Coffee 'n' Cake

Are you still here?

2010-07-07T20:10:00.002+01:00

I was more than a little surprised to see Feedburner still reporting over two hundred people subscribed to Coffee-n-Cake... so I wondered. How many people are actually reading this?

If you read this, post a comment to say 'hi'.

Personal blogging

2008-08-16T13:08:00.003+01:00

Hello folks! John's comment on the last post has prompted me to post this: I have to admit that, once again, I've lost my "personal blogging" mojo. I'm enjoying writing the geek-fest that is Geek-Speak, but as for personal insights and whatnot... well, it's just not coming.

Sorry to disappoint and all, but I thought it best to let you know what's happening rather than keep anyone hanging on! Having said that, it was after I decided to give up on my last blog that I suddenly got more inspiration. I'm not promising the same will happen, but who knows :)

In the meantime, do check out Geek-Speak, and feel free to leave this blog in your feed reader in case anything comes to me.

Honestly...

2008-06-07T15:31:00.002+01:00

Has there ever been a franchise with more games potential? I don't think so... So why release a Doctor Who game of Top Trumps!?

I mean, there's the TARDIS to explore, alien worlds to visit, beings to negotiate with or, when that fails, shoot. Puzzles to be solved... and what do we actually get? A computerised version of comparing stats... might as well have given us Doctor Who excel instead.

PS - for all that I think this is a wasted opportunity, I am not that deeply distraught - you don't need to inform the samaritans or anything.

Still here...

2008-06-06T13:06:00.002+01:00

Sorry, updates are still few and far between here! Still blogging over at Geek-Speak though, so if you want you can keep up with the posts there. I do plan to blog more here... but just don't have much worth saying at the minute.

Also, having become addicted to Twitter, I've discovered Plurk... a new take on the whole micro-blogging thing. You can see my profile here, and friend me if you want :)

Amy's fun, up in smoke

2008-05-20T15:07:00.002+01:00

The local vandals strike again :( Bit of a shame, because Amy had really taken to going on the swings.

Aah... nice

2008-05-14T18:52:00.003+01:00

Just back from divisional leaders' retreat at Peebles Hydro hotel. Very nice.

Spent most of the time being thinking about the "future Church", led by John Read who is the officer at Regent Hall (The Salvation Army on Oxford Street, central London).

Very nice few days :)

Clergy and the priesthood of all believers

2008-05-08T19:20:00.000+01:00

This post has been a long time coming... like, years... and it's been so long because I've had to think very hard about what I think on this. Here's the thing that's been rattling round my mind: if we believe in the priesthood of all believers, what exactly are clergy (ministers) for? It's a tough one, because there are so many different views. Some say we need the clergy, but then they don't know we need them for... some say we don't need the clergy, which makes me wonder whether the whole calling to officership that God placed on my life was just some kind of psychotic episode on my part.

I'm putting this out there now because of two things. Firstly, Candidates' Sunday is coming up and I've been thinking even more than normal about what Officership is and how it fits into the crazy community we call The Church. Secondly, my friend Andrew has posted two very thought-provoking posts over at Army Renewal (link and link) and I felt inspired to finish my thoughts off. So here we go :)

I guess I should go through what I understand the "priesthood of all believers" to mean. There are two views of this that I think mesh nicely together:

First is the idea that we are all our own priest. That is, we don't need another person to stand in for us to enable us to speak to God. Yes, we sill have Jesus as the great High Priest, but other than Him, we don't need anyone else. Is that important? Well, yes, because it means that we don't depend on anyone: every believer is capable of literally coming before the throne of God and asking for forgiveness, interceding for another, asking a question, or whatever else you want to do. We are empowered by the fact that there is no longer a priestly caste in society... or rather, there is, but it includes every single believer. Martin Luther made this a fundamental principle of his teaching, saying, "Our baptism consecrates us all without exception and makes us all priests" and "Every shoemaker can be a priest of God, and stick to his own last while he does it".

The second view is that "all believers serve by God's grace as priests to one another" (The Salvation Army Doctrine Council). If this is so (and Galatians 6:2 and James 5:16 would seem to add weight to this) then as well as being our own priest, believers serve as priests to each other. No pressure, eh? As well as being able to step into the presence of God, I bring the grace, mercy, and presence of God to those around me. You can't do the second without experiencing the first, which is why I say these two mesh together so nicely.

But wait, there's a third view (yeh, I know, I said two but bear with me): that all believers, together as a body, act almost like one priest bringing the grace of God to the world. That is to say, the Church behaves as a priest pointing those outside of it to the grace of God and challenging them to rejoin His family. Again, I think this fits with the others, and I'm happy to say that each of these is actually a diferent facet of the one concept: these are all important elements of the Priesthood of All Believers.

Priesthood is to do with our basic nature as people of God, while our position in the Church is to do with what God has called us to do in response to that basic nature.

Well, what now? The Priesthood of All Believers is quite different from the "leadership of all believers", "teaching of all believers", or "whatever you want to put in here of all believers". Why? Because not every believer is called to be a leader, teacher, musician, or anything else. If priesthood meant everyone could do everything we would all have every Spiritual gift. No, priesthood is different from gifting or calling... priesthood is to do with our basic nature as people of God: when we are saved we simply become priests, while our position in the Church is to do with what God has called us to do in response to that basic nature. Priesthood is about the fact that all believers have access to God, and all believers have a responsibility to dispense God's grace to each other and to the world at large.

So, where to the clergy fit in then? Being a "minister", "pastor", "officer", or whatever they're called in your particular church is as much about calling as being a "worship leader", "technical guru", "musician" or "creche worker". I, as an officer, am not called to be the priest; I just am a priest by dint of being part of the Body of Christ. Officership is about something different - it's about fulfilling a certain role God has called me to that's quite separate from my status as a priest. Luther held the view that while every believer is a priest, and every believer has the right before God to preach and administer sacraments, those who do so must be given the consent of the rest of the congregation. So it seems to me that the clergy are just priests like everyone else, but they have been ordained by God and given the consent of the Church to fulfil a certain role. The question is, "What is that role?" That's another question that I'm still thinking through, but I can say this: everyone is a priest, not just the officer. Officers (and other clergy in other denominations) are simply fulfilling a calling that is just as valid, but not more so, than anyone else's calling. The real question is, no matter what role you are fulfilling, whether you're doing whatever it is God wants you do with your your life.

Clericalism on Army Renewal

2008-05-08T16:35:00.002+01:00

Just wanted to draw your attention to a post on Army Renewal about Clericalism. Well worth a read. Also, I have a draft post that I've been working on for a while on vaguely the same subject - so I'll get it finished and published here too.

Always good to have a conversation about this kind of thing.

Nearly home

2008-05-05T20:22:00.001+01:00

A very welcome sight on the journey home from Roots. Only 18 miles to go now.

Fed and ready to go

2008-05-02T18:38:00.001+01:00

Arrived at roots, had my tea, and getting ready to go to the first session in the big top.

Catch the Fire - Is Seeing Believing?

2008-04-03T21:54:00.003+01:00

Just had a great evening at Catch the Fire, where the theme was "Is Seeing Believing?". What I find special about these evenings is that there's a chance to just contemplate your faith. I reckon I could get right into contemplative, celtic style worship.

Highlight for me was actually right at the beginning when a video was shown with various songs playing, and Dan reading scripture. It was a great combination of visual and audio, and set the tone perfectly for me.

If you're ever in the area when CtF is on, you need to pop in. It's grrrreat.

Connections

2008-03-27T22:04:00.003+00:00

Sorry for the lack of updates here recently, but you should know I blog in fits and starts :) I'm managing to be pretty regular over at this site, though, which is kind my hobby at the minute.

Anyway, I've been getting into the whole social web scene, and have connected with people from all over the globe in the last few weeks. There are some great opportunities to "meet" all kinds of people in your own back yard, but the Internet's really opened the whole game up. So, I thought I'd list some of the ways you can get hold of me... you can never have too many net-stalkers! Here we go:

Skype (install and search for cdhinton)
Facebook
Twitter
Flickr
Stumbleupon
Last.fm
Friendfeed

Feel free to add me to any of your friends lists if you use these applications, but remember to tell me how you found me so I know you're not another spammer trying to sell me viagra!

Oddest Facebook Request Ever

2008-03-27T09:05:00.004+00:00

I've had some odd requests on Facebook before, but I thought this one was particularly strange. Send... Jesus... ? I can understand sending coffee, chocolate, seeds, and all the other bumpf that comes through, but this one's just bizarre.

What made me laugh though was the button to send Jesus back... "This one's faulty - send it back and get another" :)

By the power of the three...

2008-03-26T21:19:00.003+00:00

Most Haunted is on the telly just now, and I haven't bothered to turn the channel over. Something really interesting caught my ear.

They're trying to invoke Satan and a load of demons, which strikes me as a rather stupid thing to do (they'd get a shock if something actually happened!). But what caught my ear is that they used an ancient spell of protection from a tradition I've never heard of, and then proceeded to call Satan "in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost... the one who is three".

Most Haunted is a con - I'm convinced it's all a setup, but I thought it was really interesting that they would use such a strange mix of spiritual traditions. In a time when people think religion's a load of rubbish, but are quite happy to believe in spirits and ghosts, it's odd to hear one called forth in the name of a God that people say doesn't exist.

Anyone remember Shirley Ghostman?

F1 is returning to the BBC!

2008-03-20T10:56:00.002+00:00

Formula 1 is moving back to the BBC after 12 years with ITV. No more ad breaks!

Here's the old F1 theme to give you a fit of nostalgia.

World Rally Championship

2008-03-15T11:03:00.001+00:00

Watching the World Rally Championship "Crazy Moments" programme, and heard a great quote:

"You think of an animal, and we've either seen it, or hit it"

Lectio Divina - ready to give it a go?

2008-03-10T10:46:00.002+00:00

Thanks for the encouragement to engage in a group lectio divina. Let's give it a go, shall we?

First, a bit of an explanation. There's a good overview here that might be worth looking at first. And here's how the whole thing was explained to me and what I've been doing:

Relax - take a few minutes to quieten down. Find a quiet place where you can spend some quality time with God.
Read the passage slowly. Don't dwell on anything first time through, but just read the whole thing. Then read it again, and pay attention to what jumps out at you, or strikes you as particularly interesting. It might be a word, a phrase, a concept... anything.
Focus on whatever jumped out at you and spend some time thinking about it. Reword it... roll it around your mind... see what thoughts it sparks off (it might take you off on a tangent, which is perfectly OK).
Talk your thoughts over with God. Let Him speak to you through His word.

Here's the passage (this coming Thursday's one from SacredSpace.ie):

I tell you the truth, anyone who obeys my teaching will never die!”
The people said, “Now we know you are possessed by a demon. Even Abraham and the prophets died, but you say, ‘Anyone who obeys my teaching will never die!’ Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”
Jesus answered, “If I want glory for myself, it doesn’t count. But it is my Father who will glorify me. You say, ‘He is our God,’ but you don’t even know him. I know him. If I said otherwise, I would be as great a liar as you! But I do know him and obey him. Your father Abraham rejoiced as he looked forward to my coming. He saw it and was glad.”
The people said, “You aren’t even fifty years old. How can you say you have seen Abraham?”
Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I Am!” At that point they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus was hidden from them and left the Temple.

Some things to bear in mind: this doesn't replace "study" of Scripture - study has its place, and lectio divina has its place too. They are both tools to be used at the appropriate time. Enjoy the experience and post any thoughts or insights here if you want to.

Just testing

2008-03-07T13:45:00.001+00:00

Er, just testing something... ignore me if you see me :)

Film night: Passion of the Christ

2008-03-04T16:12:00.004+00:00

We're going to be showing Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" on Thursday 20th March, 6.30pm at The Salvation Army in Glenrothes. The idea of the evening is to let people see this controversial film and present them with a fresh view of what people think went on during Jesus' last days.

If you would like to come, then please do! It would be handy if you let us know (01592 757909) beforehand so that we have an idea of how many seats to put out, but even if you can't do that feel free to just turn up. There will be no admission charge or anything like that. Please feel free to invite friends to come along too.

After the film, you'll be invited to fill in a contact slip so that we can call you about a week later to see if you have any questions or comments... but if you choose not to do so, that's entirely OK.

Please be aware that this is a pretty brutal film - if you are of a nervous or weak disposition you might want to think seriously about whether you want to come. The brutal nature of the film's content is also the reason that we will not be entering into a formal question and answer session on the night - we believe people would rather ask questions individually if they want to, or make use of the contact forms to ask questions after the event.

Please also be aware that this film is rated 18... i.e. we will not be allowing under-18s into the building that night.

That's "The Passion of the Christ", Thursday 20th March, 6.30pm, The Salvation Army, Caskieberran Road, Glenrothes.

The image is of Salvadore Dali's "Christ of St John of the Cross", currently residing in the Kelvingrove Gallery, Glasgow.

Lectio Divina

2008-03-04T10:00:00.005+00:00

Slightly surprised to find that the whole Lectio Divina thing is going well... it's certainly a refreshing way of studying and reflecting on scripture.

See, I'm pretty logical most of the time and if I'm given something to look at I make sure I get all the background material and so on to be sure I'm getting the most I can out of it. And I'm not saying that's bad now, because sometimes we need to look into things deeply and try to understand the background, other viewpoints, and so on. But it's been interesting just to sit and see what comes... what God wants to say rather than what various theologians have written.

I'm not going to put any of my reflections on here (at the minute, I may do it later), but suffice to say I'm really enjoying this particular discipline.

Gordon, over at URBANarmy has, in the past, put a passage online and asked people to engage in Lectio Divina with it, kind of a collaborative version. If I did the same here, would anyone be up for posting their comments?

Retreat in Daily Life (update)

2008-02-29T22:11:00.005+00:00

A while back I mentioned that I was taking part in a "retreat in daily life" through our local Christian counselling centre. I'm now over half-way through and it's been an interesting ride so far.

The first two weeks were great... really positive and very helpful. Last week, however, was a bit of a struggle as nothing seemed to "hit the spot" in my quiet time. I was using the Sacred Space material this week, and it just didn't quite seem to do it for me. Having said that, though, I still felt the benefit of starting the day with a quiet time.

One of the good things about this retreat has been the chance to talk things over with my "spiritual director", Joan. In talking to her, and talking about the frustration I felt this week with the quiet time, things started to come out that made me realise that, even though I hadn't been totally happy, God was still using that time to speak to me. Now, no doubt I would have realised that myself eventually, but I reckon I cottoned on much more quickly because I was talking things through with someone.

We talked a while today about Lectio Divina... the practice of reading a passage of scripture through and just seeing what jumps out at you... and then focusing on that and seeing what it is that God is trying to tell you through that phrase or word. So I'm giving that a go in the next week... picking a passage (most likely the ones from Sacred Space) and just seeing what it is that God wants to tell me.

What I'm starting to realise is this:

Spending time with God involves highs and lows (nobody said this was going to be ground-breaking stuff... just bear with me). The highs are great, but even the lows are used by Him to speak to you.
Talking things over with someone you can trust is immensely beneficial

Officers are encouraged to find mentors who can help them in their spiritual journey. The thing is that, often, officers don't have many contacts outside their own corps, and it's difficult to be totally open and honest with someone who may be quite close to any situations you're involved in. But I'm understanding more and more the importance of finding that mentor. My journey with Joan will end in a few weeks time, so I'm already thinking about what happens next.

Hmm... kind of a hanging end there... but that's actually how I feel at the minute. I'm in the middle of something. We'll just have to see what else God says and how things pan out :)

Out and about

2008-02-23T12:54:00.001+00:00

Spending the day at the wedding of dawn's cousins in some quite scenic surroundings. Amy's being looked after by someone for the day. I'll need to try and remember all those ceildh dances :)

Worship in Fauldhouse

2008-02-21T23:41:00.002+00:00

I've just had a great evening in Fauldhouse. Where? Yeh, I'd never been to Fauldhouse before tonight so I'm eternally grateful for the wonders of satellite navigation. Anyway, I was there for a divisional worship gathering called Praise, Power and Prayer. I was delivering the "power" segment... essentially giving the message.

The first 20 minutes were led by Fauldhouse's worship group, which I have to say was absolutely brilliant! Three brass instruments, a guitar, and the leader who was singing, leading, playing keyboard, and doing the powerpoint all by himself! The worship time was a great start to the evening.

Then over to me for a while, as I thought aloud about what it would be like if we saw people as God sees them.

Finally, over to Barry (the officer at The Salvation Army in Livingston) who led us in a prayer time and encouraged us to see God differently - and to try and clear away anything that might be affecting our "sight".

All in all, it was a good time! There was a good atmosphere - here's hoping that the other divisional meetings throughout the year go as well.

Congratulations!

2008-02-21T17:02:00.001+00:00

Congratulations to Dan, Carol-Anne, and Kathryn on the arrival of baby Hannah!

I don't remember Amy being that fragile!!

Memory wire

2008-02-11T19:35:00.000+00:00

This stuff is pretty cool - I wonder when they'll start building cars etc. out of it?

The only thing that's confusing me, though, is... why is General Gowans demonstrating it?