The nature of truth/ Truth and meaning/ Meaning have been playing on my mind for various reasons, both during and after Greenbelt (“Wow, deep stuff!” I hear you breathe…).
As ever, when there’s something on my mind, I see markers of it everywhere. Today, within a few hundred metres of each other, I walked past my favourite piece of Mcr graffiti – a tag that reads “? This is the age of broken images”...
and, a new flyposter that’s appeared in the last 24 hours...
Today, both seemed to be divine interventions (“what can it mean? what does it mean?”) in a way that I think might make Pete Rollins and the Ikon crew nod sagely…
(BTW, I still don't know what Pete said in his GB session, I just know it was really, really good.)
technorati tag: greenbelt, ikon, pete rollins
Greenbelt Communion 07
Well we did it! Sanctus1 led the main communion service at GB this year, it's probably the only time in my life where i'll lead worship for 15,000 people and it was a fantastic experience. All seemed to go to plan and the service ran smoothly. Love and Joy Gospel choir were stunning and gave the service a real sense of energy, Fuse Factory on the arena stage gave the arena an ambient feel. People from Sanctus led the service well and the whole service felt coherent and lasted 70 minutes.
Thanks to all involved, esp. those who stuffed the 1,000 worship bags - without you it wouldn't have happened!
My highlight was the final song, How Great Thou Art, I felt quite tearful - this huge event that i have been working on for six months or so had come to an end, and it had worked. The crowd seemed to be loving it and i had a real sense of God during the event.
In the pouring rain of another Thursday morning...
"You’ll never see the hacienda. It doesn’t exist. The hacienda must be built."
I suspect Tony Wilson's funeral notice should have read: "Flowers, or donations to Christies. But please, no tribute gigs..."
technorati tag: tony wilson, the hacienda
Greenbelt - see you there?
Not long now...!
You can meet up and worship with us twice on the weekend - on Sunday morning at 10.30 (yep, we're doing the festival communion - gulp!), and also for a Sanctus2nds service. Be great to see you at both/ either.
And with my weather obsession (Ben says I need help!!), I'd also point to the excellent metcheck for updates...
technorati tag: greenbelt, sanctus1
You can meet up and worship with us twice on the weekend - on Sunday morning at 10.30 (yep, we're doing the festival communion - gulp!), and also for a Sanctus2nds service. Be great to see you at both/ either.
And with my weather obsession (Ben says I need help!!), I'd also point to the excellent metcheck for updates...
technorati tag: greenbelt, sanctus1
Anthony Wilson. RIP
Anthony Wilson, Music Impressario (BBC Radio 4), PopMogul (BBC Radio 2), founder of Factory records and the Hacienda, has died at the age of 57. He had been suffering from kidney cancer and was apparently fed up with everyone suddenly being nice to him.
He died on Friday evening at the Christie Hospital surrounded by family.
Icon of the Resurrection
On Weds night in Sanctus we spent a bit of time exlporing this Icon:
Here are some thoughts on it that I shared on the evening. The Icon was originally painted in the sixth century and has been repainted a number of times throughout Christian history – this example here is far later. I think that we need to view Icons both visually and symbolically - we immediately see the visual and we’ll have a reaction to it, we’ll either like it or not, but underneath that is the symbolism and the theology.
As well as being called the resurrection some call this Icon ‘The Descent into Hell’, in Christian tradition throughout the centuries one theory is that when Christ died he descended into hell, where he finally defeated Satan. At the bottom of the Icon we have an image of hell – two men, (other have images of Satan) representatives of humanity – were trapped their – on either side of them are the broken open gates of hell, around them are fragments of the lock that Christ has broken through. He is helping two people out, pulling them from their coffins to join him, these two people are Adam and Eve, and he is restoring them to God. The fall is being overcome by the resurrection.
In the centre is Christ – he stands on a bridge, in some images the bridge is far some precarious than this one, he is stood in front of a doorway. This is the door way to heaven. It leads to the mountains – the dwelling place of God. Christ is the doorway and shows the way- I am the way the truth and the light no one comes to the father except by me…
There are a number of other figures around the image, to the right of Christ are David and Solomon – the two Greatest Kings of Israel, next to them in John the Baptist. On the other side the left and two great figures of the Jewish faith Moses and Isaiah, and standing next to Christ is a figure who I think is Peter. This is therefore a timeless Icon, whether in the past or the present the door way to heaven is open to all people.
I want you to notice how the light is radiating from Christ – it highlights all the others, they are glowing because of the light of Christ. The light of Christ is so dazzling that Eve cannot even look at him.
This icon can be divided into three, Hell is at the bottom; a waiting place such as purgatory in the centre where, the saints and patriarchs are waiting for entry to heaven; and then at the top is heaven and the way to enter heaven is through the door way opened up by Christ. It is a timeless Icon, through which we cover all of biblical history.
As I seek to interpret this Icon, I find the image of Christ as a bridge helpful. In this picture he opens us Heaven - he becomes the bridge to heaven. He also conquers hell and becomes the bridge out of hell. Finally he bridges the fractured relationship between Adam and Eve. It is often noted that in Genesis Adam quickly seeks to blame Eve for the fall, a sign of human sin and selfishness. Christ seeks to repair this relationship as he seeks to repair all relationship. Therefore this is a Icon of resurrection but not only the physical resurrection of Christ but also the resurrection of dead broken relationships.
Here are some thoughts on it that I shared on the evening. The Icon was originally painted in the sixth century and has been repainted a number of times throughout Christian history – this example here is far later. I think that we need to view Icons both visually and symbolically - we immediately see the visual and we’ll have a reaction to it, we’ll either like it or not, but underneath that is the symbolism and the theology.
As well as being called the resurrection some call this Icon ‘The Descent into Hell’, in Christian tradition throughout the centuries one theory is that when Christ died he descended into hell, where he finally defeated Satan. At the bottom of the Icon we have an image of hell – two men, (other have images of Satan) representatives of humanity – were trapped their – on either side of them are the broken open gates of hell, around them are fragments of the lock that Christ has broken through. He is helping two people out, pulling them from their coffins to join him, these two people are Adam and Eve, and he is restoring them to God. The fall is being overcome by the resurrection.
In the centre is Christ – he stands on a bridge, in some images the bridge is far some precarious than this one, he is stood in front of a doorway. This is the door way to heaven. It leads to the mountains – the dwelling place of God. Christ is the doorway and shows the way- I am the way the truth and the light no one comes to the father except by me…
There are a number of other figures around the image, to the right of Christ are David and Solomon – the two Greatest Kings of Israel, next to them in John the Baptist. On the other side the left and two great figures of the Jewish faith Moses and Isaiah, and standing next to Christ is a figure who I think is Peter. This is therefore a timeless Icon, whether in the past or the present the door way to heaven is open to all people.
I want you to notice how the light is radiating from Christ – it highlights all the others, they are glowing because of the light of Christ. The light of Christ is so dazzling that Eve cannot even look at him.
This icon can be divided into three, Hell is at the bottom; a waiting place such as purgatory in the centre where, the saints and patriarchs are waiting for entry to heaven; and then at the top is heaven and the way to enter heaven is through the door way opened up by Christ. It is a timeless Icon, through which we cover all of biblical history.
As I seek to interpret this Icon, I find the image of Christ as a bridge helpful. In this picture he opens us Heaven - he becomes the bridge to heaven. He also conquers hell and becomes the bridge out of hell. Finally he bridges the fractured relationship between Adam and Eve. It is often noted that in Genesis Adam quickly seeks to blame Eve for the fall, a sign of human sin and selfishness. Christ seeks to repair this relationship as he seeks to repair all relationship. Therefore this is a Icon of resurrection but not only the physical resurrection of Christ but also the resurrection of dead broken relationships.
.org?
Just thinking out loud here... why is Sanctus1 a .co.uk domain? I've just checked and .org and .org.uk are available.
Should we move from the commercial to the err... organisational?
...Lev
Should we move from the commercial to the err... organisational?
...Lev
"Cut God some slack"
A cleverer and wittier man than me poses and half answers the question I've always wondered:-
Who buys all those best-selling "anti-God" books given that they would seem to be aimed only at the market of strident atheists in need of reinforcement?
UPDATE: He reckons he knows now...
technorati tag: freakonomics, steven levitt
Who buys all those best-selling "anti-God" books given that they would seem to be aimed only at the market of strident atheists in need of reinforcement?
UPDATE: He reckons he knows now...
technorati tag: freakonomics, steven levitt
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