 I have been reading through the Bible this year, starting with Genesis, and have been struck, as many of us have been struck, with the strangeness of it all. Take the life of David. Parts of his life are familiar to us: his faithfulness and courage in facing Goliath; the Bathesheba saga; God’s elaborate promises to . . . → Read More: David and me  I emailed a friend this week about the comfort of routine. It was a thought I found myself mulling over while shaving recently (ironically something that I don’t do routinely…) and while it’s not profound or revolutionary – it was a timely reminder of the necessity and the refreshing nature of the familiar. Unfortunately, as the saying . . . → Read More: The comfort of routine…  I recently came across the fascinating BBC documentary Why Beauty Matters (2009), written and presented by philosopher Roger Scruton. In it, Scruton offers a strong argument for the importance of beauty in human life, it is in fact an essential human need. He laments the loss of beauty in our everyday existence, its pursuit having being . . . → Read More: Beauty and the BBC 
One of the skills we need to develop if we are to be insightful observers of culture is recognizing that cultural artifacts (the things humans make) are not neutral. They embody, shape or legitimate certain understandings of the world. I was reminded of this fact while listening to some of the recent reports of the death of . . . → Read More: Vidal Sassoon, Haircuts and Worldviews  A couple of weeks ago I read (and briefly commented on) a challenging article written by a pastor in the US who watched The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo….and then later wished he hadn’t. I haven’t linked to his article, because even some of his watered-down descriptions are pretty graphic, but essentially he puts forward . . . → Read More: Rules of (cultural) engagement One of our Australian alumni posted a link to a great Q&A article on culture on the Compass Facebook page. In it, among other things, author Ken Myer suggests that it isn’t “the culture” that is the problem – rather what we are doing (or not doing) in church, or as members thereof. Or for want of . . . → Read More: Shaped to be “Christian-ish” I am reading Gabe Lyons’s book The Next Christians: Seven Ways You Can Live the Gospel and Restore the World at the moment (I’m a decent five for seven ; ) ) and I came across this beautiful quote by NT Wright on the church. It’s a place of welcome and laughter, of healing and hope, of . . . → Read More: NT Wright describes the church I want to be part of… |
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