Why I like roller hockey

Because you can smash someone if they're being a tool without worrying about causing them a career-threatening injury.

Unlike football(soccer), where you're playing the ball with the same thing you've got your weight on, and can snap someone real easy... So it's not as simple to sort someone out when it needs doing.

Potentially socially awkward . . . #1

... a toilet that only flushes for as long as you hold down the button.

Journalism 2.0?

Having just watched the Media Watch 20th anniversary special (old news, I know) I've been quite interested in the future of journalism now that the web has become the source, and mode of transportation, for information.

This has affected print newspaper sales to the point where the format has been described as a 'dead duck'. And yet, even the web media of papers reputable in print seem to have succumbed to the temptations of tabloid journalism with plenty of freak and celeb goss stories being posted every day.

So, where will the journalism fraternity end up? Are they a dinosaur waiting to die out? Will the industry collapse, or merge into the seedy world of blogs?

The year's funniest fringe

Dan Antopolski was awarded this year's Edinburgh Fringe Funniest Joke for this 'gem'.

"Hedgehogs - why can't they just share the hedge?"

Some of rest of the top 10 were:

Paddy Lennox - "I was watching the London Marathon and saw one runner dressed as a chicken and another runner dressed as an egg. I thought: 'This could be interesting'."

Jack Whitehall - "I'm sure wherever my dad is; he's looking down on us. He's not dead, just very condescending."

Marcus Brigstocke - "To the people who've got iPhones: you just bought one, you didn't invent it!"

Rhod Gilbert - "A spa hotel? It's like a normal hotel, only in reception there's a picture of a pebble."

Dan Antopolski - "I've been reading the news about there being a civil war in Madagascar. Well, I've seen it six times and there isn't."

Simon Brodkin (as Lee Nelson) - "I started so many fights at my school - I had that attention-deficit disorder. So I didn't finish a lot of them."

You'll thank me for not sharing the 'worst jokes' list...

So, do you reckon any of these will make a sermon illustration in the next few weeks?

How do you deal with...

Being the weak link in the team?

Today I played in a soccer quarter-final, and the game ended 2-2. I'd played pretty well, I thought. Then came extra time, and I really dug deep, and thought I'd helped out the team with my performance, but we didn't manage to score.

So, penalty shootout it was.

I put my hand up to take one, and was taking the last kick of the 5. I had to score, or we lost and our season was over.

I did not score.

Where to go?

This is a topic which was touched on here, but not directly.

How do you decide where to go in ministry?


Some of the factors I hear bandied around are:

Need: Where have people not yet heard the gospel? Where are they the most downtrodden and in need of Jesus' transformative power? How can they believe if they have never heard? And how can they hear without a preacher?

Gifting: I should find out my 'gift-mix' and work out what the best utilisation of my unique combination of strengths and weaknesses is. Where can my particular abilities be put to the most use?

Passion: Shouldn't I just do what I'm passionate about? Surely that means I'll do it better, and have a greater impact for the kingdom, as well as fulfilling those ends that God gave me the desire to achieve?

A 'call': Clearly I should only do what I've felt and inner calling from God about. Otherwise I could find myself working at cross-purposes to God.

'Strategicness': Tim Keller would say we need to reach the cities and then let the gospel work its way out from there, just like Paul did. Should strategy be the key factor in our decision on where to do ministry?

Personal/Family 'fit': How much of a part should my 'fit' into a type of ministry as a person and a family come into it? If my kids like the city, does that mean I shouldn't go overseas or go country? What if they've got medical issues?

Now some of these are as much paradigms for decision-making as much as they are factors for decision making. Please feel free to reject or pick apart all the paradigms/dichotomies/ that you want! What are the strengths and weaknesses of using each of these?

How should we then build?

Now, while I haven't decided yet what I think about the final conclusion of this monster post, I think there's some interesting food for thought in there. The juicy bit is the critique of 'the trappings of modern evangelicalism' which he claims actually put people off, instead of inviting them in.

This oughta set the cat amongst the pigeons...

Also, has anyone seen a good piece on a Biblical view of efficiency/economy/utility?

How does God give the Spirit?

To be honest, I'm not quite sure. But I do know how he doesn't give Him to us.

My translation of John 3:34 (which, some Greek scholar can correct me on later) I think is actually more encouraging than the standard:

"For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. "

I think a more literal rendering for the final phrase would be:

"for he does not give the Spirit with a measuring cup."

I really like that. It's not all gushy about how generous God is, it's a beautifully negative statement about God not using a measuring cup when he liberally pours out the Spirit. I like that image. No stingy shop owner making sure he doesn't give too much away, no finicky worrying about putting too much flour in a cake.

God just pours.

A bit dusty...

Luther reckoned the early church fathers were to the Scriptures what a sackful of coal dust is to a glass of milk. Fair call?