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Fascinating programme on Radio 4 today, with Author MICHIO KAKU , Professor of Theoretical Physics at the City University of New York. In his book, Parallel Worlds, Michio argues that the universe is dying, but says that there is good physical evidence to prove the existence of parallel universes which exist in different dimensions. For Michio, the logical solution to the problem of our dying planet is to find a way of crossing dimensions so that we can escape our universe and set up life on another one. His book Parallel Worlds is published by Allen Lane.
What was particularly interesting is some hearing some the connections between scientists and theology in this discussion.
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Last night was a major moment in the life of our church community, we planted, 3 miles down the road, from where we started.When we started our church plant, nearly 8 years ago, we wanted to reach and grow with unchurched people, and ultimately to be able to reproduce. Yesterday was a major step in the direction.
As I look back over the past 8 years, it has been the most painful, and most fulfilling time of my life. The process of of deconstruction, and reconstruction, within our relationship with Emergent, has been the most wonderful gift from God, and has enabled our hopes to take shape. We have a community full of new christians, are known as a church connected to our community, have weclomed people into life (babies), and had the privelege of burying some of our family, as we do life together.
It’s my 36th Birthday today, I’ll remember this one well.
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Time magazine’s cover story is of the 25 Most influential evangelicals in America. Rick Warren is listed as number 1, and Brian comes in at number 17.The write up on Brian is remarkably positive and appropriate from what I know of Brian.
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As we try to recover spiritual practices, we start to look back at how the church helped people with its artefacts. Many of the artefacts of the church have been removed, and sold. Len Sweet pointed out that much of the gothic church atrefacts have been removed and people are buying them on ebay. Go to ebay.com and do a search for gothic and church, and see the prices people are paying to collect these artefacts.
Eric Keck mailed me this link of the Amien Cathedral project, where you can view the gothic art and artefacts of the odlers Gothic Cathedral in existence.
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There has been a lot of talk of new forms of monasticism. Someone who has lived in community most of his life, and worked with the poor, and enaging with postmodernity and new forms of monasticism is Brad Hightower. He’s a got a great blog over at 21st Century Reformation. He has some great posts, discussions and thinking here. Well worth a visit.
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Entered in a contest as a fresh image of Jesus for the 2000th anniversary of his birth, “Christ II” is composed of images of the Dead Sea Scrolls, a body of 600 ancient Hebrew and Aramaic manuscripts on papyrus and leather. Just discovered in 1947, the collection includes hymns, commentary, apocalyptic writings, and sections of the Old Testament dated between 200 BC and 100 AD, roughly contemporaneous to the historical Christ.Christ’s image is made up of the textual fragments – from the word of God. On reflection it made me think that Christ is also made up of the fragments, the multiple forms of church, a deep and generous ecclesiology. Emerging church is not the new image but a lot of fragments.
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East and West: The Making of a Rift in the Church
By Henry ChadwickIt’s early in the morning, and I can’t get back to sleep so, I am reading this next book my doctoral cohort are due to discuss next week.
In it Chadiwck decribes the greatest Christian split of all has been that between east and west, between Roman Catholic and eastern Orthodox, and argues it is still apparent today. My task is to learn how the emergence of divisions between Rome and Constantinopl, starting with the roots of the divergence in Apostolic times, then right up to the Council of Florence in the fifteenth century, affect us today. You can read a chapter for free on line here.
Here are some of my thoughts from the first 10 chapters that I posted to my cohort as discussion starters.
Sheep Stealing New Testament Style
Mary, Jesus, Adam and DNA
Was Chrstendom a Mistake?
Beards
Deification
East and West Worship Services
Kissing Cousins
No Golden Age
Wish I’d Concentrated in Church History
Socrates Cafe
Unity in Diversity
Continue reading »
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A – Lots of theological deconstruction but still doing church in the same ways, same places and same mediums, but with a new message.
B – Same message, and same places and mediums
C – Same message but doing church in radical new space and with new mediums
D – Radical theological deconstruction new message in new places and with new mediums
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Continue reading »
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Day in London with John Maxwell put on by the Evanglical Alliance. After reading many of his books over the years I’m going to go and hear him in person.
Continue reading »
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This past weekend I got to facilitate a leaders day and then speak at Bewdley Baptist Church on the subject of emerging church. Bewdley was a beautiful place, and the leaders and church were so open to issues of theology and culture, I came away encouraged again that the idea that the current church needs to be walked away from is more bogus than ever (I’ll blog later on some if the thoughts I have about how older churches can tranisiton). Keith Judson is the senior minister and is the most amazing pastor (leading his church into this process), and wonderful human being. I came away having met someone doing life with his family and church that was inspiring.
Some other benefits of my trip up to Bewdley was to discover folk music. I’ve always thought it was up their with coutnry and western, but hearing Keith talk about he had written a song to re-tell 4 interactions he had had with people who aren’t christians got me fascinated. He played the song and retold his stories. I realised then as he told me more about folk music that it was about retelling stories, about the most ordinary people, and situations often times.
Another bonus was the time talking with Keith and Robin Parry from Paternoster. Robin is a new friend and turns out he lives near to Bewdley so he came over and we had a beer and talked church and theology in the pub.
I always have had a soft spot for baptists (I became a christian in a great baptist church), and for those reading from the USA, UK Baptists are something very different to American Baptists :-). Keith gave me a copy of a baptist book called, ‘Something to Declare’ which discusses the Baptist Declaration of Principle (finalised in 1904) . Whilst many denominational statements of faith begin, with ‘Our final authority is scripture’, the Baptist Statement of Principle declares that ‘Jesus is the sole and absolute authority in all matter related to faith and practice’.
Our final authority is a person not a book, creed. Jesus comes first and the bible witnesses to this Christ. 30 Years after this, in response to Hitler the Barmen Declaration stated, ‘Jesus Christ, as he is witnessed to in the Holy Scripture, is the one Word of God whom we have to obey in life and death’.
And again as the world changes and we find people using the bible to argue some aweful things, we rediscover that we need to state again, ‘Jesus is the final basis of our faith’. He is the Word, revealed in the word.The Christian faith is about a person not a book, and there is nothing new from church history in that assertion.
