Preaching as confessional?

On the note of preaching this morning (see below entry), I was reading a book about preaching recently where the author made a comment that interested me in a list of 'do nots' for preachers. The author said that preachers should not use the pulpit as a confessional - that his confessional is done in private between him and God. I'd be interested in quizzing him further about what exactly he meant by this. I agree that it is right for a preacher to be wise and careful about what they say - and especially if they are in a leadership role of some kind in the situation in which they are preaching. I wouldn't want a preacher to spend a whole sermon sharing their own faults or dark secrets or whatever. A sermon shouldn't be self-centred. But at the same time I'm not convinced that there is anything wrong with a preacher admitting that what they are preaching about is difficult to accept / understand sometimes and that they themselves often find whatever it is hard; to admit that they do often find it a struggle to practice what they preach. I think that it is often easier for people to relate to, and accept what they hear from, preachers who can be honest about their own struggles and difficulties - their need for God and the strength of His Holy Spirit. Like I say I know that a preacher should be wise about this, and the appropriateness of saying certain things has to be judged according to each context / situation - but surely not to the point of not being real at all and running the risk as coming over to people as aloof??

Epitaphs...

Preached this morning on a passage from 2 Timothy 4. Not feeling brave enough to share my sermon text on here. But when I was preparing and 1st read the passage it made me think that Paul could have been writing his own epitaph:

'I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day...' (2 Tim 4:7-8)

When my earthly end comes (hopefully not for many a year yet!!) I'd be happy to have such words as these on my gravestone!

With these thoughts going through my mind I went google searching for some of examples of real epitaphs which I used in my introduction:

Winston Churchill – I am ready to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter.

Unknown dentist – Stranger! Approach this spot with gravity! John Brown is filling his last cavity.

Mary Weary, Housewife –
Dere Friends I am going
Where washing ain't done
Or cooking or sewing:
Don't mourn for me now
Or weep for me never:
For I go to do nothing
Forever and ever!

and one that I didn't use but one of the congregation told me about after the service:

Spike Milligan - I told you I was ill!

Lord of the Rings the Show

Treated ourselves on Monday just gone as it was Lisa's 1/2 term with a trip down to London to go and see the new stage version of Lord of the Rings, having managed to come across some very reasonably priced tickets which included a pre-show meal as well on lastminute.com. Had a very enjoyable evening!

Having said that my views on the show are slightly mixed. As a big fan of the book, I did wonder how they could hope to do the story justice in a 3 hour stage show - and to be blunt I don't think it did the job storyline wise. I found myself wondering whether someone who didn't know the story at all would be able to work out what the heck was going on - or would they actually enjoy it more because they didn't know all the ins and outs of the story? Also none of the songs struck me in the often annoying but memorable way that musical songs have a tendency to strike me.

There were some real highlights though - the accompanying / background music was at times fantastic, the actor who played Gollum carried the role off brilliantly and visually the whole show was absolutely stunning! The way the stage worked - different bits of it moving in all kinds of directions including up and down throughout the show (so much work to get that right in terms of sequencing and timing etc.); the different scenes and backdrops; the way 'awkward' characters like the orcs, the ents, the balrog, and especially Shelob the spider worked; was all just incredible! Couldn't find a picture of Shelob unfortuantely, but here's one of the ents and one of the orcs (also showing something of the amazing stage mechanics):

For more amazing photo's and info about the show click here.

Verdict: A must see simply for being so visually amazing! LOTR purists just put your knowledge to 1 side for 3 hours and enjoy this show as the visual spectacular that it is!!

Robbed...

Following on from my brief mention of last weekend's Liverpool derby match a couple of posts below this - just been sent this by my future boss. Couldn't resist sharing it on here!

Jason Robinson

To follow on from my below entry, I felt this guy was worthy of a brief post in his own right. He's been a bit of a hero of mine since moving from Rugby League to Union however many years ago it was. He literally lit up matches when he was at his best - I hadn't seen anyone like him when I first saw him play for England. Pity his career has had to end with going off injured in a world cup final defeat, but I don't think there would be too many arguments about him being classed as the most succesful and best league to union convert! His autobiography is a very worthwhile and enjoyable read as well. All the best for your retirement Jason!

Not this time...

...unfortunately for England in the Rugby World Cup. Don't think we can have any complaints though. Partly shot ourselves in the foot in the 1st half gifting SA 6 points from easy penalties that came from Tait's slip and Moody's stupid and pointless tripping of an opponent, but other than that I think England put in a massive and admirable effort but were just not quite good enough! Kept the dangerous Habana at bay (stopping him from breaking Jonah Lomu's record for number of tries in a world cup), but just couldn't break through to get the points we needed. Obviously the key moment was Cueto's disallowed 'try' - at 1st I was pretty incensed at what I thought was a clear injustice, but having seen it a few times I do think we have to say fairplay to the video ref for getting a very tight and crucial call right. Cueto's foot did just touch the line before he lifted it off the ground and grounded the ball - unfortunately! In terms of hope for the future I think it has got to bode well that we have got so much further than anyone imagined - there are definite signs of improvement and hopefully it will give a much needed kick start after 4 disastrous years, also it was good to see Tait (apart from his slip) playing so well - and hopefully a good blend between youth and experience can be found to take things forward now as players like Dallaglio, Catt, Robinson etc. drop out of the scene. The 1 worrying thing is the lack of commitment at this stage to Ashton's role as coach from the RFU etc. - I think it would be criminal to lose him at this stage, he's made mistakes but given the state he inherited things in and the injury problems he's had to deal with that was inevitable. I don't think there is anyone better at this stage to take the job on.


...also, unfortunately, for Lewis Hamilton. Not a F1 fan particularly, but I still appreciated the magnitude of what it would have meant to be the 1st driver ever to win a world championship in his 1st season. Incredible achievements this season though, and I hope that is not forgotten because he fell at the last!


Can't leave a post about the weekend's sport without mentioning very briefly Liverpool's rather controversial derby win over Everton at the weekend. Having felt very aggrieved at Liverpool's suffering at the hands of a ref against Chelsea earlier in the season - I have to say I have every sympathy for the Everton fans for a change! Don't believe that there can be much argument about the 2 pens given to Liverpool or the red cards that went with them - but do think that Kuyt was very fortunate to stay on the pitch, and that Everton should have had at least one penalty. Glad that Liverpool got 3 points though - and really hoping that it will kick start us a bit, our form has been atrocious! Big match against Besiktas in Turkey on Weds that we really need to win to stay in the Champions league after the disaster against Marseilles 2 wks ago. Just read that Torres still isn't fit to play, which worries me. Come on Reds!

Preaching...

Another asbojesus offering that's given me a bit of a reality check. I'm preaching next Sunday for the 1st time since I finished at my previous placement church last Easter, and as well as the regular congregation some fellow students from Ridley and a member of staff are going to be there. We'll then get together at some point for them to give me feedback on my sermon. Hope I provoke a better reaction than those above!

The cartoon has set me thinking though - as preachers are we called to constantly reinvent the wheel so to speak? Do we need to constantly find new things to speak about? In fact can we? Or is it more about getting the same messages and challenges across but at the same time being innovative, inventive, situationally relevant etc. in the way we do it, finding ways of speaking to people who've been sitting in the pews for many years as well as those sitting there for the 1st time? Do we have to accept that we can't please / speak relevantly to everyone, or is that being too defeatist and not trusting God and his work in and through us enough? This is tough and challenging stuff! Time to stop before I scare myself too much...

Empty worship?

Have been provoked to think a fair bit about what worship means over my time at Ridley. In particular sung worship and the extent to which I really understand a lot of what I find myself singing (well trying to sing in my case!), or even think about it, let alone whether or not it affects my actions and life generally. So many words just trip off my tongue out of habit and familiarity. Came across this on the asbojesus site - I find it rather apt and challenging!

Final here we come!

That man does it again - though only after a few misses this time! Another unexpected victory for England, beating the hosts in the semi-final in Paris itself. Impossible to even think of this happening as England were being trounced 36-0 by South Africa just a month or so ago - it's not been pretty rugby, but its proving effective. Can they really win the trophy again? COME ON ENGLAND!

Homeward bound...

Great to be in a postion to say for definite that we will be heading back to Liverpool in June when I finish at Ridley. It was what we had hoped for all along, but it's good to have it finalised - see it here in black and white! It was agreed at the church's PCC meeting on Weds evening, but I've waited until now to mention it on here as it was announced in the church services this morning. Really pleased as well that it is Crosby we are going to. I feel like I'm heading back to my roots in some ways - it's just a few miles from where I grew up in north Liverpool, and I had plenty of visits to the marina and beach there as a child / teenager. The funny thing about it is that it is St Luke's church where my Dad was a curate in the early 70's - he left there in 1974 2 years before I was born; and also my brother was the news editor, until about 2 years ago, of the Crosby Herald - the local weekly newspaper. There is lots going on at the church (checkout the website: http://www.stlukecrosby.org.uk/), and we've really enjoyed the welcome we've received on our visits there. It's going to be a really exciting place for Lisa and I to be based, and it will provide great training opportunities for me. The trick now will be to keep some focus on / motivation for (and enjoy!) my studies and the rest of our time at Ridley!

Tale of the unexpected...

...seems to be an appropriate way to describe the goings on in the 1st 2 quarter finals of the Rugby Union World Cup today. If you'd told me this morning that England and France would go through to the semi-finals at the expense of the Aussies and the All Blacks I'd have laughed at you, and I don't think I would have been alone! 2 incredible matches both decided by only 2 points, and both upsetting the form books. All part of the excitement of tournaments like this - especially when they get to the knockout stages, previous form counts for nothing.

It goes without saying that I was especially pleased with the England game. Our forwards were immense and the Aussies just had no answer to them. To think it was just a few weeks ago that we were beaten 36-0 by South Africa! Since then there has been a steady improvement by England that I think has had a lot to do with Gomersall and Wilkinson playing together again at scrum half and fly half. But it was the likes of Sheridan, Moody and Shaw who were the stars today - even meaning the normally dependable Wilkinson got away with a few uncharacteristic misses.

Enjoyed the post-match celebrations and interviews, especially the comment of the day from Nick Easter the No 8 who sarcastically thanked the British press "from the heart of my bottom for their support through the tournament so far!"

Strange minds...

This is weird, but interesting!

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can. i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs forwrad it

Liverpool 0 Marseille 1

It's not been a particularly good few weeks for Liverpool, but this result at Anfield this evening was especially disappointing and worrying. Never got to see the game, but from what I have just been reading about it I'm quite glad! Was my rather cautious early season optimism (see here and here) misplaced??