Two Empires and a King

(photo Avril Cutler) As I read a large chunk of the story of Jesus’ trial and crucifixion this morning I was struck, not for the first time, by the role of the Empire. Pilate is the Roman Governor and so plays the part of the Empire in political terms.  He tries Jesus and finds no Read More …

Follow me… Why should I?

We follow those who lead, not for them, but for ourselves. (Simon Sinek) In his TED talk Simon Sinek tells why the ‘why’ is important. Much more important than the ‘what’ or the ‘how’. I work for a Church. I think my job is about the ‘why’ but very often it has little to do Read More …

Childlike Church

One of my favourite books is called Dangerous Wonder by Mike Yaconelli.  The tag line of the book is ‘the adventure of childlike faith’.  In it Mike argues that following Jesus should be an adventure.  That Jesus is dangerous and wonderful and that Christians should be known for the fire in their souls, the wild-eyed Read More …

Revolution

I’m working on a sermon for Sunday.  A couple of things have been swirling around my brain for a while. The first is Shane Claiborne’s ‘Jesus for President’ stuff where he talks about the revolutionary kingdom.  The subversion of the Gospel of the Caesars and Mark’s mocking of Caesar in the way he depicts the Read More …

Holy Land (day 5, pt1) Galilee

The Holy Sites (day 5) 6.00am: Wake up 7.30am: Bus trip north to Haifa, the Sea of Galilee and Nazareth Stop 1 – Haifa – Elijah’s Cave on Mt Carmel, Haifa I knew that the Holy Sites were places where important Biblical events had happened, and I knew that there were churches built over the Read More …

Eric Bryant on Something Beautiful

This week on the Something Beautiful Podcast we chat with BWG* Eric Bryant, author of the book Peppermint-Filled Piatas: Breaking Through Tolerance and Embracing Love, stand-up comedian, speaker, and a pastor on staff with Mosaic in Los Angeles. from his blog :: We live in a diverse world filled with unprecedented opportunity. There is a Read More …