Life is beginning to resume a more familiar shape and as people start to return to the city after a summer we’ll soon find out what sort of shape we’re in as a church. Challenges and opportunities await.

I’ve been doing quite a bit of running recently and just need to find consistency at this level before trying to notch it up some more. I’ll be running the Stockholm Half Marathon next Saturday (7th September) but it looks like it will be too warm for me so targeting an October race instead. My kids enjoying running and are at the age where they can run once a week and knock out a PB each time. Noah’s 5k came down to 22:16 today.

I’m reading The Three Body Problem but it’s not really grabbing me.

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You Should Read These

On the menu this week is:

1. Into The Void. I think this is a really important essay by Paul Kingsnorth. If you just read one, read this one.
2. Richard Hays Thinks God Changed His Mind About Same-Sex Sex. Is He Right? Rebecca McLaughlin reviews. Also Preston Sprinkle and Tom Schreiner have also reviewed this book which is already gaining a lot of attention.
3. You Become What You Do, and Who You Do It With by Tim Suffield.
4. My Orthodox Summer: Really interesting post from Jez Field.
5. Is Western culture stopping people from growing up? Yes.
6. Is there more or less sex on screen?
7. The top 5 most disgusting Swedish foods. He’s right they are all filthy disgusting.

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You Should Look At This

Exceptional Winners of the 2024 Black and White Photo Awards

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You Should Listen To This

I’ve been watching the UTMB so this song is inevitably in my head.

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You Should Watch This

If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to ascend Mt Everest but know that you never will. Well this drone footage will blow your mind in just under 5 minutes

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This Week’s Postings

Just one this week.

Tuesday: Romans 1-4 Series Outline

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From The Archives

The problem is that what took the early church a hundred years I think should happen in 10. I don’t want to just be faithful, I want to be successful. But perhaps just perhaps, God has a much longer term view when it comes to reaching the nations. For hundreds of years God was content to put His purposes into one family. For thousands more into one small nation. It took a 1000 years for the Gospel to go from Palestine to Sweden. God is not in the same kind of rush that we are and yet His purposes seen over time have not been thwarted.

The not quite so astonishing growth of the early church

Have a great week and if you see something you think deserves a spot here let me know