on the church, active & passive

As we let Paul form our understanding of what goes on in church, what strikes us is that the church is primarily the action of God in Christ through the Spirit. God and Jesus are the subject of nine active verbs that tell us what is going on in church: Jesus is our peace (Eph. 2:14), he made us one (v.14), he broke down the dividing wall of hostility (v.14), he abolished the law (v.15), he created one new humanity (v.15), he made peace (v.15), he reconciled (v.16), he put to death (v.16), he proclaimed peace (v.17).

And insofar as we are included in the action, the action is not something that we do but something done to us. Paul uses five passive verbs to tell us how we get included in the action: we are brought near (v.13), the Spirit gives us access (v.18), we are built upon the foundation (v.20), we are joined together (v.21), we are built together (v.22). Simple copulas name the identities that we acquire by God's action, We are identified as citizens and members of the church. When we are pulled into the action, it is God who pulls us in. We acquire our identity not by what we do but by what is done to us.

Eugene H. Peterson, Practise Resurrection, p.117

the great albums (x) - pet sounds

It's a brilliantly sunny summer's day, with just the faintest breeze, cooling you enough to stay on the beach. All is relaxed and life is as good as you'd ever hoped it could be. But, slowly, and almost without being noticed, the clouds begin to gather, away on the horizon and slowly invade what was unbroken blue above you. The faint breeze strengthens and the clouds darken; the threat of rain is not empty words. And you know that life will never be so simple again.


The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds is everything you ever heard it was. And probably more.

a fresh translation

Actually, the NRSV isn't all that fresh now, in the sense of being newly-done. But its handling of 'that we may walk in them' (good works) in Ephesians 2:10 struck me in a fresh way:

"For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life."

on acquired passivity

Grace originates in an act of God that is absolutely without precedent, the generous, sacrificial self-giving of Jesus that makes it possible for us to participate in resurrection maturity. It is not what we do; it is what we participate in. But we cannot participate apart from a willed passivity, entering into and giving ourselves up to what is previous to us, the presence and action of God in Christ that is other than us. Such passivity does not come easy to us. It must be acquired.

Eugene H. Peterson, Practise Resurrection, p.95

on the sentence that is ephesians 1:3-14

Who can resist this marvellous, tumbling cataract of poetry that introduces us to the vast and intricate complexities of this world in which we live? Not many. Paul is playful, extragant and totally engaging as he tells us what is going on in this God-created, Christ-saved, Spirit-blessed world into which we have been born and are now growing up. This is no small, cramped world in which we live from hand to mouth. The horizons are vast. The heavens are high. The oceans are deep. We have elbow room to spare.

The sheer size, the staggering largeness, of the world into which God calls us, its multi-dimensional spaciousness, must not be reduced to dimensions that we are cosily comfortable with. Paul does his best to prevent us from reducing it. Sin shrinks our imaginations. Paul stretches us. He counters with holy poetry. If we calculate the nature of the world by what we can manage or explain, we end up living in a very small world. If we are going to grow to the mature stature of Christ, we need conditions favourable to it. We need room. The Ephesian letter gives us room, dimensions deep and wide. Ephesians plunges us into ocean deeps, and we come up gasping for air. This is going to take some getting used to.

Eugene H. Peterson, Practise Resurrection, p.54

on truly hating sin and not just its consequences

A man who only opposes the sin in his heart for fear of shame among men or eternal punishment from God would practice the sin if there was no punishment attending it. How does this differ from living in the the practice of the sin? Those who belong to Christ, and are obedient to the Word of God, have the death of Christ, the love of God, the detestable nature of sin, the preciousness of communion with God, and a deep-rooted hatred of sin as sin to oppose to all the working of lust in their hearts.

John Owen (quoted in Tim Chester You Can Change, p.126)

on the ascension

Knowing this [the ascension of Jesus], with the knowiug elaborated and deepened in worship, the church has the neccesary room to live robustly under the conditions of resurrection. If we don't know this, the church, its imagination conditioned by death and the devil, will live timidly and cautiously.

Eugene H. Peterson, Practise Resurrection, p.44

growing up in church

Maturity develops in worship as we develop in friendship with the friends of God, not just our preferred friends. Worship shapes us not only individually but as a community, a church. If we are going to grow up into Christ we have to do it in the company of everyone who is responding to the call of God. Whether we happen to like them or not has nothing to do with it.

Eugene H. Peterson, Practise Resurrection, p.36

on the death of sin

No sin can be crucified either in heart or life unless it first be pardoned in conscience, because there will be want of faith to receive the strength of Jesus, by whom alone it can be crucified. If it be not mortified in its guilt, it cannot be subdued in its power.

William Romaine (quoted in You Can Change by Tim Chester, p.49)

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.