Grace taught my heart to fear

Why is it that in 23 years of being a Christian I have only heard one sermon on the theme of meekness? This personality characteristic and 'Fruit of the Spirit' is totally overlooked and is so central to what God is doing in the life of every Christian. Moses is described as meek above all other humans in Numbers 12, and Jesus Himself is described as meek in Matthew 11 and 2 Corinthians 10. Have we so bought into the world's view of meekness that we now believe meek people are spineless walkovers, acting that way because they have no other choice - that meekness is the last resort of weak people? Meekness is one of the fundamental ways that the Christian exercises spiritual power. Having a clear understanding of your spiritual bankruptcy before God, the depths of the consequences of your sin, and the poverty of your soul, you become keenly aware of the power of grace that is at work in your life, and the resources that are now at your disposal, the power of the God that ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00jz2qp A new book and DVD suggests there is a deep logic behind the fabric of the Narnia Chronicles, that has until now been hidden from the reader. Michael Ward's thesis seems to suggest that CS Lewis' understanding of medieval cosmology contributed heavily to the way he wrote of the land of Narnia, constructing each o the Chronicles around the nature of a different planet. If The Silver Chair is Lunar, Lion/Witch/Wardrobe is Jovian(Jupiter), DawnTreader is Solar and Prince Caspian is Martian. Each planet contributes to the atmosphere and storyline of the book, with the planet's influence on the children/humans in the main view. For example, Jupiter is said to be a planet of kingliness, an is described in one of Lewis' poems as 'winter ended and forgiveness given'. So we see in the story how 4 children travel to Narnia to fulfil a prophecy of winter defeated and Edmund restored and forgiven, the four children taking their ...

(This was written shortly after the publication of book 7, which I pre-ordered at Waterstones and waited 90 mins in a queue for on a cold night in Wilmslow, when I could have driven to Tesco and got it a pound cheaper, and been at home and in bed reading it inside twenty minutes!  However I had some great conversations in the queue with some complete strangers, and that did actually make it all worthwhile.)  Film no.6 is due out this summer - 15th July 2009 in the UK. Like it, hate it, or not bothered by it - this summer marks one more step towards the end of an era. The last words in the school career of Harry Potter have been written, published and sold and the last two(actually, three) films will be made; and then that’s it. Harry will be no more. That’s not to say that he will necessarily be dead (there are no plot spoilers from the books in this piece) but to a generation of young people who have grown up with ’The Boy who lived’, he will be consigned to the past. There will be ...

My new Sure antiperspirant deodorant has an on-off switch.  What on earth for?!  As far as i can tell it is not battery operated, nor in any danger of going off by itself. However, I do rejoice in the feeling of being an environmental terrorist by leaving it on 'stand-by'!

I love and hate stories like this!  (pic from BBC website - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8071865.stm) On the one hand - we're all a bunch of nutters for thinking that this is anything more than human beings reading into the marmite residue whatever we like.  After all, in another time or place this could be Osama Bin Laden, any member of ZZ Top, or a slightly windblown homeless guy from the 60s that no-one has ever heard of.  But it's not the family's fault - they just took a photo and let us make up our minds.  I love stories like this cos they remind me that we're all superstitious and suggestible, and prone to believe anyhting we want to beleive - and the Bible tells us exactly that same thing. But I hate stories like this as well.  Usually some 'Christian' leader from one denomination or other (somehow the Roman Catholics always speak up) is quoted as saying that this is a sign that Jesus is still with us, or that God has not forgotten us, or something l...

John Piper writes: "Many pastors are not known for expressing deep emotions. This seems to me especially true in relation to the profoundest theological realities. This is not good, because we ought to experience the deepest emotions about the deepest things. And we ought to speak often, and publicly, about what means most to us, IN A WAY THAT SHOWS ITS VALUE. This... is a plea for deep feelings in worthy forms from God besotted hearts and minds." (Brothers we are not professionals, p149, emphasis mine) He goes on: 'Let there be passion in the pulpit, passion in prayer and passion in conversation.' http://www.desiringgod.org/Store/Books/ByTopic/69/315_Brothers_We_Are_Not_Professionals/

I note from the BBC website ( http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi /entertainment/8026312.stm  ) that Phillip Pullman appeared in the stage production of His Dark Materials - the play based on his best-selling trilogy. He appeared uncredited as an Oxford academic, and seemingly had great fun, and put in a worthy performance. Is it only me, or is that not a little ironic? Here is a series of books that purport to decry theism and do away with the idea of 'god', and depict 'god' as a helpless old angel, an ultimate deceiver, who vanishes in a gentle puff of wind when his crystal 'sarcophagus' is shattered - his atoms returning the grand scheme of all things. This is a series of books that says that the universe has no author. And yet as the play is staged (and, I don't know, but presume that the play and the books speak with a similar voice) here appears the author, subtly transcending the medium and taking the nature of one of the characters! This sounds awfully famili...