by Brother Maynard | Feb 14, 2009 | God Life
Who is the real
99?
Clearly I need to make special mention of the fact that this is my 99th Random Acts of Linkage post, and what better way than to feature Special Agent 99 at the outset? But which one? Ginger or Maryanne? Jennifer or Bailey? Barbara or Anne? Oh, the dilemmas of web publishing. Vote in the comments as you hum the tune to “99” by Toto.
So why did the chicken roll in the dirt, crawl across the road, roll in the dirt, and crawl back? He was a low-down dirty double-crosser.
….and some random linkage, per our usual custom. Read more…
- The Bad Vicar
- John La Grou gives a TED Talk
- Bob Hyatt on the atonement: What does it matter WHY Jesus died? — responding to Mike Morrell on the atonement
by Brother Maynard | Dec 18, 2008 | Advent, Books, God Life
I haven’t posted much along the theme of Advent during the season this year… quite a departure from what I did last year during Advent. It being already well into the evening now (at least where I’m posting from), I thought I would share some excerpts from the Compline for the third week of Advent taken from my book, That You Might Believe: Praying Advent with the Gospel of John. The book includes some original prayers and many others taken or adapted from a variety of sources, as noted below. Read more…
by Brother Maynard | Nov 28, 2008 | Blogging, Churchless Faith, God Life, I Ramble, Post-Charismatic, Thought Fodder
This weekend, on November 30th, I will mark four years of blogging. And just today, I’ve discovered that I’ve been nominated for “Best Religion/Philosophy Blog” in Canada. Wow. And voting closes tomorrow, so what can I say? Vote now? I’m kinda late getting my “campaign” started, but I only just found out I was even in the race at all. Shows how oblivious I can be — but thanks, whoever nominated me. I even get a fancy badge of honour to display. Now, in the unlikely event that I actually make the cut into the final round of voting, 
I’ll need y’all to go and vote again next week, okay? Read more…
by Brother Maynard | Nov 27, 2008 | Advent, Books, God Life, Scripture Considered, The Sojourn, Theology
Last fall in considering a missional order, I did some writing on the topic of shalom. This is a significant theme in the Bible — its basic meaning is “well-being,” but it has a wide semantic range that can stress particular nuances, including totality or completeness, fulfillment, maturity, soundness, wholeness, community, harmony, tranquility, security, friendship, agreement, and prosperity. Theologically, it is one of the most significant terms in Scripture — in translating it as “peace,” we refer not merely to time between wars nor happy thoughts of contentment. In thinking of “peace” as we often consider it, we short-change this word of much of its meaning. Read more…
by Brother Maynard | Nov 20, 2008 | Advent, Articles, Books, Christmas, God Life
Last year I wrote a piece for Next-Wave on the theme of Advent. We talked a lot about Advent themes last year as I completed my book, That You Might Believe: Praying Advent with the Gospel of John. I’m not sure yet if there are any synchroblogs planned for Advent this year, but I thought I would start taking up the topic a little eary so it doesn’t catch me off-guard like it so often does. Usually the season sneaks up on me before I know it, but this year I’m trying to think ahead. Unless you’re celebrating by the Celtic calendar, of course. In this vein, I thought I’d reprint last year’s Next-Wave article. Read more…
by Brother Maynard | Nov 13, 2008 | Emerging Kids, God Life, House Church, I Ramble
I remember well the days of my youth when the Christmas catalogues would arrive from Sears, Eaton’s, and The Bay. Pouring over those catalogues and circling our most-desired items was a cherished tradition during the run-up to Christmas, when visions of cars and trucks and G.I. Joe and helicopters and spaceships and chocolate and “Christmas oranges” would dance through our heads before a background of tinsel and baubles and bubble-lights hung from a sparkly tree. And in case anyone’s wondering, the 1904 catalogue was a bit before my time ;^) …the ones I recall were much glossier than this. Read more…
by Brother Maynard | Oct 25, 2008 | God Life
Why was the opera singer arrested? He’d gotten himself into some treble.
What’s the difference between an Irish wedding and an Irish wake? One less drunk.
Did you hear about the shoe factory that burnt down? Two hundred soles perished.
Why did the mirror have 6 holes in it? A blonde tried to shoot herself. Read more…
- I don’t imagine Scot McKnight as a dangley-earring kind of guy, but I imagine it’d take a very special pair of earrings to change that picture.
- The Sunday Driven Church is a drain, if you ask me.
- I doubt you’ll ever see this ‘Dancing with the Stars’ couple.
- An Introvert’s Lexicon — it’s supposed to be humorous, but I think it’s actually quite instructive, especially for extroverts.
by Brother Maynard | Oct 13, 2008 | Feasts & Holidays, God Life, Holidays
Today is Thanksgiving in Canada, and I thought back to a post I did on the subject a couple of years ago, Purged in the Plough: Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Thanksgiving & Harvest, which reflects on the convergence of various religious traditions for the harvest season, including reflection on the past year and resolve for the year ahead, as is found in Judaism at this time of year. I concluded that post with a prayer of blessing, which I’ve modified slightly for this Thanksgiving day.
May you find the purging of the plough
for the transgressions of the past;
May you bury them deep in the fresh-tilled earth, dead,
to be covered with frost and snow in the coming winter.
May you find the forgiveness of others
and the forgiveness of God;
May you extend forgiveness to others,
as it’s been shown to you.
May you feast together with those around you,
giving thanks to God for the harvest;
May you find peace in the present, rest through the winter,
and new life in the coming spring.
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