I have just been re-reading 1 Corinthians 12, 13 14 and decided to check out what it actually says in Greek rather than NIV-ish.  So I need some help from people who really understand Greek!  In 1 Cor 12:30 and 14:1 use is made of the word that transliterates roughly as 'zelute'.  According to my trusty lexicon, this is a second person plural present tense (which I knew anyway!) but looks the same whether it is indicative (you are doing this) or imperative (a command: you, do this... i.e. you ought to be doing this), or for that matter subjunctive (er, yes, whatever!).  It seems to me it matters which it is, as the way I read the sentences seems to differ - and impacts on how I understand 1 Cor 13.  If the greatest gift is love ( 1 Cor 13) and people are desiring or to desire the greater/greatest gift (what does the comparative 'greater' mean here?  I seem to recall it can mean 'greatest' if it has a 'the')?  And if so where does that put the other charismatic gifts?  Hmm.

Any one who really understands Greek help me here?

2008 has been rather 'pants' for Dibley Baptist Church, but today I am doing a little dance around my office because there has been some GOOD news after several months of SAD news.

Tonight I received a request for baptism from one of our folk. This would be welcome news in any church, granted, but especially so for us - the first one in almost a decade and... this is the REALLY exciting bit... it comes from someone in her 70's!  She is meeting me to discuss things further on Wednesday and then I shall be able to tell the church meeting on Thursday. 

Yeay, I'm cheered!

This week at "thing in a pub" we undertook a review of what we've achieved and where we want to go next.  We have plans to the end of 2008, which will culminate in the Radio Leicester 'Sing Christmas' but what beyond then?  Those who were at the review meeting (a whole four of us, with apologies from one) are keen to continue doing something but don't think it is right to try to find speakers to talk to such tiny groups.  They also conceded that no-one has brought anyone along to the events and that even press adverts at £50 a go for genuine big-name (locally!) speakers had only attracted one or two - there is clearly a sense of apathy to be overcome.  But what to do?  I mentioned both 'Lyfe' and 'Pints of View' as ideas to consider, but the latter seems more like branding than resourcing (unless we buy stuff from them, which I'm not about to do on spec.) and the former is more explicitly a new take on Bible study, good stuff, but not necessarily what we are after.

So, has anyone used these materials/resources, and if so how do you rate them? Does anyone have any other ideas for a 'presence' model of church in a pub?  If my people want to carry on - and they do - we need to find something for them to do.  I'd be quite happy if it became a monthly Bible-study that happened to meet in a pub, but I'd be happier if it became something that could engage others in considering the possibility of exploring Christian faith.

As Honorary Treasurer (or some such) of our Association's Ministers' Conference, one of my odd tasks is the allocation of rooms to delegates.  This is a strangely powerful role, as all rooms are not equal!  Some have level access, some require the occupant to climb lots of stairs, some are adjacent to the (noisy) lift and others near outside doors, still others have more space and more beds to choose from!  So, last night I sat down with my pencil and sorted it out and wondered if anyone knows or even cares that there are actually decisions to be made?  As a rule of thumb, I allocate rooms sequentially by the alphabetical list but assign larger rooms to ministerial couples and/or conference speakers (who presumably need somewhere to put all their papers and books) and shift all the bods who are only there for part of the conference to the end of the list.  Then there are a few tweaks to create an all-girl enclave just in case anyone worries about the moral welfare of their ministers... Strange powers indeed!

The IBTS (International Baptist Theological Seminary) in Prague is a special place to, and for, many people.  This week they have launched their own community blog - which tells about their love of their goats, among other things.  Already it shows a good balance of humour and serious thought.  Well worth a visit (to the blog, and to the place itself) and it will be interesting to see how the blog develops over the coming months.