Evangelical Scholar Believes in Evolution

Fundementalist Christians over-react to a very sensible comment and it gets on the news - only in America!

Photos from Easter Sunday

I've now uploaded several photo's from our Easter Sunday service onto flickr. We had a great time with our Resurrection Party that included breakfast, a quiz and making Easter garden - all as part of our worship to God as we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus.

"Happy Resurrection Day"

pleased that my wife has started blogging again

Nettes' blog is here

Proverbs Illustrated

‘Like one who takes away a garment on a cold day, or like vinegar poured on soda, is one who sings songs to a heavy heart’. Proverbs 25:20. Ever wondered what vinegar poured on soda is like? Well it erupts like a volcano as you see in this science experiment.

Last Thursday in our home group we were chatting about a few proverbs over one of our regular bring-and-share meals and Harry did a volcano like this as an illustration. This provoked some interesting thoughts about people may react to ‘pat’ answers or how when we are grieving we might not appreciate happy-clappy-worship songs.

We also looked at Proverbs 6:6-8 and learnt a few things about ants using this illustration I've blogged before and 11:11 using this gif from Andrew Jones's blog. A laptops and wireless internet at home group! Whatever next?

And Proverbs 27:17 ‘iron sharpens iron’ raised some interesting thoughts about mutual accountability and 29:18 ‘without revelation the people cast off restraint’ got us examining our motivation. Thanks for those thoughts too Harry. It was a great.

Messy Fiesta

On Saturday my wife Nettes and Simon - a friend of ours from our church - went to Messy Fiesta - a conference all about Messy Church - a technique that took off a few years ago when it was featured on a DVD by Fresh Expressions. Both Nettes and Simon came back very enthusiastic about beginning to do something like this with the families of the kids that come to our kids club.

Today Nettes took Callie and a couple of Callie’s friends from church to Kidz Aloud who run their own mix of Messy Church and Godly Play. A good time was had by all.

These are brilliant ideas for kids and families. If they are new to you please check out the links above and Barnabas in Churches for more details.

honest confession from our Time With God

During our church’s ‘Time With God’ last weekend the following quote was written on the wall. - well, actually on flip chart paper blu-tacked to the wall. We were struck at how honest this confession was and I am sure that it spoke to a number of us when we were looking around the rooms:

Lord, I want to know your security
as I step forward and take the risks
that you have called me to.
For too long I have felt over-looked
and not taken those opportunities
because of my personality type.
'Why is it like this?' I cry.
But do I really need to know?
I long to let go of the bitterness
and be born anew.
I gladly share with you the cup of suffering
in my daily hassles.
And sense that as I drink it,
it becomes a cup of blessing to me
and to others.
But only as I step forward
and, at last, take those risks.

‘Time With God’ happens once or twice a year and is a time when our little building is open 24 hours for people to spend time with God. We have plenty of beanbags, throws and drapes and bring in candles and tee-lights. There are usually a few creative installations too. This time there was a cross that Ruth made - to which people stuck post-its with their thoughts and prayers on. Ruth had also put together a rolling slideshow for the evening.

It is often commented that during these times people find God speaking really deeply to them. The prayer above was probably written during someone’s individual time when people tended to stay in one of the rooms as opposed to the ‘corporate times’ we had more people there and they could move more freely around the installations.

The Wisdom of Rules

I recently found this video of a lecture from psychologist Barry Schwatz on the importance of wisdom and how this relates to following rules. It is on a site called TED (Technology, Entertainment & Design) whose mission is simply to spread ideas that they feel are worth spreading.

Though I found the link through a post by Brother Maynard there is no indication that Barry Schwartz is a Christian. Yet I am struck just how much this echoes the teaching of the Paul in the New Testament on role of the law.



One quote from the video that sums this up for me is when he says, “The wise person knows when and how to make the exception to every rule.”

You see, just following the letter of rules without appreciating the spirit behind them is what Christians often call legalism. When we listen to some sermons particularly ones that emphasise personal righteousness we can feel brow beaten by our failure to keep the rules. I don't think I'm the only one. The message we hear is "try harder". We hear more rules that we should keep and despair of ever really living up to our Christian standards. Of course this doesn't mean that righteousness should not be preached but that we need an understanding of grace to appreciate how to apply it to our lives.

In the past I have tried to keep as far away as possible from sin that I've denied myself opportunities to relax both with believers and non-believers and many of the positive results that this could have led to. I've got over-anxious about what other might people think in my desire to be 'a good witness'. I can’t go there. I can’t do that. People might think I’m doing something I shouldn't be. Yet in my experience my non-Christian friends were often not as concerned about these issues as I was. They may even have felt my attempt to be righteous was at best silly or at worst unfriendly.

When we hear a preacher give examples of righteousness it is only human nature to deduce from these sets of rules – rules that can easily be misapplied. Unfortunately in sermons there often isn't space to ask questions and point out the exceptions to these rules or to explore what is behind what we hear. If we were to do so we might discover some deeper principles. And we might also be surprised at the variety of ways that each of us applies these principles to our lives.

A simple example is that in applying the principle of self control one person might be more sensitive to being effected by alcohol than another. Of course there is a balance here: on one side we fall into legalism and on the other into drunkenness; the righteous path is the one in between. It is that path that enables us to have a deep and meaningful conversation with our work colleague one evening over a pint or two.

I recently heard a challenging sermon that addressed such areas as our relationships with members of the opposite sex when applying principles of chastity, or faithfulness to our partners, and also brought up issues of honesty in our work environment. I have been asking myself what are the principles that apply in these situations, and how can I really apply them? But asking not only what are the dangers of licence in these circumstances but also what are the dangers of legalism.

I did like Brother Maynard’s closing comment that asking such questioning might not be rebellion or lack of faith as is sometimes suggested, but actually a pursuit of wisdom.

Don't forget to book your Time with God

Joe recorded this video promoting our forthcoming 'Time With God'. (I've now managed to load it onto our church website.)



Every few months we have a period when our little building is open for 24 hours for people to interact with God. You can see some of the things that we’ve got up to before here.

It's great to have Ruth on board.

And this time, as well as encouraging people to spend time on their own with God creatively, we are also including times of corporate creative worship. But don't forget we are still aiming to cover the whole 24 hour period and you need to see me to book your time slots.

praying for the homeless as local hostels close

Last night we were praying about the ministry to the homeless and in particular the effects that the new government funding strategies will have on the homeless in Birmingham.

St Anne’s Hostel that provides about 40 beds is closing due to cuts in council funding. More imminently Snow Hill Hostel, which is much larger, is also closing although this is to redevelop it into a large number of self contained units for previously homeless people over the next couple of years (see homeless link).

But in the meantime this could cause a crisis of increased number of people sleeping rough in the city. The council are referring people to 24-hour hub services that include housing associations in an attempt to re-house people. Yet it still looks like we might find an increasing demand for our help when the team goes out on the streets with soup and rolls.

It certainly is a time to intercede for those in authority that people might live peaceful lives and won’t have to worry about what they will eat or where they will sleep tonight.

had a good time at the drop in

As usual this week I visited the Drop In Centre that has developed out our ministry to the homeless.

This week at the drop in we had a few songs from singer/songwriter Wes Harding who is associated with a local prison chaplaincy. He sounds quite good with just his acoustic guitar.

Afterwards a few of us played our usual game of Mexican Train dominoes – a trend which some of us have taught the people who come to the Drop In.

The Drop In is a safe place for all sorts of people to hang out drink coffee and get a bite to eat. It’s just great being around these guys.

See also this post about the Drop In.

History of Now

I've just been watching the first two parts of this fascinating BBC documentary - the History of Now: The Story Of The Noughties. At first I thought it was just going to be a round up of the decade - the sort of thing you get on New Year's Eve. But it turned out to be much more. It's more like a popular introduction to sociology - picking out themes and trends of the decade.

The first part focus on how age has become such a watershed in our culture. The second one looks at class and concludes that though it appears that the barriers are disappearing in fact social mobility has got a lot harder. It also gives the new definition of social class that emerged in the last decade - postcodes. I've been exploring this site where you can put in a postcode and get quite an accurate description of the people that live there. Go on have a go.

I haven't watched the third part yet but the trailer said that it was going to be about globalisation.

The End of Time

Callie manged to watch her first full grown up Doctor Who story over Christmas. She joined ten million in the now regularly Christmas tradition. But this was not just another Christmas special. It was David Tennant's final story as the Doctor and featured a show down between the Doctor and the Master.

I felt it was pitched about right for Callie's introduction to Doctor Who. It wasn't too scary and there were some exciting and moving moments. As usual there were a number of moral and spiritual themes. The Doctor reluctantly takes a gun to face the Master. The Doctor's pacifist beliefs win out in the end as he doesn't end up using the gun on anyone. The returning Time Lords plan to ascend into an etheral state and destroy the universe in the process. But of course the Doctor stops them.

It is interesting that the writer R.T.Davies continually plays not just with morality but also with ideas about the afterlife.

Merry Christmas from the Derbyshire family!

Merry Christmas from our family! Hope you are having a wonderful holiday. Christmas is a much needed rest for us – it is great to take a break from our busy schedules. I just want to give you this opportunity to catch you on what we’ve been doing this year.

Nettes is continuing to do agency work as a support worker in City College with adults with additional needs/learning difficulties as well as running a crèche for an ESOL group one morning a week for Karis Neighbour Scheme, a charity that has links with our church. Nettes is still also leading our church’s Sunday school. After a recent recruitment drive we have a few more workers. This is good as some children have come up from crèche and we are now running three groups rather than two. But that’s not all she does. After getting a Grade 2 in last year’s module she now has only one more year to go on her Open University Degree in Psychology.

I am still teaching Psychology. This year the merger of Matthew Boulton College and Sutton Coldfield College to form Birmingham Metropolitan College was finally made official in September. As well as teaching some time in the sixth form I still have my evening class although because of funding issues it is not certain that this will continue next academic year. We both continue to visit our church’s drop in centre that grew out of the work with the homeless. Over the summer I went on a trip with them to Stratford. And this year I have taken over some responsibility for the church’s website.

Our little daughter Callie is now in Year 2 and is getting some glowing reports from school. This year she has enrolled in Rainbows. On her birthday she enjoyed a visit to Blakesley Hall with friends, and has had fun sleeping over with her friends on occasions. In the summer holidays she went to Stratford with Nettes and one of her college classes. They all had fun brass rubbing. Callie has just got back from Cadbury World which was a very special treat!

This year as a family we went to Spring Harvest at Easter, which we all enjoyed very much. Nettes and Callie then went on from there to visit Callie’s friend Holly at Ashford in Kent. Over the summer we were very involved in our local community fun day, where Nettes ran a bric-a-brac stall. And then we went to the celebration event for our network of churches that was held in Swansea.

We regularly visit my mum Joyce who is in a residential care home in Birmingham. She is continuing to slowly decline in health. She is now in bed all the time being turned every hour and it doesn’t help having a broken leg that refuses to heal.

Anyway, Merry Christmas! Have a great one! God's richest blessings on you this season!

Recession hits Wesley Owen

One of the latest victims of the recession is Wesley Owen - Britain’s largest chain of Christian Bookshops.

Across the country many of their shops look like they will be closing shortly unless more buyers step in. Some have been taken over by CLC and some – including the one in Birmingham - by Australian Christian bookshop chain Koorong who have also taken over the related publishing business of Authentic Books. Authentic Music has been taken over by Kingsway.

Not long ago we saw the collapse of SPCK and possibly this is partly due to a knock-on effect. I also suspect that a lot of people now buy books through Amazon rather than making the trek to their local bookshop. If you consider that a lot of Christian bookshops rely on volunteers then you will realise that situation is even worse than you might have thought.

This means that a lot of the Christian bookshops in the UK are now either closed, for sale or broke. Is this the end of Christian bookshops in the UK? Some like St Andrews still appear to be going strong. But generally the future of Christian bookshops doesn't look promising.

Lord we pray for those affected who might be worrying about their jobs over Christmas. Give them your peace.

HT: Church Times on Wesley Owen

Candle Lit Carols with Wisemen Video

We've just got back from our church's candle lit carol service.

It was great that there were so many candles and that there were a few creative contributions. Andy read my advent poem and Nettes did a monologue as Mary with a few slides I'd prepared.

I really enjoyed singing carols such as 'O Holy Night' and 'Little Town of Bethlehem'. (As a family tonight we just put our little daughter to bed and sung 'Away in a Manger'.)

I was out preparing the mulled wine, being careful not to confuse the alcoholic with the non-alcoholic versions, so I missed Joe and Ellie's video. But I just got an email telling me that it's on YouTube. So enjoy...

Jesse Tree

It's that time of year again!

Building According To The Pattern

Thank you to Helen Watts for a creative Sunday morning.

What Are We Waiting For?

Dissatisfied with our own worlds
We step into our HD screens.
To escape the stress of our work
We long for our lives to be changed.

We are waiting. We are longing.
We are waiting. We are longing.

Waiting for the doorbell to ring.
Preparing food, tidying up,
In all the busyness of life,
Suddenly catching breath we stop.

We are waiting. We are longing.
We are waiting. We are longing.

You crossed the threshold to this world
One day you will break in again.
Your kingdom has already come,
So, here and now, please in us reign.

We are waiting. We are longing.
We are waiting. We are longing.

In scary new exciting ways
We’re ready to engage with this.
Open up the conversations.
Creative God you’re worth the risk.

We are waiting. We are longing.
We are waiting. We are longing.

Not passive waiting; active change.
A growing yearning deep inside.
Some attitudes to still adjust.
Dear God break in upon our lives.

We are waiting. We are longing.
We are waiting. We are longing
For you.


© David Derbyshire 2009

wondering about the implications of paradigm shifts

I’ve just been looking up some material on the philosophy of science to teach my second years – especially the work of Thomas Kuhn and Karl Popper.

Kuhn said that science exists in a cultural context. This tells scientists what is acceptable to study and what research methods are reasonable to use and what constitutes legitimate data and acceptable evidence. He called this context a paradigm.

He said that rather than seeing science as building one idea upon another actually it involves revolutionary change where one set of assumptions is abandoned in favour of a new set. Scientific disciplines advance through stable periods of one paradigm to moments of crisis or paradigm shift like this to times when a new paradigm is established.

In physics we see a crisis moment when Newton’s theory of gravity was shown inadequate by Eddington’s astronomical observations. Einstein’s ideas were then accepted as the new paradigm. Events such as these have become known as a paradigm shifts.

According to Popper for a theory to be scientific you need to be able to show that it is false. One example that contradicts this is enough. For example the discovery of the platypus shows that not all mammals give birth to their young alive – at least one mammal lays eggs. But actually one example is rarely enough as often there may be other explanations offered. But as these examples build up we slowly loose faith in the way that we thought and start looking for a new way to explain things.

On this basis psychoanalysis can be rejected as unscientific as it cannot be falsified - interestingly according to Popper we can reject Darwin’s theory of evolution on the same criteria. But in psychology we can still see paradigms such as behavioural, cognitive and biological all competing to be today's paradigm.

But across disciplines there is a growing view that an important paradigm shift is occurring. This is a move from 'modern' thinking (that wants everything to fit into the logical propositions of the enlightenment) to 'post-modern' thinking (which based on narrative and is more tolerant of ambiguity). Perhaps that means the new paradigm is tolerant of competing paradigms like those in psychology?

Of course none of this is new. These ideas have been around for decades and I'm probably way behind in thinking about these. But I’m still happily wondering about some of the implications of all this.

at a church leaders weekend away

Last weekend it was my privilege to join our church's leaders on a weekend away at Hothorpe Hall with over 150 other leaders from our network of churches.

It was great to see Scott Lencke and his wife Cat and to chat at the dinner table with among others Joel & Beth Tarbutton from New Life Church Letchworth. There was plenty of time for food and fellowship and also teaching, sung worship and loads more. Here are some things that I hastily scribbled down over the weekend.

Geoff Brown spoke on moving on with God. When Israel was in the wilderness they would camp for a time and then move on – lead at the front by the tribe of Issachar – ‘who recognised the times and the seasons and knew what Israel should do’. The climate is changing. In the past churches have split when new revelation came. Now churches are coming together. When Israel moved on they took the tabernacle with them. As we move on there are things we hold on to even if for a time they are ‘folded’ like the canvass of the tabernacle.

Ian Rawley began the next day with some leadership lessons from Nehemiah encouraging us to not to neglect ‘building the walls’ that is not just building the church but also engaging the world. He gave a good critique of post-modern thinking: narrative is important but we must not forget the need to be clear about the church, the gospel and the kingdom. The church should be a safe place. Flat structures are good but there is still a place for leadership and authority.

Alan Scotland encouraged us not to hold back. He warned of the virus of individuality and to beware the illusion of connectedness through media. We need to ensure that we seek authentic community.

In the evening David Latham spoke about the power of God. He was very impressed with our churches especially how we live out authentic community. Something that I noted in what he said was a line from one of Wesley’s hymns: ‘the mystic power of godliness’.

The day ended well with us simply breaking up into small groups to pray.

On Sunday Kobus Swart talked about being in a time of transition. He said that it is God who changes the seasons. He quoted George Barna who had said that by the mid-21st century the church would be totally irrelevant - unless there is a new move of God. Kobus spoke of the present move as ‘the apostolic reformation’ and of his own involvement in working with other very different churches in what he called a ‘city eldership’. In this time of transition we need to hold onto the revelation we have as we embrace the new.

Finally Tim Morley taught us some lessons from Timothy & Epaphroditus (1 Timothy 2) mentioning unity in diversity and emphasising the importance of relationship above gifting.

We finished with a time of breaking of bread and prayer followed by a Sunday lunch together before we all headed home.