How to speak Christianese

Ever wondered why no one understands you in church? Here’s the answer.



Just in case anyone thought we all take ourselves too seriously after the launch of Not Ashamed. If you are wondering why some of us are not too impressed by Not Ashamed check out Nick Baines.

h/t Chrisendom

When he returns

For Advent



John Lee Sanders version of Bob Dylan's When He Returns.

The perils of Twitter

This made me smile. With thanks to Sue Diplock.

But for a more serious reflection check out this from Dave Walker.

Time to show God’s love

Here’s why I’m looking forward to Stephen Cottrell’s installation as Bishop of Chelmsford on 27th November.



If you would like to hear more from Bishop Stephen then check out Do Nothing to Change Your Life recorded by Richard Peat earlier this year.

Please pray for +Stephen and his family as he prepares to take up his ministry in the Diocese of Chelmsford.

Vampires on the Alpha Course

There is a an interesting truth behind this video. I have several friends who became Christians at university having initially gone to the Christian Union because they fancied someone who happened to be a Christian. They set out looking for a relationship and ended up with more than they had bargained for.

I'm a big fan of Alpha. If you’d like to know what Alpha is all about, check out the new Alpha website.

h/t Tim Goodbody

Sorting the Covenant

There’s been a lot said and written about the Anglican Covenant over the last few days. I do wonder what this looks like to the average punter in the pew, let alone people out on the streets? It does strike me that if we put as much passion into proclaiming the Good News as we do into fighting our corner and setting up groups for or against particular issues then our churches would be full.

Anyway, I am most grateful to Harry Hill who has proposed a way of resolving the arguments over the Covenant and all the other debates raging in the good old Anglican Communion.



h/t my good friend Paul Trathen.

What drunken German priest wrote these?

In celebration of Reformation Day (which I may have missed yesterday).




h/t circlereader

Plumbing the cultural depths.

h/t Anna Drew whose comment says it all.

Life without Limbs

I happened to catch part of comedian Russell Howard’s Good News on TV last night. Howard is a regular on Mock The Week and his show is a fairly standard format in which he comments on different topics often related to stories he’s come across on the news or in the media. The twist is that Howard always tries to finish the show with a video clip which is positive and life affirming. It’s strange because you watch the clip and wait for the cynical comment before the closing credits but it never comes.

On last night’s show Howard finished with a clip of a young man with no arms or legs giving a talk to a group of high school students in the U.S.A.. As I watched the clip I couldn’t help wondering whether the speaker was a Christian; there was a book on stage with him which looked like a Bible though he didn’t actually refer to it. After the clip was shown Howard simply said how inspiring he found the young man and said goodnight. I couldn’t find the clip used in the show but did find another one of the same young man. His name is Nick Vujicic and his organisation is called Life Without Limbs. Nick is a Christian and I thought it was so refreshing both to hear his story and to see his video being used by a mainstream comedian on television. Well done BBC and thanks Russell Howard.

A Klingon blessing

We’ve been watching reruns of the consistently excellent Frasier. Last night I saw an episode I’d not come across before and it ended with Frasier delivering a blessing at his son’s Bar Mitzvah. The only problem was he delivered the blessing in perfect Klingon rather than Hebrew. You’ll have to watch the whole episode (Star Mitzvah 2002) to understand how it came about, but here’s the blessing. Priceless.



Here is the translation:
The English version:
"My dearest son, each day you redeem me. May your journey be filled with the same joy, wisdom, and purpose you have given mine."

The Klingon translation is:
"puqloDwI' le'qu': Hoch jaj choquvmoH. lenglIj lutebjaj lengwIjvaD bel rap, Sov rap, ngoQ rap je Danobpu'bogh."

A phonetic version of what was spoken on the show:
"Pookh lod wih le koo. Hach jahj cho-koov-moakh leng-lidge loo-Teb-jahj leng widge-vahd bel rahp shoave dah-nobe-poo-boagh."

NB. Klingon is the language spoken by the Klingon warrior people in Star Trek. You can find out more about the galaxy's fastest growing language from The Klingon Language Institute.

Praise and Blame

There’s been much comment in the music press about Tom Jones’ latest offering Praise and Blame; not least from his own record label. David Sharpe, vice president of Island Records, was reported to have sent an angry email to colleagues declaring the record a ‘sick joke’ and went on to say: ‘We did not invest a fortune in an established artist for him to deliver 12 tracks from the common book of prayer (sic).’ Some have speculated that this is just an elaborate publicity stunt to attract maximum attention for the album’s release, but I suspect Island are genuinely very nervous.

I’ve now had a chance to hear Praise and Blame and I really enjoyed it. The production by Ethan Jones is ideal for showcasing the deep rich tone of Jones’ vocals and the stripped back ambience is perfect for the gospel, blues and spirituals repertoire. The album reminds me of T Bone Burnett’s work with Robert Plant and Alison Kraus on Raising Sand and includes the track Nobody’s Fault But Mine which Plant recorded with Led Zeppelin. This version is more like Plant’s reworking of the song with Jimmy Page on No Quarter and some of the guitar playing on the album is also reminiscent of Page’s slide work.

The album starts with Dylan’s What good am I which sets the tone in both pace and mood; though occasionally Jones’ rocks out a bit more on tracks like Burning Hell and Lord Help the Poor and Needy. There are confessional moments when it sounds as if Jones’ is genuinely baring his soul. Commenting on his motivation for recording the material Jones revealed: "We thought, 'Let's look for some spiritual things, uplifting things, things that mean something.'" He also reflected "So these spiritual songs, the gospel songs on this album, that's very natural to me. It's not like stepping into an area that I haven't tried yet. I know what these songs are; it's my cup of tea if you like. This is stuff that I listen to, that I've always liked." "When I heard it, I thought, 'This is me, this is my meat, this is where I come from.'" 

Still beating

I was interested to hear that Bobby Harrison, former drummer with Procul Harum, will be joined by keyboard player Matthew Fisher to perform A Whiter Shade of Pale at Holy Trinity church, Rayleigh in Essex on Saturday August 21st. This is the first time the two will have played together since the 60s and the gig follows Fisher’s successful legal battle last year for recognition as a composer of the classic song. 

The venue may be a surprise to die hard rock fans until one discovers that Harrison now plays in a band called Journey, a Christian band based at Thorpe Bay Baptist church. Harrison’s career following Procul Harum included a spell with Snafu supporting top 70s bands including; ELP, the Doobie Brothers and The Eagles. After a struggle with cocaine addiction Harrison moved back to Essex where he became a Christian. Speaking of his faith the drummer comments, ‘I am now in the grip of a gentle giant, the Lord Jesus Christ, where I am happy to be.’ Of the forthcoming gig he says, ‘God certainly moves in mysterious ways and it’s going to be the first time we have performed this song since the 60s’.


Harrison is not the only drummer from the classic rock period still playing in Essex. T.Rex drummer Bill Legend now lives in Chelmsford and plays regularly in a worship band at the Elim Christian Centre. Legend is the only surviving member of T.Rex so no chance of any reunions there.

Mr CatOlick’s guide to General Synod

For those of you who have struggled to follow the deliberations of General Synod over the last weekend in York, fear not, Mr Catolick has produced a set of videos explaining what happened.











h/t The Church Mouse who I suspect found watching these videos an unsettling experience and even gets a brief mention at the end of the last video.

Canada Day

In celebration of Canada Day, a song from one of her greatest sons Neil Young.



I saw Neil at the Kent Hop Festival in 2008, pure genius. My review of the concert is posted at Shakey still rocking.

If only: World Cup 2010 (7)

It’s alright everyone, it was only a nightmare. As this video clearly shows, Robert Green didn’t make a massive error for England against the USA and we actually won the game 1-0!



Now if only someone could take the whole 90 minutes against Algeria and edit it to show that we really played like Brazil then the mood of the nation will be completely transformed; until Wednesday afternoon.
h/t Off the post

Boston Tea Party

I was in Honiton last week with the family and we had a very enjoyable lunch and coffee in The Boston Tea Party. The cafe is one of a West Country chain named after the C18th revolt by a group of colonists who emptied three shiploads of tea into the Boston harbour as a protest against British taxation.

Apparently there are a group of self described patriots in the U.S. who have formed the Tea Party movement. Their aim seems to be to protest against all the eminently sensible laws that President Obama has introduced including the Health Care Reform Bills. There was an attempt to launch a British Tea Party movement along similar lines back in February during the Conservative Spring Conference in Brighton. The event was supported by Daniel Hannan MEP. This is the same Hannan who has made a career out of travelling around U.S. television studios trashing the NHS. I haven’t heard much about the British version since and I guess it has been made redundant by the General Election outcome.

As I was sitting munching my lunch I found myself humming a song that I hadn’t heard for decades The Sensational Alex Harvey Band’s Boston Tea Party. So here it is.

The truth about opinion polls

There has been much debate about the opinion polls conducted during the General Election, particularly those polls conducted straight after the leaders’ debates. Well, here’s the explanation courtesy of Yes, Prime Minister:

h/t @WGallagher

In the interest of balance

I hear that the Tories have bought an advert on the front page of YouTube for tomorrow. I feel that in the interest of balance I should post a video, so here it is.

For those of you who wonder where my political affiliations lie let me just say that I lived in Brixton, Hull and Durham during the early 1980s and remember well the last time we had a slash and burn approach to economics and the public sector.

De-Pressing

A work of genius in praise of The Daily Mail with a nod to the great Robert Zimmerman.

h/t The Media Blog and echurchwebsites.

Rambo priests

The Roman Catholic Brooklyn Archdiocese has made a video inviting men to consider joining the priesthood as part of the Year of the Priest. The video is well made with stirring music reminiscent of the opening scene of some great action adventure film. The call to priesthood is presented as a challenge and concludes with the caption: ‘Accept the challenge of priesthood and enjoy the rewards for life’. I don’t have any problem with presenting the call to ministry, any ministry in the service of God, as a challenge and perhaps we have underplayed that aspect of vocation. Yet, I found myself unable to identify with just about every aspect of the video in its presentation of ordained ministry as male and celibate; no surprise there as I am an ordained, married, father of two who is an Anglican!

Resources for exploring vocations in the Diocese of Chelmsford can be found here and here.