Faith-&-Worldview on A Geek's Life

On That Rise and Fall of Mars Hill Pod

Sat, 27 Nov 2021 08:17:08 +0000

Over the past four or so months, I have listened with rapt attention, waiting for the next episode drop of the Christianity Today podcast, The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill. For the uninitiated, it chronicles the story of Seattle megachurch, Mars Hill and its founder Mark Driscoll. It first came to my attention, if memory serves me right, when its host, Christianity Today’s Mike Cosper, popped in to the Holy Post podcast for a conversation with Skye Jethani. That interview, and the end of the first episode, go some way to lay out the team’s reasons for exploring this story and what lessons they hope to tease out as they go along. As expected, Mark Driscoll looms large over the series - which has one final episode to go. Alongside him, making appearances and/or being named checked are a slew of other heavyweights in the evangelical space, thanks to his involvement in two organisations like The Gospel Coalition and the Acts 29 network.

Poetry As Therapy: A Brief Listening (and Reading) List

Mon, 06 Apr 2020 10:52:18 +0000

My grand plan for Lent this year was to post a poem a day using the Church of England’s #LiveLent reflections as a jumping-off point, but life happened (we lost G and then went into a full COVID-19 related shutdown) and I ended up stuck on 17 days. Poetry as prayer seemed like a good idea given the difficult season of faith I was in, in which prayer felt alien. It is not an entirely novel idea as I found out with more than a few essays reflecting on the subject, two examples being these excellent pieces at Talking Writing and The Millions. There is a rich history of the poetic form in various religious writing and in their associated rites; some might even argue that the enduring allure of the King James Version of the Bible has more to do with the cadence of its words than anything else. Come to think of it, the Psalms sometimes read like the brain dumps of a conflicted person, like transcripts of therapy sessions.

34. Flitting

Mon, 30 Mar 2020 10:13:53 +0000

For Lent Week 5, Monday. A response to the CoE’s #LiveLent reflection for the day. Photo by A Perry on Unsplash

\\\* Without a care the birds flit blithely between the trees, their bare branches lit briefly as though by the light of exploding stars, bright colours and persistent chirps in their own ways declaring this is good.

33. Fifth Day

Sun, 29 Mar 2020 18:40:03 +0000

For the start of Week 5 of the CoE’s #LiveLent Devotional for Lent 2020. Photo by Dane Deaner on Unsplash

\\\* In the swoosh of the wings of the bald eagle diving to snatch fish from the sea - its sustenance elegantly eked by dint of labour day by day - and the quiet resplendence of the colourful coral, goodness resides; each in its way declaring, this is good, this birthing on the fifth.

30. What If...

Thu, 26 Mar 2020 08:05:37 +0000

What if disease is the earth groaning, these bodies daily breaking its cry for relief from our feet pressed hard against its throat? What if…

25. Rest

Sat, 21 Mar 2020 13:56:15 +0000

For Week 3, Weekend of the CoE’s #LiveLent Devotional:

\\\* The curse on the slithering snake is to toil ceaselessly, to eke each day’s living from the benighted earth. The promise we hold to is the blessing of the seventh, that after six summers of toil, the seventh brings rest and healing.

23. Impermanence

Thu, 19 Mar 2020 18:02:51 +0000

For Week 3, Thursday:

\\\* The rush of locusts leaves the trees - once lush and green - bare, each fading away in the impermanence, of fields destroyed; the ground mourning the demise of a raw and an exquisite beauty. This is how the earth groans, curled up in pain at the wilfulness of wanton waste, a silent witness to the marks we’ve missed. We bring our clay, our bodies and and our burdens to this place to this aftermath of loss, and hope for redemption, that this place broken in the moment can be whole and holy once again.

22. Salvation

Wed, 18 Mar 2020 18:50:18 +0000

For Week 3, Wednesday:

\\\* Drop by drop flake by flake the seeds of life are coming and going a stairway between heaven and earth, words watering it with life, calling a harvest from dry things. Each seed is becoming a harvest; of redemption and salvation - joy returning where sadness once reigned.

21. River side

Tue, 17 Mar 2020 08:55:46 +0000

For the Week 3, Tuesday reflection in the CoE’s #LiveLent Devotional:

\\\* Trees planted by the river are blessed with the fortitude to resist the howling of the wind the pounding of the waves and the dying the heat and drying bring. Their roots hold together the soil, their leaves stay green even in the season of forgetting. So hold me, tell my heart to trust, to not waver in this season of distress.

20. Earth Song

Mon, 16 Mar 2020 10:42:37 +0000

A response to the Week 3, Monday reflection in the CoE’s #LiveLent series

\\\* Land and plants the Lord God made each one, called forth by the thundering of His voice. First dry land carved from the gathering of the waters then seeds, each taught to yield it’s kind. And everything- the red earth, white beach lush plain and rugged hill sings as one. My God, how great Thou art.

19. Third Day

Sun, 15 Mar 2020 12:58:42 +0000

19-tree

For the start of Week 3 of the CoE’s #LiveLent Reflections.

The wet grass catches the faint light of the rising sun, each blade resplendent in its very present beauty. Here today but gone tomorrow each clump is a promise of provision, a gift of remembering that tomorrow, and the rising sun will come.

18. Living Water

Sat, 14 Mar 2020 09:30:34 +0000

For the Week 2, Weekend reflection in the CoE’s #LiveLent series for 2020.

\\\* I come at noon the burden of shame around my neck like a shawl hiding me. I come to find water, to sate my thirst to soak my face in its cooling and wash the dust away. But here I find you offering living water. I drink for cleansing for my scarlet to be white and to never thirst again.

17. A Prayer for A Season of Overwhelm

Fri, 13 Mar 2020 22:38:18 +0000

For the Week 2, Friday’s #LiveLent Devotional, particularly apt given the state of play of the coronavirus pandemic.

\\\* Worn and weary from the tears of fitful crying I find myself stretched straining like a string to hold together; one hand sinking into a slushy earth and the other tottering like a tree listing in a storm. As these waters reach my neck as breath begins to slip and my body begins to yield to these dark depths Abba be a rock be a shelter from the storm be my anchor.

15. Baptism

Wed, 11 Mar 2020 16:38:00 +0000

Today’s CoE #LiveLent Devotional invites us to reflect on baptism, and how it is a symbol of our death and resurrection with Christ. Here goes:

\\\* I come to this water, let me go beneath its flood and die, and then arise reborn, raised to freedom and new desires. Let me sense your welcome, your voice speaking once but echoing across the hills and the valleys telling me, welcome lost son, my prodigal returned.

13. Water, Again

Mon, 09 Mar 2020 19:42:08 +0000

For Day 11 of the CoE’s Lent 2020 Devotional.

\\\* I come thirsty for your water, for its wetting and its washing for how it revivifies my dead and dying places making their hard, worn edges into soft and pliant spaes. I come thirsty, head bowed in quiet supplication, to live again.

12. Water

Sun, 08 Mar 2020 19:07:46 +0000

For Day 10 of the CoE #Livelent Devotional, the focus being the second day of creation with water being brought forth…

\\\* First comes light, making lost things found, dark places bright and clear and beautiful again, and then comes water to wash and clean and bring life to all the dead and dying things. May the dark places of our hearts be lit and whole again and our hands clean.

11. Light and Darkness

Sat, 07 Mar 2020 22:30:09 +0000

For Week 1, Weekend of the CoE’s #LiveLent Devotional

\\\* Into the dark night light shines, bit by bit driving fear away

10. Light...

Fri, 06 Mar 2020 19:43:23 +0000

For Day Nine, the invitation is to reflect on light and heat and the benefits access to electricity brings to people around the world. That immediately brought to mind the Parable of the Lost Coin, and how for all the sweeping and cleaning, the lost coin is found because of the illumination light brings. Here goes then:

\\\* You realise that light is good when the thing you lost is found, wedged between the corner of your bed and the cold wall, that tiny space worn beige by the tyranny of time. When in the shiver of a winter night you wrap your hands around a cup of warm tea, its chipped edge and faded art a reminder of all its seasons of use, you realise that light is good, and the darkness all around fades.

9. Song of The Light

Thu, 05 Mar 2020 20:40:46 +0000

For Day 8 of the Church of England’s LiveLent devotional for Lent. \\\* Tell the darkness there is no room here, that though small and weak and flickering in the wind, your light will be a bulwark, a hedge against the pressure closing in. You’re a city on a hill a light raised high for all to see. Shine.

5. First Day

Sun, 01 Mar 2020 10:21:07 +0000

For Week 1, Sunday of the CoE’s #LiveLent Devotional \\\* Over the cold dark swirling mists, the Spirit breathes then speaks: Light, come forth.

4. Reconciliation

Sat, 29 Feb 2020 22:13:19 +0000

For Day 4 of the CoE #LiveLent Devotional. \\\* All things - the frail and the sturdy, the weak and the strong- hold together, and consist in You Who leaves the saved ninety-nine to find the one; lost sheep who slips into the dark and unclear paths where fear thrives. You offer redemption and finding and saving from the miry clay. Save me.

4. Blessed Are Those Who Hunger and Thirst After Righteousness

Mon, 25 Mar 2019 05:50:48 +0000

The next Beatitude begs the question what is righteousness, and how can we hunger and thirst after it? The Lent Pilgrim devotionals over the past few days have highlighted a few dimensions of this.

First off from Romans 12:9-21 comes the idea of right behaviour, attitudes and actions which are in keeping with our Christian worldview. The implication here is that righteousness involves swimming against the flow, being truly counter-cultural in demonstrating love in spite of what moulds the wider world with its focus on personal attainment and looking out for number one seeks to press us in. The takeaway here is that we are to “overcome evil with good”(v21).

3. Blessed Are The Meek

Wed, 20 Mar 2019 17:35:31 +0000

The focus for the last five days has been the Third Beatitude, Blessed are the Meek. Of the many definitions the Strong’s bible dictionary gives to the Greek ‘ praus’, two stand out - a disposition of spirit in which we accept His[God’s] dealings with us as good, and therefore without disputing or resisting and wholly relying on God rather than their own strength to defend them against injustice – which both speak to an acceptance of his Sovereignty. The Lent Pilgrim devotional chose to highlight other elements of this in the life of Jesus the quintessential meek one; his humility in not grasping equality with God (Phil 2:7) and playing the servant, washing his disciple’s feet (Jn 13:1-15).

2. Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

Fri, 15 Mar 2019 04:14:34 +0000

For Day 10 of The Church of England’s 40 Day Lent Pilgrim Journey

Read: Romans 8:35-39

This week, the focus has been on the second beatitude: Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. Today’s reading sets out the wider framework within which we ought to view mourning (and all the things that can precipitate it in our lives). Nothing can separate us from the Love of God in Christ Jesus.

Lent Pilgrim, Day 1: Begin Here

Wed, 06 Mar 2019 06:07:37 +0000

For Day 1 of The Church of England’s 40 Day Lent Pilgrim Journey Read: Matthew 5:1-10

Matthew 5: 1-10, or as more popularly known - The Sermon on the Mount - represents Jesus thoughts on eight ideas for an uncommon life. Thanks to the CoE’s Lent Pilgrim journey for Lent this year, I’ll be reading along and making notes on here as I can.

For the (like me) unobservant, Lent is the six week period leading to Easter celebrated by Christians of a more traditional bent, with the focus being a time of solemn reflection and preparation for marking the death and resurrection of Jesus at Easter.

Christmas...

Tue, 25 Dec 2018 11:29:02 +0000

Snowed in on my first Aberdeen Christmas…

\\\*

As I write this I am slouched in a chair, head banging and eyes sore from the remnant of a cold, the only hint of Christmas out here being the podcast I am listening to, profering explanations for the Star of Bethlehem. In my head though, I am back to my first proper Aberdeen Christmas from which this picture comes, the enduring image being one of snow, bitter cold and loads of time for introspection. Many years ago, when I still was in children’s Sunday School in the University Chapel my family attended, the carol service and reeling off lengthy passages committed to memory were most looked forward to, alongside rice and plentiful chicken. At one of those, I played the Magi with Myrrh, in addition to the scripture memory. Since then, the story of the Magi who bearing gifts has always intrigued me, particularly as it relates to the moving star.

When I Still Don't Desire God...

Sat, 08 Dec 2018 11:41:22 +0000

For Day 4 and 5 of the WordPress Finding Everyday Inspiration Challenge

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Struggling has hope of success, but forsaking the struggle does not

- John Piper

John Piper is perhaps most famous for his espousal of Christian Hedonism, the idea that ‘God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him’. One of the essential tenets of this is that we are designed to, and should indeed, desire God not only on the level of mental assent but also at a deeper heart, emotional level. The reality of most people of faith is that our hearts and heart connections to God wax and wane, the strength of our feelings never really existing continuously in that Christian Hedonist space.

31 Days of Journaling, Day 3: One Thing

Sat, 03 Nov 2018 11:33:33 +0000

For the prompt for Day 3 of the 31 Day Journaling Challenge at The Art of Manliness

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Alongside a regular practice, building a regular practice of prayer and bible study has been one of the things I have struggled most with over the years and which has come up again in this latest iteration of beginning again.

As for actual steps this time, I have bought a copy of 90 Days in Judges, Galatians and Ephesians by Tim Keller and Richard Coekin, a notebook and a pack of hibiscus tea, the intent being to make that part of a new morning routine in which I brew a cup of tea and settle in to read the assigned reading of the day and write notes in my mew black book. Two days in already, I hope I can make it to the 90 and then beyond.

Ctrl +Alt+ Del

Tue, 30 Oct 2018 11:41:26 +0000

Maybe it is the shock of the delayed cognition of turning 39 - perilously close to the age of eternal foolishness - or the weariness of dealing on and off with death and grieving that births this feeling hovering over me that I can’t quite place. It is not entirely inscrutable: the little I understand of it suggests part of it is a heightened sense of my own fragility, the deaths - ranging from old classmates of mine to friends of my father’s - underscoring the fleeting nature of life and with it the sense of time speeding by. The other part that rears its head from the haze is the feeling of drifting, one day blurring into the next which is barely distinguishable from the one that follows it with the only discernible purpose being fighting whatever fire glows brightest both at work and in my personal life.

100 Days Of Ascent, 1 - Certitude

Tue, 02 Oct 2018 06:03:20 +0000

Psalm 120:1 I call on the Lord in my distress, and he answers me.

For the first of these 100 Days of Ascent, it is perhaps fitting that the starting point is a place of certitude, a statement of fact: I call on the Lord and he answers me. No ifs, no buts, no maybes; just a clear statement of what is. The word translated call is the Old Hebrew qara, which carries the connotation of a loud, expressive sound, not a quiet muttering. The Lord is referred to by his name YHWH here, the independent, self existing proper name which I suppose speaks to his power, majesty and essence. This then is an interesting juxtaposition, a cry in a season of distress to the all powerful God, who in His answering deigns to respond to the cry of one puny human.

On Repeat: You Don't Miss A Thing

Mon, 16 Jul 2018 07:30:59 +0000

What a mystery That You notice me And in a crowd of ten thousand You don’t miss a thing

You Don’t Miss A Thing, from the Bethel Music album We Will Not Be Shaken

3 Day Quote Challenge - 3

Sun, 20 May 2018 22:13:54 +0000

The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie. It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world. It is not the X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of triviality we drink in every night. For all the ill that Satan can do, when God describes what keeps us from the banquet table of his love, it is a piece of land, a yoke of oxen, and a wife (Luke 4:18–20).

Lent

Tue, 13 Feb 2018 18:56:43 +0000

Photo by Thuong Do on Unsplash

This year for lent, I am taking up the challenge from Desiring God to read through John Piper’s book, Fifty Reasons Jesus Came To Die. Whilst that may or may not be more spiritual than giving up caffeine, what is not in doubt is that it is firmly aligned with a few of the things I want to achieve this year, notably read more books, and developing a daily practice of prayer and bible study. At a chapter a day (and two on Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday), it shouldn’t be too big a strain on all the other reading I’m doing. Win-win? I’d say so!

Church, In Three Things...

Tue, 30 Jan 2018 06:14:59 +0000

Photo by John Price on Unsplash

Three things over the weekend brought into relief why my relationship with church can sometimes feel conflicted; swinging from the deeply emotive to the somewhat irritating over the course of a few days.

First off was a truly immersive worship experience on Sunday morning, one in which the songs seemed God-sent especially for me, particularly Jaye Thomas’We Wait For You which is one of my favourites. Off the back of that, I went home and binged on worship music on Spotify.

Honour Thy Father

Tue, 17 Oct 2017 04:19:19 +0000

Image Source: (c)Nathan Anderson

–

It is to a stroke of fortune that I owe listening to the final episode of Malcolm Gladwell’s Revisionist History podcast three times over the last week. The first of the series of events which led to that was upgrading to iOs11 which messed up my podcasts, led me to seeking out Overcast as a replacement, and then having to decide on which ones to subscribe to or which to bin. That episode, Basement Tapes, explores a son’s reaction to finding out he has played a part in debunking to some of extent what has been the essence of his father’s work. The son, Robert Frantz is contacted out of the blue by a researcher, Chris Ramsden (Scientific American describes as the Indiana Jones of science), who is looking to acquire raw data from an experiment conducted by Robert’s father, Ivan, in Minnesota between 1968 and 1973. What results from Chris’s analysis of the data is a fundamental questioning of the conclusions of that study and the diet-heart hypothesis which claimed a linkage between a low saturated fat diet and the low blood cholesterol levels it produces and a reduction of the associated death rate (or adverse outcomes, as the study euphemistically puts it).

On Repeat - Simplicity - Rend Collective

Sun, 26 Mar 2017 17:38:14 +0000

–

Currently on repeat, Simplicity, from the Album The Art of Celebration

I come with my broken song / To You the Perfect One / To worship You / In spirit and truth

Just Thinking: Esp 2 - Trusting God

Sun, 14 Aug 2016 19:45:02 +0000

https://soundcloud.com/jd-rambler/eps-2-trusting-god

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From a reflection from a few weeks ago on Trusting God… Apt given where I am on the cusp of a not-quite milestone birthday

Nine Fridays of Summer: London, Again.

Tue, 02 Aug 2016 12:15:58 +0000

I never cease to be amazed by how flights which ostensibly last an hour end up morphing into all day affairs, which leads me to think that flying is perhaps one of the greatest swindles on earth. In my experience, by the time one arrives at the airport, goes through security and then waits to board, the better part of two hours has very easily been burned. When the inner city travel requirements are tacked on, everything very easily rolls up to between three and four hours. On this occasion, my flight due to leave at 12.05 pm ends up delayed which is how it is well past 4.00 pm by the time my train rolls into Romford where I plan on basing myself on this trip. All that leaves me is time to get myself checked into my room, find a quick bite and then start heading back to the O2 Arena for the opening night of the Hillsong Conference Europe, which is my primary reason for this trip.

(Trusting) God's Design In Detours

Wed, 25 May 2016 06:23:22 +0000

From today’s John Piper Devo:

Have you ever wondered what God is doing while you are looking in the wrong place for something you lost and needed very badly? He knows exactly where it is, and he is letting you look in the wrong place….

And your agonizing, unplanned detour is not a waste — not if you look to the Lord for his unexpected work, and do what you must do in his name (Colossians 3:17). The Lord works for those who wait for him (Isaiah 64:4).

#100 - How Do You Make Jeans in Jesus Name?

Mon, 11 Apr 2016 12:48:47 +0000

From this Louie Giglio message which I find myself returning to over and over again.

… You make the best jeans that can possibly be made. You don’t do any half hearted jeans. You don’t do any we’re-Christians-and-we-do-a-lot-of-stuff-half-hearted-jeans. You go make the most excellent jeans that you personally can muster, asking God to inspire this passion, inspire this vision, to awaken in you by the life of Jesus Christ amazing creativity. You work hard, you are diligent. If you are in fashion school you are in class; you’re paying attention, you’re absorbing. In your internship you’re humble not proud, you’re learning, not teaching, you’re absorbing everything you can. You’re serving in every way you can, taking every opportunity to get trained; to hone your skill, to develop your passion to get more experience so that you can do the very, very very best thing possible when you make your jeans.

#95 - On Faith, Certitude and Doubt

Wed, 06 Apr 2016 22:32:10 +0000

John Cornwell on the Importance of doubt:

Faith, like love, is seldom entirely constant; nor is it irrevocable.

More in a similar vein from Mike McHargue

#92 - Passion, Purpose and Designer Jeans

Sun, 03 Apr 2016 19:45:24 +0000

Louie Giglio on Col 3:17 amongst other things:

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him

#Mission

#87 - Redemption

Tue, 29 Mar 2016 23:02:30 +0000

What’s done is done. There is no need to speak with Edmond about his past.

From The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - which I just watched again :)

#BeginAgain

#85 - Easter Sunday

Sun, 27 Mar 2016 19:10:58 +0000

From the Hillsong social media campaign to get people thinking about the wider import of Easter, allied to the clocks moving forward an hour overnight…

#CrossEqualsLove #HelloSpring

#72 - Quotable, On love and 'Rightness'...

Mon, 14 Mar 2016 08:38:00 +0000

Image Source: Challies.com

To be right with God the Judge is a great thing, but to loved and cared for by God the Father is greater- J.I. Packer

#Perspective

#61 - The February Wrap - Of Life, and Steady Habits

Thu, 03 Mar 2016 22:16:36 +0000

What has quickly become apparent – as this year of living earnestly evolves - is that far from being the wild, giddy, excited life I half expected when my thoughts began to initially crystallise, it is one that is lived in increments; steady habits being the under-girding behaviours which hold everything together. That sense – of slow, steady if ponderous, progress – is one that has been consistently underlined and reinforced all year; by the book I am currently reading (Donald Whitney’s Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life), the ongoing series at Passion City on Habits and various conversations, the last of which occurred over the weekend with the older guy friend/ mentor O. The general gist of the book and the series is that change is only possible if there is an overarching vision of the future that frames the daily actions that we take, providing an incentive that keeps us plugging away at them.

#50 - Debut

Sun, 21 Feb 2016 23:30:06 +0000

On the day this challenge hit the halfway mark, I ended up spending the bulk of my Sunday evening prepping for, and interviewing, the truly delightful Sam Hibbard; an Aberdeen based Christian singer/song writer whose new single In The Waiting, dropped a couple of weeks ago. I definitely got the sense the wee lad - he’s still not 18 - is going places. It was great to get to chat God, Music, Youth and just catch up in general. First time behind the mics for me too, looking forward to more of these this year. I might have to come up with a funky DJ name if this continues.. :)

#45 - On Fasting

Tue, 16 Feb 2016 23:11:18 +0000

Fasting does not change God’s hearing so much as it changes our praying

From The Donald Whitney book I’m currently reading - image by Time Challies

#Apt

#28 - Of Discipline and Direction

Sat, 30 Jan 2016 22:33:47 +0000

The only road to Christian maturity and godliness passes through the practice of the Spiritual Disciplines. I will emphasize that godliness is the goal of the disciplines, and when we remember this, the Spiritual Disciplines become a delight instead of drudgery

Donald S. Whitney: Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life

#CurrentlyReading

#22 - Be Still My Soul

Sun, 24 Jan 2016 21:34:45 +0000

From time to time, my rather loud, Pentecostal church goes back to basics and sings a communal hymn in place of a choral presentation. Days such as these - I feel - lend themselves more to the more contemplative (or less engaged some would argue) worshipers such as me. The hymn today was particularly apt, particularly the 3rd stanza given the disturbing news my friend B shared overnight about her loss.

#17 - Three Ideas For Life

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 22:48:46 +0000

From Simon Guillebaud’s January 3rd message at Holy Trinity Brompton on the subject Be A Living Sacrifice:

Live Urgently
Give Unreservedly
Be Transformed Radically

#Pondering

#15 - On Trusting

Sun, 17 Jan 2016 20:58:16 +0000

–

In keeping with the sense of calmness from this morning, the homily at church today was a reflection on peace, with a key theme being how it is under-girded by a sense of implicit trust. This triggered a recollection of a message Bruce Ware gave many years ago at a New Attitude Conference where he likened trusting God to sitting on a three-legged stool, the three-legs in this case being a recognition that God is all powerful, all wise and all-loving, having our best interests at heart (summarized here).

#6 - Of Faith and Metaphors

Fri, 08 Jan 2016 22:58:46 +0000

--- Yesterday was a seventh consecutive day of having managed to start my day with a time of quiet contemplation using the devotional I’ve chosen to use for the year. The reading, from 1 Corinthians 9:27 with its imagery of war with the body got me thinking of all the other metaphors faith (at least in the Christian sense) is described by. A few readily came to mind; an athlete, a soldier, a farmer and a steward of resources. I suspect there are more, if one chose to delve deeper, but all these seemed to support the narrative of focus and discipline on one hand, and reward on the other.

A Year of Living Earnestly...

Thu, 22 Oct 2015 00:32:00 +0000

[ Source]

Three chance occurrences over the space of the last month have done a lot more to unsettle me than anything else in the year so far. Not in a bad way by any chance, but in an ask-myself-hard-questions way. Of the myriad of questions bobbing around in my mind, ones that relate to authenticity, passion and faith and how these can be melded into a coherent practice have come to the fore, inspired by how the people in question are doing life in their real worlds, leaving marks in ways I can only aspire to at this stage.

With Grace

Fri, 17 Jul 2015 11:30:18 +0000

I have been (re) reading Philip Yancey’s What’s So Amazing About Grace, the central idea of which is that the church has gone the way of the world in dealing with people who are different; with judgement and disdain rather than grace. For a book from 1997, it does not by any means feel dated, somehow remaining current not least for the issues it tackles; issued which defined the late Nineties but still continue to define our current epoch than anything else - homosexuality and the moral failings of people in leadership, temporal and spiritual.

Freedom Is...

Sun, 01 Mar 2015 18:00:00 +0000

.. A deep work (what happens in you is greater than what happens to you, and is deeper than the workings of the circumstances and situations that frame our daily life), a quick work (God takes a long time to do something quick - as long as it takes for us to turn away from what ever else we look to for help on to Him) and a lasting work (what happens through you is meant to outlast you, and true success is measured by how much it empowers the next generation to extend the work that we do). Or so says the phenomenal Joel A’Bell whom I stumbled on in today’s Hillsong London pitstop..

On praying, and changing...

Thu, 12 Feb 2015 22:35:43 +0000

[ Source]

One day you wake up with a sense of hunger, as though someone - or something - dredged the innards of your soul and all you want to do is talk to Him. The tug is so strong – and insistent – that you think nothing of kneeling on the cold, hard floor and pouring out your heart. It seems to work because by the time you’re done, you feel light headed and ready, ready to take on the world, bad guys, ghouls and all.

On Repeat: #7 – Emeli Sande - Abide With Me

Sun, 16 Feb 2014 20:00:55 +0000

For O, who bailed too soon…

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In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

Quotable.. Francis Chan

Thu, 30 Jan 2014 21:39:13 +0000

Francis Chan at Passion 2013:

Do you believe….That God is looking at you regardless of what you’ve done going ‘I’ll buy you back? I know you’re faithless but I never stop being Faithful, pursuing you, loving you… And as long as it is still called today, as long as you’re still breathing, right now you’ve got a chance. I’ll buy you back right now. I’ll take you back… You just lay it at the cross.

On traditional gender roles...

Sat, 02 Jun 2012 00:49:30 +0000

Somehow, my increasingly regular Friday evening/night conversations with Mlle.M had an interesting segue. We had been catching up on weekend plans at the time I believe when we somehow got into the dodgy waters of traditional gender roles, and how they are expressed in modern (Nigerian) marriages and relationships.

[The overwhelming feedback I get from the women I talk to is the Nigerian man out there at the moment, irrespective of how learned he is, is one who expects a certain domestication in his women, often with a big dollop of subservience. My experience doesn’t fit that narrative though.]

Eight things I Wished I knew Eight Years Ago...

Mon, 21 May 2012 16:36:11 +0000

Eight years ago, I was a wee lad, barely 23, fresh off my year of serving the nation in the foothills of Sango; with the mellifluous, if unintelligible, sounds of the music that consistently wafted upwards from the traders that surrounded my very modest lodgings at Maraba still ringing in my ears. I was none the wiser of the ways of the world at the time – like the good son of my Mother that I still was, in addition to being the pitifully shy, introspective bloke, I still greeted older males and females as ‘Sir’ and’Ma’ - a predisposition which perhaps made me fall prey to the shenanigans of a couple of police men on my first day at work.

Joshua Harris on 'Sanctuary Moments'

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 05:15:44 +0000

Joshua Harris on ‘Sanctuary moments’ (ones where God steps into our lives to impact change in us) from the message ‘Is He Enough? (New Attitude 2004) [ mp3]

… I am not advocating for you that you wait for some sort of mystical experience. I want you to have a sanctuary moment here at new Attitude, but you know what, that’s not going to look like some moment in worship where God just wipes you out, knocks you on the floor, takes away your desire for marriage and sex, and really fills you with a hatred for the opposite sex and you stand up and say I’ve had my sanctuary moment. No…

The Friday Read: Mixed Matches

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 18:17:03 +0000

A few days late but an interesting read nonetheless. Denise Morris explores inter-racial dating and marriage from a biblical worldview over at Boundless.org. Parts One, Two and Three explore her experiences in growing up as a child from a mixed marriage, the pseudo-biblical objections people may have and offers a useful summation:

Will choosing to date someone outside of your race make your life more difficult? Hopefully not, but it could. If it does, remember that the father of lies still has a grip on humanity. He will until the day Christ returns to put him in his place. Are the potential difficulties of an interracial relationship worth it? Of course they are if it’s the person God has prepared for you. Most importantly, all of us are precious in his sight — red, yellow, black and white — and every shade in between.

Friday afternoon conversations

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 20:40:41 +0000

Huddled around the lone telephone in Meeting Room Twelve, how we end up talking about the potentially explosive subjects of immigration and living on the dole escapes me, but once the first, tentative blows are struck, it all takes off from there. There is me - very Nigerian, Ahmed – devout Muslim, Pakistani – born, but as English as they come and Steph – part free thinker, part new-ager, also British. We are waiting for the phone call which will initiate a teleconference – one which should have started a full ten minutes earlier.

RIP Steve Jobs...

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 06:06:56 +0000

That iconic 2005 Standford Commencement address again..

What I learned:

Do not be afraid to start again: Apple, NeXT, Pixar and then Apple again?
Keep every decision, and every action in perspective of what’s truly important
Find what you love, love what you do, and excel at it.
Never underestimate the importance of any experience, the dots only appear to line up in hindsight
Do YOU!

Definitely one to file in my ‘Ideas for life’ folder alongside Dennis Prager’s at Pepperdine University and John Legend at The University of Pennsylvania.

Al Mohler on Vocation

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 08:00:36 +0000

A few weeks ago, ‘Jane Doe’ prompted some deep thinking by Single Nigerian, leading him to ponder if trying now and then was enough when others had sacrificed things (even their lives) to ‘get the word to the common man.’

I was listening to an old message by Al Mohler - Being Men and Raising Men [ mp3] - whilst walking to work today, and a section [begins at 51;11] struck me as being a very apt answer to that question.

On the kinship of the Prodigal

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 05:51:23 +0000

Long before I segued into the way of all flesh, I had always had a sense of connection with the Prodigal Son. In these dark days when my faith vacillates between the highs of unquestioning belief and the depths of blatant scepticism with the increasingly longer spells of being mired in the drudgery of self deprecating musing, I find myself drawn to the text again and again. Something about the lost son finally coming to himself, realizing there is a better life, a better way of doing stuff resonates with me. I fear I am lost, that somehow I have eaten so long of the hors d’œuvres of the beguiling tempter that his full feast of bitter gall is an ineluctable consequence. Trust me I have tried; but the overwhelming sense of guilt at the bloke I have become weighs me down. Like the proverbial swine given pearls, I appear to have taken world class opportunities and contrived to lose them amidst the quotidian pursuits of the good life.

Trading Places..

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 04:40:42 +0000

I still go read this - over a year after it was originally posted…..

Piper on Mid-Life Crises...

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 05:30:15 +0000

Excellent piece by John Piper on the subject of handling mid-life crises. An excerpt….

You know, God makes no mistakes. I cannot explain to you why he ordained that the first half of your life would be led in a way that looks like you wasted it. Maybe you just lived for money, and you lost your marriage, and you lost your kids. And now you’re 54 years old, and you are all alone and rich and miserable.

Clarity calls.....

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 17:57:55 +0000

I don’t wanna feel like this tomorrow I don’t wanna live like this today Make me feel better I wanna feel better Stay with me here now And never surrender

Today, in a bizarre moment of clarity, I realized I had parked my bus for way too long at a bus stop that wasn’t mine… A lot of energy was dissipated, focus diluted and time irretrievably wasted in the process.. Funnily, I knew a year ago very clearly what I should have done - it was reiterated very strongly five months ago - but the deeply seated nostalgic memories continued to keep me deluded, holding me in a mistaken belief that it could work and banishing my usually ruthless streak to the background…

Not restless enough?

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 10:39:00 +0000

I find the story of Isaac, Esau and Jacob intriguing, how guile and subtlety wins over brash power. Even though Isaac gave the blessing to Jacob, I find it interesting that Isaac mentions that Esau will only be under the yoke of Jacob until he gets restless. Perhaps every situation I am in at the moment is only because I have not been restless enough to break out from the chains and limitations…….

Weekday Kingdom Qualities

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 17:00:00 +0000

Currently reading Gordon McDonald’s Forging a Real World Faith. He identifies Eight Tips from the life of Daniel that we can use in our real world jobs..

Kingdom Perspective: Daniel knew God was in charge. The person of real world faith gauges every activity not against the opinions of people but against that of God.When moments of divergent opinion occur, one is careful where the real power lies.
Prudent Flexibility: Daniel knew when to back off and when to fight bare fisted.
Wise and Tactful Communication: The person of real world faith knows how to deliver a message that blends raw knowledge with God’s over arching purposes; how they fit into the big picture if you like. Coupled with the subtlety to soften the harshness of truth while commanding the attention of his hearer to appreciate the sense in the proffered solution, the person of real-world faith has the tools to be a person of critical influence in the work place.
True Humility: Achievements and providing solutions no one else has, have the potential to raise us to levels of self aggrandizement beyond the reasonable. Daniel always pointed to God as the source of his ‘powers’. The person of real world faith doesn’t allow whatever accolades he wins get to him. In his heart of hearts, he recognizes God as his source, and where appropriate he articulates that.
Intelligence: Daniel didn’t leave his brain in the Temple. He brought it to work daily! The person of real world faith has the resources of Heaven networked to his brain, if he will only ask for it.. and use it!
Integrity: Daniel delivered work with Integrity. The person of real world faith delivers on his work expectations with integrity - meeting deadlines, staying above board with company finances and assets and stuff like that. When his life was rigorously examined by his enemies, they found that they could only fault him on the matter of his faith.
Leadership Skill: Daniel exerted an undeniable influence on Babylonian politics. He led and administered his portfolios so well that he was considered for elevation to be head of the three other administrators.
Loyalty: Daniel - even when he had to deliver bad news- showed extreme loyalty to his bosses. He did recognize though that his first Boss was God, and the King.

Holiness is A Harvest..

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 16:14:00 +0000

Spent the weekend listening again to Joshua Harris message from New Attitude 2002 - Holiness is A Harvest. Truth is I have not devoted as much time to learning God as I have to say blogging, chasing my romantic interests and stuff like that. It’s a rude reminder that if I say I want to know God, the basic Spiritual Disciplines need to be in place! An action item from my RA involves taking bible study more seriously. I need to jump on it ASAP..

Scared..... Of God?

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:58:00 +0000

I have ranted and raved for a while now about not feeling a real world passion for God, and rightly so. But in the last few days, I have finally gotten to start reading Gordon McDonald’s Forging a Real Faith and Francis Chan’s Crazy Love and I am scared. Scared of what I might see when I finally peek through the door. I suspect that there is so much I will see that my real world life, a lot of the nascent parts of my worldview will be totally altered. That thought is sobering and rightly so. I can see clearly that my view of God has been totally defective; Great in my head, but not in my heart, having the right answers but not the right attitudes, going through the motions without a real sense of awe. I am scared, but I’m still plodding on…. There’s more to life, and I want to see it!

The Hot Seat......

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:33:23 +0000

For Me….In the midst of potentially destabilizing change…

The hot seat …..is the hot seat…. The place where you are put on the spot, and come under the most intense scrutiny possible. Here, the basis of your Faith is rigorously examined and the coherence of your worldview is systematically evaluated. It is the zone where well meaning words become dry platitudes devoid of any soothing balm, where textbook solutions fall apart, where time tested strategies cannot even begin to scratch the surface of the sickness that a hope deferred brings.

Inter-faith dialogue: An unlikely source of advice.

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 21:13:00 +0000

Perhaps God still speaks to us in unlikely ways. Consider a piece of scriptural advice on inter-faith dialogue from a Muslim here.

Hat tip to the Leadership Journal.

Blessing in Disguise?

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 12:16:00 +0000

Woke up late today and had to head off to a church closer home.. It was an Anglican Church. Felt a little strange with all the reading of prayers, the hymns and all that. Its been at least six to seven years since i set foot in a more traditional church. I must say I found it interesting in any case; perhaps some faith by rote is great for life? I dunno!

On "Living A Soulful Life"

Thu, 28 May 2009 18:14:20 +0000

I’ve always had a not too complementary view of the intellectual capabilities of most musicians.. But John Legend made a lot of sense in his commencement address at his Alma Mater (The University Of Pennsylvania). I don’t agree explicitly with everything he says especially about blurring the lines between absolutes, but he made sense overall. Enjoy…

On Technology.... Flickering Pixels...

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 08:07:32 +0000

I jumped at the chance to participate in BlogTourSpot’s review of Shane Hipps new book: Flickering Pixels – How Technology Shapes Your Faith for two reasons. I was at a stage where I thought the clutter of technology was squeezing sense out of my normal life, plus I’d get a copy of the book for free.

The author’s background is in advertising, which has given him a unique insight into the working of media and how it is changing how we think, which ultimately affects how we share and live out our faith. The book sets out in broad strokes the insidious dangers that the changes media brings to our lives can generate, and by sounding out a clarion call, we can be on the lookout for them and avoid them as they arise. Several key points stand out 1. All Faith is based on communication – either from God to us or between us as adherents, and the way we primarily communicate affects our interpretation of our faith. 2. Each more ‘efficient’ means of communication we pick up has a dark side – it increases the propensity to clutter rather than clarify. 3. Media is not neutral – the message we actually get from communicating is both dependent on the message and the medium. 4. Pictures & Images (such as television) hijack our imagination. Words and printed matter however encourage us to generate our own images of the concepts being discussed, as opposed to being fed an image which in reality is one man’s interpretation of the words behind the image. 5. We have slowly become a tribe of individuals – sharing experiences on an unprecedented scale (shared experiences build community, a ‘tribal’ ethos) but yet utilizing the self same tools to build an illusion of closeness whilst in reality, it is only yet another layer of interaction, another screen between the real us and the next person. 6. For Christians, we are both the medium and the message and all other forms of communication should only be to facilitate that primary, face to face communication model, not replace it.