Ash Wednesday Reflections

I’ve been listening to Pray As You Go which is put out by the British Jesuits. It’s a podcast of guided prayer/reflection/meditation that lasts for about 10 minutes. Normally I’m reasonably sporadic in my listening although my Spiritual Director has encouraged me to try and be a little bit more disciplined.
This morning I listened to [...]

Guys/Girls nights

We’re going to trial a guys and girls night once a month at Loam over the next little while. I know of a few other missional communities that have them and I think they could be a helpful discipleship tool for us.
We don’t have a strong culture of accountable relationships outside of the depth of [...]

Loam experiments

At Loam we’ve been chatting for a while about how we might have a worship gathering that was more inclusive while at the same time continue to meet in such a way that those in the core are nourished and challenged. There have been all kinds of thinking, many different options and ideas but we’ve [...]

Olympic Dreams

Watching the Olympics these last few days I’ve been struck by how much our culture idolises athletes and sporting acheivement. I’m as keen on sport as the next guy but I’m wondering if this is one of our cultural blind spots.
Surely issues of justice are raised when we spend millions (maybe billions?) on the [...]

Shaped by our communities

I was reading a post called Ecclesial Dreamer on the Money over at Backyard Missionary earlier today and they are having a great discussion about issues such as what makes a ‘good’ church and why churches should be counter cultural, but what really caught my eye was a comment about how our communities shape us.
Hamo [...]

Cut to the Chase – Lee Jackson, Baz Gascoyne & Friends

When I arrived in Hamilton I saw this book on my friend Bruach’s shelf behind the bar in his bar. It took me a couple of days to churn through it and I have to say it was pretty good. I’m usually pretty harsh on Christian books, mostly I find I’m just reading a lot [...]

Whose standards do we seek to hold each other to?

I’ve been thinking a lot about the fact that people are at different points in their journey towards Jesus. Even people I have similar values to will make different decisions to me at times. But I have noticed a tendency for us to be frustrated when people don’t meet the standards we have for ourselves.
I [...]

we can.Be – Who Says?

I flogged this from we can.be but now can’t find the original link.
You say: “Nobody really loves me”
God says: I love you
(John 3:1 6 & John 3:34)
You say: “I feel all alone”
God says: I will never forsake you
(Hebrews 13:5)
You say: “I’m afraid”
God says: Don’t have a spirit of fear
(II Timothy 1:7)
You say: “I’m always worried”
God [...]

Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams critique of the use of violence.

The archbishop also criticised the use of violence as a political solution. He said it could too easily be “a quick discharge of frustration. It serves you. It does not serve the situation. Wherever people turn to violence what they do is temporarily release themselves from some sort of problem, but they help no one [...]

NT Wright – Emperors and Angels – A Reflection On Christmas

Isaiah 9.2–7; Luke 2.1–20a sermon at the Midnight Eucharist, Christmas Eve 2006
by the Bishop of Durham, Dr N. T. Wright
Sing a song of Christmas, of emperors and angels;
Sing a song of Christmas, of darkness now past;
Sing a song of starlight, of shepherds and of mangers;
Sing a song of Jesus, of peace come at last.
And don’t [...]