More Tee Vicar?

Humour and Subversion in the Book of Jonah... (Part I)

2011-09-21T14:36:00.004+01:00

I've been listening to a series of sermons on Jonah recently, (by Mars Hill Bible Church) and while a lot of things stood out to me that haven't before, these two subjects above almost kicked me in the face as it were!!

If we have a VERY serious view of the Bible, we can read it without thinking or noticing the humanity of the authors of specific books at times. yes, I believe the Bible is the Inspired Word of God and all that that means, but I also believe that the writers of each book left their mark of humanity on it also. God used hundreds of different people to write the Bible, and their personalities and idiosyncrasies at times come through the texts. Inspired doesn't mean 'Dictated' and if you think it does, you need to look up the definition of the word...

Anyway, I'm digressing...

So, I'm going to go through the particular verses that stood out to me during my listening. All quotes are from the NIV Bible (My apologies if you don't like that one, but it's the one I use and this is my blog so hard luck!)

Jonah 1
Jonah Flees From the LORD

1 The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” 3 But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD.

Jonah is asked by God to PREACH against the city of Nineveh but doesn't want to. (make a note of what exactly he was commanded to do, because it becomes very important later)

We're not told why Jonah does this, just that he does. (again that becomes important later too)

Jonah wants to run away to Tarshish. Here's where it gets interesting...

Tarshish - most Scholars think that it was a place in Southern Spain, very far away in ancient terms, and with a very moderate climate, palm trees, etc. So Jonah figures he'll go to paradise to escape God??! :-) (Joke No.1 of the author) Can you imagine if the story had been different, and Jonah got there, lazing on the beach looking round saying "ah, look at the sand, the sea, the warm breeze, my suntan, God isn't here...!" Not likely!

Apparently, the Hebrew construction of the sentence 'After paying the fare...' indicates a lot more than that, it also conveys the suggestion of paying a lot more that a normal fare and in actual fact the suggestion that Jonah chartered the boat for himself... Wow, that's a man of means hey?! He uses his resources to flee from God. (or so he thinks!) It's not just a case that Jonah is fleeing God, it's that he's using his OWN resources to do so. He thinks he can use his own wealth to escape God's call on his life, but this is not the case as we soon learn...

4 Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 5 All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.

The crew of the ship are very cosmopolitan, representing many cultures and nations and religions, they would be classed as 'heathens' or 'gentiles' in Jonah's mind. They all do what they know they're supposed to do in a crisis: they cry out to their gods. Nothing happens, so they start to panic and rely on their own common sense to lighten the ship and make it more buoyant. The author hear is trying to make a point, as we'll see from the second half of the verse:

But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. 6 The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.”

It's interesting. The man of God, Jonah, is asleep below deck, and is woken by the heathens and is asked to pray to God! In their desperation, they recognize that they need to seek Jonah's God, as there's a possibility they could be wrong in their assumption of which deity (as they saw it) is in charge! They show humility, the exact same character that God wanted from Jonah, that he didn't show!!

Here's where some more subversion comes in: the ones that are classed as heathens even in their ignorance of Jonah's God, display a confidence that his God will be compassionate towards them. The man of God who's supposed to know God, shows no such willingness!

Employability After Christian Retail 'Experience'?

2011-04-01T20:46:00.003+01:00

I honestly thought (naively I now realize) that ten years with Wesley Owen would have made me more employable than I am... I guess they were just too small (in the big world of retail) to give me any 'real' experience... (according to every single employer that I've applied to for jobs anyway). Apparently managing a £250,000 annual turnover shop is worth absolute zero to employers... Which means I wasted ten years of my life!! (in terms of job experience anyway).

Today I was told that I wasn't 'suitable' for the role I was applying for (A DEPUTY Manager), but that they would keep my name on their books in case any Senior Sales/Supervisor roles came up 'in the future'.

I realise Wesley Owen (as was) and even STL was a small fish in the big pond of retailers, but I honestly thought my experience with them would have counted for something. Literally every single management role I've applied for has turned me down because the shop I was in and the staff team I managed was too small.

I understand the reasoning, that I was in a 'niche' market, but what happened to the 'speculate to accumulate' method of recruitment? Surely there must be some Employers out there who can see past mere numbers and look at breadth of experience??

I'm very, very frustrated by employers seeming lack of vision at the moment in terms of recruitment. I know it's a hard economic climate, I know sales are hard to come by, but surely this obsession with quantifiable numbers won't get them the staff they ultimately need? Staff who are loyal and hardworking, and committed?

I find it funny the number of companies who have in their profile things like 'work/life balance' and 'our staff matter', etc, but who prove by their decisions that all they're concerned about ultimately is the bottom line. I understand in retail that that's very, very important, crucial even, but surely you want good staff, not just people who can make a buck?

I'm a bit dissalusioned at the moment, after over 600 jobs that I've applied for since July with no success. I just don't understand why no-one will even consider me. I never thought that I would be at Wesley Owen until I was an old man, but I never realised in terms of employability how much time I was wasting when I should have been applying for other posts during all that time that would have given me the 'right' experience, in terms of other employers anyway.

It's very frustrating and soul destroying.

The Weather Man

2010-11-24T15:32:00.000Z

Just watched this and thought I'd do a review.

Definitely post-modern in it's thinking, this depressing film goes for realism in a big way, by looking at the life of David Spritz, (Nicholas Cage), a Chicago weatherman separated from his wife and kids who negotiates his misery and tries to reconcile the disparate parts of his life. With the help of his father Robert, (Michael Caine), whose approval and affection he constantly seeks, he tries to be a better person and miserably fails, whilst trying to support his father through diagnosis of a terminal disease. His father is a prize-winning author and journalist now retired who's shadow David tries to live up to.

The film's narrative is understandably slow as it follows the minutiae of David's life, from hope to hope as he tries different tactics to be a better father to his two kids and reconcile with his wife, grabbing the new opportunity of a job offer with a major network to try and solve his problem of absence.

Basically, all these attempts fail and the film ends depressingly with a 'there you go then, that's life' kind of conclusion.

I don't dent that sometimes life is like that, (after all I'm living that at the moment in some ways!) but I found it depressing that there seemed to be no redemption for the main character in anything, and he resignedly admits there's nothing he can do. It was a depressing take on how empty life can become if your life is your work I guess, and a pointing to what sometimes is an embarrassingly male phenomenon of 'lack of presence' or 'lack of attention'.

In the film every other character is seen to lack interaction with David, real meaningful interaction, as David tries too hard, and tries to force intimacy with his children, wife and father that obviously died a long time ago. An interesting part of the plot is that strangers randomly throw fast food at him in the street from time to time, and he eventually realises that people do that, because he appears to be a shallow, unconnected person on their screens. Eventually, he realises that this is the truth about himself, and towards the end of the film he resigns himself to taking the big salary job in new York. Personal success and professional success are mutually exclusive, and he realises that he has nothing left personally to keep him where he is.

I found this film really depressing, and whilst this sad story might be a reality for some people, I think the writers maybe were trying to make a point about the way we view our work, and how important human interaction is. I found it strange though, that they didn't give any chance for David to change, it seemed his fate was inevitable, even though he tried to change it. Filmed very well, but not really one I'd like to watch again!

This got me thinking, and made me feel relieved!

2010-11-22T12:37:00.000Z

I've always wondered why I struggled so much over the last year with academic study... This may be be part of the reason. It may also be why my wife (who was home-schooled) always seems to engage with things more easily than I do...

Watch this.

Thoughts?

Skyline... My Thoughts!

2010-11-22T10:56:00.004Z

Well, I liked it.

I liked it purely on a no-holds barred, entertaining aliens movie with lot's of effects and action basis.

In terms of plot, there is hardly any in the film, it's just one minute of tense atmosphere with a very small amount of poor dialogue in between, for the whole film basically. It's amazing to think that virtually the whole film was shot in/outside the Directors apartment, which is why the costs of the film were $500,000, and the effects were $10,000,000!

I think the weakness of the film is the dialogue, which is very stuttered at times, action sequence upon action sequence means that the film doesn't give the actors little time to develop their characters, as basically they're running from one thing to the next!

In some ways it reminded me of War Of The Worlds, (the remake) which a few other people have commented on I think, but it has even less character development than that. This I find strange, as the quality of people they got, is actually quite good. Eric Balfour, (of '24' no less!) and David Zayas, (of Dexter) should be expected to produce some good work, but the scripts they were given are very limited.

One thing that is slightly frustrating is that no questions that could be raised by the viewer are ever answered. Questions such as 'why the lights?', and 'where is the rest of the world?', and 'what are the invading species planning?', etc. Also it bugged me a bit that certain biological things happen to you if you stand in 'the light', but no clue was given as to what precisely that was. there was a lot to 'guess at' in the film, which from one point of view is good, as people can have endless discussions afterwards, and if you like that, then great! If, however you like your films to be clear and self-explanatory, then you might want to give this a miss! There is nothing in the film from the invaders perspective, it is all from the humans trying to survive, and perhaps this might be another weakness in the plot? Mind you, that seemed to work for Cloverfield? *shrugs*

About the ending of the film...

I won't spoil it if you haven't seen it, but a lot of people who have seen it reportedly don't like it. I have to say I thought it was really clever, and because it wasn't your usual 'happy ever after' ending, I liked it even more. Some film endings where the story neatly resolves, I do like that occasionally in film, but I thought in this case the fact that it doesn't, is really a strength. It made me want to watch the sequel, (if there is one!) to see what happens next. I think the ending can work either way; as a clever ending, or as preparation for a sequel. I think I would prefer a clever ending, but then the story of the invasion isn't resolved at all, which I personally don't have a problem with, but I think a lot of viewers would.

Overall, despite the weaknesses I've briefly outlined, if you're looking for an entertaining 'action alien invasion' film, this would be the one for you to go to. If you like your films to make you think, or if you enjoy exploring characterization in a film, this isn't the film for you.

I'd like to be sexist at this point and say I think it's more of a 'boys film' than a 'girls one'...

I thoroughly enjoyed it as a nice bit of escapism on a Saturday afternoon!

Thoughts?

Skyline.

2010-11-20T21:37:00.000Z

I will post on this tomorrow after I've thought about it a bit more...

X Factor 2010...

2010-11-20T21:19:00.001Z

Katie NEEDS to go...

Nuff' said.

X Factor 2010... I'm thinking of doing the unthinkable...

2010-11-20T21:13:00.000Z

In the spirit of true musicianship, I'm seriously considering voting for Wagner in the X factor final if he gets there...

I think Matt and Rebecca are outstanding, but am really fed up of the nonsense that the panel of judges come out with each week. Is it just me or is it blindingly obvious that they're playing off each other in their comments and don't mean a word of what they say most of the time?

I'm not naive, I realise it's a show and it's all about ratings, but... seriously?

I think it would be fantastic if Wagner won and Simon had to give him a record deal...

I'm REALLY tempted!

Here's Hoping...

2010-11-19T23:09:00.000Z

I'm off to see Skyline tomorrow, I'm hoping that it's good, though I've heard a few comments from people who've seen it already saying that it's not that great...

We'll see!

Inconsistent Morality...

2010-11-19T21:22:00.000Z

Well, I haven't written for quite a while so I thought I'd start up again...

Meg and I went to the Cinema tonight to see 'Due Date', starring Robert Downey, Jnr and Zach Galifianakis among others. Parts of the film were very funny, as it explores the (non) relationship between the two main characters on a long road trip from Atlanta to L.A. Robert Downey plays an expectant father (Peter), trying to get home to L.A. for the birth of his first child, while Zach Galifianakis (of 'The Hangover' fame) plays the eccentric loner (Ethan), who inadvertently becomes Downey's saviour and road-trip partner. Lot's of hilarity ensues in varying levels and situations of political in-correctness, and both the characters reveal deeper parts of themselves along the way.

The one thing I've gotta confess is this:

I found it funny, up to a certain scene, then my humour gland dried up because of that scene, then it came back again a little later.

I found myself, not for the first time in a major Hollywood release, actually being offended by the content of this scene, which I thought was totally inappropriate. Yes, I get that they are portraying Ethan as a weird, socially awkward loner, the guy who everybody avoids as soon as he opens his mouth, I get that they put scenes in the film that you laugh at and then wonder if you should be laughing at, a bit like 'Four Lions' did for terrorism; I get all that. I even mostly ignored the language because it made some of the scenes funnier, just like the language in Grand Torrino made the scenes more poignant and caught the humorous reality (sometimes) of playful language used in a racist sense. Im not really a prude when it comes to stuff like that, mostly I filter out the bad and take the scene for what it is and what it's saying.... But this particular scene?

I don't really want to describe it, other than it was very much in the style of the 'American Pie' series of films, a sexual context but made very obvioius and in a way that grosses you out.

As I said, I'm no prude, but this scene in the film grossed me and Meg out, both of us thought it was totally unnecessary, It wasn't that you saw anything explicit; ironically, as the best films do, (though definitely not in this case) what was 'suggested' to you as the viewer by sound effects, etc, was just pure gross.

It was the same kind of disturbed feeling I got when I attempted to watch '300', that adrenaline fuelled, testosterone-filled guys film based on the epic tale of 300 Spartan warriors against the might of King Xerxes. Surprisingly, the violence in it didn't bother me, as I felt it was in accordance with the plot and scope of the film; it was a film about ancient war after all, and the brutality of it was showing the realism. What disturbed me personally about 300, (to the point, where I didn't actually finish watching it!), was the scene where the crippled, rejected Spartan turns traitor and enters the court of Xerxes to sell his fellow Spartans out. The court was depicted in such a twisted, sexual way that I found myself switching it off. Not, actually, because secretly I liked it and it brought out base feelings in me, but simply because I instantly felt disturbed by the images I saw, and simply didn't want to watch it; almost as if I heard a whisper in my own conscience saying 'don't watch it'.

I remember being disturbed then, and it was that same level of 'disturbed-ness' (if that's a word?) that happened tonight. Like I said, I'm not a prude and no doubt I've watched some scenes in other genres (such as horror), that would intensely disturb others. Part of my level of unease, I think about Due Date and this particular scene, was that I just didn't expect it in this film, that is generally one to have a good laugh in, an 'emotive comedy' of sorts. Although there was quite a bit of language, I didn't expect such a suggested explicit scene carried off as comedy to be laughed at.

Maybe I'm just old-fashioned, maybe there is a bit of the prudish about me. I just didn't want to be confronted with that when watching a film for entertainment with my wife...

All in all, it was a funny film, but it just really did not need that scene...

What do people think? Is the genre of film free to show any and every shocking thing for the sake of expression and reality, even in a comedy, or are there some things that we really don't need to 'see', or think about??

Interesting...

2010-07-07T19:36:00.000+01:00

What's the difference between Openness, Honesty and Integrity?

Can you have one without the other?

I've been thinking about this today after news of this.

The report clears Prof Phil Jones of any deceit and praises the department of UEA's Climate Change, but says that openness was not shown, while praising prof jones' 'integrity and honesty'...

In the words of a Canadian: Eh?

We#ll see what happens, what do you think?

A Week In...

2010-07-07T10:25:00.000+01:00

Well, it's official, I've been unemployed for a week. I had my 'jobseekers interview' yesterday and signed my 'agreement', and I sign on the dole for the first time on Friday, then every two weeks after.

It kinda stinks.

I'm still working through a lot of my disappointment at the moment of how events conspired around me, and have reached the conclusion I'm expressing it in irritability at home, which is not really a great thing to do. As soon as I found out the fixed term contract wasn't going to be renewed, (a month before!) I started looking for work, joining all sorts of online job places: monster, reed, jobsite, etc, and started posting CV's and all the other gubbins you do in a time of desperation.

I must have applied through those sites for at least 7 jobs a day for a month, and had rejection after rejection, and no response. Having had my 'interview' yesterday, apparently it's because my CV is (and I quote!) 'very good but waaaay too long'. Oh well, I've got it down to two pages now and re-posted it.

Today will be a mixture of applying for more jobs, ringing the Jobseekers line to see if there are any I missed, visiting the Jobcentre machines too look for more, going to Asda to get kitten milk, and generally tidying. These days, life is just plain boring. I'm considering whether I want to put myself up for a 'work trial' soon if I don't get anything. It basically means an employer gets to try you out for free... It might be worth it, but I've no idea what type of job I could be put with.

On the visa front, Meg's Application for her ILR went in, and we got a letter from the Home Office saying 'don't contact us, it may take a while, only contact us if it's been more than six months'!

Great.

So it looks like it's gonna be a long road for now until we find out whether they're going to give my wife Indefinite Leave to Remain status. Part of the problem could be that the form asked for 6 documents, (6??!) to prove as evidence that you're married and living together over the last 2 years, so i said 'forget that' and sent at least 30 documents, including bank statements, bills with our address and names on, tax stuff, passports etc all over the last two years. I decided I didn't want them coming back to us after 2 months and asking for more documents...

We'll see whether that was a mistake in due course I guess...

Basically life is ok, but a bit dreary at the moment, and I have no idea what I'm going to do career-wise.

Oh well.

The (nearly) Last Hurrah

2010-05-27T22:29:00.000+01:00

Well, life is throwing me a curve ball at the moment, to steal a phrase my wife would be familiar with...

As of 1st July, I will be no longer training as a Baptist Minister, as my 'ministerial formation' (sounds painful doesn't it!! :p) will be put on 'hold' for a year or two.

Before anypone panics, I've not done anything silly, or been involved in any kind of scandal, it's simply down to lack of funding (my placement church) and some personal issues, which I'm not going to go into detail on here. Needless to say, I'm a little bit gutted and fearful and excited about the future, all expressing itself in a horrible nauseous feeling of 'aaarrggghhh what am I doing!!!'

My placement church weren't planning to take me on for another year, and therefore didn't budget for it, so were taken aback a bit when I asked to stay! They very graciously said whilst they couldn't 'employ' me officially, they could give me a small amount each month. I deliberated on this for a while, but through other curcumstances (again that I don't particularly feel the need to mention on here) I decided that this wasn't the best option.

The College/Baptist Union have offered me the option of taking a 'break' from studying/formation/training for up to two years for personal circumstances, as they call it, with no negative reflection on me. I've decided to take this option, and so the frantic search for a job begins...

To further complicate matters, my wife (who is an american citizen) is applying for the final part of her visa, her Indefinite Leave to Remain, which we're putting in the application for on June 10th. It's a bit stressful, but as she's been living here and we've been married for nearly two years now, I'm hoping there's not gonna be a problem. We've already saved up the (gulp!) £840 the government want for it, and it's just a case of producing the right documents to prove we still live together and are still married to each other.

So, the future's a bit uncertain at the moment, but I'm getting used to that lately. If I think back to before I was married, the time since then has been filled with lot's of uncertainty, whether it was marrying the love of my life who was from another country and all the extra complications and stresses that puts on a relationship, or taking redundancy from (the then) Wesley owen whom I'd worked for about 12 years, or whether it was moving flat to New Brighton to start with a church I'd never been to and area I'd never lived in; plenty of things have kept us both on our toes, and I'm sure we'll face these challenges together.

So, I'm in my last month of employment with a church and it feels a bit wierd. Unfortunately the job market is not brilliant at the moment, and doubly unfortunately, the bookshop market is even worse in terms of vacancies. Ah well...

Now that I've thoroughly depressed you if you're reading this, I'm leaving. I'm a bit of a git that way....

Reality & Perception

2010-05-02T17:24:00.000+01:00

I don't what it is about me, whether it's because I'm an ex-fundamentalist, ex-conservative, or ex-whatever; more and more lately I've been finding that reality affects my perception. Things I've long believed I've been questioning because reality doesn't seem to quite match up with them, and so I question, and explore and investigate.

I've always held that 'beliefs' matter, but lately I've been discovering that 'trust' matters more. For me it's been a journey of moving from knowledge 'about' things to trust 'in' things. More of a case of conviction trumping certainty...

To be continued... (after food)

Radio!

2010-01-16T22:44:00.000Z

If anyone reads this, (!) I'm on BBC Radio Merseyside tommorrow @ 8:30am. It's Wayne Clarke's show 'daybreak'.

If you're not that local, you can listen to it afterwards on BBC Iplayer.

thanks!

The Responsibility of Democracy

2010-01-14T17:05:00.000Z

We've all seen the devastation on our screens the last few days, but Haiti has been suffering for a long time before today. In effect, they've been a country struggling because of corruption, dictaorships, and debt.

Pat Robertson made a silly comment that their suffering is because they 'made a deal with the devil'. Well maybe they did...

Please read this. I did, and it opened my eyes to the suffering of Haiti that has been much more long-term than the last few days, weeks or years; and I'm not talking about the disasters nature's thrown at them either.

Why can't those countries that say they're democratic be challenged by this example?

Time will tell.

SNOW!!!

2010-01-05T14:33:00.000Z

Yes folks, it's here, and boy is it here!

I've just spent about 40 minutes on a bus from Liverpool to New Brighton, sliding and slushing and driving very slow...

I have to admit, the little boy inside me was VERY excited, and secretly I was hoping for a small 'bump' into another vehicle, so I could brag about it, though obviously nothing that would injure anyone. Thankfully, we had a very good driver, who accelerated at the points he needed to, to get going again after stopping, and then easing on the brakes slowly so we didn't slide too much.

It was very exciting, but I'm glad I'm home, and am hoping Meg will be able to get home from work (liverpool) on the train, which will no doubt be a lot safer!

Here's to the little child inside all of us, who (for most of us) will be jumping with joy at all the snow today!

'big grin'

Downtime

2010-01-05T12:03:00.000Z

As we start a New Year, and all the celebrations are past, and the 'winter blues' set in, it's got me thinking about what Joy is.

It sounds strange I know, but so often we define our lives by what makes us happy, what makes forget the bad, by avoiding negative situations, as if somehow that makes everything better. Talk to the person suffering from depression, and you'll find someone who wants to feel anything positive at all, to escape the feeling of drudgery, the feeling that every day will be the same, day after day after day, without any chink of light shining through.

Yeh, that's how it feels sometimes. But is avoiding 'stuff' the best way to live life?

I'm not advocating a way of life that pretends everything is ok, even in difficult circumstances, or a way of life that masochistically 'exalts' in troubles; I'm advocating a real life, a way of living that admits that sometimes life is hard and the best way to get through it is to go 'through' it. Not avoid, not pretend it doesn't exist, not live in denial, but simply admit to people, 'this is where I am at the moment'.

I don't think faith needs to mean that we're always victorious. If you look at the Cross, Jesus says to us there was a dark time, a time when even He felt abandoned by God, felt isolated, felt alone. Even Jesus knew what it was to mourn the loss of someone, to be frustrated at people's responses to you, to get angry at how people are imposing their own ideas of what and who you are.

Faith, surely, is about more than pasting on a smile.

Faith is looking for God when you can't see Him, it's trusting beyond the darkness you can see in yourself. It's trusting that whatever you see, God can and will bring good out of it, no matter what.

Yes, it's 'downtime', but it doesn't have to be 'give-up time'.

What a Week!!

2009-10-03T08:47:00.001+01:00

My apologies I haven't updated for a while, it's been a busy week.

I was in College four days this week, due to 2 extra days attending the Child Protection Course, which was really good and thorough, but involved alot of thinking and listening to processes and outcomes and some legislation. I felt absolutely exhausted when I got home last night, physically and mentally, but particularly mentally.

It's one thing when you have to listen to case studies, but it's another to think about offenders and how best to approach them in the context of a church fellowship, wanting to be open to all people who want to attend, but also at the same time ensuring the safety and security of your young people and children is the first priority.

I don't think I'll comment further here in detail about what we studied, but suffice it to say it was vitally important, but also slightly disturbing and uncomfortable.

Frustration is spelt 'W.I.R.E.L.E.S.S.''

2009-09-30T16:01:00.000+01:00

Today has been my day off. I say 'has been', because it's nearly over, and what have I done all day?!

Messed about and faffed around with compauters laptops and wireless routers...

Suffice it to say that after about 5 hours I've sorted it, but I wish people would make things simple in the computing world.

The problem I had was that because we're with AOL, we received our new wireless router today. (well to be precise we missed a delivery and had to pick it up from R.M. delivery centre in Liscard Village) I plugged it in, switched it on, and typed in all the neccessary codes, etc, and had one problem after the other:

First, the router was on, but it showed no green internet light. (solution: plug in the DSL filter into the upstairs phone socket because thats actually the main one!)

Second, Meg's laptop wouldn't connect wirelessly after several attempts. (solution: switch off and restart laptop, plug in the yellow ethernet cable, get the laptop to 'recognize' the router, then unplug the cable and switch the LAN wireless circuit on, on the laptop!)

Third, my desktop downstairs using a USB wireless adaptor, would recognize the network (i.e. router) but wouldn't connect to it. After various attempts, I rang AOL who informed me it was because the particular adaptor worked with WEP encryption and the router was WPA encryption. (Solution: change the encryption software on the router via the laptop, which will result in the laptop being disconnected from the network!)

Now that encryption is changed, connect my desktop, and also re-connect the laptop, whilst making up my own encryption key so that the network is secure.

It's done, but I wish they'd tell you this stuff in the beginning!!

Support!

2009-09-26T09:06:00.001+01:00

Off to my Support Group Day at College with Alison.

Technically I haven't got a Support Group yet, but I'm sure it'll happen soon!

Write later...

Oh Well!!

2009-09-25T11:31:00.000+01:00

Today was meant to be a day off, but I have to meet with someone at 2pm, who's preaching in a few weeks time at church.

It's important that I meet with them and unfortunately there's no other option as they only have a certain window of time in which to meet, and I'm in College 4 days next week...

I'd better go and prepare, write again later...

Reflection, Long Words and Quietness!

2009-09-24T18:23:00.000+01:00

Today has been a good day. I got quite a bit of reading done for College, I just have to type up my notes now so I can remember it all!

Thursdays are usually a day for planning, because it's when I specifically meet up with Alison for that purpose. We usually look at services that are coming up, and discuss and plan who's doing what, and what the structure and theme of them are, etc. We usually review any information I need to pass on regarding College as well.

We had some good discussions about the nature of 'church', and the fact that what convictions we hold, determine the outcome of how we plan services and how we see 'church'. We discussed meetings we've both had this week, both 'official' and pastoral. I really value the time we have on Thursday mornings, as I'm sure Alison has loads of things she could be doing, but she chooses to give a learning student the time!

It's good to reflect on the week we've both had so far, and to commit our work to God. We both reflected and talked about our roles, and being people who are available, both for people, and for God to speak to. That's not easy when you have a list of things to accomplish and you're aware of 'stuff' you have to get done, but it is really important. All of us, whether we're 'full-time' or not, (in quotes, because technically ALL Christians are full-time for God) need time to stop 'doing', and just 'be'.

In the Psalms, those famous words are uttered:

Psalm 46:10 (New International Version)

10 "Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth."

It's interesting to note that God infers that he will be exalted no matter what happens in the world, maybe that's why we need to be still before Him! All our scurrying around trying to glorify Him won't affect the outcome of His Glory, that's a given!

It's interesting that in my journey so far, this has been the biggest struggle for me: to stop trying to do things for God, but instead do things from God. What I mean by that is it's hard for me to come straight from a Bookshop Manager's job, where everything was about performance and targets and profit and loss; it's been so hard for me to realise that the one imperative for me as a Minister is going to be to STOP! To stop trying to do things for God, and to just simply give Him time and space in my life to listen to what He's saying. I've a suspicious feeling that being a Minister is not going to be about achieving things, but maybe more about watching things grow and change and observing them.

Jesus talked about the Kingdom of God being like a seed, well technically if you think about it, a seed just needs an environment to grow. Yes, the Farmer can give it the right soil, and water and a place where it gets sunlight, but that's all he does. The rest is up to the seed! The farmer will not influence that seed directly by anything else he does, he cannot make it grow, the rest is up to the seed and God!

Maybe we have too many 'programs' and 'visions' and 'meetings' and 'effort' in the church general, maybe we need to learn more about abiding in God, and resting in Him. Maybe then we would see real change...

Something to ponder more on...

Going Deeper...

2009-09-23T21:34:00.000+01:00

I'm finding it interesting how developments in psycho-analysis and psychology in the early twentieth century are being linked with the development of the 'Theology By Heart' method of Theological Reflection.

It's interesting (though I'm not sure whether I agree with it or not) that William James, in his book 'The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature' (1902) wrote this:

'I do believe, that feeling is the deeper source of religion, and that philosophic and theological formulas are secondary products, like translations of a text into another tongue...'

The author in the book I'm reading ('Theological Reflection:Methods' Graham, et al) points out that certain well known characters of Christian/Church History, (i.e. Augustine and Wesley) seemed to experience learning from God through dialogue with other believers and sometimes themselves, in the form of letters and journals. They reflected on their Theology from what they had written down themselves, not just what they had read in the Bible, and this experience of 'dialogue' changed them as they reflected on it.

I'm not entirely convinced that all of that can be put down to just psychology, that they were 'learning from themselves', but I have known times in my life where I have realised something fresh and new as I looked back on my own writing in a journal or blog, or something I had written to another person, or sermon notes/bible studies I had prepared. I don't neccesarily think that's all just psychology, but I think God can work through anything, even psychology; after all, he made our minds and the ability to reason as our Creator didn't he!

Interesting...

Headaches are good for the soul... (I think?!)

2009-09-23T18:25:00.000+01:00

Just catching up on reading I should have done for the first lecture, last Monday.

I'm reading about Methods of Theological Reflection.

You may be asking "what the heck is that?", well basically it's about our practice as Christians informing our Theology. It sounds as if that means practice first, but it's actually a bit more complicated than that. In actual effect, it goes like this: we take part in an action because we believe things, but the very taking part raises questions for us about what we believe. In a way, it's a circle of theory and practice. Theological Reflection then, is the method of reflecting on our practice so that we can question our theology (what we know/believe about God), so that it effects the way we live it out!

Simple, see?!

*sighs*

I wish the book I'm reading at the moment was that simple, academics just LOVE to make things more complicated and go into every single minutae of a model or theory (in this case of Reflection) and then use LOTS of big words to explain and test it out!!

I'm enjoying thinking through all this stuff, but it is giving me a headache!

Oh Dear...

2009-09-23T15:35:00.000+01:00

I've just realised that because I'm behind in my reading because the books I ordered didn't arive, (explained in the post below) it means I've now got 17 pages from one book, and 218 pages from another to read and digest before Monday's lecture!!

Ouch!!

Another Update!

2009-09-23T10:25:00.001+01:00

It's Wednesday already!

(that's not the update by the way)

I can't believe how quickly the weeks go, it seems unreal.

Ok, here goes, update from when I last posted (Sat) till now...

Monday:

First full (ish) day at College in Manchester, but not quite!

To explain...

Usually I will get there early (say 8.30/9-ish) to study/write up notes/get books from the library before my Tutorial at 10am for an hour with my Tutor, Richard. This week I hadn't set up tutorials yet, so I was aiming to get there for 1pm, as my lecture starts at 2pm on a Monday, till 5.30 normally. I left the house at 11:00, got the bus to church as I'd forgotten and left my Bible there the previous night, and then got the bus again into Liverpool, to catch the train at Lime Street for 12:13, to get me into Piccadily for 1pm, to get to College before 2!

That was the plan.

The part right up to where I get to Piccadily station for 1pm went ok, unfortunately the part where I arrive in College 30 or 40 minutes early, producing sweet-smelling clouds of sereneness and calmness from my person, didn't! The bus from Piccadily to College (which usually takes 15 mins) has a driver who was of Eastern European origin I think, and did not really speak much English. This meant that the bus journey doubled, maybe tripled in time, as he had to ask everyone who got on at every stop on the way to repeat themselves so he could understand where they were asking to go! Also, usually each stop would involve some fumbling with change, which I think presented him also with a few problems to do with currency, etc. I felt very sorry for him as more and more people got increasingly annoyed at him, especially when he didn't know what the stops on the route were called, so anyone who got on and asked, "does this go to...?" were greeted with a shrug or some mumbling or a shake of the head, or a lifting of the eyebrows that conveyed he didn't know or have a clue!

What also made the situation worse was that the route has to go through the main University district/road in Manchester, and it was Fresher's Week...

Literally thousands of students had set up stalls and placards advertising all sorts of clubs and memberships, with a mixture of people shouting through bullhorns and very loud dance music and rnb being played through stereos and some very strange costume-wearing people!! This all added to make the bus journey even longer than usual as traffic was very very bad!

Thankfully, the bus driver did know the route even though he didn't know the names of the streets, and I got there excactly for the start of the lecture, sweaty and out of breath from rushing in my usual "oh my gosh I'm late" kind of way...

Luckily, the lecturer's printer was playing up, printing notes, so he was about 10 minutes late trying to sort that out, so I think I got away with it in the end! God was obviously smiling down on me!

In the first lecture of this term, we talked about each of our own backgrounds and where we were coming from, as a kind of introduction to thinking theologically. It was good, though I was a bit surprised there were no "notes" as such that we could make, as it was quite informal and relaxed.

I learnt that next week we're making up for that, in that there are lots of resources and suggested reading already posted up on the module website for us. I've printed them off but not read them yet. We're going to be looking at models of power in a church, and thinking through each of our placement congregations, and how it will relate to that. We're also going to be looking at Foucault and how he envisioned power, and his theory of how power is not owned by one person, but moves through an organisation or structure, and what that has to say or can say about the way we pastor/lead in a church setting. As you can tell, I've done a little reading, but not lots yet. I plan to get that done later today, and tommorrow afternoon.

Getting back to College... We finished at 5:15pm, and then raced to the Chapel to undergo embarrasing ice-breaker games, before dinner/tea. (however you say it!) After tea we met for a service, and to go through introductions to the rest of the Baptist College staff and students, including other years.

Our time of worship finished at 7:30, and then the rest of the evening was free time. I chatted to other students, and went to bed about 10:30-ish, after I rang Meg!

In the morning, I had breakfast and then went to the library to get two books for the module I'm currently doing. I'd ordered them from Amazon, but because of the Postal strikes, etc, I haven't had them yet, so I got them out of the Library with the view of returning them for someone else as soon as "my" copies arrive.

At 11:30, all the Baptist students and staff met again in the Chapel for worship, which went well except for the fact that our row row (the back row of course! :p) got missed out of the Communion service!! After the worship time, all us first year students went immediately to another Lecture room to have "Baptist Time", which this week was introducing us to what we'd be covering over the next few weeks. We ate sandwhiches and discussed our placement churches and started to begin the process of planning what we'd cover this semester as a group.

I left College at 2:30, and eventually got home at 5:15pm!! Then I waited for Meg to come home from work, and we went out to a Newcomers meeting at Margaret's house, a chance for some of the new people at church to question us and get to know us. Unfortunately quite a few people rang to say they couldn't make it, so it was eventually, Alison, Meg, Margaret, myself, and two others. One of them gave us his impressions of the church as a newcomer, and got me thinking/reflecting on what the mission/aim/point of the church is, something that I will think about and build on more for the next few weeks as I plan some bible studies/intro/discipleship meetings.

That's it so far, I'll update again when I can!! Lot's of reading to do for now...

Hmmmm...

2009-09-22T22:31:00.000+01:00

My apologies those of you who viewed my page and saw lots of cussing on the twitter part... It seems twitter has been posting other people's posts on my page while I've been away, so that part has been removed for now until they can fix it.

Very annoying, I apologise if any of you were offended by anything you saw there, it twas not me, I assure you!!

Weekly Update!

2009-09-19T21:34:00.000+01:00

I'll try to do this particular post once a week, so as to give you an idea of the week that I'll have had.

Let's think...

Monday was my MA Induction Day in Manchester at College, and was very interesting and overwhelming all at once! I met a group of about 16 others who are doing the MA course, all for very different reasons. Some are doing it like me, as a way to train for the ministry, others are already in ministry and wanted to do some more study. We've got a good mix of Baptists, Anglicans and Methodists, and possibly others, though I haven't got to know anybody yet, and am finding names a problem, as my train was late and I missed the first 20 minutes of introductions! Not a good start! I'll have to get an earlier train in future I think, just in case.

We spent the day talking through the subjects we'd be studying, and made our choices in modules, as it's a modular course. I have opted for two modules this year, as I want to take it easy and ease into study again after being away from it for more than 14 years, blimey I'm getting old!!

I'm doing 'Introduction to Contextual Theology/Studying at M Level', for the first five weeks, then for the next five I'll be doing 'Examples in Contextual Theology'. That will basically take me up to Christmas, (assignment for that module will be 4,000 words and due in on the 6th Jan) and in the New Year I'll be starting another module called 'Contemporary Trends in Evangelism'. (the assignment for that will be the same length and due in sometime in July I think) I'll have a mixture of Seminars/Lectures/Independant Study/Tutorials to assist me in learning, and will have to do alot of reading, both before and after lectures.

Part of the day we also spent being trained in use of the Library at the College, and Registering online for each module we were doing, so as to be able to pick up online notes/suggested reading, etc from each tutor.

Tuesday was spent trying to sort out stuff I haven't been able to do until now, such as registering to vote at the new address, registering to pay Council Tax, setting up Direct Debits, etc. I also started some preparatory reading for the lecture on Monday.

Wednesday morning I met up with Alan Garner at Costa in Liverpool, to review and get some feedback on my preaching at his church last Sunday. It turned into a really good conversation, and I got some really valuable feedback for me to use the next time I'll be speaking. The afternoon was spent chasing up more bank related things, and trying to sort tax stuff.

Thursday mornings tend to always be the same routine as I meet with Alison (the Pastor) for a few hours to help with planning services and reviewing what I'm doing, and also to pray together and have some bible study. From next week we'll be able to plan more involvement for me, as by then I will have sorted out some Learning Aims and Objectives with my Tutor Richard to put into practice in the church. Thursday afternoon was off, as I had a meeting in the evening. Thursday evening I went to a URC Council Cluster meeting, which sounds very ominous but isn't!! It's basically a local network of all the URC churches in the Wallasey area who meet up three or four times a year to share together about what's happening in their churches and to encourage and pray for each other and make decisions.

Friday morning I went to church and studied in a very concentrated way in my office at church. (yes, I do have my own office, but it has lot's of stuff in it from the church, so technically it's the church's office, but Alison has her own, so I claimed it as mine!!) It was very quiet during the day on Friday, so I got quite a bit of studying done and made my head hurt! (my head always hurts when I have to think and ponder alot!)

I left church at dinnertime, as there was no-one about and I got a sore back sitting on the chair in the office leaning over the desk! I came home and read in the comfort of my leather desk chair, which was much better! In case anyone is interested, (probably not!) I was studying the Translation Model in Contextual Theology, and trying to understand what makes a Translation view/model unique as compared to other approaches. It's actually very interesting, but my head hurts when I read the textbooks because I've got to get used to 'academic speak' again. I just wish they would use plain English!! For example, instead of the phrase 'current approach' they would say 'contemporaneous approach'. Meg agreed there was just no need for it, and she's a writer who's been trained in the correct use of English, so there!! :p

Today was a day off, although for a few hours this evening I went to a barbecue at church (in the rain - typical!) which was all the local URC Churches (Cluster Group) meeting together to be socialable. The food was good, the conversation was good, but the Quiz was really hard!! It was a Cryptic Clues quiz on sweet names, with clues like 'Royal herb'. (= Imperial Mint!) - Huh? I must mention that Sarah (collins) came to take Meg out for a few hours and we showed her round the flat very quickly before they both went off to look at fabric, or something... (I didn't show much enthusiasm, my apologies!! :D)

Anyway, that's my week so far, tommorrow I'm obserbving Alison leading Chapel Communion before the main service, then leading part of the morning service, and taking part in a sketch!

That's all for now!

We'll Meet Again...

2009-09-19T08:29:00.000+01:00

I have shaved my poor excuse for a beard off, so that I can start again.

This may not be the most enthralling news in the universe, but alas it is mine!

I like having a beard, but cannot seem to get it to grow in a straight line, even with a beard trimmer, etc. It is very frustrating! I will attempt it again, and if it doesn't grow straight this time, then I may have to go back to looking 5 years old... Oh well.

In The Beginning... Was The Blog

2009-09-18T17:33:00.000+01:00

Ok.

I've done it.

I've entered the world of blogdom with a new blog, partly so that people who know me (us) can keep in touch, and partly so that I can have a record to scoff and laugh at... er I mean reflect on in years to come!

Roll on my first lecture on Monday...