“O Tempora! O Mores Evangelici!” 8. Circumnavigating Church ‘Inner-Rings’
This one’s been a struggle, strangely. Hence the delay. I keep returning to the fact that Lewis’ original essay is entirely sufficient on the matter. So if you’ve not read The Inner Ring yet, or recently, then please do so. Lewis was putting his finger on something that, decades later, would come to be known […]
Q Marks the Spot 146 (December 2020 Treasure Map)
Before getting into the general treasure, here are a couple of notices. Opportunities for purloining your own treasure as it happens. Inklings and Yarnspinners Yay! I’ve opened an online 2nd-hand bookshop. Check it out and see what exciting Christmas presents you could now avail yourself of. Liz Meynell Art My other has done the same […]
“O Tempora! O Mores Evangelici!” 7. The Inner Ring of Race
C. S. Lewis nailed the phenomenon in a 1944 lecture given at King’s London. He clarifies that he’s not referring to the need for discretion or keeping confidences – there are plenty of circumstances which make those wise, if not morally imperative. No, what he’s warning against is what he calls the ‘Inner Ring’, an […]
Poetry: Imagination’s Wake Up Call – a conversation
Regulars will know that I’ve been doing increasing amounts with the fair friends of the Rabbit Room in Nashville. So today, a couple more bits or bobs. First up, there are 3 more 5&1 Classical music playlists: #4 A Sense of Humour: some musical jokes #5 A Dark & Stormy Night: some music for Halloween […]
“O Tempora! O Mores Evangelici!” 6. Who needs a hero?
This is the 6th post in a short series trying to grapple with today’s sense of malaise in British evangelicalism. One of my favourite novels ever does not, at first sight, have the kind of plot to inspire confidence. Not in sophisticated 21st-century readers, anyway. 12th-century junior monk (Reginald) goes to live in freezing Northumbrian […]
Q Marks the Spot 145 (November 2020 Treasure Map)
Sacred Treasure So timely and helpful: Paul Tripp’s 12 principles for Christian leadership. 12 short videos to accompany his new Crossway book. And while we’re at it, John Piper has important things to say about the collapse of Mark Driscoll’s Mars Hill ministry. Some rather extraordinary theological goings-on in our diocese (the diocese of Oxford) […]
“O Tempora! O Mores Evangelici!” 5. Dishonourable Confidence
This is the 5th post in a short series trying to grapple with today’s sense of malaise in British evangelicalism. We’re all aware of body language, now. It’s part of the vocabulary of daily life. Some are perhaps more conversant with it than others, but it would be hard to deny how much trickier relationships […]
“O Tempora! O Mores Evangelici!” 4. Down A Nietzsche Rabbit-hole
We had a week beside the sea, last week. Nothing quite like the North Sea in October! Blustery Norfolk skies and coastal walks are the perfect combo. Another bonus was the chance to catch up with some serious reading. The highlight for me was Sue Prideaux’s astonishing 2018 biography of Friederich Nietzsche, I am Dynamite! Now […]
5&1 Classical Playlists over at the Rabbit Room
In recent weeks, I’ve started a weekly column over at The Rabbit Room to share tiny corners of the classical music world with other corners of the webbyworld. The idea is to break things down into manageable morsels, with each post listing selections connected by a general theme. Because so many find the vast canon […]
“O Tempora! O Mores Evangelici!” 3. All In It Together?
There is a fine line between global-sized passion and totalizing imperial zeal. When that fact goes unacknowledged by Christian movers and shakers, we have a problem. A serious problem. The former is motivated by a clear sense of the world (in all its created beauty, complexity and variety) as a divine gift. It is His […]
“O Tempora! O Mores Evangelici!” 2. He’s BEHIND You!
“He’s BEHIND you!” resound the shrill cries of 500 families. All part of the Christmas ritual of that peculiar British staple; undoubtedly one of the odder cultural phenomena of these islands. Welcome to the world of Panto(mime): hard to encapsulate for the uninitiated so just read the wiki page! One of panto’s constants is the […]
Q Marks the Spot 144 (October 2020 Treasure Map)
Sacred Treasure Some good advice for leaders on running meetings – one of those elements of the omnicompetence that is expected of ministers that you don’t get taught. No wonder the kingdom belongs to such as these: a baby sees a waterfall for the first time and is just delighted! This is a tiny, tiny […]
