From Knowledge to Wisdom

The Continually Emerging Church

With all the current excitement and controversy about the fashionable concept of 'emerging church' it is enlightening (and amusing) to read Dan Kimball's thoughtful perspective on the topic - Vintage Faith: The Emerging Church circa 1970 - which was triggered by his finding a book from 1970 'The Emerging Church' by Bruce Larson and Ralph Osborne.

Waking the Dead - 1

Just started reading John Eldredge: Waking the Dead: The Glory of a Heart Fully Alive and am immediately captivated.

Messages received so far include:

• we are in a war zone, not just occasionally when things go bad for us, but the basic circumstance of our existence is that we live in the midst of the war between evil and good,
• and we can't escape the war because we are a primary target - we are made in the image of God and loved by God, so evil is out to get us in any and every possible way,
• the basic message of the Bible is about this war,
• things are not what they seem, especially when our only view is the controlled structured view of rationality - true myths are a way of telling about the bigger, deeper truths of eternal reality
• we need to get beyond the cross and grasp the reality of the Resurrection.

It is through the Resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit that God implants a new heart in us.

Remembering Why Blogging

TallSkinnyKiwi with a challenging post on the Spirituality of Blogging has freshly inspired and reminded me why I set out on this blogging adventure. Thanks for all the links and see especially Sarah Hamilton's notes and the quote from Athanasius (4th century) on spiritual blogging.

What is the Holy Spirit saying?

Last weekend a friend gave me a copy of House2House Issue 9. Marc had a snippet from it about Jesus centric life which caught my attention already. But there is still something about having the paper in your hand which a screen can't emulate.

Skimming through this magazine was like a breath of fresh air (or like breathing the breath).

The message is - just follow the call to be church, now, where we are. We do not need a building, we do not need a priest or pastor, we, the people of God, are the priests, we do not need programmes. Least of all do we need a denomination or an institution. Love Jesus, hear His voice and go for it!

There are short articles by some of the modern heroes of the church - including Floyd McClung, John Eldredge and John and Carol Arnott.

Press dismay at Katrina chaos

A collection of sharp quotes from the press around the world at BBC NEWS | Press dismay at Katrina chaos.

Katrina had more than the power of the wind and water, because, now, when they have subsided, it can still reveal the emptiness of an era, one that is represented by President George W Bush more than anyone. - Argentina's Clarin

'Emptiness' is a key word there. This is an era of emptiness. Where is the world going? What does it hope for? The rich hope for the next wave of technology and the poor hope for clean water. And the President of the greatest nation symbolises emptiness.