Listen
or download the MP3
Read below, or download the PDF
Rev. clay Nelson © 23 July 2017
A journalist assigned to the Jerusalem bureau takes an apartment overlooking the Western Wall—the holiest site in Judaism. Every day when she looks out, she sees an old Jewish man praying vigorously. So, the journalist goes down and introduces herself to the old man. Continue reading To whom does a non-theist pray?
Listen
or download the MP3
Read below, or download the PDF
David Hines © 16 July 2017
About once a year I find myself writing a sermon on why you shouldn’t give up on politics. Every time it’s because of some current news item. Last year it was many Americans who were despairing of politics because Donald Trump had been voted president of the United States by a very small margin. Earlier the same year, many people in Britain were despairing of politics because of the decision to get out of the European community, again by a very small margin. And to cap it off, this year there’s just been an early election in Britain, called by Teresa May hoping to get a bigger margin of support, only to find her margin is almost down to zero. We get similar reactions to politics here. And as a result, the number of people who turn out to vote is often very low. Continue reading Four reasons not to give up on Politics
Listen
or download the MP3
Read below, or download the PDF
Rev. clay Nelson © 9 July 2017
In the mid-’90s I had oversight of fifty congregations spread over the bottom quarter of California. Amongst other duties I was charged with helping them grow and better meet their missions in their particular contexts. To do that I engaged a company that would help provide up-to-date information about the communities they served. To begin, I had to drive to each church and put three antennae on the roof of my car and wait for a black box to tell me it had found three satellites above the horizon. Then I pressed a button that would record the position of that church on the globe. This was GPS in 1995. Today, I would just go to Google maps which could give me the exact latitude and longitude of each. Then I sent the box back to the company who downloaded the information. In return, they sent me dozens of maps for each church showing the demographics of the neighbourhoods that surrounded them. I remember being fascinated that so much data could be provided, but that was nothing compared with what is available today. Now those maps would tell me the demographics of each residence on the street not just the neighbourhood. This is the world of Big Data we now live in. Like it or not it is here. Silicon Valley calls it Dataism. Continue reading Big Data and the end of Free Will
Listen
or download the MP3
Read below, or download the PDF
Opening words are THE ETERNAL By Stephen M Shick.
Rev. clay Nelson © 2 July 2017
It sounds like an oxymoron that in this world there are religious atheists. If you doubt it, you are looking at one. If you still doubt it, look around you. They are sprinkled liberally throughout the congregation. Now there are all kinds of atheists out there. There are the Richard Dawkins variety who narrowly define what others may believe about God and then decimates it. What I know is that many who do believe in a personal god don’t believe in the god Dawkins believes in either. Continue reading Scientists discover atheists may not exist
Listen
or download the MP3
Read below, or download the PDF
Rev. clay Nelson © 25 June 2017
I have had many highlights in my ministry, the greatest being our giving sanctuary to the Indian students, but that is closely followed by two instances of delegations approaching the Anglican bishop to demand that I be tried for heresy. Continue reading Heresy: A Spiritual Value
Listen
or download the MP3
Read below, or download the PDF
For starters here is Monty Python asking the question of The Meaning of Life.
Continue reading The Meaning of Life
Listen
or download the MP3
Read below, or download the PDF
Rev. clay Nelson © 11 June 2017
Last week I spoke of my vision for us to become, individually and as a congregation, servant leaders.
As a reminder, Robert Greenleaf, who coined the term servant leadership, describes it as “The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions… Continue reading Being non-anxious in an age of anxiety
Listen
or download the MP3
Read below, or download the PDF
Rev. clay Nelson © 4 June 2017
I am not a fan of turning nouns into verbs. So, I have an internal resistance to using the word visioning, but I know it describes a distinct reality. Before beginning a test I’m sure the All Blacks spend some time visioning on how they will make their winning tries. Continue reading A Vision of Our Future
Listen
or download the MP3
Read below, or download the PDF
This morning marks the second day in Islam’s holy month of Ramadan. During these thirty days, Muslims around the world seek purification, forgiveness, guidance and a renewed devotion to Allah.
Listen
or download the MP3
No text this week, watch or listen to find out why.
Also includes update from our Social Justice Team.
Rev. clay Nelson © 21 May 2017