Going Deep

Gordon Macdonald suggests here that Cultivating people of spiritual depth is a pastor's top priority.

What d'ya htink?

How to frustrate your employees

Well, I don't have any (unless giving the children pocket money counts as employment?) but, anyway, these 13 'rules' from Michael Hyatt have wider application.

The Climax of the Covenant

(The Best Books - no.9)

You didn't know that Tom (N.T.) Wright was at the centre of some raging theological storms? Where ya been, dude? Whether you approve or not of all his theology (you don't do that with hardly anyone, do you?), you'll have to concede that Tom writes in a compelling and provocative manner. But I've chosen one of his books that draws the least flak, presumably because it's his most technical and, therefore, least read. It's also the least polemical of his non-popular writings.

A series of papers on a variety of topics that have been collated under the twin themes of 'Christ and the Law in Pauline Theology', this was the first of his works that I read and found it compelling stuff, even where you feel you can't go all the way in agreeing with him. The essay on Philippians 2:5-11 left me stunned and worshipping - no mean feat for technical exegesis.

Of course, you can't ignore the rest of his works, nor should you. But don't let this one pass you by.

Creative Hands

Creative Hands from UFM Worldwide on Vimeo.

Appreciating Peake

I've never read Gormenghast and the other Peake stuff but I know a man who has and he says it's good. So here's a worthwhile read from The Guardian.

Learning from 'Good to Great'

It's a book you see quoted all over the place. It's on my read-this-someday list. But here is a great summary (by Jim Collins himself) of some of they key lessons of the book, Good to Great. It strikes me that many of them have a deep resonance for churches and ministry.

Receiving the New Testament

The Kimyal People Receive the New Testament from UFM Worldwide on Vimeo.

Yali Jubilee 2011

children in the wilderness

This week I intend to preach on Genesis 21:14-21, which is the story of Hagar and Ishmael. If these were ordinary times - if I were twenty years younger - I'd be making an orderly passage through the Gospels and Epistles before I turned to Genesis again. That was my custom, and I have always felt it was effective as teaching, which is really what all this is about. Now, though, I talk about whatever is on my mind - Hagar and Ishmael at the moment.

The story of Hagar and Ishmael came to mind while I was praying this morning, and I found a great assurance in it. The story says that it is not only the father of a child who cares for its life, who protects its mother, and it says that even if the mother can't find a way to provide for it, or herself, provision will be made. At that level it is a story full of comfort. That is how life goes - we send our children into the wilderness. Some of them on the day they are born, it seems, for all the help we can give them. Some of them seem to be a kind of wilderness unto themselves. But there must be angels there, too, and springs of water. Even that wilderness, the very habitation of jackals, is the Lord's. I need to bear this in mind.

 (Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, p.135)

Kiss On My List (Hall & Tunstall)

Copenhagen (Lucinda Williams)

Thundering news hits me like a snowball 
struck in my face and shattering
Covering me in a fine powder and mist
and mixing in with my tears

And I'm 57 but I could be 7 years old,
Cos I will never be able 
to comprehend the expansiveness 
of what I've just learned

You, have disappeared
You have been released
You are flecks of light
You are missed

Somewhere, spinning round the sun
Circling the moon
Traveling through time
You are missed

Walking through unfamiliar streets
and I'm shaking unfamiliar hands
and I'm hearing unfamiliar laughs
and lovely language I don't understand

It's late October in Copenhagen
The skies are grey, the snow is falling
I see my breath outside, I'm freezing
I'm motionless, I'm disbelieving

You, have disappeared
You have been released
You are flecks of light
You are missed

Somewhere, spinning round the sun
Circling the moon
Traveling through time
You are missed

You can't do it all? Then say so...

Saying you can't do it all is not a failure of leadership, it is effective leadership. But despite all the books and articles, like Jim Collins' Good to Great, that preach such reasonable humility, the culture of heroic leadership persists. Consequently, resources are wasted, false hopes are raised, and quagmires persist. When a leader comes along who is willing to offer a realistic assessment of strengths and weaknesses, and to state what an organization — or nation — should not do or should stop doing, that leader should be received with gratitude and not mockery.

from Good Leaders Acknowledge What Can't Be Done.

Albert's GCSE Prom

Having completed their GCSEs, Albert's school year had their leavers' prom last night. Here's the young man in his finery....

Granny's 80th birthday

Today is Mavis' 80th birthday. She's having a birthday tea with lots of friends on Saturday. As a family we had a couple of days away last week and stopped by at the Queen's pad. Here's a photo of us near there.

Influencing Church Culture

Ron Ashkenas has some thoughts that might help you with thinking through how to handle the culture of your church.

music for the sunny days of summer

Looking for some sounds to go with the weather? Then why not try The Sundays' album, Static and Silence - it's a corker.

writing (& speaking) more clearly

Some helpful advice from Seth Godin here.

Flaunt The Imperfection

The third album by China Crisis, Flaunt the Imperfection, is beautifully done and probably their highest high. The nice folks at Spotify and at Grooveshark will satisfy your curiosity.

How to keep things simple

A helpful post over at 99% on how to keep things simple, the main points being:

1. Simplicity of access - centralise your essential materials

2. Simplicity of space - give yourself a blank slate for creation

3. Simplicity of tools - explore your ideas with pen and paper

I like that. A lot.

Old songs; new settings: City Hymns

If you like old hymns in new settings and, sometimes, with new tunes then you might be the ideal candidate to give this new album a listen.