Welcome to Sunday Papers if you are visiting after reading the CPR pages in Youthwork magazine. If looking for the Visualisation exercise it will posted later today on the right hand side. We are in the process of setting up a dedicated space for CPR to make the site easier to navigate, so please bear with us. In the meantime please feel free to browse around there are already quite a few youth related items and links.
I heard a friend recently state that ‘we need to live comfortably with uncertaintly’.
As human beings we like the security of knowing where our lives our going, how we are going to provide for ourselves. We even like the idea of knowing loads of theological stuff. Somehow this insulation from surprise makes us feel confortable.
BUT – surely we should be uncomfortable with the false security we give ourselves? Surely we should only find comfort in His security? Comfort from The Comforter – without having to know the future, without having to have extensive plans or knowledge.
And there I was with my ‘No Fear’ T-shirt on, feeling as scared as the next person!Max Manus video
Protest4 has gone live. Well worth checking out, and I think an important way forward. Particularly in the light of recent thoughts I have been having on the impact of individualism in current culture and the impact this has on the possibility of social change. A quote I have held close to my heart for a while is from Fiske who said
However the question remains what has the impact of a declining meta narrative and the increase of individualism been on this? Can people still be the social resource for change?
Allan introduced the collection yesterday (as is the way in our church) and commented that if you didn’t want to give you could let the bag pass you by.
So when Margaret came round collecting I said to her “you do realise that Allan called you a bag, don’t you?”… 🙂
I’m of the thinking that a Church calendar puts ‘rules’ about what happens in church before the inspiration of the Holy Spirit – that it limits our ability to respond to the Holy Spirit’s.
Is this true at Pentecost?
As we are now around the time of Pentecost many of us are hearing the story told at the beginning of Acts. So can being taught about the Holy Spirit get in the way of the intentions of the Holy Spirit???
I’m tempted to think ‘yes it can’!!!
Lori is writing an essay around commodification and a play with a hint of post modernism thrown in. A question I often ask is “if an Orange is orange why isn’t a Banana a yellow?” I wonder “is this the ultimate post modern question?”
I did some really hurting experience the other day. It was a day of celebration since the spring is emerging in sweden – it is called “Valborgsmässoafton”. Almost everbody is out celebrating. We had a gathering in our church (with an extremely good band www.loneydear.com Train Master movies ) and I started to talk we a guy. He was about 40 years old. I asked him where he was working. He replied that i he was cleaning (you know putting everything at the right place…) at the university of Lund. There our conversation ended. I hade no more questions (he was a really quiet man – but anyway…) – my university education became a block between us. If he had been a engineer, socilogist or that kind – but he wasn´t. We really have a need for a church that is for cleaners. A church which like music that is not high-cultural. (1 Cor. 9:19ff)
Fredrik Wenell
Last week at youth group some of the guys commented how they felt a bit under the spotlight if they didn’t take communion on a Sunday morning. This is especially so if the person introducing it says something along the lines of ‘if you have unresolved sin then feel free not to take the communion’!
So, it occurs to me that communion has the same root as community and as such is surely something to do with unity and inclusivity within the church. So perhaps we should consider having communion (having community) rather than merely taking communion?
In our rush to take communion aren’t we alienating people?
Sure communion is for people who believe what it is about – Jesus’ death – and as such is obviously not appropriate for ye olde evangelism evente. But hang on, most Sunday morning church these days is open to seekers (et al). So why, in the face of not having communion do we insist on taking
communion?
Welcome to the revamped Sunday Papers. There is still some tidying up to do and pics to add but we have moved to wordpress. Thanks to Mark for all his work. The main reason for changing was to be able to categorise the posts. These have been set up to reflect the strapline and are LIFE, MISSION, YOUTHWORK with some sub divisions and a few other categories. We can also manage any comments better, and hopefully increase dialogue. We will still allow anonoymus comments but registered people can get pinged if they get a response to the comment or a related post. Although I am not sure how all this works yet.
Recently I met an old friend of mine. I had not seen him for a long time. We were never on the same side in discussions. He had been over in the States for a couple of years and had been studying the philosophy of religion. (He is really a modernist with all that follows…) He has started a new project back in Sweden. It was about abortion (he probably met some from the moral majority) and he thought that the church was ready to give up about it – maybe thats true, so he felt he should go public with picture of children which had been aborted. First I thoought he was ironic but soon I realised he wasn´t. I think the question of abortion is too tough an issue to use that method of informing people. I think the problem is not that people do not know that stuff but that they think about it in other ways – in a theological language: They do not think like a “christian”. (of course you could reply what is thinking like a christian…let´s discuss!) The problem is not that people are stupid or dumb but that they have other criteria for judging what is true. They judge regarding to their worldview and what they think is true. I think that the truth is in Christ but I have to be humble when I meet other people and their “truths”. And you are certainly not humble if you use that method. First of all we have to live the faith and in this case to show another ways of dealing with our sexuality and taking care of our children in the christian community. The truth is a way of life not a statement or a picture! And people around us have different ways of life and I think we have to give people “the freedom of unbelief”.
Ps. For you englishmen – soon the World Championship in Icehockey starts! Enjoy! Ds.