planted

Some mates & me are going to read through Eugene Peterson's seminal work on pastoral vocation, Under the Unpredictable Plant, over these next few weeks. We'll be blogging some random thoughts here.

I've read the book before, some years ago, and have dipped in here & there since then. It's definitely worth another, sustained read. I'm looking forward to the conversation immensely.

raw material

...get it quite clear in your own mind that this state of falling in love is not, in itself, necessarily favourable either to us or to the other side. It is simply an occasion which we and the Enemy are both trying to exploit. Like most of the other things which humans are excited about, such as health and sickness, age and youth, or war and peace, it is, from the point of view of the spiritual life, mainly raw material.

C S Lewis, The Screwtape Letters, Ch.19

on using twitter

This probably isn't a unique-to-me use of Twitter but I find it useful.

I've set my twitter account to private, so no-one can see what I tweet (I'd never tweeted before anyhow...) and now use it to write little notes to myself about pastoral visits, phone calls etc.

What's the benefit? I can write them up 'on the fly' with my iPod Touch and they stay secure (& confidential) for future reference and are easily accessed before a return visit/call.

Simple. Easy. Useful.

on using illustrations

Craig Barnes makes a solemn point that all preachers know they need to think about. Writing about the use of illustrations he comments,

few things can be more subversive to the point of the biblical text than our efforts at illustrating it.

Been there. Done that. Got the t-shirt. Alas.

By way of contrast, he mentions the use of images (noting along the way that "the Bible has very few illustrations, but it is filled with powerful images"). He writes,

Illustrations tell stories that exemplify the point of the text. Images embody the point.

(The Pastor as Minor Poet, pp.129,130)

lamech's prophecy

He says of his son, Noah (by way of explaining his name),

He will comfort us in the labour and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the LORD has cursed. (Genesis 5:29)

An experiential knowledge of the fall and its consequences. The longing for a redeemer.

These were days when people had begun to call upon the name of the LORD (Genesis 4:26b).

methuselah

The oldest man in the Bible. The son of Enoch, who walked with God. The grandfather of Noah, who found favour with God.

He died, aged 969, in the year of the worldwide flood.

Was his death the 'signal' for the time of judgement to begin? Or was he lost in the flood? We're not told. Speculation isn't helpful.

But the possibilities are sobering.

sound advice

How important is sound? How important is the right sound? Check-out this 5-minute talk.

limits & grace

As a minor poet, the pastor doesn't simply tell people to be satisfied with their limited lives but instead helps them to find the joy and sacred purposes to these limits. Some of the things that are missing from the garden are good and certainly desired. When a couple discovers that they cannot have children, when a spouse is buried, or when a terminal disease is discovered, it isn't helpful for the pastor to point to all of the other blessings in a person's life. What is helpful is for the pastor to walk into the sorrow in search of the sufficient grace of God. Anyone who finds more of the steadfast love of God from which we are never separated has found something far greater than that which is missing from the garden. And it is for that grace that we are most grateful.

M Craig Barnes, The Pastor as Minor Poet, pp.96,97

The missing half

Not infrequently, helpful preachers remind us that 'It's not about you'. Such a reproof can often be timely and needed.

Craig Barnes believes the same. But he fills-out the point by adding, 'You are about it.' And so the point is not simply negative; it has another side that is both affirmative and formative of genuine spiritual maturity, by emphasising reconciled identity.

(see The Pastor as Minor Poet p.69)

'These are the generations...'

It's an interesting phrase and it recurs in Genesis a number of times, at 2:4, 5:1, 6:9; 10:1; 11:10; 11:27; 25:12; 25:19; 36:1; 36:9 & 37:2. The NET Bible notes make the observation that

It is always a heading, introducing the subject matter that is to come. From the starting point of the title, the narrative traces the genealogy or the records or the particulars involved.

They further note that,

The subject matter of each תּוֹלְדֹת (tolÿdot, “this is the account of”) section of the book traces a decline or a deterioration through to the next beginning point, and each is thereby a microcosm of the book which begins with divine blessing in the garden, and ends with a coffin in Egypt.

Yet each decline is not without some spark of hope in divine intervention - thank God.

how should life be seen & approached?

The biblical depiction of life begins with the words 'In the beginning God...' And it ends with a magnificent future that is also created by God. Just about everything in between also testifies to the eternal truth that life is made, redeemed, and certainly blessed by God. It's a gift to be received with humility and gratitude, not an achievement. Most of the biblical narrative for our lives can be seen as the unfolding drama of what happens when we do and do not accept our created identity as males and females made in the image of God, for communion with this Creator.

M. Craig Barnes, The Pastor as Minor Poet, Eerdmans, pp.8,9

fierce

I looked at you
with eyes that, I knew,
shone an intensity
that was fierce;

I shook your hand
with a grip that, I knew,
was not simply firm
but fierce, too;

And I looked,
and I gripped,
because I had no words
fierce enough

for your grief,
and our loss.

the great books (xv) - the screwtape letters

I think The Badger might approve of this one (and I do have to confess to being influenced by him in choosing to pursue more Lewis reading).

I hesitated to include it here because this is ostensibly a list of works of fiction. But what is a mild dilemma for me is, fully and truly, the genius of Lewis. His choice to write about the Christian life and, in particular, the struggle of a Christian to overcome temptation and to be, with Paul, wise to the schemes of Satan, by means of letters from a senior devil to his nephew makes his work rise to a greater height than any straightforward work of theology could have attained.

I've quoted on this blog from it before, here & there. Those excerpts - and they could be multiplied many times over - show an acuteness of insight that regularly leaves me speechless with admiration and sombre in reflection. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

And if The Caped Marauder (sorry, The Masked Badger) and I ever get around to posting a list of theological works, I daresay it will appear there too.

Deservedly.

'tis the season

for beta testing. Hot on the heels of taking part in the Laridian beta testing of the NET Bible & Notes, I've been accepted to beta test BibleMesh over the next few weeks.

BibleMesh? Have a look (at the bottom of the page you'll see the Sneak Preview option).

We'll see how it shapes up, I guess.

moments of the year 5

We were driving along, rushing to pick Iola up from school. Radio 2 was on in the car and it was the non-stop oldies at 3pm. Suddenly Anna says. 'Whos' that? He's got a nice voice.' It was The Smiths singing This Charming Man. She felt there was something authentic about him.

I think that has to be my most astonishing moment of the year.

moments of the year 4

For the most chilled moment of the year I'm nominating the few minutes we spent in the Will Neal exhibition at The Mill On The Fleet, back in August.

Will abstract paintings were perfectly complemented by some ambient music and the whole thing was just a few moments of deep relaxation.

Wonderful.

moments of the year 3

I don't suppose this counts as a 'moment', stictly speaking; more of an 'app' of the year, but I can't help but mention Spotify (again).

It's just a great, great way to access and listen to music. It's been a treat to be able to hear long-forgotten favourites, discover new ones and just generally have a ball. Music to suit any taste and every occasion.

All they need to do now is get the full Yoko Ono back catalogue on there & it's 'job done'.

If you're a photographer

but not yet David Bailey, these tips look good.

mutual subjection

Mutual subjection is God's way of nurturing harmony in a discordant world, unity in broken relationships, healing in a sick society and love in a divided church. it is applicable to imperfect people - like you and me - who belong to imperfect families, work imperfect jobs, participate in imperfect organisations, belong to imperfect churches and live in an imperfect world. It shows us how to function in communities that have tension and conflict running through them. It addresses people who are not married to the ideal spouse, who are not parents of ideal children, who are not members of ideal churches, and who do not have ideal jobs, colleagues and bosses. Mutual submission takes the world as it is, not as we want or expect it to be. It requires us to surrender ourselves to God, discerning how we can do his will in circumstances that are less than ideal.

Gerald Sittser, Love One Another, IVP, p.38 (my emphasis)

Advent Oratorio

Tom Wright and Paul Spicer some years back produced an Easter Oratorio. They have now followed it up with an Advent Oratorio (but note that Advent here primarily focusses on the commencement of Jesus' public ministry and his return in glory; 'Christmas' as such is not really in view).

You can read the full libretto here; by way of a taster, here is the opening chorus:

When the deaf hear the song of the new-born swan
and the lame go dancing on gold;
When the pauper raises his cheerful glass,
And the blind exclaim at the bright green grass,
And the hills bow down for the Lamb to pass,
Then the tale will at last be told.

It‟s a tale of a world put right at last,
it‟s the news of justice done;
It‟s the story the dead are eager to learn,
it‟s the song of the hedgerow, the stream and the fern,
it‟s the whisper of a long-lost Lord‟s return,
Of heaven and earth made one.

When the axe is laid to the root of the tree
(As the Baptist saw long ago);
When the greedy are blamed, and the violent tamed,
and the liars are named and the lustful ashamed,
and the rights of the poor are at last proclaimed,
Then the River of Life will flow.

And the Tree will grow its healing leaves,
and the Advent bell will ring;
And the stars will sparkle their glad applause,
and the seas will lend their voice to the cause,
while the angels unlock the ancient doors,
To welcome the coming King.