This is the fourth post in a series I’ve been writing on Christendom. The previous ones (here, here and here) were to lay some groundwork as I move into the main idea I want to dig into: the damage done to the church by aligning with the Roman Empire and, subsequently, the nation-states of Europe….
Category: Culture
Christendom: An Introduction
I often write about leadership, power, and church structures. Some of the issues and ideas I’ve presented may seem at odds with how the church has always done things. And some of the questions I receive from readers back that up. There is an old story where one fish asks another, “How’s the water?” and the second…
Why Ireland Quit Going to Church. A Few Thoughts.
I have been reading the book, The Best Catholics in the World (2021) by Irish Times correspondent Derek Scally. It has been a compelling and thought-provoking read (I still have a few chapters remaining). An added layer of interest for me is that the author grew up just down the road from where we live and attended…
The Good Old Days
The Irish Times published an article today, and I want to share a couple of thoughts. The story is entitled: Other countries yearn for the good old days. Not Ireland. I grew up in Western NY, frequently hearing a lament for the “good old days”. Where I lived, life changed dramatically from the late 70s…
Culture Night Photo Gallery
On Friday night we went on a tour (run by Alternative Dublin) focusing on street art in city centre
How About a Little Culture…Night
Shortly after we moved to Dublin, we discover Culture Night. It is a night when venues all across the city open their doors for people to come in, walk around and maybe get a tour. I can’t remember them all, but we have gotten to the Custom House, Dublin Castle, IFI (Irish Film Institute), City…
It’s a Beautiful Day in the…
For your first few years here, where we would talk about the type of church we were hoping to plant, we would say we are starting “Neighbourhood-based, Jesus-centred, Communities of Faith.” That is how we’d describe it to those with a reasonable understanding of what we are doing.
Two More Sermon Illustrations that Need to Stop
Earlier today, Relevant Magazine tweeted the following: I want to add two to their list: Military Analogies. When I was part of a team trainning and coaching potential church planters, there were some who loved to show video clips of Private Ryan…or other battle scences. This is not to downplay the spiritual battle that is…
I Wanted It To Be True
A few years ago I was on retreat and part of the event included a trip to Glendalough, which is one of my favourite places in Ireland. While there, the retreat leader (not Irish) said that Irish monastic cities had low walls compared to monasteries in the rest of Europe. While the walls on the…
Testimony Generator
A week or so ago I shared an image of a Testimony Generator on a social media platform that shall remain nameless. It reminded me of an experience I had shortly after Liz and I moved to Ithaca, NY. The churches we were involved with back then placed a big emphasis on testimonies. And…
Please Just Listen
Although we are a continent away, Liz and I have been grieved as we watch the news from our home country. Like many of you have experienced profound sadness and outrage. The murder of George Floyd. The videos out of NYC and Minneapolis of white individual threatening African-American men with the police. If you imagine…
Thinking About Soil
I spent most of my life in Upstate NY. It was a place full of farms, orchards, vineyards, and corn fields as far as the eye could see. I grew up in a village next store to where Thomas Welch built his first grape juice factory and simply had to hop over our back fence to grab all the concord grapes I could eat (or use in a grape war against my brother).
So, Yeah I am Still Angry About This…
In the Old Testament, the concept of justice had to do with a few central ideas: Don’t cheat people (all that stuff in Proverbs about using proper scales). Don’t accuse the innocent and pardon the guilty. We can come up with a few more, but they all boil down to honesty and integrity and treating…
Pro-Life…unless it hurts the economy
A couple of weeks ago I saw a stream of posts and comments about doctors in Italy having to decide who received a ventilator (and had a chance to live) and who didn’t. The point was, basically, “see what you get with socialized medicine?” Nothing like using a global tragedy to score political points. Now…
That was intense…
Yesterday we celebrated St Patrick’s day with an Irish Movie Marathon. Song of the Sea, Waking Ned Devine, & In Bruges (the latter after Méabh went to bed of course). Since like many of you we are checking our phones throughout the day to keep up with the latest, we learned that our Taoiseach, Leo…
Engaging Culture
Certain words overtime become less and less useful. There has been a great deal of discussion around the word “Evangelical” in Ireland and in the US as many think of it referring a certain brand of politics than a certain type of Jesus follower. Missions is another of those words. For many, missions is about…
Netflix and Missions
Yesterday I read Rachel Kleppen’s article in Christianity Today entitled, Netflix Is Making It Harder to Be a Missionary. Kleppen is a missionary in Taipei, Taiwan and the article was and focused on how the internet and social media (among other advances) make being a missionary challenging. There was a lot of great stuff in…
Join Us for a Concert in the Docklands
Last year Liz got back into playing violin with an orchestra for the first time since we had kids. She’s enjoyed performing again, and we’ve loved the concerts. Her next concert with the Dublin Co-Orch, which donates all proceeds to a different charity each time, will be on Thursday, November 17. You can learn more…
immigrant
Today I had to head to the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB). This is the fourth time in less than 5 years. The first year I was so nervous. In Ireland, you can’t take care of your residency before you move there. You come in like normal, receive permission to stay in the state for…
Dublin…a Rip-Off?
There was a big story in Dublin yesterday. A tourism expert from New Zealand was speaking on the other side of the country and said he would never recommend Dublin for a trip because “Dublin is a rip-off!”
Flits, Pennies, and Learning Culture
A big part of moving to a new country is learning to live in a new culture. There are aspects of any culture, that if you are paying attention, you will pick up on and learn. There are aspect of Irish culture that Méabh will come by naturally, but will always be a challenge to…
Re-seeing Dublin
One of the things I love getting to do is show off Dublin to people who come to visit. Whether it is ministry partners from the States or colleagues in Communitas, having a day or two to walk people around the city and share what we are dreaming is one of my favorite things! Over…
4 Unexpected Changes
When we moved to Dublin in 2012, we knew there would be a lot for us to figure out. Everything from learning a new banking system, to understanding how utilities operate, to figuring out where to buy various items you need (There are no mega-stores here and usually a pharmacy is only a pharmacy). That…
My Top 5 Tips for Travelling to Ireland
One of the things I love about travelling is the preparation. Learning about the city or country. Learning about the people and what to expect on a daily basis. Yet regardless of how much research I do, each trip will include several times where I think, “I wished I’d know that ahead of time.” There…