The sign of a desperate blogger - linking other people's stuff.

Ah well, this, this and this are fun, and worth a look imo.

Every list of suggested hymns/songs I look at these days seems to include the song 'Everyone needs Compassion'.  So the question I ask myself, in a traditonal but never stuffy church, is: would this work in our context?  This afternoon I 'googled' it and found several versions on You Tube. 

The song has its good points, but I'm not sure it will ever find it's way into my personal 'top ten'. However, this video does demonstrate that such songs can be sung successfully in more traditional styles, so long as you have singers and musicians willing and able to make it work...

Enjoy!

This Sunday is number four of five on the little book of James.  Next Sunday we have a guest preacher whilst I climb Ben Nevis (well, technically, whilst I travel go home from climbing Ben Nevis) so this is my last input.  I have found the series very challenging because James calls a spade a spade (or a shovel, whichever version of the saying you prefer), his letter needs little or no interpretation and it is utterly practical.  This afternoon I will be tidying my sermon, but here, in my words, is what I think James has been talking to me about these last few weeks...

Faith that is not active in everyday life is futile.

An attitude of gratitude - the big-hearted God generously supplies all our needs, therefore gratitude should be our prime motivator

The generosity that results from gratitude should be impartial, not favouring any one 'people group' over any other

We are responsible for the words we choose, and use; when (not if) we foul up, we need to forgive and be forgiven

We should practice gentle wisdom, which is totally counter-cultural, seeking neither personal advantage or reward

Diligence in prayer, sticking at it, and recognising its divers purposes (praise, confession, intercession) as we endeavour to practice what we preach.

A few years back, over at Living Wittily, Jim Gordon collated a series of haiku summaries of books of the New Testament.  I have a sneaking suspicion I did James, but I cannot find, even with Google, the relevant post (Jim......).  They are worth checking out, if you can find them, and if not the challenge of summarising the message of a book in a few words is a good one.

James 2:26a - faith without deeds is dead.  QED.

One for all you Baptist ministers out there... A young minister up here is trying to locate a copy of Patterns and Prayers without success (there is one ludicrously priced second hand copy on Amazon, and I'm not about to part with mine as I use it quite a lot).  So, if you have a spare unawanted one lying around can you let me know and I'll gladly buy it from you and pass it on.

To be clear it is this one:

There has been so much sadness in the news this week, so much tragedy, and I'm still mulling over how I respond prayerfully to any of that in a way that moves beyond trite or knee jerk.  But I don't think it's wrong to inject a little humour; indeed I have a hunch it's actually a positive thing, so long as it is not insensitive in content or delivery .  So here's a cartoon I pinched from the web...

Now back to sermon prep after a few minutes of levity!