Three Lessons From Stott

Some quotes from John Stott's 'The Living Church'.  Worth chewing on for a while.

"Christians have no business to be pessimists.  Faith and pessimism are incompatible."

"People are drugged by television, hostile to authority and suspicious of words."

"There is no passivity in the attainment of holiness."

Marriage - We Salute You!

As I write the clouds outside my window have just covered the sun.  It's just past 8.30am, and we've had the first half hour of sun in a good few days now.  But the wind is pushing the clouds at a fair pace, so hopefully the sun will come again.

I say this as an introduction to talking about weddings.

Hopefully the sun will shine on Dave and Abby today.  This is the fifth of six weddings this summer.  Each one has been a joy to attend, a lot of fun to be at.  Each one very different, each one perfectly suited to the couple getting married.

Summer is now over, rain has been flooding the land and the nights have been getting darker earlier.  I'm beginning to prepare for working again.  College is just around the corner.  It's going to be a good year.  It has been a good summer.  Probably my last one with a ridiculously long time off.  And I'm especially glad that it was regularly interrupted by days of celebration.

So; Sam, Emma, Phil, Hannah, Pete, Sarah, James, Sharon, Laurie, Lucy, Simon, Suzy, Dave, Abby, Jon, Hayley - here's to you guys.  May God bless your new adventures.

And the sun is just breaking out...

Interview With John Piper

Mark Driscoll interviews John Piper here.  

Piper talks about his life: his parents, marriage, the adoption of his daughter.  

The Current Race...

So we have an election in November.  It will change the face of international politics.  It'll be Barack Obama or John McCain.

In the four major polls in the U.S. Obama is leading McCain, the margin ranging from 4 to 8%.  What is certain is that history will be made when the winner is announced in November.  In Britain, the media coverage has made it seem like Obama has it in the bag.  Why this seems to be the case is obvious - Obama is making history.  Who would have thought seven years ago that the U.S. public would allow a person with the first name Barack run for President?  Who would have thought that a black man could grab the hearts and minds of Americans far and wide?  The potential of having a female President was quite something, but a young, inexperienced black man?  

(Please note:  I write this in order to try and convey the extraordinary happenings in America.)

But even though this piece of history is hitting the headlines over here in Britain, the race has not been won yet.

This hit the media hard a number of days ago when Sarah Palin was announced as McCain's running mate.  A bold move, and one that has bumped McCain right back up there in the race to become President.  Palin seems confident, able, and certainly up for the fight!  (See this BBC snippet, for example.)  It is yet to be seen whether this bold move will work for McCain.  There has been a lot of talk about Palin's private life, her son with Downes Syndrome and her teenage daughter's pregnancy.  But are these issues enough to spoil it for the McCain/Palin campaign? If we are talking real life, then they shouldn't... but we're talking politics, not everyday life.

McCain's speech at the Republican National Convention wasn't dynamic.  He will clearly lose every oratory battle with Obama who has far superior rhetorical skills.  But for the time being, the McCain/Palin campaign has managed to put some distance between themselves and the Bush administration, and at the same time has stolen the limelight from Obama's Clinton laid red carpet.