2010 January | James Henley

January, 2010

Jan201030

Culture, Society & Mission, Current Issues, Film

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AVATAR: 4 Perspectives on the Top Grossing Film Ever

Avatar is now officially the top grossing film of all-time worldwide, making (so far) $1,849,317,325 at the box office – that’s 1.85 billion dollars. I saw it a couple of weeks ago and was captivated simply by the sheer epic proportions of the film, let alone the wealth of meaning and metaphor behind it.

Since Avatar’s release bloggers, journalists and critics have attempted to analyse and reflect on the meaning behind the film. Here are four very different perspectives I’ve read recently, which all bring a different insight into the film’s setting and storyline:

[Read more...]

Jan201028

Church & Ecclesiology, Culture, Society & Mission, Links

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Mission as Identity

We need to understand participation in God’s Mission as part of our very identity as followers of Jesus. Tim Chester got it spot on, writing on his blog yesterday:

For many people mission has become an event. We have guest services. Evangelistic courses. Street preaching. Youth programmes. There’s nothing wrong with these things. But mission is more than a slot into our schedules. It is an identity and a lifestyle. Mission is about living all of life, ordinary life, with gospel intentionality.

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Jan201026

Culture, Society & Mission, Faith & Consumerism

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Are you a Consumer or a Commodity?

Or both?

Part of my dissertation reading has been Zygmunt Bauman’s book, Consuming Life, which describes and explores some of the implications of living in a consumerist society.

Bauman very quickly makes the connection from a society oriented around consuming products to a society which also finds itself consuming each other:

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Jan201024

Current Issues, Links

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Haiti: The Church’s Finest Hour

World Relief has been empowering local churches to respond to the disaster in Haiti. From their news update:

Haiti’s local churches are rising to the challenge in their quake-ravaged communities – feeding and providing shelter for thousands of the most vulnerable survivors.

By the weekend, four local churches partnering with World Relief will be feeding 9,500 people hot meals – rice and beans for lunch and porridge for dinner – every day.

A local church in the Carrefour area has opened its doors to those who lost their homes, providing refuge for nearly 6,000 people in the community. Stepping out in faith, Pastor Jean Bathard Anthony began feeding the people with what few supplies he had. Now World Relief has come alongside Pastor Jean, assisting with food and water.

[Read more...]

Jan201022

Current Issues, Links

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Haiti Emergency Appeal

Some of you may have noticed that I’ve added banners for Tearfund’s Haiti Appeal to the blog over the last few days.

Please consider either giving through Tearfund, an agency I trust wholeheartedly, or by following their link to the Disasters Emergency Committee website – and pray.

For more news and prayer points on the situation in Haiti click here.

[Read more...]

Jan201020

Groups, Relationships & Learning

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Why Collaboration is better than Compromise

Last week I had a great conversation about conflict resolution with some friends, in particular on the differences between collaboration and compromise. We talked about the differences between the two and how collaboration is the most desirable solution to conflict, although not necessarily always possible. Dave has blogged through our thoughts from his point of view.

Here are some of my own opinions on compromise and collaboration:

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Jan201019

Culture, Society & Mission, Faith & Consumerism

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Faith & Consumerism amongst Young Adults

Some of you may know that I’m in the process of writing my undergraduate dissertation. I’ve been working my way through research, reading material and planning since September. Now I have my research approach fully sorted, it means I can begin to share a bit more of what it’s about. I’d also like to begin to blog through some of the reading material I’ve been looking at and some of the key issues and concepts I’ve been working through.

My dissertation is about how consumerism affects the way young adults understand and live out their Christian faith.

[Read more...]

Jan201017

Books, Links

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The Evangelical Universalist: Does everyone get to go to heaven?

I’ve been following with interest Scot McKnight’s Jesus Creed blog, where he’s recently begun working through the rather contentious book: The Evangelical Universalist. Since it’s such a controversial theological issue, but also one which often sparks huge interest, I thought I’d draw your attention to Scot’s discussion of the book’s main arguments.

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Jan201015

Links, Reflection & Contemplation

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Are Mission and Worship the same?

I really enjoyed reading Julie Clawson’s reflections on the Missional Church and Worship, posted on her blog last week.

I think she’s spot on that there has to be something deeper to our worship than just the “cultural habits” of whatever style of worship music happens to be cool or whatever methods of prayer or devotion are currently in fashion.

[Read more...]

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Biblical Studies
Blog Series
Church & Ecclesiology
Community Stories
Culture, Society & Mission
Current Issues
Faith & Consumerism
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January, 2010

Jan201030

Culture, Society & Mission, Current Issues, Film

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Jan201028

Church & Ecclesiology, Culture, Society & Mission, Links

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Jan201026

Culture, Society & Mission, Faith & Consumerism

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Jan201024

Current Issues, Links

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Jan201022

Current Issues, Links

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Jan201020

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Jan201019

Culture, Society & Mission, Faith & Consumerism

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Jan201017

Books, Links

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Jan201015

Links, Reflection & Contemplation

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Jan201013

Culture, Society & Mission, Mission and Learning

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