Q marks the spot – Treasure Map 77 (February 2015)

Sacred Treasure

• Show up: a fantastic campaign endorsed by scores of different outfits – to encourage Christian involvement with politics generally, and May’s General Election specifically.
• It isn’t a battle; it’s a pilgrimage: helpful wisdom for anyone, not just those struggling with porn issues
• Michael Wenham is someone with Lou Gehrig disease and so uniquely qualified to consider the Stephen Hawking movie, Theory of Everything.

Q marks the spot – Treasure Map 76 (January 2015)

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Have a fab 2015

watch this space because there are some big changes afoot for Quaerentia in the coming months…!!

Sacred Treasure

• AN Wilson on cracking form: it’s the Gospel truth – so take it or leave it
• Ministry through the dark night: very helpful consoling piece by someone (!?) about depression and despair in ministry
• Interesting piece in the Washington Post: Gay Christians choosing celibacy emerge from the shadows

Q marks the spot – Treasure Map 75 (December 2014)

Hurrah! Q Treasure Maps have reached a 3/4 Century!

Sacred Treasure

• I know a number of the people involved in making this doc on Jesus’ claims to be the Son of God – made in Turkey for those from that part of the world. Looks great!
• The Pope draws in Tom Wright, Rick Warren, Michael Nazir-Ali and others to the discussion about family. Unprecedented?
• In particular, here is fmr UK Chief Rabbi, Lord Sacks’ remarkable speech in full.
• Ros Clarke is an old friend who recently completed a PhD on the interpretation of the Song of Songs – she’s set up a great website to offer the fruit of all her labours more widely.

Selfies and Silhouettes: at Düden Falls in Antalya

Part of the tour package on Wednesday was a visit to Düden Falls, which I’d heard were pretty spectacular – and as it was more or less on the way back from Termessos (see yesterday’s post), I was fine with that. Have to say that I was decidedly underwhelmed on arrival – as it’s situated in a rather built up Antalya residential area (surrounded by tower blocks and shacks offering roadside cuisine).

Q marks the spot – Treasure Map 74 (November 2014)

Sacred Treasure

• Emma Scrivener on form yet again her: lovely piece on the Both/Ands of the Christian life.
• She’s also got a great A-Z of Christianity – check it out!
• Nell Goddard writes beautifully and poignantly on When Christians cause the suffering
• The importance of plural leadership – yet another interesting thought from Chris Green

Q marks the spot – Treasure Map 73 (October 2014)

Sacred Treasure

• C S Lewis on Friendship
• Are the Apocryphal Gospels true? Ian Paul picks up Simon Gathercole’s address at the recent British NT conference
• If you missed it, this is an extraordinary episode of BBC’s Panorama about the Christians working in North Korea for Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (30 minutes – definitely worth watching in full).

Q marks the spot – Treasure Map 72 (September 2014)

Sacred Treasure

• Cranmer has been on form: 1. None dare call it evil, except Justin Welby; 2. I have forgiven Islamic militants
• Interesting stuff here from Tyndale House on Simon Gathercole’s work on the Gospel of Thomas
• “Your liberal and democratic principles are worth nothing here…” from the Chaldean Catholic Archbishop of Mosul
• The stigma of being an atheist in the USA…

Q marks the spot – Treasure Map 71 (August 2014)

Sorry this late – It’s been an absolutely CRAZY month (including finishing a job, moving house and going on a couple of week long meetings.) Soon, normal Q service will resume, I promise!

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER, I SUPPOSE.

Sacred Treasure

• This is important: Paul Vallely’s much linked (rightly) article: Christians: the world’s most persecuted people
• Nice interview with my Langham US colleague, Ben Homan, on preaching globally
• Damian Thompson as provocative as ever – about that other agent provocateur, Richard Dawkins, and his new offensiveness to the Left.

Q marks the spot – Treasure Map 70 (July 2014)

Sacred Treasure

• We refuse to be enemies. This is an astonishing story from a family of Palestinian Christians living in Bethlehem.
• Dominic Lawson (son of former Chancellor Nigel, brother of celeb chef Nigella) writes wonderfully about his 19 year old daughter with Down’s Syndrome.
• Abp Justin Welby’s address at the National Prayer Breakfast, on 17th June – some great stuff
• Chris Green asks whether or not we should preach like TED talks

Friday Fun 48: Monopods vs Monobracchs Cricket

Well, the book’s first draft is done and sent off – the initial editors’ comments are awaited with trepidation. But the good news (I hear you ALL cry) is that I can get back to some serious blogging. And what better way to mark this momentous event than by offering some Friday Fun.

One of my recent excitements is the quirky Cox’s Fragmenta. This is edited by Simon Murphy from a really bizarre tome in the British Library – essentially a scrap-book of news clippings kept by one Francis Cox (1752-1834) on every subject under the sun. In fact, it takes up 20 feet of shelving. So I thought it might be fun to pick out a few choice morsels.

Q marks the spot – Treasure Map 69 (June 2014)

Sacred Treasure

• God raises the dead – even for preachers like Chris!
• Why Emily Letts filmed her own abortion…
• The Twitter Disconnect: Why Christians are more loving in real life… some good stuff here
• A Nick Cave service??! Looks a lot of fun (H/T Maggi)

Q marks the spot – Treasure Map 68 (May 2014)

Sacred Treasure

• This is good: John Piper gives 10 lessons from a hospital bed 
• I’m not busy… so says Ian Paul apparently
• Larry Hurtado deftly sorts out the whole Jesus Wife document farrago here and then a follow-up here

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)

5-a-Day I: Detested & Loved words

Hate is a strong word. In fact, one of my favourite aphorisms of Graham Greene (taken from his astonishing The Power and the Glory) is that “Hate was just a failure of the imagination.” It is precisely because we are all such conflicted and complex people that the hatred of individuals is such a blight – there are always extenuating circumstances (even if they are not sufficient to justify actions).

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).

The humiliation of incarnation… Iain Banks somehow, surprisingly, gets it… sort of

Iain Banks (known as Iain M Banks when he’s writing science fiction) had the most extraordinarily fertile imagination. It was one of the reasons his books have been so loved and respected. His last SF book before he died of cancer in June at only 59 was The Hydrogen Sonata, in his Culture series. I’d not read any of his books before but was very struck by the way people talked about him over the summer, and so decided to make amends. Well, I certainly dived into the deep end.

Double-entendres: the problem with symbolic shortcuts

This is not a particularly profound post (which, incidentally, is not to claim that regular posts on Q are either), but having just finished Sarah Lyall’s rather delightful (if affectionately acerbic) The Anglo-Files: A Field Guide to the British, I came across this amusing story from the Blair landslide of 1997 at which a record number of women (very patronisingly described at the time as Blair’s babes) were elected to Parliament.

The perils of drink – but it’s not quite what you think

It’s Friday, and so that would normally call for some Friday fun. Well, this post more or less qualifies as a bit of fun, but it’s also a bit of seriousness too. So I’ll let it stand on its own merits. Here is a very helpful and salutary public health warning from the great nineteenth century social reformer and polemicist William Cobbett. It has much to teach us. As I’m sure you’ll agree…

Less blogging, more writing

The observant will have noticed that there has been a significant slowdown in Q postings in recent weeks. There have been a number of reasons for this.