Christian Chameleons?

I’m currently reading ‘Mend the Gap’ by Jason Gardner, a book about how the church could and should bust a gut to get over the generation gap. One of the challenges facing us is how to remain distinctive, but still engage with the consumer society that drives the lives of our teenagers and adults and which divides the generations by creating hundreds of sub-cultures and demands constant re-adjustment to the god of ‘cool’. One of the biggest dangers the church has always faced is the desire to gain acceptance and adherents by fitting in, by seeming attractive and by looking like everybody else. This is especially tempting in the current day and age when only 3% of the population are practicing Christians and we are often portrayed in the media as unreasonable, unthinking fundamentalists clinging to obsolete and archaic myths.

However, attempting to fit in by compromising to society’s morally relative standards instead of sticking to Biblical truth is an incredibly dangerous game for the church to play, and ultimately nothing could be more counter productive. There is a fantastic quote from Graham Tomlin in the book which is full of wisdom and is a challenge the church in the UK would do well to take on board.

“If churches became known as places where you could learn how to love, to trust, to hope, to forgive, to gain wisdom for life, then they might begin to become attractive, perhaps even necessary places to belong to. Paradoxically, it is not making Christianity easier to follow that will help it thrive again, but making it harder. Only a distinct form of discipleship that offers transformation will seem worth it.”

In some senses this is just a restating of Jesus’ challenge on the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5 "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men”

So my question is; how salty are we? Do we stand out because of our love for God and our love for others or do we blend in like chameleons when we feel threatened because of our distinctiveness in Christ?

Killer Rabbit

I'm hoping to train flapjack.....

Quantum of disappointment

Unless you have been living in a cave somewhere for the past 3 weeks you will know the latest installment of Bond is out there in cinemas. Quantum of Solace picks up moments after the end of Casino Royale, as we see an angry, grieving Bond escaping a castle in Siena with Mr White in his boot, hell bent on discovering the agent responsible for Vespa's death and to expose the Quantum organisation that employed him. What follows is 100 minutes of high-octane set pieces, stylishly shot action scenes and Daniel Craig looking very, very angry.

It would be fair to say I was pretty excited when I walked into the cinema on Saturday night. I loved Casino Royale, Empire had given Bond's latest a 4 star review and I had been waiting 2 years to see what happened next. Sadly my mood wasn't as good when I came out

The film was just an extended set up for the next movie, which meant it didn't really develop any kind of an involving plot of its own. Yes, it was fantastic to look at, the explosions were impressive and the pace was relentless, but there was no depth to it, which is what had marked its predecessor as a cut above other recent Bond outings. None of the characters get time to develop personality between the action scenes and the consequences are that Quantum of Solace felt flat and uninvolving.

This film was purely a vehicle to establish a little more information about Quantum and tie up the loose ends of Casino Royale. For me this seems a little indulgent on behalf of the film makers, and means it can't really stand alone as a movie in its own rights, in the way Empire Strikes Back or LOTR Two Towers did. Each of those movies, despite being the middle installment of 3 had enough independent plot, character development and suspense to stand alone as a good watch whilst developing the overall story arc. In Quantum of Solace there simply wasn't enough going on beyond the action to sustain serious interest, it is purely a stepping stone on the way to episode 3. For me that is just lazy and disappointing.

Hardcore Bond fans are complaining about the lack of gadgets, one liners and quirky villans, but for me that's not really a problem. In so many ways Bond has always reflected the political and social context in which it was made, and whilst we made be obsessed with gadgets, the political mood is far more sombre, the world has moved on and Bond has gone with it. I wont spend long on the obvious Bourne comparison, but that series did raise the bar for spy movies and rendered the Brosnan era Bond irrelevant and a thing of the past.

But all of the things in the previous paragraph are secondary to Quantum's main problem; ultimately the film needed more of plot. I'm not sure Bond going postal is not really enough to sustain and justify an entire movie. Maybe you think it is?!

Stop the Traffik

Jesus said this- some have called it His mission statement-

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour."

It can be read in two ways, both equally valid, firstly that He came to bring good news to the spiritually poor, proclaim freedom from sin and release those oppressed by it, and secondly more literally. Jesus came to preach good news to poor people, to physically heal the suffering, proclaim freedom for those who are wrongly imprisoned and literally release the oppressed.
As Christians we should be sharing the same vision and doing all we can to uphold it...
Today in the world 2-4 million people a year are trafficked (taken into slavery), for sexual exploitation, sweat shops, child brides, circuses, sacrificial worship, forced begging, sale of human organs, farm labour, domestic servitude. Many of these are children who are often bought and sold for as little $20. In fact there are more enslaved people in the world today than when Parliament abolished the trade in 1833. Something must be done. Join and support the Stop the Traffik campaign (www.stopthetraffik.org), write a letter to your MP, only eat fairtrade chocolate, raise awareness amongst your friends and family- there are so many little things we can do that can make a difference one person at a time. Don't be indifferent.
Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says this of the campaign;
"I believe that the Stop the Traffik Coalition has the potential to provide significant impetus to the United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking"

Get involved

People should not be bought and sold

STOP THE TRAFFIK

Sello Tape

Flight of the Conchords. Genuis. Watch it.

The First Post

Hello and welcome to In the Room, my shiny new blog! Its been over 2 years since I stopped posting on fireworks and hurricanes, and after much thought I decided it was time to pick it up again and have another shot.

Possibly the question most of you who know me are thinking is ‘why bother?’ especially bearing in mind I’ve had a couple of blogs in the past and have given up on both of them! Basically I always enjoyed writing, and miss it!

Over the past couple of years I read lots of other blogs, and thought a bit about what makes a good read, along with some of the pitfalls worth avoiding too. Hopefully I’ll be able to translate that into something entertaining and readable here!

There’s no particular theme to In the Room but rest assured it will be filled with thoughts on a range of stuff, cool links, great videos and hopefully provoke a bit of debate too!

If you wanna be in on the action, you've gotta be In the Room!