on study leave & reading books...

This week is study leave for me. Over the past few months I decided I'd like to look at the topic of transformation - how people change, how they grow to spiritual maturity. To help me with that, I've chosen a number of conversation partners (otherwise known as 'books') and in a variety of forms:


You Can Change - Tim Chester (online edition)
Virute Reborn - Tom Wright (paperback)
Pastoral Ministry According to Paul - James Thompson (Kindle ebook)
Inside Out - Larry Crabb (Kindle ebook)
Practise Resurrection - Eugene Peterson (paperback)


To help me work through them, I'm using Todoist - I've set-up a project category called Books I'm Reading (fairly obvious, huh!) and added each book as a task in that project, with each chapter listed as a sub-task. As each chapter is read, so it gets ticked as 'done'; when all sub-tasks are done, the book is read.


(The project list also has other books I'm currently reading - my brain will frazzle soon)


You'll notice that I'm reading in a variety of forms - online, ebook and good old paper. That's only semi-intentional - I bought the ebooks largely due to easy availability and price. I can also add notes to them, which is helpful for a study week. And it means, via the iPod, that I can take them with me should I choose to study other than at home, without being weighed down by too many physical books.


Will I get through all I'd like to in this week? Will Todoist help? And will I tire of reading Kindle books on the PC & the iPod and order a proper Kindle? Only time will tell...

the great albums (ix) - 461 ocean boulevard

Some albums are 'great' because they break new ground, musically or lyrically. Others are 'great' because they represent some kind of pinnacle. Others are 'great' simply because they do what they do with aplomb and are just a huge bundle of enjoyment, wrapped in one small package. Eric Clapton's 1974 461 Ocean Boulevard is, for me, one of those bundles.

A great mix of styles, mainly rooted in the blues, and some fine, fine playing (as expected but nevertheless welcome). It doesn't make any grand statement, other than the sheer delight of music itself.

Which is probably enough.

If you want a real treat, pair it with Slowhand in a playlist and you've got a perfect combo.

blood types & personality

Here's an interesting article, on the relationship between blood type and personality.

If you know your blood type, does it match-up?

judee sill: the kiss (OGWT)

the great albums viii - tapestry

Carole King's masterpiece, Tapestry, is my next choice on this road of reminiscences. My own history with the album goes back to college days in 84/85 but the album itself dates from '71.


King was an already-noted songwriter when this album appeared but this was something else - the writer singing her own material. And doing it with great success.


It gets off to a fairly lacklustre start (I Feel The Earth Move was never one of my favourites) but after that it's chock-full of great songs. So Far Away was a signature song for a young lady & I, longer ago than I care to remember; You've Got A Friend is a standard and Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? a masterpiece.

Listening to this album, for me, is probably the equivalent of comfort-eating, but don't we all need some of that? Warm, honest and with the aroma of freshly-baked bread. Pour me a glass of chardonnay and we'll be fine.


The spotify link is to a 'legacy edition' album - the original ended at track 12.

bartimaeus as exemplar

Mark's gospel regularly handles the issues of discipleship - what it means to follow Jesus, truly and faithfully. And the disciples regularly get it wrong.

At the close of a lengthy section in his gospel, Mark presents us with the account of the healing of Bartimaeus. Physical blindness has already been used in this gospel as a pointer towards the spiritual myopeia of the 12. And now, it seems, Bartimaeus is held up as an exemplar of the kind of faith disciples ought to display:

he asks (cf. 9:28f - the disciples seem not to have been prayerful)
he asks for mercy (cf. 10:37 - James & John seek honour)
he persists
he has the highest view of Jesus ('Son of David')
his focus is on his fundamental need (he needs his sight; the disciples look for greatness - 9:34)
he honours God's power to do the hardest thing (his sight)
he follows Jesus on the way, the way that leads to a cross (cf. 10:32, the disciples' astonishment on the way)

frumptarn guggenband

We were at the Shepley Folk Festival today and noticed a brightly-clad group of musicians passing by, with a terrific assortment of instruments between them. They seemed to go by the name of Frumptarn Guggenband. We set to discussing where they were from. Germany? Not sure, said the wife (she was unsure because of the 'umpt'). Well, maybe Austria I suggested. We asked one of the organisers of the festival (one of Iola's teachers, as it happens).


Well, they come from Barnsley - they come 'frump tarn' ('from town') and play Guggen music - not quite oompah; a collection of professionals and more rough players (I take it she meant their musical abilities).


Anyway, you can read about them here.

if you twitter

you might notice I've added a link on this blog to my twitter stuff - it ain't much, it won't ever amount to much, but fwiw it's there.

not sure

what all the fuss is over Stieg Larsson's series of novels. All I know is he died before achieving fame, which isn't much to go on. But the Kindle version of the first novel, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was on sale for under $5 so I decided to check it out for myself.

grisham: ford county stories

A collection of short stories by a man best known for his legal thrillers, Ford County Stories is an enjoyable read that won't tax your brain too much but will occasionally give you pause for thought. The first story is further proof that John Grisham is no mean comedy writer; the second tale then ups the ante with its closing account of an execution. The other stories make for pleasant reading - he's never an author who makes unreasonable demands on his readers. The closer makes a neccessary point about discrimination, with the emphasis on sadness rather than sharpness.

the transformation of a ministry

Very interesting interview on Out of Ur with Francis Chan.

emmylou harris: pancho & lefty (OGWT 1977)

don't remove the poetry

There's a beauty to imperfection. This is the essence of the Japanese principle of wahi-sabi. Wahi-sabi values character and uniqueness over a shiny facade. It teaches that cracks and scratches in things should be embraced. It's also about simplicity. You strip things down then use what you have. Leonard Koren, author of a book on wahi-sabi, gives this advice: Pare down to the essence but don't remove the poetry. Keep things clean and unencumbered but don't sterilize.

Fried & Hansson, p.182

gifts & the giver: an integrated life

For me, this post by Doug Wilson hits many nails on many heads - the importance of the physical, the resurrection, enjoying God via the gifts he gives and so on.

And the comment about glorified saints being difficult to shop for would be worth the price of the article, were the author charging for it.

social media: questions, but no answers

christians & guilt

A really helpful piece by Kevin DeYoung.

Here's a taster:

2. Christians tend to motivate each other by guilt rather than grace. Instead of urging our fellow believers to be who they are in Christ, we command them to do more for Christ (see Rom. 6:5-14 for the proper motivation). So we see Christlikeness as something we are royally screwing up, when we should it as something we already possess but need to grow into.

what's going on here?

becoming a christian

Asked about his conversion and if he found Christians he admired, Tim Keller responds very interestingly,

I saw a small group of people. They seemed thoughtful. You have to have a group of people who embody the kind of Christian you would be if you became a Christian. You say, "These are people like me, or people I would like to be like," and, "I see how their Christianity plays a role in their life so I can start to envy that role and maybe I would like to have it too.

I find that a fascinating insight - and an important one for the church. Of course, it's not a rule. But I do think it's a helpful observation.

david powlison on god's sovereignty in suffering

Especially helpful talk on suffering. Worth sharing as widely as you can.



HT: Justin Taylor

keller: justification & justice

From Out of Ur's report of a talk given by Tim Keller on the topic of justification & justice:

As Keller describes them, the justification people are all about justification by faith alone. Only after being justified can a person live as he/she ought to live. While Keller was in full agreement with this doctrine, he said the unfortunate implication for many of the justification people is the belief that "we are mainly here to do evangelism" and they view "justice as a distraction."
The justice people, on the other hand, tend to downplay or completely ignore the doctrine of justification by faith. Instead they can focus on language about "defeating the powers" or seeking the renewal of communities. Also good ideas, but not if justification is lost in the mix.
Keller believes this rift between justification and justice is completely unbiblical. "Justice and justification," he said, "are joined at the hip. They are a seamless cloth."

Worth pondering.