tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79893152011-04-22T04:46:23.241+10:00Question is, who's subverting who?<br> Are you subverting the grace of God, or is God's grace subverting you?the_blackehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14687395836940213964noreply@blogger.comBlogger141100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7989315.post-1113192114012540072005-04-11T14:00:00.000+10:002005-04-11T14:01:54.013+10:00

Yup, I've given up here and have moved to http://lesstravelled.net/ so if you're kind enough to have bookmarked me, please update your link.

the_blackehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14687395836940213964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7989315.post-1113027290001645062005-04-09T16:12:00.000+10:002005-04-09T16:14:50.003+10:00

I spent most of yesterday trying, unsuccessfully, to get in to blogger to update a post. Major frustration overload.So, I've thrown a hissy fit and am moving my blog to less travelled where I shall continue this madness with hopefully a touch less frustration. I shall try and move over some of the more intelligent things I have said, along with comments, as best as I can.Grace and peace, and

the_blackehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14687395836940213964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7989315.post-1112915222766650652005-04-08T08:54:00.000+10:002005-04-08T09:07:02.766+10:00

A little while ago, my new friend John Dekker made an interesting observation about one of the church notice boards in my neck of the woods.In the interests of a little light hearted fun (with the ulterior motive, so cleverly disguised that you probably won't even see it, of perhaps engendering a small degree of compassion towards small churches doing the best they can on low budgets to

the_blackehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14687395836940213964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7989315.post-1112762294185916092005-04-06T14:37:00.000+10:002005-04-06T14:38:14.186+10:00

Tuesday night - bible study night. But with the hyperactivity of Easter, combined with a break in routine brought about by the group taking two weeks off, meant that none of us were really well placed for a stimulating discussion on Romans 6, least of all me. So, I pulled out a documentary I taped off the History Channel, on books banned from the bible, and a great conversation followed.The

the_blackehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14687395836940213964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7989315.post-1112608112156574612005-04-04T23:14:00.000+10:002005-04-04T23:20:21.860+10:00

The phrase 'the word of God' is used in many ways in the bible. What it refers to or describes changes as one moves from book to book, from testament to testament; sometimes these changes are subtle, sometimes they are abrupt. There is, I think, a consistency about it, a common thread which we can identify, and cling to, which can help to make sense of this phrase which is already laden with

the_blackehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14687395836940213964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7989315.post-1112570664894695262005-04-04T09:11:00.000+10:002005-04-04T09:24:24.896+10:00

Just spent a very sad weekend, trying to discuss emerging church with those charming folks over at EmergentNO. Not the most fruitful exercise in the history of the church.Randy commented on one of my earlier posts that Carla and her friends are miles away from me. I had assumed that he meant theologically, which is certainly true. It appears, however, that the observation is also true with

the_blackehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14687395836940213964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7989315.post-1112263833593934452005-03-31T20:03:00.000+10:002005-03-31T20:31:13.790+10:00

Painted by an accomplished artist, the vicar of my church. A truly moving symbol.

the_blackehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14687395836940213964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7989315.post-1112251326631661512005-03-31T16:40:00.000+10:002005-03-31T17:12:14.113+10:00

Just came across Joel's Thoughts at Water's Edge, a missional Christian community in Hudsonville, Michigan. Well worth reading several times over.Speaking of well worth reading, I've just added The Heresy to my list of must-read sites.

the_blackehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14687395836940213964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7989315.post-1112236673115442802005-03-31T12:28:00.000+10:002005-03-31T12:37:53.126+10:00

Still over here at an anti-emerging church blog, I have been chatting with pfgw (and anyone else who would care to engage with me in dialogue) about the emerging church, or perhaps just my own bent little bit of it. I have brought over pfgw's last comment (which is in response to one of mine in response to one of pfgw's ... go check out the comments on the original if you need extra background)

the_blackehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14687395836940213964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7989315.post-1112231912190179412005-03-31T11:02:00.000+10:002005-03-31T12:38:55.550+10:00

While replying to some comments over on what can best be described as an "anti-emerging church" blog (over here), I seemed to get a bit carried away. True to form, what should have been a succinct and witty reply became a diatribe of monolithic proportions. But some of it I think is good stuff, so I thought I would pop it over here (with a very small amount of rework, so that it hopefully stands

the_blackehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14687395836940213964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7989315.post-1112083625832367072005-03-06T18:06:00.000+11:002005-03-31T11:21:20.960+10:00

It's been quite some time since my last post on this topic, and to an extent I feel a bit like I have lost my momentum somewhat. What began as tossing a few ideas around in response to a friend's blog kind of evolved into a monolith of church-theory; and one of the characteristics of monoliths is that they tend to be stationary beasts. Something that big doesn't move easily, and it takes a lot of

the_blackehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14687395836940213964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7989315.post-1112083537476780112004-12-12T13:28:00.000+11:002005-03-31T11:22:15.186+10:00

One has to be very bold, or very slightly mad, to entitle anything "the future of the people of God". I have yet to decide which of those I am, perhaps you will be the judge. So, picking up from where I left off in my previous post, we are part of a church in crisis, because we have lost sight of who we are and who we are meant to be. Now we come to the really interesting bit, the bit where I

the_blackehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14687395836940213964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7989315.post-1102718606963932612004-12-11T09:43:00.000+11:002004-12-11T09:44:45.770+11:00

\Sub*vert"\, v. i. To overthrow anything from the foundation; to be subversive. I've been thinking a lot about subversion recently. Not because I'm subversive (though I would dearly like to be!), but because it seems to me that there is a very real sense in which to have a relationship with God is to be in a constant, daily conflict of wills, of agendas, and of priorities. There is an old

the_blackehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14687395836940213964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7989315.post-1112083424647560792004-11-28T13:50:00.000+11:002005-03-31T11:22:56.573+10:00

A Framework of "Church"(This began as a reply to a friend's comments about why she is no longer part of a worshipping community. I have tried to genericise it here, but have probably failed in the attempt. Let me know if any obvious bits that are lacking context and I will try to correct :) ) In the beginning, there was an awesome, creative being, which we for better or worse call 'God'. This

the_blackehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14687395836940213964noreply@blogger.com