I am not talking about the Nicole Kidman film but rather the concept of the others. This is related to my last post about Rob Bell and Love Wins. When discussing anything of a contentious nature within the Christian faith "The others" crop up; rarely are they referred to as the others and none of us are quite sure who they are we quite often give them vague titles as "the unchurched" "the under 18's" "the new to the faith". Our worry for "the others" would at first seem commendable but actually I think it might be disingenuous.
How big is our God? Pretty Big? Very Big? Awesomely Big? Unfathomably Big? Yet it is our concern for the others that is going to save them, if we can only discredit The Shack or Rob Bell or that Bill Johnson character then the others will be safe? Sounds kind of silly when you say it that way doesn't it? Or maybe a little arrogant, that we are so Godly that we have the absolute inside track on what is right and wrong and "the other" idiots may get fooled. I am pretty sure somewhere it says that only the Holy Spirit can keep us from deception. Perhaps if we are so worried for the others we should be teaching the beauty of a communicative relationship with the Holy Spirit.
I believe that "the others" is a tool we use to allow us to disagree with a theological stand point yet remain in relationship with someone - now that is a worthwhile aim. It says I think you are OK and I think you are probably a spirit inspired man but I am fearful of this gap you have opened between us but to keep us close I will transfer this gap to "the others". The problem with this strategy is that it doesn't build up the person the gap has occurred with; it breaks them down, it discredits them. It is time to find a positive way of staying in relationship with people we disagree with, not sidelining them or excluding them or feeling that their text, existence or whatever negates us as people. Let's concentrate on our walk with God in community and relationship and leave "the others" to retire and live in peace and be guided guarded and protected by God.
Thursday, 7 April 2011
Monday, 4 April 2011
Monday's with Lloyd and the guys
Rob Bell. Love Wins. This is a book that has caused some hub bub because he may point to universalism; the idea that there are many ways to salvation rather than the one way through Christ which is a central teaching of Jesus (no man comes to the father but by me). I haven’t read the book but I probably will but I have read Sex God his other book and it’s pretty good. I am not sure I agree with everything that is written but on the whole I learned stuff. What interests me is why we focus on that which divides us? Surely there is something in Rob Bell’s writing that is good, why don’t we focus on that tell the world about that rather than our differences? I don’t have the answer, but I have the sneaky suspicion we need to stop doing it. We need to focus on our unity and community and in these places live out our beliefs guided by the spirit.
Monday, 25 January 2010
The Couples Retreat
The Couples Retreat – quasi review
This is not a film I would have gone to see but for the fact I am in Ghana and the other options were the Princess and the Frog, Alvin and The Chipmunks (the Squeakquel – Lord preserve us), Holmes (which I have seen) and Law abiding Citizen which just didn’t grab me.
Now it has come to my attention that things are edited for quite a conservative Ghanaian market. For instance we did not see Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams) swanning around in her Victoriana underwear in Holmes and I think maybe they edited out other stuff that slowed the pace of the story making last weeks film review kind of null and void if you live outside Ghana but I will press on just in case anyone reads these things and wants to know how the Ghana version rates.
The couples retreat:
Genre: US Style Romantic Comedy/ Romcom (ie not written by Richard Curtis)
Stars: Vince Vaughan; Jean Reno, Kristin Davis (the brunette from Sex in the City you know the one), Peter Serafinowicz (not technically a star but go on do the voice…you know the voice…go on do it the one from Spaced….Just do the voice Pete!!!)
Plot: Couples A C D are conned into going on a couples counselling week by couple B who have “issues”. They are on Island West run by Marcel (Reno); with overly polite bureaucratic anglophile Sctanley (Serafinowicz) as the kill joy programme manager. There is a singles inland East where nubile young things dance the night a way. Is there hope of reconciliation or is it going to be an Island hopping bed hopping romp (no pun intended).
Well I have to say I liked it, I can’t say I loved because I think it sits in the shade of films like Old Skool, which was funnier, more poignant, slightly more crass (in a good way) and was my first brush with Ellen Pompeo and Will Ferrell. I don’t mean I brushed Will Ferrell, or Ellen Pompeo for that matter but to that point I hadn’t seen either of them and now I rate them quite highly. This is not a film of American Pie style innuendo (at least not in Ghana) and it has laughs but more cerebral ones. It gently scrapes at the humour and pain of real marriages and not Hollywood ones. Would this appeal to anyone not married – I am not sure. Certainly marriage has been treated with a healthy respect by Messrs Vaughan et al. This could be a case of Vaughan growing with his audience, the wedding crashers of yesterday (you know who you are Cross!!!) are now the married family men of today.
Would I go to see it again? Yes outside of Ghana just to see if it is an entirely different film.
This is not a film I would have gone to see but for the fact I am in Ghana and the other options were the Princess and the Frog, Alvin and The Chipmunks (the Squeakquel – Lord preserve us), Holmes (which I have seen) and Law abiding Citizen which just didn’t grab me.
Now it has come to my attention that things are edited for quite a conservative Ghanaian market. For instance we did not see Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams) swanning around in her Victoriana underwear in Holmes and I think maybe they edited out other stuff that slowed the pace of the story making last weeks film review kind of null and void if you live outside Ghana but I will press on just in case anyone reads these things and wants to know how the Ghana version rates.
The couples retreat:
Genre: US Style Romantic Comedy/ Romcom (ie not written by Richard Curtis)
Stars: Vince Vaughan; Jean Reno, Kristin Davis (the brunette from Sex in the City you know the one), Peter Serafinowicz (not technically a star but go on do the voice…you know the voice…go on do it the one from Spaced….Just do the voice Pete!!!)
Plot: Couples A C D are conned into going on a couples counselling week by couple B who have “issues”. They are on Island West run by Marcel (Reno); with overly polite bureaucratic anglophile Sctanley (Serafinowicz) as the kill joy programme manager. There is a singles inland East where nubile young things dance the night a way. Is there hope of reconciliation or is it going to be an Island hopping bed hopping romp (no pun intended).
Well I have to say I liked it, I can’t say I loved because I think it sits in the shade of films like Old Skool, which was funnier, more poignant, slightly more crass (in a good way) and was my first brush with Ellen Pompeo and Will Ferrell. I don’t mean I brushed Will Ferrell, or Ellen Pompeo for that matter but to that point I hadn’t seen either of them and now I rate them quite highly. This is not a film of American Pie style innuendo (at least not in Ghana) and it has laughs but more cerebral ones. It gently scrapes at the humour and pain of real marriages and not Hollywood ones. Would this appeal to anyone not married – I am not sure. Certainly marriage has been treated with a healthy respect by Messrs Vaughan et al. This could be a case of Vaughan growing with his audience, the wedding crashers of yesterday (you know who you are Cross!!!) are now the married family men of today.
Would I go to see it again? Yes outside of Ghana just to see if it is an entirely different film.
Sunday, 24 January 2010
Old bug eyes is back.
Yellow and black to yellow and black gives you twin headlamps and headlamps is what Enduros are about...that and desert raiding.
Saturday, 23 January 2010
The Rise of the Tenere
It appears I bought a Tenere from someone who knows less about bikes than I do. Despite Davenport’s insistence that I try and install a carb float on my old KMX125, I haven’t really grasped the essence of fixing your own. In that instance it appears that the bike n beer session may have prospered from less beer and more bike know how. You can imagine our joy when we managed to fit the float and kick the bike over.....and at the time we could only imagine it; as the second we kicked the bike over it revved way beyond normal parameters and the kill switch got hit before we got sprayed with molten Kawasaki.
Mad Jim, who bless him may be incontinent on your furniture after absinthe (allegedly) but is pretty good with bikes later informed us from the hospital to which all our bikes used to go that we had indeed fitted the carb up the wrong way. Who knew they had a way?? Certainly not me.
So I have embarked on restoring a slightly worn Tenere 660 (now to be known as The Mighty Tenere) bought from a man by the side of the road in Tema. I ought to explain I am in Ghana. So there is no Mad Jim back up or Davenport pontification out here it is just me and the machine.....oh and Robbo who has taken The Mighty Tenere for a quick burn and has fixed some bikes before but used to ask his mate’s dad for the difficult answers. I figure though as a source of moral support he could be invaluable.
The first set back was the registration and I say the first because I expect more not because this has already become a tale of woe. Normally when you buy a bike in the UK he gives you the reg papers signs his bit you sign yours and away you go happy as Larry. At worst, as in the case I lost the papers to my Varadero before selling it, you write a polite letter to the DVLA and they rectify the problem. Not so Ghana, it involves many many visits to people places and offices only to find out that the guy you bought it from for USD1600 wasn’t in a place to sell it; who was is anyone’s guess. I will keep you posted on this factor.
So today after spending a little time just getting the thing to fire with my team of pushers; namely the driving and grounds staff of Ethimex SA Ghana Branch. I have had a closer look at the electrics. Now I did ask for counsel from Facebook friends as to whether to go the trial and error route or the manual route. They wisely almost exclusively said manual; but the Davenport factor came in and I just wanted to tinker. This is crazy as he helped me fit a float upside down and often has bikes in various states of disrepair (never buy a bike with a warranty it spoils the fun). So I have gone the trial and error route n the initial stages. The fairing os off and neatly stacked.Results:
1.Yellow and black wire not attached to yellow and black wire; here in lies the answer to why only one of the iconic twin headlights of desert raider bikes works.
2.There is a small grey wire which is attached at neither end, use....pretty obscure but I have removed it and as long as it wasn’t balancing the bike I think we can live with it.
3.Dangling red and black end (insert your own gag here) yes it seems the “mechanic” that sold me The Mighty Tenere isn’t big on connecting two ends of a cable. Infact I think from discovery four that potentially the light came from a different bike.
4.The fairing mounting is sheared off at the base giving it a flappy effect in anything other than first gear - I think somebody has dropped this at some point.
5.There is a connecter just above the crank case that doesn’t appear to be connecting.
So down to Game, the local superstore to pick up epoxy resin, electrical tape, tie wraps and gaffa tape. Oh yes there will be tie wrap and gaffa action that would make a Hollywod hostage taking bank job film look tame. So to the Batmobile!!! Well the pick up.
Mad Jim, who bless him may be incontinent on your furniture after absinthe (allegedly) but is pretty good with bikes later informed us from the hospital to which all our bikes used to go that we had indeed fitted the carb up the wrong way. Who knew they had a way?? Certainly not me.
So I have embarked on restoring a slightly worn Tenere 660 (now to be known as The Mighty Tenere) bought from a man by the side of the road in Tema. I ought to explain I am in Ghana. So there is no Mad Jim back up or Davenport pontification out here it is just me and the machine.....oh and Robbo who has taken The Mighty Tenere for a quick burn and has fixed some bikes before but used to ask his mate’s dad for the difficult answers. I figure though as a source of moral support he could be invaluable.
The first set back was the registration and I say the first because I expect more not because this has already become a tale of woe. Normally when you buy a bike in the UK he gives you the reg papers signs his bit you sign yours and away you go happy as Larry. At worst, as in the case I lost the papers to my Varadero before selling it, you write a polite letter to the DVLA and they rectify the problem. Not so Ghana, it involves many many visits to people places and offices only to find out that the guy you bought it from for USD1600 wasn’t in a place to sell it; who was is anyone’s guess. I will keep you posted on this factor.
So today after spending a little time just getting the thing to fire with my team of pushers; namely the driving and grounds staff of Ethimex SA Ghana Branch. I have had a closer look at the electrics. Now I did ask for counsel from Facebook friends as to whether to go the trial and error route or the manual route. They wisely almost exclusively said manual; but the Davenport factor came in and I just wanted to tinker. This is crazy as he helped me fit a float upside down and often has bikes in various states of disrepair (never buy a bike with a warranty it spoils the fun). So I have gone the trial and error route n the initial stages. The fairing os off and neatly stacked.Results:
1.Yellow and black wire not attached to yellow and black wire; here in lies the answer to why only one of the iconic twin headlights of desert raider bikes works.
2.There is a small grey wire which is attached at neither end, use....pretty obscure but I have removed it and as long as it wasn’t balancing the bike I think we can live with it.
3.Dangling red and black end (insert your own gag here) yes it seems the “mechanic” that sold me The Mighty Tenere isn’t big on connecting two ends of a cable. Infact I think from discovery four that potentially the light came from a different bike.
4.The fairing mounting is sheared off at the base giving it a flappy effect in anything other than first gear - I think somebody has dropped this at some point.
5.There is a connecter just above the crank case that doesn’t appear to be connecting.
So down to Game, the local superstore to pick up epoxy resin, electrical tape, tie wraps and gaffa tape. Oh yes there will be tie wrap and gaffa action that would make a Hollywod hostage taking bank job film look tame. So to the Batmobile!!! Well the pick up.
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
The shack a reasoned response
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK65Jfny70Y
The URL is a talk by Mike Driscoll a chruch leader in...erm somewhere. He effectively attacks another Christian in words; this is my response.
Heretical is a big word and I would edge away from judgment of anyone particularly with this word. I think this attack on The Shack goes to show that doctrine often only goes to divide.
I think WP Young was trying to describe how he related to the trinity. I don't agree with everything in The Shack but I certainly don't see it as damaging to God. God knows who he is and if people come to God through this book and then discover him to be different they still have a relationship.
Mark Driscoll offers the huge question at the end "Who is God" - this can only be hinted at in books - even the bible. If we could capture God on paper he would be pretty mediocre; I can't even capture my wife on paper.
Sure there are negatives in the book and some of them don't stand up to theological scrutiny. There are though positives in the fallabilities of this novel. Maybe God does not come to earth as an African American woman - his ways are not my ways so I don't profess to know if he can or would - but the Poppa character does show that God is a loving tender God who is prepared to meet as where we are not where we should be.
And maybe Sayaru (or however you spell it) is only a touch of what the Holy Spirit is but the action in the garden of uprooting toplant something beautiful and new is a great way to see the pain we sometimes feel as God works at changing us into his likeness.
I don't have to agree with Mark Driscoll or William Paul Young to know that they are both searching for the heart of God. I pray blessings on them both and that God might prevail in their lives and bless their ministries.
Let's step away from doctrine which devides us and into relationship which allows for ongoing discussion revelation and growth.
The URL is a talk by Mike Driscoll a chruch leader in...erm somewhere. He effectively attacks another Christian in words; this is my response.
Heretical is a big word and I would edge away from judgment of anyone particularly with this word. I think this attack on The Shack goes to show that doctrine often only goes to divide.
I think WP Young was trying to describe how he related to the trinity. I don't agree with everything in The Shack but I certainly don't see it as damaging to God. God knows who he is and if people come to God through this book and then discover him to be different they still have a relationship.
Mark Driscoll offers the huge question at the end "Who is God" - this can only be hinted at in books - even the bible. If we could capture God on paper he would be pretty mediocre; I can't even capture my wife on paper.
Sure there are negatives in the book and some of them don't stand up to theological scrutiny. There are though positives in the fallabilities of this novel. Maybe God does not come to earth as an African American woman - his ways are not my ways so I don't profess to know if he can or would - but the Poppa character does show that God is a loving tender God who is prepared to meet as where we are not where we should be.
And maybe Sayaru (or however you spell it) is only a touch of what the Holy Spirit is but the action in the garden of uprooting toplant something beautiful and new is a great way to see the pain we sometimes feel as God works at changing us into his likeness.
I don't have to agree with Mark Driscoll or William Paul Young to know that they are both searching for the heart of God. I pray blessings on them both and that God might prevail in their lives and bless their ministries.
Let's step away from doctrine which devides us and into relationship which allows for ongoing discussion revelation and growth.
Tuesday, 19 January 2010
American Politics Day
For some reason today is American politics day, it may be that this is because American politics are more interesting than the grim inevitability I sense in UK politics - where anyone with a slogan "Yes we can" would have a little man following him around explaining that although technically we can we probably won't due to leaves on the line. Nor am I going to try and fathom the unfathomable politics of Ghana my home for the moment.
UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE.....you would have thought that Barack Obama had suggested paying for healthcare for the Universe, martians included. Instead he proposed a modest reform to ensure that the land of the free meant free healthcare. I live in Ghana and the BBC Worldservice (Yes I am approaching mediocrity, or expat eccentricity can't decide which.....is that London calling) so as I was saying the BBC Worldservice is broadcasting disgusted of Tennesse's attitude to the principal that everyone should get healthcare. The average Ghanain doesn't get this, I mean you pay for everything here and if you don't have the money to pay you go are taken hostage until you can. The step from hospital to hostage is a short one. I mean they literally hold you prisoner in the grounds of the hospital until someone pays your bill. Universal healthcare is a good thing no?
I am not even going to take a stab in the dark at what kind of fear makes Americans so selfish as to not to want to fund a healthcare system to treat one another. I mean i might cough Macarthyism but I really would only cough it because it just seems that there is a disproportionate emotional attachment to not help the weaker guy that I don't get. Don't get me wrong there have been some amazing philanthropists, Getty, Rockerfeller and even Bill Gates but as a nation there is a selfishness that defies belief. Democracy surely suggest that people not only have rights as a citizen but also responsibilites to the citizen. My concern is that the UK has followed suit voting for ever diminishing taxes; eyes averted the ever diminshing services and the ever growing underclass.
UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE.....you would have thought that Barack Obama had suggested paying for healthcare for the Universe, martians included. Instead he proposed a modest reform to ensure that the land of the free meant free healthcare. I live in Ghana and the BBC Worldservice (Yes I am approaching mediocrity, or expat eccentricity can't decide which.....is that London calling) so as I was saying the BBC Worldservice is broadcasting disgusted of Tennesse's attitude to the principal that everyone should get healthcare. The average Ghanain doesn't get this, I mean you pay for everything here and if you don't have the money to pay you go are taken hostage until you can. The step from hospital to hostage is a short one. I mean they literally hold you prisoner in the grounds of the hospital until someone pays your bill. Universal healthcare is a good thing no?
I am not even going to take a stab in the dark at what kind of fear makes Americans so selfish as to not to want to fund a healthcare system to treat one another. I mean i might cough Macarthyism but I really would only cough it because it just seems that there is a disproportionate emotional attachment to not help the weaker guy that I don't get. Don't get me wrong there have been some amazing philanthropists, Getty, Rockerfeller and even Bill Gates but as a nation there is a selfishness that defies belief. Democracy surely suggest that people not only have rights as a citizen but also responsibilites to the citizen. My concern is that the UK has followed suit voting for ever diminishing taxes; eyes averted the ever diminshing services and the ever growing underclass.
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