Seven up…

1) Growing My Faith in the Face of Death – Super encouraging to see this piece by Tim Keller reflecting on his cancer diagnosis in The Atlantic: “To our surprise and encouragement, Kathy and I have discovered that the less we attempt to make this world into a heaven, the more we are able to enjoy it.”

2) #TooManyMen – In a week where we’ve intentionally celebrated women, we’ve also followed the events around the horrific death of Sarah Everard and in response have heard countless ‘everyday’ stories of women suffering because of the actions of men. Bekah Legg reflects on these stories in the link above and suggests how we might move forward. As part of this, I think there also needs to be a conversation about the seeming inconsistency of our cultural position on pornography. Can we ever rid ourselves of male violence and sexual abuse against women in a world where porn is hailed as a badge of our freedom? Matt Lillicrap explores that more here.

3) Five Preaching Trends that Will Shape the Future – Some good stimulating stuff to reflect on here.

4) ‘Lament’ Spoken Word – Phil Knox has written this powerful spoken word piece reflecting on the past year, ‘a moment to stop and give all that is past’, walk slowly and reflect on the last year’, interspersed with verses from Lamentations and the cry, ”How long, O Lord?’.

5) If Christ Isn’t Risen – Love this new song from Dumbrocks Music. Perfect for Easter.

6) The Empty Religions of Instagram – Some fab cultural exegesis in the NY Times on the world of Instagram ‘Influencers’ with some very interesting conclusions that Christians will appreciate.

7) Bishops Singing ‘Every Time We Touch’ – For something a bit different, this guy made Deepfakes of every Diocesan Bishop in the Church of England singing Cascada’s disco classic. You’ve been warned…

Seven up…

1) Master Class: Redeeming Power: Understanding Authority and Abuse in the Church – This looks like a brilliant – and free! – way to hear Diane Langberg, a worldwide expert on this timely topic.

2) Don’t Despise Transfer-Growth – Stephen Kneale reflects provocatively on the issue of church transfer growth.

3) To My Son on His Twenty-First Birthday – Popular Christian blogger Tim Challies has bravely shared his journey of grief through his writings after his son’s sudden death last year. Now, on the occasion of his son’s 21st birthday he shares this moving note to his son.

4) The Work Of The Spirit In Preaching – Something to ponder for the preachers reading this…

5) Running evangelistic courses on Zoom – Some practical wisdom if you’re thinking of having a go at this.

6) How to Make a World: Interview with Andrew Peterson – Ok, it’s pretty much a Glen Scrivener interview every week round here at the moment, but I love hearing Andrew Peterson talk about the creative process, so enjoy. Maybe there’s someone who would be really encouraged and affirmed by hearing this?

7) Ex Best Mate‪s‬ – For something a bit different, this is a delightful and unusual podcast. We all know you should never text your ex. But what about your ex best mate? Two ex best mates try and catch-up on their lives in lockdown. Humane, endearing, hilarious.

Seven up…

1) Covid pandemic brings British churches back to life – Fascinating but not necessarily surprising research from YourNeighbour.

2) Matt Redman: We need more worship songs about the holiness of God – Matt Redman’s music has a significant part of the Christian soundtrack to the last 20 years. Really interesting to hear him speak into where he sees the current Christian song-writing culture.

3) I’m a philosopher. We can’t think our way out of this mess. – Interesting and long-form reflective piece from James K. A. Smith: “I used to imagine my calling was to defend the Truth. Now I’m just trying to figure out how to love.” Worth knowing that the print edition of this had a different title: “The intelligence of love.”

4) What Can We Learn from the Ravi Zacharias Scandals? – You may be sick of this as a topic, and it’s certainly a horrifying topic – and yet we must learn and reflect on how such abuse occurs under the guise of Christianity, and how to respond to it. This interview with Sam Allberry, who worked for Zacharias’s RZIM organisation, is a sobering listen. I’m also hoping to listen to this conversation with Dr Diane Langberg, a specialist in trauma abuse with a hugely prophetic voice on where we find ourselves. She particularly speaks here on how we safeguard against more scandals in the future, support victims, ensure accountability, and the problem with pedestals.

5) Everyday Dadding: Dadding with Depression – I’ve just started listening to this podcast on being a Dad and have heard a heap of positive things about this latest episode on living with depression and how that affects his life as a Dad.

6) 3 Steps To Culture Change In A Small Church – I think this has a lot of wisdom in it.

7) Keep Your Eyes on the Trees: An Essay on 1917, the Most Profound Film Since Tree of Life – For something a little bit different, my brother-in-law recently told me that 1917 was the biggest box-office success of 2020 (obviously a surreal year for cinema takings). This is a staggering review that opens up the heart of the film. Keep your eyes on the trees…

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