NewFrontiers in a Nutshell

I love being part of a group of people who love Jesus and who are both so local and so global. Watch on...

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The Three Most Important Unions

Ron Frost in his doctoral dissertation quotes the following from Sibbes. I thought it was rather good:

Whence [how] is it that we are sons of God? Because he was the “Son of Man,” - “God in our Flesh.” There are three unions, the union of natures, God to become man, the union of grace, that we are one with Christ and the union of glory. The first is for the second and the second for the third, God became man that we might become one with God, God was “manifested in the flesh” that we might be united to him and being brought again to God the Father, we might come again to a glorious union.

Other quotable nuggets include:

The Medium Is The Message

As a kid, we didn't have a colour TV in our house until 1987, we only got a video in 1990. So, up to the heady age of 13, if I wanted to watch something like Battlestar Galactica or Thunderbirds, anything that took place over dinner time, I had to negotiate with Dad and Mum.

The Great Digital Disconnect

Funny isn't it, how what would be considered at best weird and at worst outrageous in real life, is fine, ney encouraged, in the strange world of virtual "reality":

"Build Down" to Borneo

For those of you who didn't know, I'm off on a busman's holiday to Borneo, South East Asia this August, taking a bunch of boys from school on a Leadership and Personal Development Expedition provided by these guys, who I must say are very good!

To that end, I have begun a weight loss campaign, for two reasons:

1. I've not been doing as much triathlon training or racing this year, which, of course, wouldn't be a problem except that I've continued to eat like an Olympian and as a result, my belts and shirts are groaning under the strain!!
2. The high humidity of the Asian jungle with all its creepy-crawlies will be much harder to endure if I am carrying more natural "insulation" than deemed necessary.

To Which City Do You Go?

Andrew Marr has done a very interesting documentary on the rise and nature of the megacity. He points out that it seems to be humanity's destiny to move from the village to the city (available until 26-Jun-11).

What makes me smile, is that this is nothing new. The Biblical plumb-line is clear, we are not seeking a return to Eden. Humanity is moving from a rural setting (Gen.2:8) to a city (Rev.21:2).

The Motorcade and Wisdom of God

I've blogged on 1 Kings 19 before here.

Elijah meets the Word (Christ) in the cave, who tells him to go out and stand in the presence of the LORD (Father) who is about to pass by. What follows is wind, earthquake and fire before the peaceful and gentle, (but by no means quiet) voice of the Almighty is heard.

Why the wind, earthquake and fire?

Becoming What You Behold

I realise that for most people in the world, this image commemorates a glorious exodus from a dark age of myths. I just think it's tragic. Isa.44:20

A Cheesy Start, But A Good Ending

My housemate, Freddy forwarded me this video. It starts off as classic Christian cheese, but the ending is quite powerful. Have a watch:



1 John 2:1-2

The Glory And The Fall of King Solomon

The Visit of the queen of Sheba is probably the climax of Israel's Old Testament history.

On Being Like God

If you've been taught that the essential thing about God is the omni-powers (omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence etc) then 2 Peter 1:4 poses a problem.

Peter tells us that Christians will share in God's divine nature. Now, if God's nature is primarily a list of omni-s then sharing in God's nature means we will become omni-beings, but that poses at least two problems:

On Giants' Shoulders

Following on from "The Breeze of the Centuries" (Some quotes here), Mike Reeves has published the second book in his trilogy of great historic theologians: On Giants' Shoulders.

Included here is Karl Barth, whose great 13 volume life work "Church Dogmatics" is something I have recently purchased.

Feeling intimidated by it, I thought I would poke my nose into this latest Reevesian tome to see if I could glean any hints and tips before I pack my theological rucksack and head out to scale this Eiger of a work! I'm pleased to say, I found encouragement, for he said...

Savouring the God Revealed by Jesus

Today saw me with friends in London at a conference at All Souls church. It was hosted by UCCF's Theology Network and CorDeo.

Unfortunately, signal failure between Maidenhead and Slough saw me miss the first one and a half sessions. For those interested, all four talks can be found here.

The Bankruptcy of Humanity's Navel-Gazing

Back in 2002, the BBC aired what became an award-winning four part documentary series by Adam Curtis called The Century of the Self. It's probably my favourite documentary series to date. Although if you watch it, I'll understand if you think I'm odd. It's available on YouTube and I blogged some thoughts on it here back in Sept 2009.

The rise of psychoanalysis provided another bag of sand for the foundation on which the temple of atheism is being built. If he takes fallen humanity seriously with all its selfish contradictions, the best the psychoanalyst will ever be, is a prophet of doom.