Blog News

Holla peeps,

3 things:

1.) I'm happy to announce that my friend and brother Danny 'Wonletong' Wong has joined the blogging community. He's one of the coolest guys I know; no doubt his blogs will be entertaining, insightful, spiritual, cooler than beans. Ch-ch-check it out:

http://wongletong.blogspot.com/2010/06/friday-fellowship-beatitudes.html

2.) Secondly, if you want to read a blog written by a man / badger who knows what he's talking about, why not have a read of Mr Paul Rockbadger's blog; a smorgasbord of wit and wisdom:

http://paulhuxley.blogspot.com/



Rock.



Badger!

3.) Finally, I'm very happy to recommend a fellow artiste Kayleigh, who will undoubtably enjoy all the Neil Gaiman pictures, etc. She is a writer (give generously!)Read her blog, read her writing -- just like old times!!:

http://kaye-harper.blogspot.com/

Cheers,

SM

Wit & Wisdom from E. M. Forster

"Spoon-feeding in the long run teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon."

(Quoted in the United Press International)

The dinner guests of my dreams: Amanda Palmer and Neil Gaiman

Amanda:
http://www.myspace.com/afp
http://blog.amandapalmer.net/

Neil:
http://www.neilgaiman.co.uk/
http://journal.neilgaiman.com/

Mere Christianity #1:

So reading 'Mere Christianity' Chapter 1. It talks about something Lewis calls 'The Law of Human Nature'. As far as I can tell from a little read, this means that:

1. There is a kind of law / morality / justice that we all understand
2. Even though we understand it, we are constantly 'breaking the law' and justifying our actions.

At least this is what I got from it. It is easy to be cynical about this kind of generalisation (I know I can be), but if we are judgemental about this kind of stuff then we are hypocritical, if truth be told.

Reading this reminded me of Romans 7 (I had to Google it) which talks about how rules are put in place to show us our short comings (Romans 3.20); why we need a little help:

No one has the right to judge someone else without being a massive hypocrite:
'For in passing judgement on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the same things.' (Romans 2.1)

I'm not sure of the practicalities of this -- what if you are a high court judge? etc. -- but at least in my day-to-day living I can be honest about what I believe and make sure people know that I am not a prudish hypocrite. Mission.

(Reading Romans is, frankly, confusing work sometimes!)

But what I do understand:

'... all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus...' (Romans 3.23)

Ok, so there is a lot of jargon that I myself will have to bust before I can get this properly:

sin = an ugly word that reeks of hypocracy and preachiness. Means doing something seperate from God's way. Our natural setting.

justification = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justification_(theology)

redemption = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redemption_(theology)

So there are two things that people could find hard:

1.) Admitting that they are being hypocritical / doing bad things
2.) Being willing to accept the free gift of grace

How we are going to deal with these things is a whole different ball game. I guess admitting that they are there in the first place is a massive, massive leap.

That will do for now. This is a huge thing that I can't imagine people reading. It is more for my benefit thinking this stuff through.

SM

Friends in Places

I love having amazingly talented friends. If you like poetry or music, El and Andy have recently created nice new websites show-casing their shizzle.

Check them out:

El: http://elgruer.com/

Andy http://andyhudsonmusic.com/

Both good to the extreme.

I am also massively pleased to post about Ham's band The Lost Girls ( http://www.myspace.com/thelostgirlsuk ). Definitely a Slits, X-Ray Spex grrl punk vibe. But then they are a bunch of girls. And Ham. Def some DKs in their as well. Very good. Can't wait to see them live.

It's all just so overwhelmingly fun.

SM

Back to holiday

Right so I'm back! I've finished the PGCE and got a job all lined up for September. There are several things that I would like to cover in the blog in no particular order:

1.) Post my thoughts on social networking sites - I'm doin a talk for the University of the Third Age on the subject this week which will be great fun and it would be nice to put this up on the blog. 'Researching' sns reminded me how cool blogs were, that is why I also want to...

2.) ... remind everyone of the great blogs of my friends and also the celebs I stalk via blogging. Life goes on and it is great to catch up on the posts that I have missed.

3.) I want to get back to the roots of my faith. I have started reading 'Mere Christianity' by CS Lewis and I plan to document my reactions to the bitesize chapters.

4.) Use the blog to comment on my summer reading. I've just finished Jaws which I borrowed from James' parents ages ago and I'm halfway through 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vagas'. Both books have been nice and easy to read (if occasionally a bit too graphic for my taste). I also read a bit of Murakami which was good -- but again I've been warned about the 'dodgy' bits ...

5.) Maybe talk a bit about teaching? It is / will be my job, after all.

SM

psalm 62 / prayer

Psalm 62 v.7-8
On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God.
Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.

Lord, rock, hope, fortress, glory, refuge, salvation,

Help us to trust in you at all times,

When we are overwhelmed, battered by anxiety

We pour out our hearts before you – our hope comes from you.

We pour out our hearts for all the countries of the world where there is poverty, famine, misery where there is no hope or justice. We pray for our brothers and sisters serving other in countries. May they feel hope when they are attacked and stumble – Lord God, you are our rock and you shall not be shaken. We include or own country in this prayer and we pour out our hearts for those who are homeless, jobless, abused, hopeless.

Lord, in your refuge we pour out our hearts for those who we know who are ill and those who are suffering.

By your grace may they find your hope.

We pray for the upcoming election and all those involved. Lord, give us the courage to stand up for our faith and our rights and not be cowed by what others may think of us.

We pour out our hearts for our communities, our neighbours, our work colleagues, our friends and families – we ask that they would one day know you as their rock and salvation.

Finally,
Give us hearts for one another, that we would support each other, and reminding each other of the joy of salvation that is alive and in the world today.

We pray for our students studying for exams and as they life out their lives at school, college and university.

In our lives help us to trust in the Lord, our hope and our salvation.