Q marks the spot – Treasure Map 85 (October 2015)

Sacred Treasure

• This is serious – Turkish Protestant churches sent death threats – directly affects a number of churches that I’ve regularly spent time with in Turkey. PRAY.
• My former All Souls colleague Jo Jackson has written a couple of great posts about weakness: 1. Willingly Weak and  2. Wonderfully Weak
• Phil Whittall (aka the Simple Pastor) has a great post on ‘We are alone in the universe‘

Q Combinations 5: Kamienska & Wyeth and a winter hope

If the last Q combo was a chronological mismatch of artist and poet, this one is seasonal. Today’s still been pretty warm for a British September day, so it’s perhaps rather incongruous to be thinking about winter. But a dear friend and colleague, Jennifer, sent me this all too brief poem last week, and so I felt it was a perfect combo contender.

Q marks the spot – Treasure Map 84 (September 2015)

Sacred Treasure

• Did God Betray You? Really helpful piece about suffering and faith.
• We’re all sadists now: Carl Trueman on provocative but insightful form
• Tim Neufeld on cracking form about U2’s current tour: Ancient Psalms for a State-of-the-Art Tour

Q marks the spot – Treasure Map 83 (August 2015)

Sacred Treasure

• Prof Gary Habermas has made his 90-page book, Evidence for the Historical Jesus available as a free pdf.
• Gabe Lyons and Andrew Sullivan have a remarkable conversation about the pain of Church/LGBT (can’t they find a vowel!!?) relations
• She doesn’t mince her words here – it’s necessarily shocking – but this is important – Gail Dines TED talk on Growing Up in a Pornified Culture

Closing the gap: sitcoms, spin and suspicion

Paul Arnold, the coordinator of the Church and Media Network (MediaNet), kindly invited me to write a post this week to point to how Wilderness engages with media issues. So here is the result:

When Jeremy Paxman gave his MacTaggart lecture at the 2007 Edinburgh International Television Festival, he actually created his own headlines. After a spate of scandals at the time, he described how his employer, the BBC, had been left with “a catastrophic, collective loss of nerve,” with the bigger question of whether the corporation “itself has a future.” Those comments are even more relevant today, with many seeking to exploit its insecurity. The precariousness is indicated by the fact that big celebrity guns have been marshalled to speak out in its defence.

Broadcast of my Wilderness of Mirrors interview on 100 Huntley St

While I was in the US for the publication of A Wilderness of Mirrors back in May, I was asked to make a mildly crazy detour to Toronto for an interview on 100 Huntley St, a daily Christian TV talk show. Having not really done this kind of thing before, and certainly not knowing what kind of constituency the show serves, I was rather nervous about it all.

Q marks the spot – Treasure Map 82 (July 2015)

Sacred Treasure

• Ding Dong the witch is dead: if you’ve missed this, it is a must read – a harrowing account of a pastor who is a survivor of horrendous child abuse
• Turkish Armenians with previously hidden Christian heritage are returning to Christianity from Islam
• Phil Whittall has a very good piece on the issue of transhumanism (after the discussion between Peter Thiel and NT Wright)

Double Whammy! Special GoodBookCo Deals on Wilderness and Humans!

Well, you work on one book for 5 years, and another one for 5 months, and whaddaya know – they appear on the same day! Well in the UK at least. Tim, the noble overlord of the Good Book Co had asked me to contribute to their little series, Questions Christians Ask a while back. But because a big annual conference in London had the issue of human nature as its main theme, the plan was to work on getting this out in time.

Q marks the spot – Treasure Map 81 (June 2015)

Sacred Treasure

• Philip Yancey has a good piece on the value of small churches… he also passes on a lovely John Ortberg story about a bus driver in San Francisco.
• Eddie Arthur has a consistently thought-provoking blog – this piece particularly good: Go to where God is Not at Work!
• Krish Kandiah on 7 reasons why preaching is dead and 7 reasons why it lives

Q marks the spot – Treasure Map 80 (May 2015)

Sacred Treasure

• Tolkien and the Long Defeat: this is such a powerful piece from Dec 2013 – so counter-cultural in our utilitarian world.
• Phil Whittall makes some helpful points about the strong tides of ethical change
• Did the early church believe in substitutionary atonement? Michael Kruger has a look
• 9 Traits of Church bullies – sadly very true

Q marks the spot – Treasure Map 79 (April 2015)

Sacred Treasure

• Emma describes how she and her husband Phil found themselves planting a church in Stockholm
• Cranmer has a bold but perceptive take on the Phobia culture that we find ourselves in
• Google CFO retires with an important challenge about work/life balance

Q marks the spot – Treasure Map 78 (March 2015)

Sacred Treasure

• Josh Byers over at Visual Theology has produced a GREAT infographic summarising all the arguments for the historicity of the Resurrection
• Cranmer rightly notes the increased levels of Christian engagement in the next UK General Election (see last month’s Q treasure). And here’s his great reflection on Andy Flannagan’s book Those Who Show Up.
• Ian Paul covers the ground on Stephen Fry and God

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.