amuse small minds. And I'm incredibly amused by our new laptop. For those who are interested it is a Dell Studio 15 (a low range one). Definitely an improvement on our old acer which was the absolute bottom of the range when we bought it a few years ago, and now spontaneously loses power (in the middle of the church powerpoints a few weeks ago).
The big question is whether it will make me blog more.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
Filled with the Spirit again
An interesting question has been raised out of my sermon preparation on Acts 3-4 this week. What does it mean to be filled with the Spirit? I understood that the filling of the Spirit first occured at Pentecost, and following on from that is the new privilege, in the last days, of all followers of Jesus.
However in Acts 4, just a few days after Pentecost, both Peter and the other believers are again filled with the Spirit. Peter is filled with the Spirit to enable him to speak boldly to the Sanhedrin about the power of the name of Jesus. Then all the believers are filled with the Spirit, with an accompanied shaking of their house, and they are all enabled to speak boldly about Jesus.
Why do the believers need to be filled with the Spirit again if they are already filled? and should we be expecting additional filling of the Holy Spirit for special events in our lives?
Love to hear your thoughts.
However in Acts 4, just a few days after Pentecost, both Peter and the other believers are again filled with the Spirit. Peter is filled with the Spirit to enable him to speak boldly to the Sanhedrin about the power of the name of Jesus. Then all the believers are filled with the Spirit, with an accompanied shaking of their house, and they are all enabled to speak boldly about Jesus.
Why do the believers need to be filled with the Spirit again if they are already filled? and should we be expecting additional filling of the Holy Spirit for special events in our lives?
Love to hear your thoughts.
Bloggers blank and other things
No posts recently. Been away, had a computer problem (the mysterious kind where the computer refused to start for three days until I took it to the repair shop when it started immediately and showed no errors on any tests, but still cost me $90), and had my first bloggers blank - nothing to write about! But hopefully some more posts will appear in the next little while.
Monday, April 13, 2009
map my run
Found this cool new website for mapping training runs. And you can post them on your blog! Here is the one I did this morning.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
RICE
Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. They are the 4 golden rules for sports injuries. I spent a couple of hours with my leg up, sitting on an ice pack last night and it seems to have done the trick with my hamstring. Did a good run of 28.88km in 2hr36min tonight, and could only just feel the hammy. Don't think it'll cope with any fast running for a little while, but a comfortable steady jog was fine - which is a relief.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Hamstring Trouble
Hoping I haven't encountered my first serious injury problem in my marathon preparation. My back has been a bit sore this week (bad posture at a computer I think), and when I went running yesterday I started to feel a twinge in my right hamstring. This afternoon I tried to do a speed session and the twinge came back even stronger and I had to stop. It's on ice now and I'm hoping a long easy run tomorrow afternoon will be easier on it. Otherwise I'll have to take some time off training which would be very disappointing.
An Easter re-think on re-thinks
Every year there is the predictable call from some quarter to re-think the belief in a literal resurrection and start accepting that it's really just a metaphor. This years effort comes from social commentator Phil Dye on the abc website. He argues that if the church gave up it's insistence on accepting miracles there are many lapsed believers out there who would readily return to the fold.
It's hard to know where to start with an article so full of silly statements. For example is he really condescending enough to argue that South Americans and Africans are accepting Christianity at a great rate because they are all oppressed and uneducated?
And do we have to go through the whole santa-easter bunny-resurrection comparison again. Perhaps he can't tell the difference, but ironically my seven year old son, with his supposedly irrational Christian upbringing, has been disgusted this week because all the teachers and other kids at school have talked about is the easter bunny who doesn't even exist. We have never run a campaign against santa or the easter bunny at our place, J just has a keen sense of the ridiculous and he sniffed them out as fakes years ago - long before anyone else his age. But he, along with millions of other people around the world, easily sees the difference with Jesus and his well documented resurrection. And J feels that Jesus should be the focus of Easter.
The really gaping holes in Dye's argument however, are the suggestions that firstly a metaphorical reading of the resurrection hasn't been tried before, and secondly that if only Christian leaders accepted the metaphorical approach it would solve the problems of church decline.
Even a small amount of church history would tell Dye that his de-supernaturalised Christianity is so last century. It's been extensively championed by church leaders in Europe, in the US, and even here in Australia. And it has successfully killed off all the churches where it has been adopted. It might be true that some people find it hard to believe in a literal resurrection. But no-one is interested in believing in a metaphor.
The truth is, the resurrection story is stubbornly and undeniably literal. It may be false. But it simply is not a metaphor, and any attempt to read it metaphorically will be seen for the hypocrisy and intellectual dishonesty that it is. If there are thousands of people out there wanting to believe in a metaphor - that's fine, But they're going to have to come up with their own. This re-think needs a serious re-think.
It's hard to know where to start with an article so full of silly statements. For example is he really condescending enough to argue that South Americans and Africans are accepting Christianity at a great rate because they are all oppressed and uneducated?
And do we have to go through the whole santa-easter bunny-resurrection comparison again. Perhaps he can't tell the difference, but ironically my seven year old son, with his supposedly irrational Christian upbringing, has been disgusted this week because all the teachers and other kids at school have talked about is the easter bunny who doesn't even exist. We have never run a campaign against santa or the easter bunny at our place, J just has a keen sense of the ridiculous and he sniffed them out as fakes years ago - long before anyone else his age. But he, along with millions of other people around the world, easily sees the difference with Jesus and his well documented resurrection. And J feels that Jesus should be the focus of Easter.
The really gaping holes in Dye's argument however, are the suggestions that firstly a metaphorical reading of the resurrection hasn't been tried before, and secondly that if only Christian leaders accepted the metaphorical approach it would solve the problems of church decline.
Even a small amount of church history would tell Dye that his de-supernaturalised Christianity is so last century. It's been extensively championed by church leaders in Europe, in the US, and even here in Australia. And it has successfully killed off all the churches where it has been adopted. It might be true that some people find it hard to believe in a literal resurrection. But no-one is interested in believing in a metaphor.
The truth is, the resurrection story is stubbornly and undeniably literal. It may be false. But it simply is not a metaphor, and any attempt to read it metaphorically will be seen for the hypocrisy and intellectual dishonesty that it is. If there are thousands of people out there wanting to believe in a metaphor - that's fine, But they're going to have to come up with their own. This re-think needs a serious re-think.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Hallelujah - a better thought on Christian words and Popular Songs
I'm not sure that my last post on the Christianized version of Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' really added clarity to the debate- although I enjoyed the discussion. I had another thought today about the re-wording of the song and Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 2:
Coincidentally I was reminded of the power of this particular tune when the secretary at a friends firm gave an stunning a cappella rendition of it while I was there for a prayer meeting today. Apparently this is part of the service you now receive when you do business with this firm - service with a song!
1When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.Seems to me that putting half-baked words about Jesus to a super-popular tune is the opposite of Paul's practice of avoiding fancy rhetoric and focusing on the cross. Paul wanted the content of his message to dominate his form. But with the use of such an iconic tune, the form will almost inevitably (and perhaps purposefully) overwhelm any gospel content the words might bring. This is especially the case with the words in question, which are less than profound.
Coincidentally I was reminded of the power of this particular tune when the secretary at a friends firm gave an stunning a cappella rendition of it while I was there for a prayer meeting today. Apparently this is part of the service you now receive when you do business with this firm - service with a song!
Monday, April 6, 2009
New Congregational Database
Last week I indulged the computer nerd within and put together a new database for our congregation. Up until now we didn't have a proper database - just various lists of people in word documents. Now we have a proper database in openoffice 'base' which includes photos. I have also designed a report that will print out the data in exactly the right form for a church directory. This was quite a bit of work, but it means next years directory will be a breeze, and I will also be able to access the information easily in any form I want. No doubt there are all kinds of fancy church database programs out there. But if you want a free one I'm happy to share...
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Something brain-stretching
Fascinating paper by Ross McKenzie professor of Physics at UQ, linked to from his blog here. I have to admit some of it is a bit over my head, but I think his basic point is that Scientists are recognising that there is value in studying objects for their own sake, and not just reducing them to the parts they are made up of - this is the idea of 'emergence' (nothing to do with emerging church!!!).
He argues that an understanding of emergence can encourage theologians to take the approach of Karl Barth and study God for his own sake and not feel the need to justify everything with respect to other academic disciplines such as history, sociology and science.
Great to have someone doing such careful thinking about Science and Theology.
He argues that an understanding of emergence can encourage theologians to take the approach of Karl Barth and study God for his own sake and not feel the need to justify everything with respect to other academic disciplines such as history, sociology and science.
Great to have someone doing such careful thinking about Science and Theology.
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