URBANarmy

It was a little disconcerting to see Bethan do so well in the role as a saboteur on CBBC's new Friday evening programme - Trapped. We cheered her on as she lied and cheated her way to the final, dumping her friends as she went!! Is this what our parenting has produced!? Oh well - it was good fun!

Leader of The Salvation Army in Pakistan murdered. More news here and here

There is something new in my life. Faith House. A Salvation Army presence trying to bring something of the cohesion of the Kingdom to the chaos of Kings Cross. Kings Cross is pretty much as inner city as it gets. The kind of place that people tend to travel through, pretty quickly. Spend time there and you'll soon see all the tale tell signs of fragmentation, obvious, in your face, hardly hidden as commuters rush to their semi detaches in the home counties. It is said that the name would strike fear into prospective Salvation Officers who would declare "Any Cross but Kings Cross!!!" . Within a five minute walk from Kings Cross all the issues of a broken community easily ignored and forgotten were there to be seen. The hopeful girl looking for business, furtive glances of possibly a dealer, angry exchanges, aimless loneliness, homelessness. There is something new in my life. Faith House. A Salvation Army presence trying to bring something of the cohesion of the Kingdom to...

Lectio -Read the passage slowly several times. Meditatio - Reflect on the text of the passage, thinking about how to apply to one's own life. Oratio - Respond to the passage by opening the heart to God. Contemplatio - Opening our mind, heart and soul to the influence of God Take time to read through the account slowly- possibly 2 or 3 times, then... Identify what 'shimmers' for you? Where is your focus drawn in the account ? What for you is the main point? What is your point of contemplation? Which word or phrase has touched your heart? What have you "heard" or "seen"? Only one rule - remember that this isn't a bible study more a place of contemplation of scripture, so read comments with respect and be released from needing to respond to someone else's comment. Proper 20, Year C Luke 16:1-13 The Parable of the Dishonest Manager 16Then Jesus said to the disciples, ‘There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this m...

What are the three social evils facing society today? This survey might be interesting.

I have grown tired of being provoked by narrowness of thought that lacks context beyond that of favoured, well tested quotes and proof texts The Rubicon team have asked me to blog weekly for a new feature. Here are my opening lines... I’ve just opened my email box to a ‘blanket’ barrage of Booth and Railton proof quotes, underpinning a message of ‘encouragement’ to do more. Links to sites to encourage me to ‘really’ understand the Great Commission, to truly know what it is to evangelise, telling me how inept I have been, how misguided, how I have compromised the gospel and my calling. Although bereft of context, to try and gain what the author intended, I’ve given the opinion respect and read the email. I feel great having started the day dosed up with some good ol’ ‘black and white’ uncompromising judgement and opinion. The Rubicon team has asked me to contribute to– the Rubi-blog, ‘we want something pithy, provocative, and controversial’; ironically I’ve said yes. Ironic because I h...

I don't think any church has ever been relevant to culture, to the human struggle, unless it believed in Jesus and the power of His gospel. Another Blue like Jazz highlight... A friend of mine, a young pastor who recently started a church, talks to me from time to time about the new face of church in America-about the postmodern church. He says the new church will be different from the old one, that we will be relevant to culture and the human struggle. I don't think any church has ever been relevant to culture, to the human struggle, unless it believed in Jesus and the power of His gospel. If the supposed new church believes in trendy music and cool Web pages, then it is not relevant to culture either. It is just another tool of Satan to get people to be passionate about nothing. pp 111 Miller, D (2003) Blue like Jazz - Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality I have this idea buzzing around my head that the shame of the church is that it is less and less able to share ...

simpsonizeme is a bit of mindless fun! This is me as a Simpson character!

It was good to sit with Rick as he drank two cups of tea - he finished his and started on mine. It was a bit of a busy start to the day. I had two guest speakers coming to talk about the 'Mission Development Plan' that TSA in the UK encourages its churches to work through. Before anyone gets excited and writes asking for a copy it is essentially not as exciting as its title. The phone went and it was reception, I ran down the stairs to meet the guests but Keith nodded in the direction of Rick. "It's not who you thought it was .. but can you help....!". Rick is quite obviously a man of the road. His long matted hair and beard smother his face, but his eyes look hopeful and kind. We chat and I find out a little of Rick's life. Rick is going back to Australia in 5 weeks, but in the meantime he is living in the park. He hasn't had a hot meal for 5 weeks and is pretty hungry. I'm loath to give tins to guys likely to cook the tins up on a fire. My memory o...

I've a growing fascination with the message churches portray with their posters or 'roadside pulpits'. You know the phrases we throw like incendiary devices into our communities in order to cajole, entice people. We are ordinary people trying to change the world. Join us. There is one church on the way to Thornton Heath in London that has a black 15 foot board outside their church declaring about the 'wages of sin etc...' . I should try and get a shot of it the next time I pass. I sometimes try and imagine the inevitable church council meeting that came up with the decision of what to put on the board .... "this'll get 'em" . I'm probably being really unfair and have really misjudged the church, the sad thing so have- I would suggest - the 100's even 1000's of people that pass that church probably every hour. Perhaps the eden project are on to something.

Reprise from yesterday!

Lectio -Read the passage slowly several times. Meditatio - Reflect on the text of the passage, thinking about how to apply to one's own life. Oratio - Respond to the passage by opening the heart to God. Contemplatio - Opening our mind, heart and soul to the influence of God Proper 17, Year C Take time to read through the account slowly- possibly 2 or 3 times, then... Identify what 'shimmers' for you? Where is your focus drawn in the account ? What for you is the main point? What is your point of contemplation? Which word or phrase has touched your heart? What have you "heard" or "seen"? Only one rule - remember that this isn't a bible study more a place of contemplation of scripture, so read comments with respect and be released from needing to respond to someone else's comment. Luke 14:1- 14 Jesus Heals the Man with Dropsy 14 On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the sabbath, they were...

I don't know who has been more nervous!

Okay there was some sun (3 days) , here's the view from our tent.

This was a quick read, a welcome break from some heavier stuff I am trying to get my head around. Nevertheless there were some highlights... They felt like they had to sell God, as if He were soap or a vacuum cleaner, and it's like they really weren't listening to me; they didn't care, they just wanted me to buy their product. The thing I loved about Nadine was that I never felt like she was selling anything. She would talk about God as if she knew Him, as if she had talked to Him on the phone that day. She- was never ashamed, which is the thing with some Christians I had encountered. They felt like they had to sell God, as if He were soap or a vacuum cleaner, and it's like they really weren't listening to me; they didn't care, they just wanted me to buy their product. I came to realize that I had judged all Christians on the personalities of a few. That was frightening for me, too, because it had been so easy just to dismiss Christians as nuts, but here was Nad...