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If you've arrived at this page via the Monday Mailing this week (1st October 2007) then you may have guessed we used an old template and therefore an old link!
The new blog is on the main church website.
On the other hand, there's also an archive on this site of more than 600 posts from me over the last two years, so feel free to hand around a bit and browse! The links on the left-hand-side show various topics we've covered and group the posts accordingly.
Today's is the very last post on this blogsite - we've moved onboard with the church website itself (see yesterday's post).
The new site for the blog is here - so please do re-bookmark, or pick up the new rss feed for your feed/newsreader here.
We'll leave the blog archives here for a few months, so you can still acess the 602(ish) posts and 80 (or so) sermons online should you wish.....
Bye!
See you 'on the other side'.
:o)
Before you either go into mourning or hang out the bunting, it's only the blog that's moving, not me!
We're shifting future blog posts across to the main website (a.k.a. All Souls 2.0) so that they're an integral part of them.
We can't, unfortunately transfer (without a herculean effort quite out of proportion to the advantages it would bring) the past two years' (602 posts, 268 comments!!!!!!!!) - though we might shift a few previous posts.
It lacks some of the 'bells and whistles' of typepad (like "Books on the go" and "All Souls Bookshop" etc), but no doubt we'll survive.
So go look and see what you think...
If you read this via a feedreader/newsreader (like the excellent Bloglines I use), then make sure to update the feed, because after one final "There's nothing here!" post tomorrow, this'll go very quiet!!
Brian Draper writing in last week's LICC Word for the Week (you can see it online) writes about a Holiday for the Soul...
Most of us feel that we’re due a break from the weather, as much as from our daily routine, our pace of life, our regular backdrop, even our friends.So, if you’re going away this summer, here are a few ideas to help you reflect on your journey of life and faith, as you (hopefully) gain a little much-needed space for respite and reflection.
- As you clear your desk and ask your colleagues to cover for you, reflect on how indispensable you are. Thank God for the fact that, in a sense, nobody does it better; but remember, too, that ultimately the world does not revolve around you. Lay down that burden, and try not to carry it any further.
- As you pack, consider these lines from U2’s song ‘Walk On’:
We’re packing a suitcase for a place none of us has been,
A place that has to be believed to be seen.Reflect on the things you’re carrying in the suitcase of life. Is anything superfluous? What is essential for your journey?
- As you pack your passport and tickets, consider your destination, both literal and metaphorical. What will the people be like? Which language is spoken? What are the local traditions? How can we better embrace and engage with the differences God has bestowed on humanity, rather than protect ourselves from them?
- As you set off, consider the step you are taking into the relative unknown. How are you feeling? And what does any trip away from home teach us about life’s stages of arrival and departure?
- When you arrive, your senses will be heightened. New sights, sounds, smells… Remind yourself how a child sees the world for the first time, with a mix of wonder and curiosity. Ask God to help you to see your own situation vividly, from a fresh angle.
- As you slow down, consider the art of being rather than doing. Be still and know that God is God. And ask yourself: What do you hope to bring back with you, aside from the duty-free?
- As you say goodbye to the beach and hello again to your desk, how can the benefits of ‘time out’ last longer than usual? How can you build time for reflection into your daily routine, to preserve the presence of mind, the wellness and wholeness you have gained while away?
Go well! Brian Draper
What do you think?
We've gone from this (click on the image for a larger version):
...to this.
Thanks to Tom (as ever) for his creative and coding work. Key improvements are:
We're hoping, too, to be able to incorporate this blog into the site directly (easier said than done!), but we're open to any thoughts and suggestions for improvements in the meantime - or any words of encouragement to pass on to Tom!
There's a new website, tradingfairly.co.uk, which aims to:
...make buying fairtrade easier. We aim to do this by providing you, the ethically minded shopper, with an easy to use database of all the UK's fairtrade retailers and wholesalers. All you have to do is select the products you're after, or the area of the country in which you're based, and we'll give you details of anyone that matches your criteria. It couldn't be simpler.
It seems to have been started and to be run by an Anglican clergyman, Simon Butler. I've not had a chance to surf around it much, but it looks nice and seems, on the face of it, to be a genuinely useful resource for those interested in shopping as ethically as sanely possible.
Let me know what you think!
Thanks to a review on the DoableEvangelism blog I've come across a fascinating book - Why Good Things Happen to Good People - not (I'm relieved to say) an espousal of the "Health, Wealth and Happiness" gospel of "God blesses people with nice things if they're good" (a heresy we're trying to nail in our series of sermons over the Summer!), but some research done (not by a specifically religious group) into the effects of altruistic lifestyles.
Apparently:
In 2000, Post launched the Institute for Research on Unlimited Love (IRUL) through Case Western Reserve University’s School of Medicine. It’s a mouthful that may sound a little fluffy at first, but their methods are pragmatic and scientific with a focus unique enough to be quite riveting. The purpose: study love and its impact on physical and mental health and overall well-being.
Some findings on the power of loving behavior:
- Giving reduces mortality. Out of 2,000 individuals, those who actively volunteered had a 44% lower likelihood of dying.
- Giving reduces adolescent depression and suicide risk.
- Fostering personal gratitude has profound health benefits. For example, the more gratitude a recipient of an organ feels, the faster that person’s recovery.
- Generous giving is linked directly to deeper spirituality, especially among teens.
- Forgiveness alleviates depression and lowers stress hormones.
- Loyalty is a buffer against stress. The security of loyal, steadfast caring is one of the greatest inhibitors of anxiety.
- When we listen to others in pain, their stress response quiets down and their body has a better chance to heal.
The rest of the review is worth a read too.
The book isn't yet available in the uk (though it's on the US site for Amazon), but sounds quite intriguing.
Do you think it's a good thing to encourage people to "be good" or "loving" by pointing out it's better for them?
Following on from Wednesday's post about end times beliefs (particularly in North America) - and make sure you read Jamie's useful comment on the post too - some further thoughts applied to me/us...
Jamie's spot on to caution against reacting too quickly and too negatively against those who espouse such beliefs - although I think the key here is seeing the profound (and potentially world-altering) effects they may be having on US foreign policy, rather than just the individual beliefs of a group of Christians - and one of the reasons we have to be careful is that out own (often un-recognised) beliefs affect us too.
Do you really believe it's possible that Jesus could return this afternoon?
Funny to put it so bluntly and 'normally', but that's the clear message of Jesus' parables and teaching about his return (not to mention the New Testament's letters).
If we lived like that (which is, again, partly the point of Jamie's comment), as those who are 'ready', what sort of effect would that have on our use of time, on our attitude to money or to those God's given us responsibility for?
Do I really believe that God's intention is to redeem, rescue and recreate the whole of creation, not just "my soul"?
If I lived like that, would that change me attitude to ecology, the environment and my use of the resources God's made me steward of for him?
Do I really believe that God is going to judge all peoples one day and that he holds the whole of time and eternity in his hands?
If I lived like that, would it change how scared I might feel at a world seemingly out of control, or the bitterness I might feel at someone who has done wrong but 'got away with it'?
Our beliefs - however unacknowledged - profoundly change our day-by-day, minute-by-minute life choices.
I've blogged a couple of times about the controversial video game that is meant to represent the chaos of a "post-rapture" world. It's particular 'take' on the 'end times' (represented by a particularly literalistic reading of some parts of the poetry of Revelation) actually has some 'real world' effects on the politics and worldview of those who hold to it that are more than a little unnerving.
The mainstream media are picking up on the sheer numbers of North Americans for whom this way of seeing the end of the world defines them - for example, this piece in the Telegraph (thanks Duncan for the link) makes for some fairly chilling reading.
Ben Witherington unpacks the consequences for some pretty explicitly:
1) the Anti-Christ will be a person who will seek to make peace between the Arabs/Palestinians and the Jews
2) Armaggedon is something to look forward to, when we will have 'the cleansing of the earth'.
3) U.S. support for Israel should be unconditional, regardless of how they treat Palestinian Christians
4) If we want to participate in the second coming of Jesus, then we have to unconditionally support Israel from now until then, regardless of their policies or behaviors, otherwise we miss out on the parousia blessing.
5) It's a Biblical idea to have a pre-emptive strike on Iran before they cause more trouble for Israel.
...if it all that seems a tad extreme, they're all taken from comments at a recent conference of Christians United for Israel as reported on Max Blumenthal's blog. And lest you think this is the 'looney right' of American politics, the first person interviewed is Republican Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.
I'm not saying for a moment, that everyone who believes in this picture of the ends times comes out with such extreme consequences (though, read Witherington's critique for a fairly devastating reposte to those who do), but it's worth a pause...
Eschatology (those things relating to 'the end times') has long been a source of bemusement to some and amusement to others - but our beliefs about where the created order is heading affects almost everything. Tomorrow I want to unpack some of those links.
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