Something really wild to redeem

" Our present life feels like a real fight as if there were something really wild in the universe we are needed to redeem'

William James

It's been a while since I've written here but it's now time to begin again.  

A while back, a friend spoke to me about something called Exodus 90. It sounded all rather Lenten/ Hairshirt but, I have to say, that having now completed it with 6 others it was utterly transformative. 

A pal spoke to me about his sermon series on fasting which I have never preached on until 2 weeks ago. I spoke on the text 'This kind only comes out by prayer'. I was helped enormously by Lloyd-Jones in his sermons on Revival.  He unpacks the words 'This kind' so deeply and perceptively and 70 years later much still applies. 

If you want some teaching on fasting then this series by John Mark Comer is good.  

A few of us at church are reading Draw the Circle which are 40 readings on prayer and fits the season well. The chapter about wearing waders really tickled me.

I found the section in Moving Mountains on prayer for others helpful. At another point, Eldredge quotes C S Lewis:

'He seems to do nothing of Himself which He can possibly delegate to His creatures. He commands us to do slowly and blunderingly what He could do perfectly and in the twinkling of an eye. Creation seems to be delegation through and through' p. 67

Eldredge was interviewed by Adam Young about his new book. This podcast I commend and blessed me during a tough season. 

In the interview, Eldredge recommends an Ignatian prayer app called 'Pray as you go'. I spent a term being guided through the Spiritual exercises while at Vicar Factory.

I prayed for a 101 year old lady called Violet to receive Christ recently. She died some weeks later and doing her funeral was a privilege.  

Recently, I sat down and read 'Sinners in the hands of an angry God' which was the Edwards sermon that sparked the Great Awakening.  

A friend had a pastor who has been 'In Revival' for 6 years speaking at his church. I've pondered a bit what exactly ''in revival' means and what it might mean here.

On that subject, I'm rereading Wesley the preacher by John Pollock. 

More thoughts, writing and encouragements may follow. 

We'll see.

Saturday blog-sweep

 Some interesting books for pastors

The State we're in

Attack at dawn

Joseph Scriven

Joy comes with the morning

When small is beautiful

Saturday blogsweep

As Jesus sleeps

How to pray for a loved one with a mental illness

May your heart break gently

Number your days: Or why books remind me of death

An answer to Richard Dawkins question

We need restorative rest

The first Joel

I am still on Joel and included Rev 9 in my Sunday sermon and I also tell the story of a wonderful answered prayer..

The answer was connected geographically to Aldersgate Street.

A conversation today with someone who commented that locusts with faces indicates that it's humans that are the reality of evil and the demonic in the world.

I am reading 'The Lord is my courage' and it observes that the temptations can be summarized as:

'Have More. Hurt Less. Rule Faster' (p23)

There is a scene from Frozen Planet 2 of Orca's hunting a seal and it's stunning film-making. It's also a picture of the flicks of the enemies tale can so easily can consume us.  

Fresh hope

 I am preaching through Joel this month so have been thinking a lot about locusts.

This is a new song we are introducing this weekend.

Preaching through Joel requires one to ponder 'the Day of the Lord' and a lot of ink has been used on such matters. When I ponder such things, I am grateful for Simon's book called 'And the Lamb Wins' but I've given my copy away to someone....

I'm reading Scott Saul's book 'Beautiful people don't just happen' and in it he says this:

'...when we catastrophise about the future, when we imagine the very worst for ourselves and for those we love- the thing we must do again and again is to talk to ourselves more than we listen to ourselves'

For ten years, I've said to Mrs C I wanted to be in a community choir. I've finally joined one. 

This is one of our numbers.

Raptured?

I am preaching through Joel in the NY. 

As a result I've been pondering 'the Day of the Lord' and questions of tribulation. In the past, many would have had views on such matters. However, I fear we are now so sub-Scriptural that most have little idea about the end times.

I read Dane Orlund's new little booklet 'Is Hell Real'. Here are 20 quotes from it.

At one point, he quotes this fascinating sermon on Job 14:2 that illustrates that our forebears were keenly attuned to the afterlife and its consequences.  It's such an interesting read for all sorts of reasons.

Russel Brand interviewed Ricky Gervais and the Archbishop of York debating God.

We are watching the Crown and the episode about Al Fayed is so good. It's an illustration of what money simply wasn't able to buy.

Someone gave me Vernon McKee's Thru the Bible and it's a veritable 5-volume treasure trove. I sometimes say 'I wonder what Vernon thinks?'. In case you were wondering, he disagrees with Piper on the rapture. 

I listened to something on Radio 4 yesterday on 'Doomscrolling' .and the presenter quoted John Gottman's advice on marriage. He can apparently predict with 85% accuracy if you are going to divorce. We learnt this as Mrs C and I watched this. 

Boxing up

We cooked Turkey for a crowd and everything miraculously came out hot and on time which was a mini-triumph.  Grateful to Delia's guidance. We have fab new gadget that is a gravy pourer that removes the fat.  

We watched The Mole etc by Charlie Mackesy.   It is so simple and full of lovely pithy truths but I wonder if they make much sense without the backdrop of the gospel? One line struck me

'Life is difficult but you are loved' 

I am reading 'Seasons of sorrow' and meant to put this book about Cromwell on my Christmas. I may get it as NY present to myself. 

We've been singing this in our house as we wash up dishes thank to Tim Challies for the recommendation.

I gave my mum  'Us' to read and she's loving it. The book is much better than the BBC series.

This is another list of recommendations of good 2022 albums.

One of the great pleasures in life is reading a good cookery book on Boxing Day and then picking a recipe to rustle up. This is the one I'm enjoying by Nigel Slater who manages to make food writing into story-telling.

....., though I may have grumbled about becoming trite over time, right now, nothing is more precious to me, nothing more important to me, than this: God is good all the time, and all the time God is good'

Seasons of sorrow, p.28