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A road worth travelling
The first autobiographical book I ever read was Corrie Ten Boom’s ‘The Hiding Place’. I was about 15, and I got a lot more than I had bargained for. Corrie Ten Boom and her family were Jews living in Holland during the Second World War. They spent several years living in a cramped hideout in their home, helping many other Jews to hide and escape. Eventually, in 1944, they were discovered, and sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp, where both Corrie’s father and her sister Betsie died. Corrie’s faith in God remained strong; when she was eventually released, she became an evangelist, and travelled extensively, talking about God’s love and his forgiveness. Probably the most well known part of Corrie’s story is one of forgiveness on an almost unimaginable level, when Corrie came face to face with a former concentration camp guard; one who had not only witnessed, but been part of, the pain and humiliation she and her sister had suffered. I’ll let Corrie tell the story.
Tags: Faith, Life, Made me think, Pain, Suffering
The Doctrine of Chubbhander
It feels like something is happening within Christianity right now. A groundswell of the dissatisfied within the Church is rising during our generation, a gathering of Christians eager to question and stretch our faith in order to save it and breathe life back into it. (Phyllis Tickle and others have labelled this “The Great Emergence” - It’s too early to tell if this name will catch on but, if it does, you heard it here first!) The most refreshing thing about this movement is that it feels ok to voice concerns about some aspects of Christianity which have been handed down to us but which don’t feel in sync with Jesus, who He was and what His priorities were. Where in previous generations questioners or doubters may have been labelled troublemakers or heretics, now there is room in many churches for people to be able to say,”I have problems with this. I don’t understand where this has come from. Does anyone else have problems with this? Let’s talk it through.”
Tags: Christianity, Faith, Life, Made me think
The way to happiness…?
I love tea. I love fruit and herb teas - not to say I don’t like the “normal” black tea which has become worldwide known as the UK’s preferred drink at 5pm each day (but that’s another post in itself!). I like to try different flavours - is that the right word? I was introduced to liquorice earlier this year. I love the sweet, have tried the root but didn’t know they did a tea. I find if I’m open-minded when I try different teas it can be an enjoyable experience. I suppose it’s like trying anything new, if I have a preconception about what it’s going to be like there’s a risk of being disappointed. I was pleasantly surprised. I wasn’t sure about liquorice tea - it didn’t have a great appeal to me before but now when I see a pack and need more tea I buy a pack. I have only seen one brand who sell it at the moment (I won’t mention the brand as I’ll have to mention there are numerous other brands of tea available!). This particular brand has a motto or phrase printed on a piece of paper at the end of the string attached to the tea bag - does this have a proper name?...I read them then normally move my focus either onto what I was doing or drinking the tea.
Tags: Community, Life, Made me think
To infinity and beyond
I was loosing some hours on youtube.com last night when I came across a series of video's from Louie Giglio - his name rang a bell. I remember a few people mentioning his name but couldn't remember why so thought I'd sceptically start watching 'Indescribeable'. For the past few weeks I've found it hard to concentrate on things but I couldn't stop watching this - it caught the whole of my attention.
Tags: Faith, Glory, Made me think
Spiritual bandaids
I generally consider myself to be quite a laidback, fairly contented kind of person. But sometimes, I get a little frustrated with where I am at in life. This kind of feeling usually comes about as a result of some work-related issue or incident. You know those days, when work just feels like it is going on forever, and you cannot remember what on earth possessed you to select this career, and you feel like you are just treading water, waiting for something dramatic and exciting to happen, but secretly worrying that it never will. Days like that, all my positive, laidback feelings fly out the window and I can find myself having a little moan. I realise it is not a very mature response. But sometimes it is as much as I can manage. And I can guarantee you that as soon as I start to moan, some nice well-meaning Christian (often my mother) will chirp up with those over-quoted words from Jeremiah 29: “God has good plans for you, Emma, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future”. Yes, I know. I read that verse too. And it is ruining my moan.
Tags: Faith, Finances, Life, Made me think, Suffering
Goodness precedes greatness
I thought I would link up this article simply because I enjoyed it. It was written by Jon Foreman (Switchfoot) for the Huffington Post, an online American publication. Although it doesn't explicitly mention faith it implies it throughout. There is a crazy idea that we are living for more than ourselves, that there is more meaning to this life than most people give it.
Tags: Life, Made me think
Grace in dangerous places
On Monday night I went out for a drink with some friends, one of whom happens to be gay. Brought up in the church and a follower of Christ, albeit in ‘another’ place on his journey at the moment we had some fascinating and revealing discussions about how the church (not just our church) can converse with those in the gay community.
Tags: Christianity, Church, Faith, Hope, Identity, Life, Made me think
Everything Must Go - Jesus Christ Superstore
On Wednesday night at CityGroup we had a great time of worship, teaching and discussion. We began our new mini-series Everything Must Go - The implications of being a missional church. Around candle lit tables we sang, listened and threw out thoughts and questions, all incredibly helpful and challenging stuff. The audio of the talk will not be made available but I hope to be able to capture some of what we looked at here.
Tags: Christianity, Church, Church planting, CityGroup, Community, Faith, Made me think, Preaching, Teaching
My Grandad’s chair
My Grandad always sat in the same chair in his lounge. It was his chair, his cushion beside which was his table sat, upon which he could place his drink, TV remote, newspaper and gold half-moon glasses. The chair would be positioned in the optimum TV viewing position. Centre room, 7ft from the TV and 2ft from the door, that way tea could be taken without any TV sight-line infringement. Nobody touched the chair, not even moved it. In a way I am glad the chair was never moved, who knows what kind of museum dust gathered around the carpet indentations would be revealed underneath.
Tags: Christianity, Church, Church planting, Faith, Made me think
Every leader should watch this
An orchestra conductor faces the ultimate leadership challenge: creating perfect harmony without saying a word. In this charming talk, Itay Talgam demonstrates the unique styles of six great 20th-century conductors, illustrating crucial lessons for all leaders.
Tags: communication, Conferences, Leadership, Made me think, Music, Preaching, Teaching
Me, myself and I
n. identity [ahy-den-ti-tee] The condition of being oneself; The sense of self, providing sameness and continuity in personality over time; The set of behavioural or personal characteristics by which an individual is recognisable as a member of a group; The distinct personality of an individual regarded as a persisting entity. Individuality. Personality. Distinctiveness. Uniqueness. I find it a little tricky to define my identity. It is difficult to pinpoint. My name is Emma. The German meaning for Emma is ‘nurse’ (those who know me may find that amusing). I prefer the Irish meaning, which is ‘whole’ or ‘complete’. I like to think that it means something significant to me, that it is like God’s promise of wholeness and fulfilment in my life. In truth, my mum just liked the sound of the name, and both my parents were nurses when I was born. Hmmm. Maybe my identity cannot be explained too well by just my name.
Tags: Church, Identity, Made me think
The end of poverty begins here
I like being in Belfast city centre. I love it on winter evenings, when I can get all wrapped up, plug in my earphones to music suitable for an urban stroll, pull my hat down over my ears, and walk along in my own little world through the crowds of people. I love Christmas market. I am pretty excited that it will be back in front of the city hall in just a few short weeks, and I can go and spend extortionate amounts of cash on mulled wine, cheese, sliced meats, olives, and all kinds of stuff that I can usually get much cheaper in my local supermarket. I like the atmosphere of the city on those nights; people seem a little friendlier, the world seems a little slower, and the mulled wine always hits the spot.
Tags: Community, Hope, Life, Made me think, Relationship