why i love the church

i want in on this why we love the church debate! or should i say discussion? this is such a good conversation (emerging word there) we spend so much time bashing the church (and i am most certainly one of them) that we forget the importance of who she is…and who are we to discredit someone who God loves? but i get ahead of myself…

my honesty time now i suppose during an interview with presbytry there was only one question which i did not have an answer to

Q:”What is it that you like about church?”

A:……….(silence)…..(look puzzled) i remember thinking “flip i dont like it!” and stuttering and stammering over an answer that came out as “i feel welcome when i go through the door”

the following question was

Q: OK what do you not like about the church?

This i answered much more eloquently, systematically and did not stutter once

Quite sad i think,

and so as a known critic of the church i want in on this discussion

i want to shed the shackles of my constant critiques and embrace the church as Jesus does! so i shall be beginning to read: —Why we love the church:in praise of institutions and vintage church

in my head all day

492 years on…

Yes it has been a long time since I have blogged and for me today is the perfect day.  It is 492 years today since Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the doors in Wittenburg Germany.  Sparking off the reformation, and opening peoples eyes to the truths of Jesus and the bible that had long been lost.  He is a personal hero of mine (probably due to his theatrics) and should be remembered much more than a boring looking and sounding guy.  He is of course much more.

 

 

 

 

 

why men hate going to church…

so what i’m undertaking at this point is a quick study of why men dont go to church, basing it upon David Murrow’s book of the same title. this hopefully will come out the other end as a talk/study for the men at illumenate on monday night…parts of it could involve looking at what makes men men, a look into the male psyche, masculinity, manhood, and its pursuit, worship,teaching and women and how to be men!! Guys who read my blog this shan’t be one to miss!!! I am getting excited about this…still putting everything together…should continue to blog on the progress of this one

God has put it on my heart to talk about men being men….now lets do it 

odd thing being im infinately more excited about the possibilities around this than my history essays but c’est la vie…my passions have moved on since then and it’s a matter of trying to align them together in some manner

still havnt began to read…as soon as i tried i found out that i had more uni work to do than was expected

sermons, reading, and head frying

been a long time since i have blogged anything…a very long time…decided that this needs revived.  this needs done.  first sermon given today…i belive it went well…it had a very “the gods arent angry” theme running through it…was odd…fun…exhausting…tiring…brain frying…but possibly the most enjoyable and rewarding thing ive done in a long time!!

But yes now i have a desire to read again…rather than dip in and out of books but to sit and read one from beginning to end…finally time is opening to read my 12+ books

things are good

writing projects galore

wow…i have to say im impressed by how quickly things gather speed…wasnt that long ago that i met with ally for a discussion on art in the church and now im somewhat bowled over.  i’ve two writing projects with andrew dickson, one on the church centred around Acts and another of contemplative reflection type writings on easter to be ready by easter…rather excited…not only that but i’ve a couple of speaking engagements…life is becoming exciting!! there is a snag however in that i’ve two WW1 essays to write by the 16th march, but we will gloss over that!!

But yes the easter writings have captured my imagination, no consticting essay form, i can use various styles, poetry, prose, i can unleash the writer finally!! well ill have a go at it anyway.  but this is exciting, and i can see this all spiralling from various conversations and rants…isn’t that how most things start? well that is how the blog got started (again thanks ally)

Also a chance to work on the church’s new website writing about the organisations and whatever else comes along…check it out but ignore the photos of me that make me look like a rastifarian (seriously not spelt right) http://www.highkirk.org.uk

the exiled church??

i thought id open this up a bit…contemplating a proper title for the essays andrew dickson and myself are putting together…does anyone have ideas or suggestions??

chapter titles hope to be finalised by thursday

if anyone has major suggestions ie artwork, topics that should be introduced…ideas…perhaps even something for the future or myself to look into please just holler at your boy (little nod to jay-z there)

no laptop…no cry

i have broken the screen of my laptop…and so i almost write this post in exhile to an extent.  i have “borrowed” my housemates laptop, however i’ve noticed a direct correlation between the amount of work i get done and the lack of laptop….seems it has a negative effect.  so the question i pose is this…does the laptop just get in the way most of the time when we should be doing other things?? definately this week will be teaching me many things about this…this is a sort of accidently self-imposed laptop fast

the manifesto takes a new direction

so after meeting with my co-writer…the delectable andrew dickson; we have decided that the essay collection needs a new direction.  our hearts feel pulled to speak on issues about the church…big topic…very dodgy topic as well…we are hoping to cover a lot of ground.  however with this new direction much more planning must be undertaken…aswell as the reading of vast books to ensure that we are pretty sound in our thoughts and beliefs.  This will hopefully still be a manifesto…but a manifesto for the voices in the wilderness…where nobody else is….shouting 

i will continue my own projects…these of course are minor in comparison but they keep me motivated…i’ll publish the finished works here

frank turner…a random search on itunes finds gold

So i was scrambling across itunes last night, looking for something with soul, meaning, lyrics and not just words that are strung together….and lo and behold i found frank turner…great singer…great lyricist…great guitar…songs with a passion

I am actually quite excited about this find…below is a video…not his best song on the album…and the video is well dodgy but great words of a broken revolution.

The best song is by far “Love Ire and Song”  Lyrics can be found below…*pardon the swearing*

http://www.lyricspy.com/f/Frank_Turner/lyrics/Love_Ire_And_Song/