AboutLife

Moving home...

Sun, 16 Dec 2007 12:31:05 -0800

As you can see, I haven't been blogging for a while. I've started again though, and have moved my blog to the SPTC site - you can find it at http://sptc.htb.org.uk/graham .SO if you're interested in these random thoughts that's where to go.....

R S Thomas - Fire from heaven

Wed, 06 Jun 2007 12:37:20 -0700

Read a wonderful poem by the Welsh poet R S Thomas recently. It’s called ‘The Chapel. You know those old grey chapels by country roads in Wales or Cornwall, small – they probably only ever held about 50 people at most – (the picture is of one we saw on holiday in Wales this Easter) well it's about one of those.

Romanian Gypsies and Social Change

Sun, 27 May 2007 00:28:32 -0700

Fascinating story on the BBC website about the way Spirit-filled Christian faith can change a community can change with Christian .

Pentecost and Culture

Fri, 25 May 2007 14:46:24 -0700

We’ve just had International Week here at HTB. It was quite a remarkable event, with over 1000 people from around 70 different countries and almost as many languages. And all getting on fine. In fact better than fine, amazingly united, passionate and focussed around a devotion to Jesus. Some incredible stories or persecution, pain, poverty, yet none of it seeming too much to deflect them from that same devotion to Jesus.

5th May 2007 - Remember the day

Sat, 05 May 2007 15:09:27 -0700

WE DID IT! Finally, after 40 years of hurt, I have seen my beloved Bristol City go up. We won 3-1 at home to Rotherham today, to clinch promotion. It ranks up there behind getting married to a wonderful wife, and having our wonderful kids as one the best days ever. It was awesome. Big atmosphere before the game, early goal to settle the nerves, another before half-time, a third to make it sure and even their consolation couldn’t stop the last 15 minutes of noise, singing, with the ground rocking. At one point, all four stands were singing ‘Stand up if you’re going up’ at the same time – just made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. I’ve watched so many disappointing outcomes – play-off defeats to Cardiff, Brighton, missing out on promotion against Blackpool a few years ago, but this makes up for them all. You go through a lot of pain as a football fan, but days like this are what you watch football for.

Can Church transform the culture?

Fri, 04 May 2007 09:43:18 -0700

Gave a lecture last week in Durham Cathedral on 'Developing Churches that can Transform the Culture'. It was part of the 'Fresh Expressions' lecture tour - Prof. Jimmy Dunn gave the morning lecture & I did the afternoon.

It looked at whether churches ought to be trying to transform the culture (Stanley Hauerwas says that's a waste of time). If he's right how then do we interact with culture? His point is that the church's main contribution to societies is to 'become communties capable of producing people of virtue'. Right on.

it didn't happen....

Sun, 29 Apr 2007 12:37:18 -0700

Well, it didn't happen. We went to Millwall and lost 1-0. Pretty depressing afternoon. Millwall is a thoroughly unpleasant place - most of the home fans don't watch the game - the main purpose of the afternoon seemed to be to taunt & goad us lot with increasingly aggressive neanderthal grunts. Anyway we lost. But we get another go next Saturday, at home to Rotherham. If we win that one, we're still promoted. And Sam and I will be there again Maybe this time....

So nearly there....

Sat, 21 Apr 2007 12:02:10 -0700

I may achieve a lifelong ambition next weekend. Bristol City, whom I’ve supported for over 40 years, are on the brink of promotion to the Championship (the second tier of English football for those of you who don’t know). A fantastic 3-1 away win at Carlisle today sets us up with needing just one more win from the last two games to ensure automatic promotion. Next week we are playing away at Millwall, here in London. And Sam and I will be there. (the picture is of Adriano Basso our fanatically Christian Brazilian goalkeeper....)

Dangerous prosperity

Sat, 24 Mar 2007 04:51:58 -0700

I’m in Palm Beach Florida. And I’ve never been in a place that oozes so much wealth. The cars, the buildings, the shops, the clothes, above all the houses, just reek of money. It’s smart, smooth, expensive, kind of beautiful in a slightly sickly way – a bit like a dessert laced with too much sugar – just puts your teeth on edge.

Worshipping myself?

Sun, 04 Mar 2007 13:11:57 -0800

I don’t know if it’s just me, but I wonder if some of the worship songs we sing are more about us than they are about God. So many of the songs I find myself singing in church end up saying more about what I am, what I am doing, or intend to do than about what God is, what he is doing etc. Most of them have lines like ‘I will worship with all of my heart…” “I will give you all my worship….” “I surrender all….” and so on. Now there’s nothing wrong with this – the Psalms do it quite a bit, but if that is all we sing, and if the subject of most sentences is ‘I’, then it ends up pointing more to me than to God. The song subtly becomes more about me than it does about God. Worshipping God is not a celebration of our intentions or desires, but is being enabled to gaze upon him and lose ourselves in that, or allowing him to gaze on us and sensing his searching eyes on us.

Fallen Heroes?

Thu, 22 Feb 2007 12:58:55 -0800

Went to a pretty awful game last night. Bristol City (my team, in case you didn’t know) against the dark side, aka Bristol Rovers in the southern area final of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy (yeh, I know, but it was a big game for all Bristolians….) Drove all the way to Bristol for a dreadful 0-0 draw, so not much to write about there.

A visit from the Archbishop

Mon, 12 Feb 2007 14:03:50 -0800

At SPTC today we had a visit from the Archbishop. THE Archbishop - Rowan Williams. He had a free morning so offered to come to fill a space in our programme, speaking on the slow drifting apart of the Eastern and Western churches. It was a stunning event -

Why we should get rid of Faith Groups

Wed, 17 Jan 2007 13:38:37 -0800

In our multi-cultural and multi-ethnic society, a new word has entered our vocabulary: Faith Groups. It's a way of describing religious groupings, those who apparently have a ‘faith’ that influences the way they view the world and motivates what they do – it includes Christian (like me), Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists (kind of), Sikhs etc. Sometimes they are called ‘faith communities’ but the idea is the same, and it is common government-speak for example 2004 Home Office report on “Faith Groups in the Community - Working Together: Co-operation between Government and Faith Communities”

Why blog?

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 12:59:03 -0800

So Christmas is over, I have a cold, England got thrashed at cricket and Bristol City only managed one win over the holiday period. So am I downhearted? Mmmmm.....

Haven't blogged for a while. Been thinking about blogging a bit. Why do we do it? Is it all a mania for self-publicity? We video ourselves & put it on YouTube, construct our personal websites, publish our rambling thoughts to anyone who wants to listen, blog away like mad. It all fits with celebrity culture - the craving for fame.

Don't mention the cricket.....

Wed, 13 Dec 2006 11:56:48 -0800

Reading my last hopeful blog at the start of day 2 of Brisbane looks a bit embarrasssing now. The next Test starts tonight & I'm not holding out too much hope. In fact rather dreading waking up tomorrow to find out the damage on day one as it happens.