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Dear Friends The very first book in the Bible is called Genesis and Genesis means beginning. At the very beginning of the beginning, in the book of Genesis, is an account of God making the world and human beings. This wonderful poem affirms something very special about the nature of God and of Continue reading More Tea Vicar? Dear Friends We enter the season during which vicars write prefaces at the beginning of parish magazines about New Year resolutions whilst tacking on some tenuous link with the Bible. But rather than trying to sanctify the secular practice of the New Year resolution is there another way? In our culture a vast Continue reading More Tea Vicar? Here is my latest video offering for Christmas 2011. Written and Produced by vicar and beatboxer Gavin Tyte (aka TyTe). I was inspired to re-record this video of the Nativity Rap (released Christmas 2010) as an entry for The Nativity Factor competition 2011. The shorter 3 minute version can be viewed on The Continue reading The Beatbox Nativity
We had the first session of our preaching course on Monday night. Since then I have not stopped reflecting on the idea that our core understanding of who God is shapes our preaching no matter what the subject. In other words, our preaching does not take place in a vacuum. Not only does our preaching take place in a church and cultural context, but it also takes place against the backdrop of our own lives and our own understanding of who God is.
In this 3-minute chat about God, Gavin is asked “What is the gospel?” Here is his reply… “Gospel means ‘good news’, so the gospel of Jesus Christ is the good news about Jesus Christ. If we want to understand the good news of Jesus Christ, then we need to view the gospel in its wider context. We mustn’t simply view the good news of Jesus as an isolated bit of history. We need to understand that the gospel of Jesus Christ, this good news, is part of the unfolding history of God in the world. Dear Friends It is a funny thing, what some non-Christians think about what some Christians think about stuff. I mean, I am frequently amazed and shocked to discover someone thinking something about Christianity or thinking I believe something or adhere to some doctrine or other. If I am honest, once I have picked Continue reading More Tea Vicar? Some of you have asked how you can see the film we showed on Sunday again. The film was by Rob Bell and is no.21 in his series called NOOMA. The film is called ‘She’ and can be downloaded or watched online Continue reading Film from Sunday…
So, on Sunday, after writing a resurrection hymn and then discovering that God was asking me to rest, I decided to let God speak to me. He had made it clear that he wanted my attention, and now he had it, would he speak?
Have you ever had that dream, the one where you discover that you are naked in a public place? You are usually in the village shop, walking in a busy street, or at a parochial church council meeting, and for some reason you have no clothes on. It happened to me last night. Last night, I dreamed I was on a busy tube train in London and discovered that I had no clothes on. Far from being a perverse fantasy, it is a nightmare. You usually end up running for cover with your hands covering your bits, trying not to look anyone in they eye.
A couple of years ago, I did an unprecedented thing. I unplugged myself from Facebook. One morning I had an epiphany that I was not controlling Facebook, but Facebook was controlling me. In a move of desperate counter-culturalism, and without warning my (satisfyingly extensive, cough) network of friends, acquaintances, and people that I had never met, I deleted my account. Despite feeling slightly bereaved, I felt liberated. I was free. |
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