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The phenomenon of wow
phenomenon • noun (pl. phenomena) 1 a fact or situation that is observed to exist or happen, especially one whose cause is in question. 2 Philosophy the object of a person’s perception. 3 a remarkable person or thing. ORIGIN Greek phainomenon ‘thing appearing to view’. wow informal • exclamation (also wowee) expressing astonishment or admiration. • noun a sensational success. • verb impress and excite greatly. Jesus spoke incendiary truths and did explosive things. He identified the elements of his culture that were contrary to the scandalous message of grace. He would then take them down, not with complex arguments and weighty discourse but with simple acts, mind bending stories, displays of deity and outrageously phenomenal statements. His audiences were told to love the people they hated the most, lay down their stones and leave the adulterous woman alone and touch those who would make them ‘unclean’. They were amazed by a man who would destroy the temple, the very thing that gave them identity as a people. They were perplexed by this Jesus who claimed to be the sibling of Yahweh and then told them He was also The I AM.
Tags: Christianity, Glory, Life
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
Put your hands in the air stand up sit down sing a song say hello turn around
Some time ago I was invited to go and watch the Belfast Giants play ice hockey. For an ice hockey virgin stepping into the home of the Giants, the Odyssey arena, was to say the least, otherworldly. I only have two ice rink sports based memories the first is of Torville and Dean in theatrical dress dancing and throwing each other around and getting all upset. The other is of the Slovak professional ice hockey player Miroslav Satan at the 1994 Winter Olympic Games. As young geeky evangelical pastors kids we had endless minutes of fun with this (a geek of course being a word derived from 18th century circus performers who bit heads off chickens, but that's another story) the thought of Satan playing ice hockey in hell was soon put to bed by the obvious temperature disadvantage that exists there. Although, as I was fast learning, watching the game, for some, may of course be used as a very successful form of eternal punishment.
The dependency of a child
Recently some friends of mine gave birth to a beautiful baby boy and it is so amazing to see how close he is to his parents. He cries and he is tended to, he is hungry and is fed. Even when he lies still in his slumber, his family looks on adoringly, waiting until he stirs and they can step back in to the roles they were given. In contrast, when we look to the ‘animal kingdom’ we see that most mammals after being born are up onto shaky legs and searching for their food. Insects, reptiles and the like, are almost fully self sufficient as soon as they are born. Looking back nostalgically to primary school and learning about the food chain and which animals eat which, to gain position. We learnt that human beings are at the top and every animal is below us. Thus making mankind the dominant species on Earth.
Tags: Christianity, Faith, Life
Accosted by Christians
So, this is a narrative, kind of, about something that actually happened to me, but I couldn’t just tell it. I think I might turn this into a short play, but I secretly hate having things be about me. I feel like it’s self centered...anyway, here goes... Upon entering a street in central Belfast I see 2 men with a small table with what appears to be books on it. My first thought is are they JW’s?, second thought are they Mormon’s?, third thought are they Christians? I had seen their counterparts before, 2 women, long skirts, same table, same books. I kept walking. I had things to do. My thoughts got the better of me...
Tags: Christianity, communication, Identity
Where has all the trust gone?
Have you noticed recently a big question that’s hidden in the headlines of so many journals and newspapers around the globe “Where has all the trust gone?”. I was recently stirred and provoked to think about this question when I read a business article published by the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM), called “The Truth About Trust”. It caught my attention and in an extraordinary way refreshed my thoughts on ones perspective of life in the business world and reminded me of the reality of the world that we live in but even more so what my world would be like without God in the centre - without a God whom I trust with my whole life and whom I believe holds the times and the seasons of life in the palm of His hands.
Tags: Christianity, Faith, Hope, Work, Workplace
Tags: Christianity, Church, Church planting, CityGroup, communication, Community
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
Interview with Pastor Scott Thomas
Pastor Scott Thomas is Director of the Acts 29 church planting network and serves with Mark Driscoll as an Elder at Mars Hill Church, Seattle. Acts 29 have seen numerous churches planted throughout America and the world. It was a tremendous privilege to be able to host Pastor Scott at Redeemer Central on Sunday 4th October. After Scott spoke David Capener grabbed a few minutes with him to ask him some questions - Watch the interview here.
Tags: Audio, Belfast, Christianity, Church, Church planting, Newfrontiers, Video
3inOne
Last night at CityGroup I gave the second talk in the series Redeemer:Values - This is who we are The talk included a lot of scripture references and quotes - So, if you are interested, you can read my sermon notes. They are unedited, unformatted, uncut, rough and ready.
Tags: Bible, Christianity, Church, Church planting, CityGroup, Community, Teaching, Trinity
Like a cricket ball in the head
Ok. Here’s a thing. It's a kind of secret thing, but not for much longer. Secrets are not best kept on a website that has had over 1500 visits in the last few weeks. Here it is, you see, one of my favorite films is the 1939 adaptation of the L Frank Baum book 'The Wizard of Oz'. Even better is the book which I recently read to my 7 year old daughter. Towards the end of the book, after meeting the big angry green fake remote control wizard (you remember, right?) Dorothy and her band of imaginary and maybe-not-really-believable friends head homeward bound to Kansas. On their way they meet a wall over which they climb to find themselves in a miniature city made entirely of china. Here’s what happens.
Tags: Christianity, Church, Church planting, Made me think