Sunday, 19 April 2009
David Field on Esther
Just booked in on David Field's weekend teaching Esther at Oakhall this June. Should be great!
Saturday, 18 April 2009
Reilly, Ace of Spies
I've enjoyed rewatching the series starring Sam Neill recently. Viewing it, you'll see why Neill was strongly considered for the role of Bond after Roger Moore got too leathery. While that mantle ultimately got passed on to Timothy Dalton (imo no bad thing), Neill would have in many respects delivered a suave, sophisticated and ultimately believable representation of 007. I can't help but wonder if Pierce Brosnan took note from Neill's portrayal of Reilly.
Excellent acting all round, beautiful theme music (Shostakovitch's Romance portion of the Gadfly suite), and a believably adapted story.
Highly recommended, you can purchase it here.
Excellent acting all round, beautiful theme music (Shostakovitch's Romance portion of the Gadfly suite), and a believably adapted story.
Highly recommended, you can purchase it here.
Monday, 13 April 2009
Sincere Disbelief
Amy Orr-Ewing, in her article on Sex and Marriage, offers a select quote from Aldous Huxley:
"I had motives for not wanting the world to have a meaning; consequently I assumed that it had none and was able without any difficulty to find satisfying reasons for this assumption.... For myself as, no doubt, for most of my contemporaries, the philosophy of meaninglessness was essentially an instrument of liberation ... liberation from a certain system of morality. We objected to the morality because it interfered with our sexual freedom.... There was one admirably simple method in our political and erotic revolt: We could deny that the world had any meaning whatsoever."
We often hear that Christianity is merely wishful thinking; but, as it was for Huxley, is this more likely the underlying fabric of atheism? If you don't believe in the Personal God to whom you are accountable, search yourself to see if your skepticism is sincere!
"I had motives for not wanting the world to have a meaning; consequently I assumed that it had none and was able without any difficulty to find satisfying reasons for this assumption.... For myself as, no doubt, for most of my contemporaries, the philosophy of meaninglessness was essentially an instrument of liberation ... liberation from a certain system of morality. We objected to the morality because it interfered with our sexual freedom.... There was one admirably simple method in our political and erotic revolt: We could deny that the world had any meaning whatsoever."
We often hear that Christianity is merely wishful thinking; but, as it was for Huxley, is this more likely the underlying fabric of atheism? If you don't believe in the Personal God to whom you are accountable, search yourself to see if your skepticism is sincere!
God's Glory
Many thanks to a friend of mine for reminding me of these great truths spoken by John Piper in his book Don't Waste Your Life:
On God's love:
"For most people, love is to be made much of... we are taught that love is increasing someones self esteem. Love is making someone feel good about themselves. Love is giving someone a mirror and helping him like what he sees. This is not what the bible means of love. Love is doing what is best for someone. But making self the object of our highest affections is not what is best for us. It is, in fact a lethal distraction. We were made to see and savour God, and in savouring him, to be supremely satisfied and thus spread in all of the world the worth of his presence. Not to show someone the all satisfying God is not loving them."
On God's glory:
"No thing can satisfy the soul. The soul was made to stand in awe of a person- the only person worthy of awe. All heroes are shadows of Christ; we love to admire their excellence. How much more will we be satisfied by the one person who conceived all excellence and embodied all skill, all talent, all strength and all brilliance. God loves us by liberating us from the knowledge of self so that we can enjoy knowing and admiring him forever. The really wonderful moments of joy in this world are not moments of self satisfaction but moments of self forgetfulness. The universe is about the greatness of God, not the significance of man. God made man small and the universe big to say something about himself." (emphasis mine)
Secular humanists can put that world view in their pipes and smoke it!
You can download a free copy of the book here.
On God's love:
"For most people, love is to be made much of... we are taught that love is increasing someones self esteem. Love is making someone feel good about themselves. Love is giving someone a mirror and helping him like what he sees. This is not what the bible means of love. Love is doing what is best for someone. But making self the object of our highest affections is not what is best for us. It is, in fact a lethal distraction. We were made to see and savour God, and in savouring him, to be supremely satisfied and thus spread in all of the world the worth of his presence. Not to show someone the all satisfying God is not loving them."
On God's glory:
"No thing can satisfy the soul. The soul was made to stand in awe of a person- the only person worthy of awe. All heroes are shadows of Christ; we love to admire their excellence. How much more will we be satisfied by the one person who conceived all excellence and embodied all skill, all talent, all strength and all brilliance. God loves us by liberating us from the knowledge of self so that we can enjoy knowing and admiring him forever. The really wonderful moments of joy in this world are not moments of self satisfaction but moments of self forgetfulness. The universe is about the greatness of God, not the significance of man. God made man small and the universe big to say something about himself." (emphasis mine)
Secular humanists can put that world view in their pipes and smoke it!
You can download a free copy of the book here.
Friday, 10 April 2009
Free?
Royal Holloway Christian Union has taken part in the nationwide Free Gospel Project. The idea is to give a biography of Jesus' life to every student on campus.
Check out the training video we cooked up.
Check out the training video we cooked up.
Thursday, 9 April 2009
Purpose
Does Religion Cause War?
Great article from BeThinking.
Those naively concluding that a world without religion would be less violent need only look back to the 20th Century ("the bloodiest century of all") - whose conflicts revolved not around theistic, but secular doctrines. Communism/Marxism; Fascism/Nationalism killed far more than any religious conflict ever has.
The article concludes with respect to Christianity:
"The crucial point here is: What is the central message of the ideology in question? Some of our atheists who respond... seem to miss the fact that ultimately we do not follow Christians, we follow Christ. It is what he said and did that matters, as it is on Him that our faith rests. And his message was one of unqualified love, the eschewment of violence, and the centrality of forgiveness. It is Christ who defines Christianity, not those who have committed atrocities in its name.
Those naively concluding that a world without religion would be less violent need only look back to the 20th Century ("the bloodiest century of all") - whose conflicts revolved not around theistic, but secular doctrines. Communism/Marxism; Fascism/Nationalism killed far more than any religious conflict ever has.
The article concludes with respect to Christianity:
"The crucial point here is: What is the central message of the ideology in question? Some of our atheists who respond... seem to miss the fact that ultimately we do not follow Christians, we follow Christ. It is what he said and did that matters, as it is on Him that our faith rests. And his message was one of unqualified love, the eschewment of violence, and the centrality of forgiveness. It is Christ who defines Christianity, not those who have committed atrocities in its name.
So, does religion cause war? Sadly, it does. But does Jesus Christ, and do those who submit themselves wholeheartedly to Him and His teaching? No. He was the Prince of Peace and he remains the only hope for real peace – even, perhaps especially, in the Middle East."
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