Category: Faith (Page 2 of 5)

Frothing at the mouth, this time it’s Creation

July 19, 2012 / Benjamin Welby / 3 Comments

I’ve previously taken my fellow Christians to task for taking a story and then misrepresenting the substance (‘Christmastime, mistletoe and lies‘). Given how central Truth is to Christianity we should be renowned for our integrity without recourse to swearing to prove it (‘Swears‘).

We fall short of those standards, all the time, and it’s unreasonable to hold those on the outside to a higher bar than we set ourselves. Nevertheless, the rhetoric that says Christianity and Science are at odds and completely divergent is, bluntly, either casual ignorance or wilful misrepresentation.

This week it’s the free schools that will fill the minds of impressionable children with the not-worthy-of-the-word ‘science’ of Creationism. And when that word rears its head then most people instantly associate it with the Young Earth beliefs (that I don’t share) lampooned to good effect by Ronson, Theroux, Gorman et al.

I’m not going to rehash what The Church Mouse has written, suffice to say it’s a massive +1 from me over his concerns with the presentation of this story and the treatment of known fact (rather than future, paranoid conjecture).

What Mouse doesn’t get into but what strikes me about the ridicule levelled at Christian Creationists is how it undermines Christianity’s delight for you as who you are.

Nehemiah on Project Management

May 18, 2012 / Benjamin Welby / 3 Comments

Different bits of the Bible get different profile within church, let alone in the public consciousness, so I reckon Nehemiah could be an unknown quantity to most people but its 13 chapters are really worth exploring. It provided the backdrop for a powerful and relevant series at Conversations last year.

This morning I saw Emma Langman tweeting the talk that was being given at from a Business Breakfast in Bristol about the example modelled by Nehemiah from a project management point of view. I really liked that angle so captured it using Storify.

Reflections on #fabworld

March 11, 2012 / Benjamin Welby / 0 Comments

This entry is part 5 of 5 in the series Solutions for a Broken World (#fabworld)

Last Saturday I went along to an event at St Michael Le Belfrey called ‘Solutions for a broken world’ held in response to the Occupy movement. I live blogged the introduction from the Bishop of Selby as well as the three sessions asking what’s broken?; what does the Bible say? and what would Jesus have US do?. We also heard from York CVS and Besom about how we could get involved through their organisations.

These are my reflections on the format and overall theme of the day. Continue reading

‘What would Jesus want US to do?’ – Mel Griggs

March 3, 2012 / Benjamin Welby / 1 Comment

This entry is part 4 of 5 in the series Solutions for a Broken World (#fabworld)

Government?
‘Most governments try to make a difference to the course of history, but only a very few succeed. The fate of most is to make big claims…[but]…to leave office having tinkered piecemeal’ Anthony Seldon of Policy Exchange. Continue reading

‘What does the Bible say?’ – Al Rycroft

March 3, 2012 / Benjamin Welby / 1 Comment

This entry is part 3 of 5 in the series Solutions for a Broken World (#fabworld)

Consumerism is the core issue. Both that and individualism in society so here’s a few things that the bible says.

The solution to these problems lie in a total transformation of attitudes and lives. Continue reading

‘What’s broken?’ – Mel Griggs

March 3, 2012 / Benjamin Welby / 1 Comment

This entry is part 2 of 5 in the series Solutions for a Broken World (#fabworld)

This is a live blogged summary of what Mel Griggs said during his talk. It therefore doesn’t really hang together particularly well but might provide useful thoughts for you to jump off with.

Themes and issues for Mel to tackle.

Power and influence
The largely Christian world has seen its foundations are built on sand. Not spending time on money but trust and other things. Our problems are vast.

Greek and Italian governments fell, not by the electorate but by bond traders who forced interest rates so high that they had to step aside. Continue reading

Introduction: The Bishop of Selby

March 3, 2012 / Benjamin Welby / 1 Comment

This entry is part 1 of 5 in the series Solutions for a Broken World (#fabworld)

He thinks the churches have been very silent
We’re in dangerous waters because money is very difficult but the easy strapline what would Jesus do is too simplistic.
In fact noone could predict Jesus himself and he got annoyed when he heard about people wrong.
Jesus usually replies when someone asks him about that issue over there, the woman in adultery, he asks for us to look at ourselves. Continue reading

My worlds collide

March 1, 2012 / Benjamin Welby / 0 Comments

When I first wrote this it was relevant but I got overtaken by other events. Still, whilst it’s old news there’s no point it staying sat in my drafts.

There is no single theme for my blog. Most of the time there’s very little overlap so maybe I should be more focused and write in different places for different content. Irrespective of that, today is a bit different.

In the aftermath of this story I’ve read a lot and heard a lot of bluster in various media. As I’m a Christian who works in local government and have family connections to church in Bideford this particular story couldn’t be more relevant. Continue reading

John 21:15 – 25: Reinstating Peter

January 6, 2012 / Benjamin Welby / 0 Comments

Conversations is starting a series on the life of Peter after Jesus’ death and over the next few months we’ll be exploring that.

Peter’s story begins on his home turf. Jesus arrives in a fishing village, he teaches, he meets some of the fishermen. They recognise him as the real deal. They follow.

This group of men includes the sons of Zebedee: James and John as well as another sibling pair – Andrew and Simon. At some point Simon’s becomes known as Peter. This change gains significance in Matthew 16 when Jesus asks his disciples ‘who do people say the Son of Man is?’. Peter gives the Sunday School gold star response: ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God’ and Jesus is delighted with Peter and says ‘On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it’. Simon’s name having become Peter is significant because Cephas/Petros means rock so Jesus is saying – ‘On this Peter I will build my church…’

So Peter is held in high regard by Jesus – he is also always mentioned first in the lists of the Twelve Apostles; he is present at more exclusive events such as the Transfiguration of Jesus; and he joins Jesus in walking on the water. John’s gospel gives Peter prominence – at the last supper he’s reluctant for Jesus to wash his feet and later names Peter as the disciple who cut off an ear when Jesus was arrested.

But the lowest point of Peter’s life (before Jesus’ death) is the denial. All four gospels detail how Peter was to deny Jesus three times before the cock crows. Continue reading

Thank you Dave

September 15, 2011 / Benjamin Welby / 2 Comments

Last night was gutting. The leader of my church stepped down (in person, not via Twitter).

A tweet expressing gratitude, stating "Bye bye conversations. You have been amazing. Thanks." The tweet is from user @davemajgill.

For those of us involved with Conversations the last two weeks have been something of a blur. The pace at which decisions have been taken has left our community pretty shell-shocked as we look to the future.

That future includes Sally, Scott and I joining the Steering Team alongside Ben, B and Adam. And we’re committed to the same reasons that motivated Dave to kick Conversations off in the first place. His stepping down as leader doesn’t alter our vision statement.

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