Virtual Methodist

I wonder if this cartoon is based, at least in part on a saying of Laurence J. Peter, who said that "an economist is an expert who will know tomorrow why the things he predicted yesterday didn't happen today." I've said before that I am a financial incompetent, barely capable of balancing my own chequebook, but there seem to be people with little more competence than I have running the economies of countries and multi-national companies. Perhaps this is a function of another of Peter's assertions, (in the principle named after him) that "In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence... in time every post tends to be occupied by an employee who is incompetent to carry out its duties... Work is accomplished by those employees who have not yet reached their level of incompetence," People often think that Peter was joking when he framed his eponymous principle, but it is totally serious, deadly so when you consider that the l...

I tend not to comment negatively on the public pronouncements of other church leaders here (trying my best to abide by the Methodist mantra of "friends of all, enemies of none" and all that jazz, but reports of  Cardinal Keith O'Brien's Easter message , which got an early airing in news briefings on Saturday, didn't sit easily with me... For those who missed it, he was arguing that Christians should proudly wear the cross as a symbol of their commitment to Christ and his gospel, and that refusal to allow such expressions of faith are an erosion of the place of Christianity in the public square. Now, I do think that there is a concerted effort to marginalise the church in modern Britain, though I don't think it is as organised as some of the bleating would have you believe, and to be honest, I'm one of those who believe that the church is closer to the faith of the Christ of the cross when it is speaking from the margins, than when it is making pronounce...

A couple of weeks ago I read of a decision by Croydon council to cut down three 30 yearold Rowan trees outside some sheltered accommodation for the elderly, because they had received one complaint suggesting that the berries from the trees might cause a risk of slipping. I had a short rant in my last Just a Moment for Downtown Radio last Friday about what seems to be the current, (I believe undesirable) attempt to  eliminate all possible  risk from life…  There is no such thing as a risk free existence. Even if we were to encase ourselves in bubble wrap and not move from the safety of our own home, we would be at risk because of not getting enough exercise… The Bible begins with God taking a risk with a tree in a garden… Why  didn't  he simply not plant that fateful tree in Eden ? And why did he allow his son to come to earth and risk death on that mockery of a tree we call the cross? In the light of that, I thought I would post another of my monologu...

Back on again over on the Methodist Church in Ireland's Lenten Blog on the Atonement ... this time reflecting on Stuart Townend's understanding of what was happening on the cross . That, and the fast approaching shadow of Good Friday has prompted me to list my 6 favourite and 6 least favourite songs about Christ on the cross (excluding the 2 Townend songs, which I quite like despite their theological frailties)... It was going to be 5 of each but I couldn't restrict myself to that Let's start with the stinkers first in no particular order: Lift High the Cross - has too much of the "crusader" overtones for me... Sing, my tongue, the glorious battle - for much the same reason as above- indeed probably more so as it as militaristic tosh like this that set the theological context for crusading Christendom, the unholy alliance of Kingdom and Empire. Also don't like "The Royal banners forward go" by the same author, Venantius Fortunatus , for the sa...

Happy New Year! No I haven’t lost the plot completely. Over 400 years ago, when they changed over from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar, they moved the New Year from the beginning of April and spring, to the beginning of January. And those who refused to change were treated as fools. They were invited to non-existent parties and other pranks were played on them, and it is thought that this may be one of the origins of April Fools’ Day. But actually all around the world, in many different cultures there are light-hearted festivals at this time of year celebrating the change from winter to spring… Hope, in place of despair… Easter is part of that. In its pagan origins it was a celebration of fun and fecundity summed up in a decorated egg. In the Christian celebration it is an exploration of the grounds of hope for humanity. This week began with the seemingly foolish image of the King of Kings entering into Jerusalem on the back of a humble donkey. In John’s Gospel we read:...

This week on both Downtown Radio's "Just a Moment" at the unearthly hour of 6.55am and in my own church in Dundonald at a breakfast prayer meeting at the barely better hour of 8am, I'm reflecting on the 7 final words of Jesus from the cross. In the 17th century the Jesuit Missionaries to Peru devised a special 3 hour service for Good Friday, focused on theses 7 words of Christ from the Cross… it has since spread across the Catholic and wider Christian world… The words are drawn from all 4 gospels, because no one account contains all of them… each gospel has its own emphasis… But we begin with the first one in Luke’s gospel.... 'When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."' Luke 23:33-34 (ANIV) This word is as good a place to start as any when considering the events at Calvary, becau...

For Holy week this year the BBC produced a version of "The Passion" which I will largely refrain from commenting on as I only saw the Good Friday "post watershed" episode through being otherwise engaged the rest of the time. If the rest of it was as good as that then I may get the DVD for future viewing. I would appreciate other people's refelctions if they saw more of it than I did. But it set me thinking about previous dramatic versions of Jesus' life and death. The obvious comparison is with Mel Gibson's "spiritual snuff movie" but it was Sally, my wife who reminded me of Dennis Potter's "Son of Man" , a decidedly sceptical view, but one with some interesting insights... and particularly of the following part of Act 2 Scene 3. Jesus and his disciples have been having a discussion in the shadow of a cross. Then, almost absent-mindedly Jesus wanders over to it and starts to caress it. JESUS: Good timber, this. Hewed with the grai...

A monologue from the perspective of Zacchaeus, the tax collector, based on the story in Luke 19 v 1-10 and a bit of dramatic license on my part. It is largely based on some material I wrote for a show entitled "I Witness" performed in the Waterfront Hall in Belfast in 2003 by New Irish Arts. I almost didn’t meet him… First because as you’ve probably noticed, I’m not the biggest person around, and there were so many others trying to get a glimpse of him… But also because he was on his last journey south… Even though we didn’t know it at the time… But I had heard so much about him… Stories told about him and by him... Right from the time he actually invited one of my sort, Levi the son of Alphaeus, to be one of his followers… Word of that quickly got out and about. Apparently the holy rollers didn’t like it and complained about him mixing with Levi and his friends… You see, people look down on me not just because I’m short… you get used to that… But people look down on me and m...