the red pill

This is part two of a series this week, remembering Revd. Dr Martin Luther King. Part one is below. I invite your comments on the tone of King’s message, and whether it has resonance today. At the end of the Montgomery bus boycott, when the Supreme Court issued a bus desegregation order, King stood before a large gathering in order to give final instructions before people started using the buses once again. Aware they had won a great victory, King is keen that they win not only in the law courts, but in the individual court of each person’s heart, Our experience and growth during this past year of united non-violent protest has been of such that we must respond to the decision with an understanding of those who have oppressed us and with an appreciation of the new adjustments that the court order poses for them. We must be able to face up honestly to our own shortcomings. We must act in such a way as to make possible a coming together of white people and colored people on the basis of ...

This coming Friday (April 4th) sees the 40th anniversary of the martyrdom of Revd. Dr Martin Luther King Jnr. Today and each day this week I’ll be posting a quote from him, and I invite you to comment on the relevance of parts of his message to contemporary people. In 1964 Revd. Dr King was awarded the Nobel peace prize. In his acceptance speech he said, I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsam and jetsam in the river of life which surrounds him. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight or racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality. I believe that even amid today’s mortar bursts and whining bullets, there is still hope for a brighter tomorrow. I believe that wounded justice, lying prostrate on the blood-flowing streets of our nations, can be lifted from this dust of shame to reign supreme among the children of men. I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have ...

I had wanted to blog about this pic just before Easter…ah well… On the Saturday before Palm Sunday, as a family we were out at a local outdoor play area, and as we left I looked back and saw this sprayed on the wall. I’ve no idea who did it, nor what their motivations might be. I don’t know who the “weak” are that it is referring to. And yet, as I saw it, I was instantly reminded, in that mysterious and holy of times, that it is the weak that God has chosen to shame the strong, and the foolish to shame the wise. This Easter, in preparing to lead people in reflecting on the story, in watching the very excellent “The Passion” on the BBC, and in personal prayers, I have seen afresh just how inconspicuous much of what Jesus did really was. On Palm Sunday, according to Matthew’s account, the inhabitants of Jerusalem had no idea who Jesus was, it was the people from the north who knew him, who cheered as he entered as king. And whatever the scale of the event, it wasn’t enough to warrant int...

Last Friday, my wife gave birth to our beautiful baby girl, Hope. Thanks for all your prayers, she delivered at home, in a birthing pool, and both of them are doing really well, if very sleepy. Our son is adjusting well to the presence of an even littler one, and is going to be a wonderful big brother. I'm taking a couple of weeks paternity leave, so won't be around churchworld much, but there are some reflections I want to share about midwives as a picture of church, and about the appropriateness of a baptist minister's daughter being born into water! The details...7lb 13oz, born at 10.05am, labour lasted 14 hours. And here's a pic of some skin-to-skin time we enjoyed last night.

Here's the postcard we're using to advertise the Later Service - any comments?

Time to tip the cap to ASBO Jesus once more. Things are a little busy in our house, with the very immanent arrival of our second child, so I missed this yesterday, but am copying it here for your edification. Wonderful 'toons, take a look if you haven't yet.

Yesterday I was with 90 other people sharing together in a Café Church training day. It was a good time to meet some old friends, and to make a few new ones. The aim of the day was to equip and inspire churches to plant congregations into coffee shops in their localities. On the whole it was a good day. Juliet Kilpin led a session on connecting with the wider community, and with her blend of humour, passion and compassion challenged us about a number of things, including the way that churches have hindered, rather than helped, people make meaningful relationships outside the context of churchworld. Worrying stuff. I’ve written elsewhere about the need for church to be more experimental, and today sees some of that working out in Bromley. We switch (for the next 3 months at least) from having a pattern of two services (10.30 & 18.30) to having three (10.30, 16.45 & 19.00). The 16.45 “Sunday Break” will be a classic-style service, for those who appreciate a more traditional flavo...

Following on from last year's montage, here's to 2007, the goodness, the badness, and the downright ugliness demonstrated in actions and words. A small prize goes to whoever can name every pic or story represented.

Over on his thought-provoking blog, Leaving Munster, a friend of mine, Graham, has challenged folks to reflect on good things that happened in 2007 and their hopes for 2008, he asks in his post Three from last year, three for the next What three things from 2007 are you most thankful for? What 3 things do you hope/intend to do or not do in 2008? I'm going to answer here, and I'd love to hear your responses. So, from 2007, what would be the top three things I'm thankful for? Firstly, it would be the successful fertility treatment that has resulted in a baby due in February. We've had three goes at treatment, and have had two pregnancies. Given that we reduce our chances of success greatly by the method we choose, I'm grateful to God for a precious gift of life. Secondly, I'm grateful to be in a place in my life and ministry where I'm able to spend some time reflecting and researching bigger picture issues, as well as being involved in day-to-day ministry. To...

May the God of peace who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ that great shepherd of the sheep equip you with everything good for doing his will and may he work in us what is pleasing to him through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever amen

I have taken some time the last few days, following the Christmas activities, to read some of the messages friends and family have sent in their greetings cards. I love the messages we send each other at Christmas. I love too that we remember that we serve and have fellowship with a God who communicates with us. John uses his language carefully as he writes the gospel, “in the beginning was the word, and the word was God…and the word became incarnated and lived amongst us…” God sends a maessage, a word, his word, the word. And that message? Well, it seems to me we’ve gotten a bit confused about it. Some have mistaken it as bad news “You’re in big trouble with God!” or an offer of fire insurance “heading for hell? Depend on Jesus…”. Some think the message is about rules, regulations, committees, structures, abstract concepts and remote ideals. The message was and is more simple. God’s word to us at Christmas was and is “I love you”. I love you. I love you just as you are, but far too m...

Christmas Crackers and cards Reindeer and robins Snowmen and Santa Decorations and duckling Legs of turkey and laden trees Tacky baubles and tinkling bells Dodgy telly and dodgier tummies Cranberry sauce and carol singing Shepherds and stars, angels and animals Incense and innkeepers, myrrh and mangers Gifts of gold and Gabriel’s song, Magi’s worship and Mary’s wonder Joseph’s heart jumps at baby’s first cry, a child has been born and a crowd has been drawn. Then from Bethlem’s crib to a cruel cross, from a virgin womb to a borrowed tomb From babe’s first cry to blood’s last drop, from the child’s laugh to the dying man’s gasp From the wronged to the loved comes the gift of forever The babe is then wrapped in the leftover paper The box is stashed with the tinsel and lights The love of the Father awaits rediscovery In the unexplored package Left in the cupboard Christmas

I am so looking forward to the rerelease of U2’s The Joshua Tree. Like so many people, it was the album that first turned me on to them. It looks like some extra material that wasn’t on the original recording is going to make it into this one, and I came across a short film (8 mins or so) where Bono is talking about one of these songs and its meaning. I'm posting this clip because I found it moving, but more than that because it's a very intimate little film that gives us an insight into the creative process and theological craft of Bono. I hope you enjoy it, and find it as inspirational as I did.

If you haven't clicked on the link in my blogroll to The Ongoing Adventures of ASBO Jesus you really should. I love the simplicity of the message and the medium, this cartoon recently spoke heaps to me. Check it out today.

I saw this poster recently, in fact there were quite a few of them, dotted around, near the exits of our local shopping mall. I had to do a double-take, wondering if I'd really seen what I thought I had. Just in case you can't quite work it out, the poster asks first if a person has a spare room, then informs that this agency gives £380 per child per week. It's in the smaller print that we learn that the agency is a care and foster agency. Isn't the message here a bit off key? When did we, as a community, start seeing foster care primarily as a financial issue? Isn't it odd that the recruitment doesn't mention a caring attitude to children, or a desire to help? Is foster care in our capital city just a business transaction? Isn't this hugely offensive, or am I over-reacting? I'm sure that the agency would do proper training and checking of suitability, but it's just mad that the basis of the appeal for more foster carers is that it's a money-spin...

From time to time I recommend books and magazines, and I’ve come across a new mag I want to encourage you to get hold of. A few years ago, some friends and I started an organisation called Geezers for Jesus, we wanted to do a few things, one was to provide an online resource for guys to talk about the realities of living as both a Christian and a man in today’s world with all the challenges that entails (a quest for an understanding of what might be called a masculine spirituality), the other was to facilitate men’s gatherings around the country to be more relevant in their approach to men’s’ ministry. Well, the first part, the online resource has existed for a quite a while http://www.geezersforjesus.org.uk/ , the second part has been slower coming. With my Geezers for Jesus hat on I was delighted to find that Wesley Owen are stocking the new magazine Sorted, solidly geared towards Christian men, and british men at that! – rather like The Blokes’ Bible, this is real, accessible and r...

Over on his excellent and thought provoking blog Leaving Munster , Graham has been writing about his attitudes and response to the wearing of a red poppy. It's a subject that I have often wrestled with and so I replied to his posting there, but also thought I'd like to hear your points of view. Essentially Graham argues that the wearing of the red poppy, coupled with a nationwide act of remembrance where every soldier who died is lumped together as valiant and noble perpetuates the myth that war solves things, and glorifies the sacrifice of armed service personnel. Here's my response - what do you think? It's a great and powerful post, thanks Graham. And yet, I do feel conflicted. On the one hand I hate that war occurs and I hate that people die. On the other, I live in relative freedom, one that in all truth I doubt I'd live in if certainly the second world war had been lost. I also feel torn that there are people who - whether I like it or not - fight in my name. ...

There are occasions when I'm not so proud to be British. The way that the establishment rolls out the red carpet to leaders of oppresive regimes sickens me. I really hope that someone, somewhere had chosen the music to accompany the arrival of the Saudi royal at Buckingham Palace as a kind of comment.

It's a strange day. 20 years ago today I had the encounter with an evangelist that would go on to reshape my life completely, and all because of a dear old saint who prayed. Alma was one of those easily-overlooked-on- earth heaven shakers. Alma prayed and things happened. It being Halloween , and Alma being what some would describe as a prayer warrior, intercessor, spiritually attuned (pick your favourite term, or tell me of a better one), she was certainly going to be at the prayer meeting in church that night, to pray for God to touch the lives of young people especially, and to ask his protection for those who might be opening themselves up to less than helpful spiritual experiences on that day when darkness seems just a touch darker still. That early evening, as she waited for her bus, Alma spotted some graffiti  left by a local gang, a list of names and tags. Alma, being Alma, took out a notepad and wrote down the names as best she could, struggling to make out what ...