Q marks the spot – Treasure Map 67 (April 2014)

Sacred Treasure

• Giles Fraser nails it on euthanasia
• Kevin de Young on celebrity pastors etc
• Andrew Brown writes an inspiring obituary of Margaret Spufford (mother of one of my literary heroes, Francis)

Q marks the spot – Treasure Map 66 (March 2014)

Sacred Treasure

• Why Benedict Rogers, a Christian, opposes the very idea of a Christian political party
• So a mural artist in Montenegro considers Tito, Marx and Engels deserves to be depicted in hell… what do you think?
• Some good news from Cranmer: highlighting all the UCCF outreach efforts this term

Q marks the spot – Treasure Map 65 (February 2014)

Sacred Treasure

• Mikhail Kalashnikov was apparently in ‘spiritual pain’ over his (in)famous invention
• Dave Criddle has some wisdom about engaging with the likes of Ricky Gervais on Twitter
• Andrew Brown is pretty good here, at least in what he affirms (if not in what he denies).

Q marks the spot – Treasure Map 64 (January 2014)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Sacred Treasure

• Justin Welby, the ABC, rather delightfully writes to his 14 year old self
• One Rolex Short of Contentment – striking piece by George Monbiot
• Chris Green is v wise as ever: where never to have a quiet day
• A story of God, Redemption and the late, great Steve McQueen

Q marks the spot – Treasure Map 63 (December 2013)

Sacred Treasure

• Katherine Welby was wonderfully open and honest about her depression and faith here
• LivingOut: This is a remarkable new resource for people living with unwanted same-sex attraction
• Don Carson gives 6 excellent reasons not to abandon expository preaching
• CS Lewis arrives in Poet’s Corner
• Prompted by recent death of Sir John Tavener, an Interesting piece from Charles Moore about how a brush with death draws people for religion.

Q marks the spot – Treasure Map 62 (November 2013)

Sacred Treasure

• Really good article on Lord Kelvin (he of the temperature scale) and his integration of faith and science
• A Concise Theology of Voluntary, Principled Book Purging – a painful read for bibliophiles!
• Is Gravity the perfect film for our godless times – a great piece from Justine Toh of the Centre for Public Christianity

Q marks the spot – Treasure Map 61 (October 2013)

Sacred Treasure

• Striking infographic on American Megachurches and their relative generosity
• List of Bible infographics on the Guardian Online pages, of all places (the comments are pretty much what one might expect!)

Q marks the spot – Treasure Map 60 (September 2013)

Sacred Treasure

• Why a Rabbi went to Saddleback – very moving
• 10 things a vicar needs to hear often… hint hint….
• Cranmer is trenchant as ever: Christians may be bombed but Muslims can’t be gassed.

Q marks the spot – Treasure Map 59 (August 2013)

Sacred Treasure

• Some very helpful advice on how to approach reading intimidatingly old classics of theology and philosophy
• Are we exploiting church interns?
• Are sex offenders the modern lepers? The BBC reports on an extraordinary but vital ministry in an unusual Florida town
• The Six Types of Atheist from Andrew Brown

Q marks the spot – Treasure Map 58 (July 2013)

Sacred Treasure

• Thabiti Anyabwile has some wisdom to bear on the thorny issue of those who say ‘the church hurt’ them
• My good friend Ziya Meral wrote this over 5 years ago – but it needs frequent revisiting: Bearing the Silence of God.

Q marks the spot – Treasure Map 57 (June 2013)

Sacred Treasure

• John Crace at his hilariously trenchant best, reducing Steve Jones’ The Serpent’s Promise to 600 words.
• Culture, Class and the Decline of Marriage by Ross Douthat. Very helpful insights into the wider context of recent gay marriage debates on both sides of the Atlantic. While Brendan O’Neill sees the whole issue as a case study in conformism.

Q marks the spot – Treasure Map 56 (May 2013)

A brief plug before this outing. Someone asked how I keep track of various internet things. My secret is the wonder that is Pocket. People send me stuff or I see stuff on my RSS reader (NetNewsWire if you’re interested), and then I click pocket in the browser – and can then check them out off-line on my phone on trains and tubes etc. Simple really – so there you are.

Sacred Treasure

• This is a wakeup call – a global rich list tied to an appeal to donate to the world’s poorest. Very simple, very effective.
• A more interesting conversation now that “Richard Dawkins has lost…”
• A brief but pastorally important response to suicide amongst believers.

Q marks the spot – Treasure Map 55 (April 2013)

Oooooops – this is seriously late!! Many apologies. Been rather a busy week and completely forgot to post this!

Sacred Treasure

• Shhh!! Chris Green on introvert preachers and introvert lightbulb changers
• Eddie Arthur quotes the wonderful Oscar Muriu on the traps of western (though here, particularly American) missionaries in E. Africa.

Q marks the spot – Treasure Map 54 (March 2013)

Sacred Treasure

• Is there a new US-style religious Right in the UK – Theos argues no
• Research shows that if you ‘survive’ first 10 years of marriage, you’re more likely to last the course as divorce rates for that stage haven’t shifted much
• This is a bit of a surprise for this particular blog: 10 reasons why Creationism should be taught in schools

Q marks the spot – Treasure Map 53 (February 2013)

Sacred Treasure

• Great stuff from Keller: Preaching in a Secular Culture
• This is good: 8 ways preachers harm the depressed
• Fantastic news: Proc Trust makes its audio archive available for free download.

Q marks the spot – Treasure Map 52 (January 2013)

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Here’s to a great 2013!

Sacred Treasure

• Law and Grace in Les Miserables
• Important booklet on Prosperity Gospel made available by the Theology Network
• Why CSLewis’ Mere Christianity should have bombed… and the lessons we can learn
• It’s done the rounds – but no less fun for that: Higgs vs Dawkins on Atheist fundamentalism

Q marks the spot – Treasure Map 51 (December 2012)

Sacred Treasure

• Eddie Arthur has provided some important updated stats on Bible Translation.
• An interesting response to voting in a presidential election
• Barnabas Piper on 7 things a kind wants from his pastor dad – really helpful stuff here

Q marks the spot – Treasure Map 50 (November 2012)

Wow – how about that!? The 50th map of monthly treasure!

Enjoy…

Sacred Treasure

• Rowan Williams’ recent interesting Theos lecture on The Person and the Individual
• Tim Keller has been involved with creating a new catechesis – looks very interesting indeed
• In case you missed it, here are the links to the recent, interesting series at All Souls: Great Lies of our Time
  

The Lie Factory and the destructive power of political ‘narrative’

The presenting issue behind the article was the hysteria whipped up against Obama’s healthcare proposals in the US – something which those of us with ‘socialised’, crypto-communist medicine in the UK find hard to understand. I do realise that many on the US right are no fools, that the British NHS is far from perfect,  and that there may well be many good grounds for the position(s) they took. But that’s not my point here. My main concern is how politics (left and right) throughout the West now (has to) operates. This was the object of Jill Lepore’s New Yorker investigation a couple of weeks ago, The Lie Factory.

Q marks the spot – Treasure Map 49 (October 2012)

Sacred Treasure

• A heart-rending 16thC letter of grief from a pregnant widow to her now buried husband.
• Very interesting interview in Third Way with Tanni Grey-Thompson (Britain’s greatest paralympian)
• Covenant Seminar in St Louis have put some great free courses online in their Worldwide Classroom