As per my photo challenge, here is some food photography.
"This isn't just any bacon burger and chips........"
Friday, 30 September 2011
Wednesday, 28 September 2011
The top 40 is reducing!
Just to keep on track with my "40 b4 40" thing, thought I'd better start ticking a few off.
1) Write and publish a book. This could be an eBook, but comment below if you can think what it should be.
2) Sell one of my pieces of Art. An actual physical peice, the ones people have bought and downloaded online do not count.
3) Get ordained. Yes I know this is in hand already and could be thought of as an easy one but here it is anyway.
4) Build something from scratch (again, ideas on a post card)
5) Go to the continent of Africa
6) Begin to treat evening as the beginning of the next day (in the old Jewish tradition)
7) Learn a new skill
8) And the the same vein learn to play an instrument (a mouth harp is an instrument right?)
9) Brew a beer (hop, nettle or ginger I don't care)
10) Fix and then ride, my bike
11) Run another Marathon
12) Watch all the Lord of the Rings extended editions, back to back.
13) Learn a silly skill (yo yo, coin twirling, magic or something) have taught myself to raise an eyebrow in the Vulcan manner
14) Appear on TV (being interviewed, as an extra in a film or program or showing something weird on Antiques Road Show)
15) Ride in a Hot Air balloon
16) Host a dinner party
17) Read more ( a hard one to tick off as it is not easily quantifyable, so maybe 1 book a month)
18) Begin learning a language
19) Get fit (ties in with the marathon thing)
20) Take the kids to Florida (just for them of course, not me)
21) Read the Bible, the whole thing
22) Go on a pilgrimage
23) Visit Paris
24) Visit Rome
25) Go to a posh/famous restaurant
26) See the Lion King stage show
27) Visit New York
28) Make my own Biltong/Jerky
29) Go on a Safari (preferably in a vehicle I don't own)
30) Take a cruise
31) Say YES to Something I have previously said NO to
32) Have a PROPPER clear out
33) Sleep under the stars again
34) Visit my Brother more often
35) Own a Ferret
36) Complete a photo project (see next post)
37) Teach Sprog 1 and Sprog 2 to ride their bikes
38) Attend the Greenbelt festival as a punter, not a worker
39) Create a family recipe book- made a start, these things never actually finish do they?
40) Make a 50 before 50 list!
1) Write and publish a book. This could be an eBook, but comment below if you can think what it should be.
2) Sell one of my pieces of Art. An actual physical peice, the ones people have bought and downloaded online do not count.
3) Get ordained. Yes I know this is in hand already and could be thought of as an easy one but here it is anyway.
4) Build something from scratch (again, ideas on a post card)
5) Go to the continent of Africa
6) Begin to treat evening as the beginning of the next day (in the old Jewish tradition)
7) Learn a new skill
8) And the the same vein learn to play an instrument (a mouth harp is an instrument right?)
9) Brew a beer (hop, nettle or ginger I don't care)
10) Fix and then ride, my bike
11) Run another Marathon
12) Watch all the Lord of the Rings extended editions, back to back.
13) Learn a silly skill (yo yo, coin twirling, magic or something) have taught myself to raise an eyebrow in the Vulcan manner
14) Appear on TV (being interviewed, as an extra in a film or program or showing something weird on Antiques Road Show)
15) Ride in a Hot Air balloon
16) Host a dinner party
17) Read more ( a hard one to tick off as it is not easily quantifyable, so maybe 1 book a month)
18) Begin learning a language
19) Get fit (ties in with the marathon thing)
20) Take the kids to Florida (just for them of course, not me)
21) Read the Bible, the whole thing
22) Go on a pilgrimage
23) Visit Paris
24) Visit Rome
25) Go to a posh/famous restaurant
26) See the Lion King stage show
27) Visit New York
28) Make my own Biltong/Jerky
29) Go on a Safari (preferably in a vehicle I don't own)
30) Take a cruise
31) Say YES to Something I have previously said NO to
32) Have a PROPPER clear out
33) Sleep under the stars again
34) Visit my Brother more often
35) Own a Ferret
36) Complete a photo project (see next post)
37) Teach Sprog 1 and Sprog 2 to ride their bikes
38) Attend the Greenbelt festival as a punter, not a worker
39) Create a family recipe book- made a start, these things never actually finish do they?
40) Make a 50 before 50 list!
Sunday, 25 September 2011
More margins than I had realised
Speak to any Methodist Deacon and I am sure they would agree, that Deacons are called to seek out and help those on the margins, those pushed to the edge.
It has been brought to my attention on occassions that those on the edges and the margins are not always OUTSIDE the church, they can be and are found INSIDE the church as well.
What surprised me most recently is hearing from Presbyter friends and colleagues from across the connexion that they frequently find themselves pushed to the edge, stuck out on the margins of the Church.
This has left me with a question.
"Is then our ministry as Deacons also to our Presbyters as well as the laity?"
I believe that the answer of course should be YES. And I think that the way we can do this is by sharing with them some of the resources at our disposal as members of a religious order and who follow a rule of life.
Does this need pursuing or am I barking up the wrong margin?
It has been brought to my attention on occassions that those on the edges and the margins are not always OUTSIDE the church, they can be and are found INSIDE the church as well.
What surprised me most recently is hearing from Presbyter friends and colleagues from across the connexion that they frequently find themselves pushed to the edge, stuck out on the margins of the Church.
This has left me with a question.
"Is then our ministry as Deacons also to our Presbyters as well as the laity?"
I believe that the answer of course should be YES. And I think that the way we can do this is by sharing with them some of the resources at our disposal as members of a religious order and who follow a rule of life.
Does this need pursuing or am I barking up the wrong margin?
Saturday, 24 September 2011
Bread and wine
Holding the crumb in my hand
Warm
Soft
Living
Some for all, plenty left over
I taste
Soft
Savoury
Sweet
Holding the glass in my hand
Cold
Hard
Lifeless
Some for all, plenty left over
I taste
Shock
Cold
Tang
Christ born into and lived in our warm, soft, humanity
Christ died and risen in the tang of spilled blood and cold tomb
Soft, hard
Warm, cold
Sweet, sharp
Lived
Died
Risen
Amen
Warm
Soft
Living
Some for all, plenty left over
I taste
Soft
Savoury
Sweet
Holding the glass in my hand
Cold
Hard
Lifeless
Some for all, plenty left over
I taste
Shock
Cold
Tang
Christ born into and lived in our warm, soft, humanity
Christ died and risen in the tang of spilled blood and cold tomb
Soft, hard
Warm, cold
Sweet, sharp
Lived
Died
Risen
Amen
Wednesday, 14 September 2011
The diakonia of the Diaconate
Very much time effort and words has been devoted recently to trying to to nail down and explain what Deacons do (because Deacons struggle to do this themselves and because others need to define such things).
Most recently the work of John Collins is being looked at again to try and better define the ministry or diakonia of Deacons.
In a nut shell (as I understand it) Collins' position is that Diakonia has been high-jacked and pigeon holed by linking it closely with the act of loving service of our Lord Jesus when he washed his friends feet and that act only, when in fact every action of Christ was diakonia, was service, was ministry. Collins believes (and I believe rightly) that based on this, Deacons are servants in a much broader understanding of the term.
A servant does not wait tables because that is all that servants do. A servant does not deliver messages because they are only messengers. A servant does not run a household because house management is the sole duty of the servant. No, a servant undertakes many and varied tasks because they have been sent by their master to do so.
And so the true defining aspect of a Deacon is that they have been sent to serve, they have been given a set task to do. It is not the task itself which defines them, it is the fact that they were sent.
Deacon Eunice Attwood described it this way. Deacons are like fruit in a bowl, you do not take a banana from the bowl to make an apple pie, because it wouldn't work. They are all fruit but the have specific uses.
Unique in action but united in identity.
In Methodism at least the Diaconate is growing. 13 candidates accepted this year, 31 in training and 121 active Deacons in service.
In the Anglican Church more and more are feeling called to a permanent Diaconate.
The Nazarene Church is seeing an increase in those called to Diaconal ministry (a bi vocational ministry where they serve the church alongside their regular work)
It would appear that God is calling more and more Deacons, so the question is why? What diakonia, what ministry are they being called to do?
(apologies for all the mini paragraphs but grammar and punctuation are not friends of mine)
One attempt I once heard to find the distinction between the Presbyterate and the Diaconate stated that it came down to focus. Of course both orders of ministry are concerned with those outside the church and inside the church but it could be said that where a Presbyters primary focus was on the 99 sheep in the church and the Deacon goes off in search of that lost sheep.
As flawed a metaphor as this is, on Sunday I chose to go off on a sheep hunt. So off I went in the driving rain and blowing gale to try and find where the little lost lamb might be. My first port of call was the sea front. In spite of the weather there was a small continental market in full flow. There were a good 300+ people on the seafront and the Pier that morning! As I drove through town I found at least another 800 wandering round the shops.
Next I went on to the big Tesco Extra store. The car park was jammed solid with cars with queues in and out. Inside there were hundreds of people young and old wandering around there, not all doing their weekly shop either with some only there for something to do it seemed.
So you may ask "Where are you going with this?"
Well I'll tell you. I think we may be looking at this sheep thing all wrong. I think someone has left the gate open and more than just one sheep has got loose. In fact it may be better to say that 1 sheep is left in church and 99 are lost! The new Methodist Conference president Leo Osborne spoke to this in his recent conference address where he said we have not been watching the doors, people have been leaving our churches disenchanted with the church and others have arrive to find the doors locked to them.
In short I think that many of these new Deacons are being called for a very specific task. Sheep hunting! What the church needs to do now is to free them up to do this and be prepared for a few ruffled feathers because of how they'll go about it.
As I was writing this I was watching the film Wesley about the life of the Methodist Church's founder John Wesley and it struck me that John Wesley was a Deacon! He was ordained into the ministry in the Anglican Church and although he was priested on top of this ordination he remained a Deacon, and when he had his right to minister and preach removed from him he reverted to his Diaconal calling, seeking out the lost and marginalised and preaching the Gospel wherever and whenever he had the opportunity. So as the Methodist Church seeks to rediscover it's roots as a movement shaped for mission I believe that it also needs to rediscover its diaconal heart and get hunting those sheep!
Most recently the work of John Collins is being looked at again to try and better define the ministry or diakonia of Deacons.
In a nut shell (as I understand it) Collins' position is that Diakonia has been high-jacked and pigeon holed by linking it closely with the act of loving service of our Lord Jesus when he washed his friends feet and that act only, when in fact every action of Christ was diakonia, was service, was ministry. Collins believes (and I believe rightly) that based on this, Deacons are servants in a much broader understanding of the term.
A servant does not wait tables because that is all that servants do. A servant does not deliver messages because they are only messengers. A servant does not run a household because house management is the sole duty of the servant. No, a servant undertakes many and varied tasks because they have been sent by their master to do so.
And so the true defining aspect of a Deacon is that they have been sent to serve, they have been given a set task to do. It is not the task itself which defines them, it is the fact that they were sent.
Deacon Eunice Attwood described it this way. Deacons are like fruit in a bowl, you do not take a banana from the bowl to make an apple pie, because it wouldn't work. They are all fruit but the have specific uses.
Unique in action but united in identity.
In Methodism at least the Diaconate is growing. 13 candidates accepted this year, 31 in training and 121 active Deacons in service.
In the Anglican Church more and more are feeling called to a permanent Diaconate.
The Nazarene Church is seeing an increase in those called to Diaconal ministry (a bi vocational ministry where they serve the church alongside their regular work)
It would appear that God is calling more and more Deacons, so the question is why? What diakonia, what ministry are they being called to do?
(apologies for all the mini paragraphs but grammar and punctuation are not friends of mine)
One attempt I once heard to find the distinction between the Presbyterate and the Diaconate stated that it came down to focus. Of course both orders of ministry are concerned with those outside the church and inside the church but it could be said that where a Presbyters primary focus was on the 99 sheep in the church and the Deacon goes off in search of that lost sheep.
As flawed a metaphor as this is, on Sunday I chose to go off on a sheep hunt. So off I went in the driving rain and blowing gale to try and find where the little lost lamb might be. My first port of call was the sea front. In spite of the weather there was a small continental market in full flow. There were a good 300+ people on the seafront and the Pier that morning! As I drove through town I found at least another 800 wandering round the shops.
Next I went on to the big Tesco Extra store. The car park was jammed solid with cars with queues in and out. Inside there were hundreds of people young and old wandering around there, not all doing their weekly shop either with some only there for something to do it seemed.
So you may ask "Where are you going with this?"
Well I'll tell you. I think we may be looking at this sheep thing all wrong. I think someone has left the gate open and more than just one sheep has got loose. In fact it may be better to say that 1 sheep is left in church and 99 are lost! The new Methodist Conference president Leo Osborne spoke to this in his recent conference address where he said we have not been watching the doors, people have been leaving our churches disenchanted with the church and others have arrive to find the doors locked to them.
In short I think that many of these new Deacons are being called for a very specific task. Sheep hunting! What the church needs to do now is to free them up to do this and be prepared for a few ruffled feathers because of how they'll go about it.
As I was writing this I was watching the film Wesley about the life of the Methodist Church's founder John Wesley and it struck me that John Wesley was a Deacon! He was ordained into the ministry in the Anglican Church and although he was priested on top of this ordination he remained a Deacon, and when he had his right to minister and preach removed from him he reverted to his Diaconal calling, seeking out the lost and marginalised and preaching the Gospel wherever and whenever he had the opportunity. So as the Methodist Church seeks to rediscover it's roots as a movement shaped for mission I believe that it also needs to rediscover its diaconal heart and get hunting those sheep!
Monday, 29 August 2011
We've been doing it wrong.
Christianity as a "religion" has been put together wrong because it was put together by men. When we men are given something to put together what do we do? Do we carefully lay out all the parts and get the right tools out? Do we sit and carefully read the instructions? Nope, what do we do? Tear open the package, parts flying everywhere and the instructions remain in their little bag. We then spend the next 4 to 6 hours yelling, swearing, hitting and shedding blood and finally collapsing in a heap next to a wobbly bookcase called Billy holding 7 screws, two pieces of dowl and a small tube of wood glue wondering what they were for.
We need to take a more sensible womanly approach. We need to take apart what we have made, keeping all the bits, fix the ones we broke building the thing.
Find the instructions, read them, see that construction needs more than one person and we should lift with our knees. Then we must FOLLOW the instructions!
End of rant.
We need to take a more sensible womanly approach. We need to take apart what we have made, keeping all the bits, fix the ones we broke building the thing.
Find the instructions, read them, see that construction needs more than one person and we should lift with our knees. Then we must FOLLOW the instructions!
End of rant.
Friday, 29 July 2011
The Photo Project
In an effort to inspire myself and maybe others I thought I might set a Photo Project assignment for the holidays.
The idea is to take one photo for each of the 10 themes and then blog them.
1) Sky-Clouds, contrails, birds in flight
2) Sunset- an oldy but a goody
3) Different angle- something taken from a different angle to how you'd normally see it
4) Food porn- this isn't just any food photo, this, is a Marks and Spencers food photo
5) Unusual Portrai- anything but face forward and smiling
6) Small is Beautiful- Macros, little things and close ups
7) Night Shoot- Low light but high interest
8) All of the lights- candles, flames, fairy lights, street lights, car lights......
9) Nature- if it breathes moves and smells snap it
10) Performance- Street actors, dancers, bands etc.
Have fun and send me links to your pics. :D
The idea is to take one photo for each of the 10 themes and then blog them.
1) Sky-Clouds, contrails, birds in flight
2) Sunset- an oldy but a goody
3) Different angle- something taken from a different angle to how you'd normally see it
4) Food porn- this isn't just any food photo, this, is a Marks and Spencers food photo
5) Unusual Portrai- anything but face forward and smiling
6) Small is Beautiful- Macros, little things and close ups
7) Night Shoot- Low light but high interest
8) All of the lights- candles, flames, fairy lights, street lights, car lights......
9) Nature- if it breathes moves and smells snap it
10) Performance- Street actors, dancers, bands etc.
Have fun and send me links to your pics. :D
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