Church

Church, Culture, Mental Health, Theology

Joker: The Best Film I’ve Ever Seen?

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Joker: The Best Film I’ve Ever Seen?

I nearly didn’t go because I’d heard that it was pretty “gritty” and that – like The Blair Witch Project in 1999 – some guys in America had left the cinema because they couldn’t handle the intensity of what they were watching.

Still, wooed by curiosity and the acting excellence of Joaquin Phoenix, I decided to head to the cinema to give it a try.

How was it then that Joker transpired to be arguably the most powerful film I’ve ever seen?  (more…)

Church, Theology

#SYNOD

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#SYNOD

With the inner sanctums of the Church of England meeting this week, for God-only-knows-what, invitations are now welcome for appropriate ICHABOD-related acronyms of SYNOD.

I’ve decided to keep it squeaky-clean and go with:

Stop

Your

Nonsense

Of

Doctrine

I’m pleased to announce that in a few months time I will be able to publish a finished manuscript that I’ve been working on of late.

For now, I will simply share a lovingly in-your-face quote from the less-than-perfect Martin Luther:

“I am of a different mind ten times in the course of a day. But I resist the devil, and often it is with a fart that I chase him away. When he tempts me with silly sins I say, “Devil, yesterday I broke wind too. Have you written it down on your list?” …I remind myself of the forgiveness of sin and of Christ and I remind Satan of the abomination of the pope. This abomination is so great that I am of good cheer and rejoice, and I confess that the abomination of the papacy after the time of Christ is a great consolation in me.”

~Martin Luther

Remind Satan of the abomination of the Church of England

Church

15 Lessons From My Social Media Sabbatical

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15 Lessons From My Social Media Sabbatical
  1. Facebook/Twitter/Instagram are not worthy of more than a little of my time.
  2. Always bless those who persecute & don’t curse (lash back at) them in response. (Romans 12:14).
  3. Sharing compulsively via social media is a huge enemy of prayer.
  4. Speaking/writing remains absolutely essential. (Jeremiah 20:9).
  5. Expect misunderstanding and judgment especially from nominal, lukewarm, denominationally-blinkered Christians. (John 15:18-19).
  6. Love will always seem harsh & unloving to some.
  7. Don’t throw your pearls to pigs or feel like you need to explain yourself to those unsettled by what God is doing in your life. Pigs sometimes wallow in the Church too.
  8. Fear of man is a snare as much in the Church as it is on the streets (Proverbs 29:25).
  9. Read more, especially complex texts first thing in the morning and devotional material last thing at night.
  10. Divine Pathos explains everything.
  11. The Holy Spirit doesn’t care about my popularity or CV.
  12. Persistent emphases of my heart over decades are the fingerprints of the One who made me.
  13. Relational peace isn’t always possible – Jesus didn’t come to make us all best friends or even friends at all.
  14. Some people see things radically different from me. That doesn’t make them bad people but it does limit relational proximity.
  15. At no point in eternity will I ever feel like I was too intense about the second coming of Christ.

‬For those of you who follow my material, you may be interested to know that I’ve been working on a new manuscript due for completion at the end of January 2019. Check in on the blog for updates into February 2019.