the quest for truth and meaning, as seen through the eyes of a supermarket trolley - Scepticism inc is a funny, thoughtful, satirical look at philosophy, institutional religion and ultimate truth. Bo Fowler takes us throught the development of 'metaphysical betting shops' with a funny and intelligent look at the nature of belief, of not believing, of wanting and not wanting to believe - most of the angles covered in the belief department there! It's fun to read and contains lots of food for thought (a sort of metaphysical shopping trolley then) - it does make you ask lots of questions but at the same time you can just lose yourself in the su...

Still NaBlo posting, i have surprised myself really this month! A fun offering which I have used lots of times to tell the Christmas story in a different way! It's not one which can be reviewed at length, which is probably a good thing as I am prone to waffle. It tells the nativity story, with very bright, cheerful and funny illustrations, from the perspective of a grumpy inkeeper, with a surprise ending.. It is a delightful book, and though 'Jesus's Christmas Party' is meant to be a children's book, it will appeal to most people who read it. Not all, there are always some grumps :-)

Here's a light hearted offering for today. Have you ever felt frustrated that there are no words to describe everyday occurences which we all go through? For instance, who has not felt the need for a phrase to describe the feeling of sitting on a warm toilet seat? Or the emotions felt when first riding off on a new motorbike? Or the guilt felt when caught pulling hairs from one's nose and secreting them in one's pocket? Well all this and more can be found in ' The Meaning of Liff ' - a wonderful companion that uses place names from the most obscure parts of the United Kingdom, and indeed all over the world, to give us the vocabulary we really need. Often imitated, never bettered, The Meaning of Liff is wonderful! And I know this sounds like a sales pitch, but I do love this book, and think every home should have one. though some of the ruder ones might need to be kept from the children!

Today's post for NaBloPoMo - or GloBloPoMo as some are keen to call it, because it does seem pretty widespread... I realise that my usual wit and wisdom, or rather the trivia interspersed with occasional deep thoughts, have been absent as I've focused on NaBloPoMo but I hope a few of these books may strike a chord with you, gentle readers. We have a book group tonight, so I'll tell you a bit about that tomorrow. I can't remember if I've already mentioned the book so before posting tomorrow I will check! Anyway, today's book is funny, clever, and worth a look. If you've ever felt that the world has gone even more crazy for strange ways of talking and thinking over the past few years, this one is for you. Taking to bits our strange western culture in a humourous and thought provoking way, Wheen's style is clever, but not too smug, and well informed without being intellectually snobby. It might be easy at first glance to dismiss the book as the grumblin...

Another day, another book, life has left me feeling slightly grumpy and somewhat bemused at the machinations of the church, but going into detail won't help so I won't say any more. So what better than something funny as an antidote... Terry Pratchett has a great style, a seriously funny attitude and a turn of phrase that can have you aching with laughter. His mythological, mystical realm of 'discworld' is full of wit and wisdom, and reflects the absurdity of our own world whilst being totally enclosed in a world of his own. This is a world of magic, dragons, monsters and mayhem, with wizards in the 'unseen university' who have little clue of what the world is about, witches who are basically purveyors of common sense and a small group of people who do have a clue desperately trying to keep things together. The Colour of Magic is the first in the series, of which there are lots now, and the beginning of a long and very funny journey. As you can see it has b...

Keeping up the daily posting with a classic book which is worth reading What can I say about this book? The master of surreal sci-fi and humourous observation's most famous book, taken from the radio series of the same name and followed by a TV series and movie which are all equally funny. Arthur Dent is about to have his house demolished to make way for a bypass when his friend Ford Prefect takes him off to the pub and reveals that he (Ford) is an alien who is writing for the Galaxy's most popular publication 'The Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy' and has discovered that there is a fleet of Vogon Constructor ships on the way to demolish earth for a hyperspace bypass. Getting off the planet by stowing away on one of the ships with the aid of an electronic 'thumb' Arthur and Ford get through a number of increasingly strange adventures as they seek the meaning of life and basically try to stay alive in order that Arthur doesn't have to go to heaven with...

Still posting too, must be almost a record to keep going so long without a break Had a long day today, so this is posted later than usual, perhaps more about that another time... For now its And the book for today is I love Terry Pratchett, and you may well get a recommendation from his Discworld collection later on in the month, but for now this funny novel co-written by Neil Gaiman is a great one to read if you like stuff that has eternal battles between good and evil, the four other horsemen of the apocalypse and a race to the finish sports car chase along with your wit, wisdom and surreality. Basically the story of an Angel and a Demon who are trying to avert the apocalypse because they are quite happy with things as they are, thank you very much. It has lots of improbable events, along with the real reason the M25 is the world's largest car park. Pratchett is his usual witty self, and Gaiman injects a bit (or a lot) of dark humour too! Not your standard fantasy fare, nor ...

Every now and then you need a bit of internet insanity, and a good laugh, so try will it blend - follow the iphone and bic lighters links to watch the best vids, and it is worth it despite the annoying ad that precedes it... This is not a pay per post or an advert or an endorsement of any kind, just something that made me laugh...

This made me laugh so very very much... Beatbox Fame Game Uploaded by loranger

Another Dave Walker cartoon that seems to say exactly what I might want to say but better than I could say it.

Been way too serious round here lately... Whilst trawling some of the aforementioned blogs I found, at Genesis blog (which is being moved to another site, but will change the link when i get my act together) some funny Jack Bauer stuff... Having got into this whole 24 thing quite late in the process (have watched five seasons worth in the last six months or so) I am just now catching up with the whole Bauer culture - and this made me laugh, quite a lot...

And so very British.... Cartoon by Dave Walker . Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons .