An offer I can't refuse???

I received this invitation from Amazon yesterday... are they trying to tell me something?

Oh, and in case you're wondering, the trade-in value is £7.35...

Postcards from the wall #23

Here's another postcard from my study wall:

Postcards from the wall #22

Here's another postcard from my study wall:

Baptist Hermeneutics Books arrive!

After what feels like a lifetime of waiting, I finally got my hands on The 'Plainly Revealed' Word of God: Baptist Hermeneutics in Theory and Practice this week.

The book is beautifully produced, and it's been a privilege to be involved in this project.

Andy Goodliff has published an Interview with Helen Dare and myself, so if you're wondering what all the excitement is about, have a read...

Then buy a copy!

Postcards from the wall #21

Here's another postcard from my study wall:

 

It's our new recruitment campaign poster...

Prayers of the People

I was sitting in my study at the College last year, when John Weaver suddenly popped his head around the door. ‘Why is it that churches only ever seem to pray for themselves, and for their own enjoyment in worship?’ he said with frustration in his voice. He continued, ‘if the prayers don’t get beyond the pews, what’s the point in going back?’.

Little did he realise that just 15 minutes earlier, Karen Smith and I had been hatching the idea of publishing a book of prayers to mark the occasion of John’s retirement.

John’s passion for public prayer has run through his ministry; whether as the pastor of a church, as a College Tutor and Principal, as the President of the Baptist Union, as an environmental advocate, or as a practical theologian, John’s ministry has revolved around leading the people of God in prayer for the world. His gift has been lifting the eyes of the congregation above the horizon of the church to encompass the world beyond.

When I innocently asked what it was that he thought ought to be included in the leading of public prayer, he replied, ‘Oh, I’m just an old traditionalist really: Prayers should include Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Petition and Intercession.’

And so Prayers of the People was born.

This volume includes prayers from nearly a hundred contributors, who between them encompass the depth and breadth of British Baptist life. What they have in common is a sense of gratitude to God for the ministry of John Weaver. Included are prayers of gathering, adoration, confession, thanksgiving, petition, intercession, sending out, as well as prayers for special seasons and services. This volume will be useful in public worship as well as private devotion. The prayers are offered to the glory of God, for the enrichment of the church and in thanksgiving to God for John.

Having managed to keep the volume a secret from John, it was a delight to surprise him with it at the College Valedictory Service on Thursday night last week. Many of those who had contributed were able to be there, and were invited to stand as the book was presented to John. For the first time in my memory, John was temporarily lost for words...

However, he recovered sufficiently a few minutes later to preach: In a sermon punctuated with sparkling anecdotes drawn from his life and ministry, John preached an inspiring sermon in which he challenged those present to undergo three conversions: firstly a conversion to Christ, putting Christ at the centre of our lives and not confining our faith to Sunday worship; secondly a conversion to the Church of Christ, expressing commitment to one another as we become a kingdom people; and thirdly a conversion to the world for which Christ died, caring for god's creation and those who live in it. John encouraged the congregation from Romans 12.1-21 to above all live in love: love of Christ, love of one another, and love of the world. He called for a culture shift to challenge the sacred/secular divide, leading to whole-life Christians, in a whole-life church, living as whole-life disciples, engaged in whole-life mission.

It has been a privilege to share ministry with John for the last seven years, and on a personal note I will miss his wisdom, friendship, and the early morning coffee.

Postcards from the wall #20

Here's another postcard from my study wall:

I am the pastor of this Baptist church

Following on from my re-working of the 'Modern Major General' song a few weeks ago, my friend Rosa Hunt has composed this:












Captain/Pastor.
I am the Captain of the Pinafore!
I am the pastor of this Baptist church

Chorus/Choir.
And a right good captain, too!
And a right good pastor too!

Captain/Pastor.
We're very, very good,
My sermons are quite good
And be it understood,
But be it understood
I command a right good crew.
You should not act as I do.

Chorus/Choir.
We're very, very good,
Her sermons are quite good
And be it understood,
But be it understood
He commands a right good crew.
We should not act as she do.

Captain/Pastor.
Though related to a peer,
For my words are insincere
I can hand, reef, and steer,
I can simper, I can sneer
And ship a salvagee;
And snub a refugee
I am never known to quail
I am never known to cry
At the fury of a gale,
When one of you should die
And I'm never, never sick at sea!
And I never wash the mugs up after tea!

Chorus/Choir.
What, never?
What, never?

Captain/Pastor.
No, never!
No never!

Chorus/Choir.
What, never?
What, never?

Captain/Pastor.
Well – Hardly ever!
Well – Hardly ever

Chorus/Choir.
He's hardly ever sick at sea!
She hardly ever washes up with me!
Then give three cheers, and one cheer more,
Then – give three cheers and a chorus line
For the hardy Captain of the Pinafore!
For the worthy pastor in the pulpit fine,
Then give three cheers, and one cheer more,
Yes, give three cheers and a chorus line
For the Captain of the Pinafore!
For the pastor in the pulpit fine!

Captain/Pastor.
You're exceedingly polite,
You’re a very moderate crew
And I think it only right
And it really would not do
To return the compliment.
To encourage you to pray.
Bad language or abuse,
Theology and thinking
I never, never use,
Are for those whose boat is sinking
Whatever the emergency;
Platitudes the order of my day!
Though "bother it" I may
Though my phrases are fine-sounding
Occasionally say,
And my doxologies resounding,
I never use a big, big D
I never read the big big B.

Chorus/Choir.
What, never?
What, never?

Captain/Pastor.
No, never!
No, never!

Chorus/Choir.
What, never?
What never?

Captain/Pastor.
Well – hardly ever!
Well – hardly ever

Chorus/Choir.
Hardly ever swears a big, big D...
Hardly ever reads the big big B…
Then give three cheers, and one cheer more,
Then give three cheers and a chorus line
For the well-bred Captain of the Pinafore!
For the worthy pastor in the pulpit fine,
Then give three cheers, and one cheer more,
Yes, give three cheers and a chorus line
For the Captain of the Pinafore!
For the pastor in the pulpit fine!

Rosa Hunt

When searching for the image to use, I also came across this post, which for G&S Theology fans is worth a look:  “We are the Model of Today’s Episcopalian”

Regent's Reviews

The latest issue of Regent's Reviews is now out, and can be downloaded from here.

Congratulations to Andy for another excellent and fascinating edition.

My own contribution is three reviews on the following books:

J. Ramsey Michaels, The Gospel of John. The New International Commentary on
the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010).

Ben Witherington III, Revelation and The End Times: Unravelling God’s Message
of Hope (Nashville: Abingdon Press/Alban , 2010).

Christopher Morse, The Difference Heaven Makes: Rehearing the Gospel as News
(London: T&T Clark, 2010).

A class of theologians

A video taken by Polly of me playing the Rowan Atkinson schoolmaster for a class of theologians (script below).



And here's the original:



Right. Quiet.
Ambrose. Basil. Barth. Calvin. Dogma.
Eschaton Major. Eschaton Minor. Flacius. Gnostic.
Hermeneutic. Jerome. Kerygma.
Latitudinarian. Millennium.
Niebuhr R. Niebuhr H.R.

Come on, settle down.
Pericope. Saint. Schism.
Tao. Tao?
Underhill. Zwingli. Absent

All right, your essays.

Discuss the contention that Bathsheba had the body of a roll-top desk and the mind of a duck. Oxford and Cambridge Board O Level paper, 1976.

Don't fidget, Barth.

The answer: yes.

Jerome, Niebuhr R., Schism and Underhill see me afterwards.
Most of you of course didn't write nearly enough.
Eschaton Major, your answer was unreadable.

Put it away, Pericope! If I see it once more this period, Pericope, I shall have to tweak you. Do you have a solicitor, Pericope? You're lying, so I shall tweak you anyway. See me afterwards to be tweaked. Yes, isn't life tragic! Don't sulk, boy. Has matron seen those boils? Horrid little twerp.

Barth, Eschaton Major, Gnostic, Kerygma: plagiarism.

Calvin: answer upside down. Do you do it deliberately, Calvin? You're a moron. A carbuncle on the backside of humanity.

Don't snigger, Jerome! It's not funny. Second Samuel is not a funny book. If God had meant it to be funny, he would have put a joke in it. There is no joke in Second Samuel, you'd know that if you'd read it, wouldn't you, Jerome? Pest!

What book of the Bible does have a joke in it? Anyone? The book of Leviticus! It’s full of them. It’s not that funny, Barth

Basil? BASIL! Leave Ambrose alone! What a lot.

Right, for the rest of this period you will write about Metempschosis. Underhill, just try and write Metempsychoss. Usual conditions, no conferring, no eating, no cheating, no looking out of windows, no slang, no slide rules. Use ink only, via a nib, if possible. You may use dividers, but not on each other.

Millennium, you're in charge. For now...