by emma | Apr 6, 2007 | Faith
Today is “Good Friday”… I am in mourning today. I was introduced to the concept of “Bad Friday” a number of months ago, and have decided to adopt it.
“The true horror of the cross allows no such shelter, for if considered in itself, it signals the seeming abandonment of God by God… forcing the viewer [of the Passion of the Christ] to think about their response to Christ amidst his absence and in the seeming face of his abandonment by God.”
[Peter Rollins]
Instead of having a Good Friday service, where we celebrate Jesus resurrection, Mars Hill Church had a ‘Bad Friday’ service – a day of mourning, real sadness and rawness and emotion, leaving the tension unresolved until the Easter Sunday service, when they blow the roof off with praise! How much more powerful would it make Easter feel to me or you?
“This is the horror of the cross, not the blood and suffering of an innocent, but the removal of God.”
[Peter Rollins]
I like crookedshores’ thoughts on the subject.
Technorati tags: Easter, Good Friday, Rob Bell, Peter Rollins,
How (Not) To Speak Of God
by emma | Apr 4, 2007 | Faith, Words
Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don’t let what’s wrong with you keep you from worshipping what’s right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze a new trail. Criticize by creating. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don’t try to be who you’re not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away.
Chase the lion.
[The lion chaser’s manifesto – Mark Batterson]
Technorati tags: Mark Batterson, In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day, Chase The Lion
by emma | Mar 24, 2007 | Africa, Faith, Film
Last night I went to see Amazing Grace at the cinema with a crowd of folks. The film tells the story of William Wilberforce and the fight for the abolition of slavery.
The film is incredible… you must go see it! There were several moments during the film where I had a tear in my eye. Ioan Gruffudd gives a stunning performance as Wilberforce, not least of which of Wilberforce’s faith. It’s hard to imagine that Gruffudd can’t have been impacted in so manner by it.
The film sparked some thoughts for me, I’ll share later when I’ve had time to process them a bit, but for now… just go see it OK!!
Technorati tags: amazing grace, William Wilberforce, slavery
by emma | Mar 22, 2007 | Faith, Photography
[Les Mystères de la Passion du Christ by Antonio Campi]
I stood staring at this picture for a long time on Monday morning. I went to the Louvre Museum on Monday, which is amazing… the place is huge and you could easily spend a whole day in it.
I don’t know what it is about this picture but I just couldn’t pull my gaze away from it…
by emma | Mar 16, 2007 | Faith, School
Today I was reminded of something. I was at our Exodus team meeting (I’m co-leading a team to Latvia this summer, based in Glasgow), we were in the midst of some prayer time, and a song came on playing… One Way.
It’s almost a year to the date since the One Way mission in school.
BACU presents:
One Way
7-9th March 2006
Motorbikers :: sports stars :: firefighters ::
gunge a teacher:: multimedia :: life changing message
How incredible is God? What a timely reminder of all that God did in school, started, completed, is continuing. A lot of kids meeting Jesus. Followed up with small group bible studies. Followed up again with the launch of CU small groups.
What’s the next step? That question excites me! It has been a tremendous privilege to watch BACU change, expand, grow… it’s organic. It’s been amazing to watch from a distance, so to speak, and see small groups start. See people going deeper with Jesus. That’s what it’s all about.
RELATED:
One Way (8/3/06)
Wow (15/3/06)
Holy Ground (17/3/06)
by emma | Mar 8, 2007 | Faith
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
[Jesus – Matt 11]
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