Ben's Brew

Friday, 26 August 2011

The Importance of the Ressurection

Here's a talk by Tom Wright, the Bishop of Durham, that's very much worth watching if you've got a spare 45 minutes.

Why Does Jesus' Resurrection Matter? Considering Its Relevance for Today Part 1 of 2 from The Veritas Forum on Vimeo.

Thursday, 4 August 2011

Marriages of Tension

Just read this very interesting perspective on marriage by the "Orthodox rabbi and relationship expert" Shmuley Boteach. Thanks Mark Sayers for the quote, from his book The Vertical Self.

Marriages should be based not on trust, but on tension. Not on routine, but on raging emotion. Not on respect, but on jealousy. Not on confidence, but suspicion. Sounds crazy, right? But think of it this way: When you trust that your spouse will never be erotically attracted to a stranger and will never be unfaithful, you start taking him or her for granted. Isn't this really the number-one-killer of marriages? Isn't growing bored and "falling out of love" the most lethal of all marital illnesses? Won't a relationship be doomed if a couple is complacent and smug to the point of not having to work at it anymore?

Monday, 1 August 2011

Pleasures

"It isn't the big pleasures that count the most; it's making a great deal out of the little ones."
- Jean Webster

Sunday, 10 July 2011

Songwriting, or more accurately, not songwriting

I have a real love-hate relationship with songwriting. I've got a few ideas and choruses in my head, but like everything creative, the first part comes pretty easily, although not always at a convenient time or place (is it dangerous to do voice recordings when you're driving?) - but to turn it into a finished product takes a lot of time. 90% perspiration, don't they say?

Well, hopefully some start coming together. I'll post them so you can have a listen. If I think they're ok that is!

Friday, 1 July 2011

Thoughts from a friend's bathroom wall

Tuesday, 28 June 2011

Psalm 146:3-9

Don’t put your confidence in powerful people;
      there is no help for you there.
When they breathe their last, they return to the earth,
      and all their plans die with them.
But joyful are those who have the God of Israel as their helper,
      whose hope is in the Lord their God.
He made heaven and earth,
      the sea, and everything in them.
      He keeps every promise forever.
He gives justice to the oppressed
      and food to the hungry.
   The Lord frees the prisoners.
The Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
   The Lord lifts up those who are weighed down.
      The Lord loves the godly.
The Lord protects the foreigners [or refugees?] among us.
      He cares for the orphans and widows,
      but he frustrates the plans of the wicked.