Teapot Theology

Single-minded and unhappy? Duke discusses…

Bible Fresh; 6XT’s and the 30th March at the LICC

Ipod fast, not chocolate this Lent?

Tim Kellers Church-planting London lectures all in pdf format

Reasons we’re slack in our bible reading: An EA resource

Consumerism gets us all, but with these testamints you get a whole other league of option!!

A perennial question:- Do pets go to hell!?

Is Twitter, really, a leadership tool?

….. and this genius summary from Dallas Willard:- ” The hope of the world is for Christian people to become disciples of Jesus!”

God says, I want you to realize that I never underestimated how thoroughly you’d mess up your life or how painfully you would struggle and suffer and I don’t want you to underestimate your failures or struggles either. They’re all part of the story I’m telling.

But neither have I underestimated My determination or ability to enter the mess you’ve made and the pain you feel and turn everything around.

I can, and I will, make everything good again. (More than just pass-ably good, but exceedingly great!) Never, never underestimate Me. I have a plan, a very good one, and it will move ahead to completion. Guaranteed! …. so continue to Trust Me!

Why? Because I love you even when you’re messing up badly. I love you in the middle of your pain even though I don’t relieve it as quickly as you wish. I am worthy of your trust, no matter what happens in your life. I have a good plan, and nothing will stop Me from carrying it to completion.

You must live now in the tension between anguish and hope. This is trust: this is Lent.

The mission of the church is to love Jesus.
Everything else is just strategy.

How are you and I doing in this loving-Jesus business?

How an iPhone app made a life-saving intervention in Haiti!

Wisdom from an older and wiser voice…..

If you could have real virtual church; is this what you’d want it to be?

Death within churches from the top down; Marcus’ great article and challenging questions,….. worth your time.

Incandescence: and God’s call in our lives!

How about sermon length…? What about it!

What church leaders might learn from the Apple genius: Steve Jobs?!

The Happiness Machine, c/o Coca Cola!

and what would pastoral care be like if Jack Baeur was your pastor!!

Sorrow, anger and the helplessness that Haiti evokes…. More here…

God bless this…. laptop!? a dose of curious prayers for all occasions?!

A wonderful six-track acoustic worship-central album for free download….

What do you make of Stephen Baldwin in CBB? Devoted bible stuff anyhow!!

Am enjoying a significant dose of Brothers and Sisters, catch-up dvd viewing with my beloved….Engaging, warm, poignant, complex, brilliant!

Pastoral profiling and all that….? This blog is an interesting write: linking the truth that ‘churches put their pastors on a pedestal and this truth is only worsened when their pastors want to be there!’,…. it’s like a challenge between excellence and grace that I’ve been talking over with some new friends.

Bring on some boredom! Over-stimulation is the enemy of imagination – we should give our children the gift of boredom…. go on smash your Wii’s and those DS games!

Here’s an expresso for your soul!

And….. the weekend always includes Jesus, but this weekend, we get to have Jack back too!! For Day 8 of our lives! Arnt’ we allowed to praise God for Jack Baeur?!

If you have a tom-tom, You can have that (!!) lady’s voice in the car,…. but just because you have her voice doesn’t mean you trust her. If you trust her, what do you do? You do what she says. You go where she tells you to go. If she says, “Turn left,” you turn left. If she says, “Turn left,” and in your heart you think, Oh, but I want to turn right, you remember that verse, “There is a way that seems right for a man, but in the end it leads to death.”

To live in the flow of the Spirit means doing what Jesus says.

I will mess up a lot.

I am going to need His power.

I know that, but I must form the intention. I must want to…..  I say to him, “God, with your help, as best I can, I will do what you say. I will give you my life, my time, my obedience.” If that is not my settled intent, then it’s best to be honest about it!!

Each day I (must) choose to say yes, to Jesus if I am to know His best.

,….but there is something else you need to know(!!) At one point when I was driving in more familiar places, I was quite sure the lady in the sat-nav system was wrong!! She said to go left, and I didn’t go left. I went right because I knew she was wrong!! Then, in a fascinating response, she said, “Recalculating route. When safe to do so, execute a U-turn.” I knew she still was wrong . . . so I unplugged her. That is the beauty of that little black box – you can unplug her!!

And – - I got lost as a deranged goose, which Julie enjoyed immensely. So we plugged that lady back in, and you know what she said?

“I told you so, you idiot. You think I’m going to help you now? You rejected me. There is no way. You just find your way home by yourself.” No, of course she didn’t say those things. She piped up saying, “Recalculating route. When safe to do so, please make a U-turn as soon as possible!!”

God will say to you and I, “Here is the way home. Execute a U-turn.” As soon as you are ready to listen, as soon as you are ready to surrender, that is repentance. This is daily living with Jesus.

He will say, “I will bring you home.” That is grace; Full and free.

….what would you say is ‘wisdom for living’: within a maximum of three (short) sentences and 30-seconds notice??! Here was my quick offering….!
* stay alive; be and enjoy your healthy best,
* seek God always and speak out prayers throughout the day,
* trust God fully, give your best now and plan for tomorrow….

What would you say….?!

…… that a scarf is good for more than just a walk, but for all-day-wearing….!!

….. listening is so life-giving…..

….every (life) story is full of God’s hand-prints….

…. welcoming and embracing people is art-form, and one of the (many) things I want to learn to do better!!

……frustration requires maturity!…… grit and glory: but mostly grit!

……God always has purpose, even if you don’t enjoy the place!

……God speaks everywhere if we’ll get close enough for the whispers (as well as the shouts!)

……. that it can get colder, the longer the day goes on!

……most of my new year resolves are intact

…..that four large coffee’s today has been warming but also headache-inducing…!

….letting people go, walk-away, like-really-give-up on Jesus hurts ;-(

,…..a godly word from yesterday: ‘Watch & pray, watch & pray’….

…..a place takes so much more than furnishings and bits to make a house, a home…..

…..life is best and most wisely lived – one day at a time…..

God’s richest blessings, grace, leading and peace this new decade!