Articles, thoughts, essays, and content from Brian as well as students – our budding theologians.
On turning 59…
I turned 59 on Wednesday. It’s an awkward kind of a birthday 59 – it feels like an unspecified space. When you turn 39 or 49 people joke, ‘almost 40’ or ‘almost 50’. But 59 is different. People politely say, ‘I would never have guessed it’ – as though you are about to enter territory too sad to fully acknowledge. Whatever, I had a ball on Wednesday, and am feeling remarkably positive about life. As I look back on 59 years, I feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude and delight… life...
read moreFor an audience of one…
After a busy little spell, and with a very full semester looming, I took some time off to pray and to reflect on what lies ahead. As is usually my practice on such days, I found a quiet spot by the beach, the soothing rhythm of the waves a wonderful backdrop to my thinking. At one stage I went for a walk along the beach – true, I am still limping somewhat, but it was good to feel the breeze and to watch wave after wave make its way towards the shore, and though my pace was slower than usual, my pedometer approved of my progress. For...
read moreManaging Monday with Mother Teresa…
Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997) is one of the most loved and respected figures of the 20th century. Winner of the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize, her extraordinary life continues to inspire us, as does the wisdom of her many sayings. We will reflect on a few of them over the next few Mondays… If you are humble, nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are. Mother Teresa In the end dear friend, it is always between us and God, not between us and them. Mother Teresa I used to believe that prayer changes...
read moreWhen Psalm 1 doesn’t work: Where questions and answers come from…
What do you do when Psalm 1 doesn’t work? Do you know the dilemma. Psalm 1 promises an orderly life that makes sense. Do the right thing, meditate on the Scriptures, keep the right company, love God, and in due season your life will flourish. It’s perfectly logical, and it works most of the time… probably 95% of the time. But what happens when you land up in the 5% territory – when nothing makes sense, and when you identify more with Asaph in Ps 74:1 who asks “Why have you rejected us forever, O God? Why does...
read moreOn walking with a limp…
The title of today’s post is not figurative. After excessive zeal at the gym, I have landed up with tendonitis. My physio advised some exercises to help settle it, the key of which involved standing on a step and lowering my heal to stretch the tendon – all good until I overdid that and slipped off the step, twisting my ankle in the process. If it hadn’t been so painful, it would have been funny. And painful it was. It was so bad I was convinced I had broken something, but have been assured this is not the case. However, it...
read moreManaging Monday with Nelson Mandela – take 4
Many of you have commented to me how much you have enjoyed the quotes from Nelson Mandela. Today we draw them to a close (well, for a little while at any rate). Nobel Peace Prize winner, first black president of South Africa, and extraordinary leader… Mandela has so much to teach us. “As I walked out the door towards my freedom, I knew that if I did not leave all the anger, hatred and bitterness behind, that I would still be in prison.” – Nelson Mandela “After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are...
read moreBusiness as Mission: A New Way of Thinking…
One of the great delights in my role as principal at Vose Seminary is that I get to see students grapple with fresh ways to live out the Christian faith in both the church and the world. One area that is now receiving an increasing amount of thought is the way in which business can be a vehicle of mission. A related issue is that of the hybrid church, where churches not only engage in classically ‘spiritual’ activities, but also run activities that might operate at a surplus, helping to fund other areas of mission, or which might...
read moreAnother book: Could this be God?
It has been an exciting few weeks for me on the publication front. My book When Faith Turns Ugly has been out for about 2 weeks, and I have now received the final proofs for my next book, Could this be God? Bumping into God in the Everyday which British publisher Bible Reading Fellowship (BRF) are releasing on 23 September. It is fairly different from my other books – a series of 90 short pieces written for a wide audience and with an intentionally laid back but devotional style. In spite of its light touch, the publisher latched onto...
read moreManaging Monday with Nelson Mandela – take 3
This week we again dive into the wisdom of one of the inspirational leaders of our time, Nelson Mandela. “As we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.” – Nelson Mandela “When a deep injury is done to us, we never heal until we forgive.” – Nelson Mandela “No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love...
read moreDeveloping a personal plan: Reeb’s From Success to Significance
It’s the marking time of the year – oh joy. Actually sometimes it is a joyous occasion, when a student greatly exceeds my expectations or highlights something I have not thought about before. True, it can take a fair few essays before I read one in that category, but it happens just often enough to keep me hopeful… perhaps this time. Today I was marking the personal formation plans that students in my ministry formation class have drawn up, and I’ve gotta say, there were a fair few heartening moments. Some of them used...
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