Consumers or Christians…
It has become common to talk about consumer Christianity. You see it everywhere. The new family at the church makes it clear that they want to test things out first – after all it may or may not be a good fit for the family, and there are lots of needs to take into account. Is the youth group friendly enough, the children’s ministry sufficiently accomodating, the preaching inspiring enough, and the music to everyone’s taste? If each box gets a bold tick, they might attend… well, attend on those weekends they are not away at their holiday cottage. New churches trying to decide if...
Read MoreQuotable: Simon Carey Holt and Heaven All Around us – Take 2
I posted on Simon Carey Holt’s wonderful book Heaven All Around Us a few weeks ago. Here is a second look at some striking quotes from the book. …for neighbor-love to have credibility, it has to be practiced where we are. Simon Carey Holt (p86) Walking is an act of awareness, a way of seeing, noticing, and being present to where we live… When I drive through my neighbourhood, my destination is elsewhere. I am focussed on the most efficient way in or out. I don’t see it. When I walk my neighbourhood I am aware of it. I notice the individual homes, the front doors and...
Read MoreQuotable: Simon Carey Holt and Heaven All Around Us
I posted on Simon Carey Holt’s wonderful book Heaven All Around Us a few weeks ago. Here are some striking quotes from the book. A good spiritual practice names the presence of God already with us. In whatever form a spiritual discipline takes, it proceeds on the assumption that the possibility of God is as real where we are as anywhere. Simon Carey Holt (p39) To contemplate is to look deeply into something in order to discern its truth. That something is life itself, its objects, contexts, routines, and encounters. The true contemplative is not a person of a particular personality but one...
Read MoreAnother day, another Prime Minister – Take 2
We’ve done it again. Another Prime Minister dumped by his own party. It would be nice to think that the electorate sometimes had a say in who the Prime Minister of the country is, but that privilege could still be some months away. For those who don’t follow Australian politics, we have again indulged in our relatively recently adopted past time of replacing Prime Ministers – this time Scott Morrison replacing Malcolm Turnbull. Morrison, a committed Christian of the Pentecostal variety, has his work cut out for him – but let me not lapse into political commentary, as this is not...
Read MoreQuotable: Joshua Searle and Theology After Christendom – Take 3
I’ve changed the usual Monday format and instead of a series of quotes from a notable figure, I’m selecting some key passages and quotes from interesting books I am currently reading. This is a third and final look at Joshua T. Searle’s thought provoking and challenging work Theology After Christendom: Forming Prophets for a Post-Christian World (Cascade, 2018). Searle is a tutor in Theology and Public Thought at Spurgeon’s College, London, and I had the pleasure of meeting him and teaching in some of his classes during my recent stay at Spurgeon’s. Christendom could...
Read More