jeanette winterson: on poetry

A poem is an act of memory. Poetry was first forged out of the need to remember what would otherwise be forgotten – in an oral tradition record-keeping is an art, not an act of administration.

You can read the whole piece here.

nichole nordeman: brave

Brave is a gently rocky, poppish album with some lyrical depth & substance. You might want to give it a listen.

george herbert: the call

Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life!
Such a Way as gives us breath,
Such a Truth as ends all strife,
Such a Life as killeth death.


Come, my Light, my Feast, my Strength!
Such a Light as shows a feast,
Such a Feast as mends in length,
Such a Strength as makes his guest.


Come my Joy, my Love, my Heart!
Such a Joy as none can move,
Such a Love as none can part,
Such a Heart as joyes in love.

friday night spotify: sound affects

The Jam's penultimate album and from the height of their popularity and prowess. The only shame is it didn't include the single, Going Underground, from a few months earlier - possibly their best moment ever.

powerpoint is dangerous

This article is an interesting read, but for more than just its comments on powerpoint. It was commented that it is dangerous "because it can create the illusion of understanding and the illusion of control...Some problems in the world are not bullet-izable." And the problem with bullet lists is that they "take no account of interconnected political, economic and ethnic forces."

I think that's also a salient warning against bulletized theology. We want to be in control but grasping after it we fail to see the problem for what it really is, we miss the connections that would make us pastorally more helpful to others. We forget that life is too complex for neat solutions, even biblical ones.

sons of korah: psalm 23

keller: on proverbs

More from the 'pen' of Tim Keller on handling the book of Proverbs.


I especially appreciate his emphasis on the cumulative interpretation of Proverbs - without that, the understanding and application of material from Proverbs can be very two dimensional.


He also writes helpfully on a way to discern and appropriate the riches of Proverbs: in community with others.

ferguson: on grace

A (brief) interview with Sinclair Ferguson on the topic of his new book: grace.

a flavour of koester

This small extract might give some idea of why I'm enjoying Koester's work on the theology of John's gospel. In many ways it's the perfect complement to Riddderbos' theological commentary.

The prologue sets the ministry of Jesus in a cosmic framework. The narrative that follows will tell of Jesus encountering people in Galilee, Samaria and Jerusalem. But in light of the prologue readers can see that the story of Jesus encountering particular people is also the story of God engaging the world. Note that the prologue does not offer a complete summary of the Gospel.Its themes of belief and unbelief, the world, glory and truth are played out at length, but the passion and resurrection remain implicit. Rather than actually telling the whole story, the prologue establishes a perspective on the whole story. It gives readers a transcendent vantage point, enabling them to see things about Jesus that are hidden from the people described in the Gospel. Readers know of Jesus' heavenly origin at the outset, and from that perspective can chart a course through the debates and misunderstandings that emerge during his ministry.

Craig Koester, The Word of Life: A Theology of John's Gospel

lions!

I can't remember where I saw this but it's a great line:

If you’re getting chased by a lion, you don’t need to run faster than the lion, just the people running with you.

(TIC)

the end of the line

A bus with the printed destination, 'Nowhere'? A coffin with the slogan, 'Too fast to live, too young to die'? It can only be the funeral of Malcolm McLaren.

divorce & remarriage

I think we all realise it's a tricky subject, biblically-speaking (& otherwise, too). Dick France has, imo, given a great summary of the subject in his little commentary on Mark in the People's Bible Commentary series (it qualifies as being termed 'little' when you compare it to his huge tome in the NIGTC series).


Commenting on Mark 10:10-12, he says:

"Mark therefore offers us an unqualified and total rejection of divorce by Jesus. Marriage is 'till death us do part.' But divorces do in fact happen, and Moses had already provided legislation to deal with what follows from a divorce. Are we then to say that Moses was wrong even to countenance the possibility? According to Jesus he provided for divorce 'because of your hardness of heart' - and human hearts are still hard, and marriages do break down. Should those who follow Jesus simply close their eyes to this reality? Or should they sadly accept that Jesus' ideal teaching, wonderful as it is, simply does not fit the way things are?


There is a way between these two extremes, but it is a difficult one to define and to practise without inconsistency. It is to insist both that God's standard is absolute and that divorce can never be good, and also that in a world which is characterized by human weakness and failure it must be possible to find ways of coping with a broken marriage (as Moses found that he had to). In that case divorce and remarriage, while it can never be good, may be the least bad of the options available. It may thus be the right thing to do in the circumstances, but can never cease to be a cause for regret and sorrow that God's standard for marriage has been violated."

(page 133)

koester: the theology of john's gospel

I can't speak highly enough of the Kindle app's sample chapter facility (I know you know that, faithful reader). There are times when it really comes into its own and here's another instance:

Having read a review of Craig Koester's The Word of Life: A Theology of John's Gospel, I downloaded the Kindle sample and will shortly be making my way over to the Kindle store to get the full book - it's a wonderfully promising read: richly suggestive, very well-written (not the least of my considerations) and illuminating.


The price will work-out the same as getting a paperback copy ordered but I'm at least as happy to have a book like this in electronic form. And to have it in a jiffy, rather than a jiffy bag.

paul's theology

Tom Wright (according to Michael Gorman) has suggested that Paul's theology is a

"christologically re-shaped and pneumatologically re-energized Jewish monotheism."

Seems good to me.

gentle; uplifting; healing

is the album, The Breaking of the Dawn, by Fernando Ortega.


You'll not regret giving it a listen.

mark dever's advice to pastors

Your main job - in order to reach the world for Christ - is to know God yourself, to know his Word, to faithfully preach and teach that Word to your people and, so, be used by God to create a community that does far more than you can ever do just by a cleverly-planned service - you know, the people that I preach to every Sunday are going to see far more non-Christians than we could ever fit in our building, so if I can equip them, if we can create a culture of evangelism where we're not trying to have an event that draws non-Christians to our gathering....

(And there the tape ran-out - argh!!)

themelios 35-1

Here ya go.


Public Service Post No.329

the great albums (vi) - on the beach

One of the hardest things about this list has been which Neil Young album to put on it - maybe I ought to just give in and fill it with his work? This could easily be After The Goldrush, Harvest, Comes A Time, Rust Never Sleeps, Freedom, Sleeps With Angels and so on. Even something like Landing On Water is impressive, despite coming during one of his leaner decades.


Anyway, I've opted for On The Beach. Released after the nightmare recording of Tonight's The Night (which still awaited release) and the events that birthed it, this album still sounds desperately sad and cynical, and yet it does have notes of optimism, buried deep under its weight of sorrow and anger. Well, maybe optimism is too much to claim - perhaps the defiance that preceeds optimism is about as far as the album can go. But at least he was back to caring enough to defy.

The world is turning
I hope it don't turn away

Some lovely guitar work, too. What's not to like about it?

how transformation occurs...

Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort provided by love, any fellowship in the Spirit, any affection or mercy, complete my joy and be of the same mind...
continue working out your salvation with awe and reverence, for the one bringing forth in you both the desire and the effort – for the sake of his good pleasure – is God.

Philippians 2:1,2; 12,13

depeche mode: violator

I remember their arrival onto the New Romantic/synth pop scene of 1981; they were duly poppy and synthy. Then Vince Clarke left (for the glories of Yazoo) and, whilst they continued to figure in the charts, I never took them seriously. Then it sounded like they went all dark and strange and - well, who needs that?


But they've lasted and often to great acclaim. So I've decided to give a listen to one of their most vaunted albums, Violator.


And I have to say it's rather good - yes, dark & strange it is but with a certain something that demands a more sustained hearing.

But their own original version of Personal Jesus isn't a patch on Johnny Cash's version.