by Nick
Fascinating story on the BBC website about using infrared light and multi-spectral imaging to read scrolls from Herculaneum. The scrolls were carbonised by the heat from the Vesuvius eruption, but scientists have found ways to read them. I’ve often wondered if someone, somewhere in Herculaneum had a copy of the gospels in a box…
Categories: Stuff
by Nick
Sounds like the Brazilian football team of the 80s, but we’re talking a wall painting in Pompeii. Painted some time before 79 AD (the date when Pompeii had that little run-in with Vesuvius) the painting is the earliest known painting of a biblical scene, and it shows Solomon sitting in judgment. But according to this […]
Categories: Stuff
by Nick
Just added a whole heap of pages (well 4) containing all the resources to accompany Kingdom of Fools. Chief among these is a free, downloadable discussion guide to accompany all the videos. The guide is perfect for homegroups, Bible study groups, or small, clandestine meetings of subversive organisations. or all three. Oh, and churches as well. And […]
Categories: Kingdom of Fools, Stuff
by Nick
Paul was a tentmaker. But what did his job actually involve? And how did the occupations and status of the first followers of Jesus affect the way in which they did ‘church’? WARNING: video contains scenes of a DIY nature. The second in a series of four videos to accompany the book Kingdom of Fools. […]
Categories: Stuff
by Nick
This is a remarkable, powerful video. While I was watching it, I kept thinking of Paul’s strange statement that he was: always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. For while we live, we are always being given up […]
Categories: Stuff
by Nick
I’ve just received a copy of Patience (After Sebald), a documentary about the famously melancholy German writer W.G. Sebald and the walk through Sufolk which became his book The Rings of Saturn. Rather inappropriately, given the subject matter, I am very excited. I love Sebald. I love the sense of humour which lurks beneath the […]
Categories: Stuff
by Nick
So wipe your tears. Death will be no more;Mourning, crying, pain – no more;The old, granite door is shattered;Despair’s huge boulder rolled away. And look! The storm has cleared. Tombs become dancehalls;Stone doors serve as picnic tables;Graveyards become gardens;Uncork the wine, break the bread;For hope and joy and justice have started singing.
Categories: God, Longest Week, Stuff
by Nick
In the early church Good Friday was a day of fasting. In the eastern church it wasn’t necessarily Friday: they followed the Jewish Passover festival which could take place on any day of the week. In the west, especially in Rome, the great festival was celebrated on the Sunday after Passover.) Whatever the case, in […]
Categories: Stuff
by Nick
We’re in such a hurry most of the time we never get much chance to talk. The result is a kind of day-to-day shallowness, a monotony that leaves a person wondering years later where all the time went and sorry that it’s all gone. Now that we do have some time, and know it, I […]
Categories: Stuff
by Nick
Just in case you’re wondering, it’s from The Onion. I love the line about Twitter: “400 billion tweets and not one bit of useful information was ever? transmitted.”
Categories: Stuff
by Nick
This is my new publicity picture. I like the subtle understatement of it. Anyway, the thing is, that I speak at many events, from big festivals such as New Wine and Spring Harvest, to Church Weekends and church services. I also lead writing workshops. And now, for the first time, I have put a load of […]
Categories: Stuff
by Nick
Just discovered the glorious Lisa Hannigan. I love the joyful creativity behind her videos. The first video was shot in her front garden while other members of the band threw paint at her. The second video was shot in her mother’s bath. Wonderful. Update: click here to see a video on the making of the […]
Categories: Stuff
by Nick
I’m reading The Craftsman by Richard Sennett. In the prologue is this interesting quote from Oppenheimer: When you see something that is technically sweet, you go ahead and do it and you argue about what to do about it only after you have had your technical success. That is the way it was with the […]
Categories: Stuff
by Nick
The writer who made millions by self-publishing onlineA couple of years ago, Amanda Hocking needed to raise a few hundred dollars so, in desperation, made her unpublished novel available on the Kindle. She has since sold over 1.5m books and, in the process, changed publishing forever. via The writer who made millions by self-publishing online […]
Categories: Stuff
by Nick
An interesting article, which draws on the Vancouver Human Rights lecture,by Ethan Zuckerman Cute Cats and The Arab Spring, Zuckermans argument is this: while YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and other popular social services arent good at protecting dissidents, they are nevertheless the best place for this sort of activity to start, for several reasons.First, because when YouTube is […]
Categories: Stuff
by Nick
I really enjoyed, Scorsese’s Hugo. One of the few 3D films which are genuinely worth paying to see in 3D. And in part that’s because the film is a celebration of a film-maker who loved experimental effects and techniques: Georges Melies. Here are some tasters of his work for those who haven’t come across him: Voyage […]
Categories: Stuff
by Nick
And Now For My 43rd Point is a new book from me and the missus. It’s all about our old friend the sermon. How to improve it, how to survive it, and how to do without it. You can find out more about the book (and buy copies) at the website: www.43rdpoint.org In the fulness […]
Categories: Books by Nick, Stuff
by Nick
Spent the last week in France, teaching at Le Pas Opton – one of my favourite weeks of the year. A lot of the time was spent talking about the early church and the way in which they sought to put Jesus’ teaching into action. The following comes from the Epistle to Diognetus, an anonymous […]
by Nick
On my way back from speaking at a conference yesterday I had a chance to go and visit Bunhill Fields in London, the old, non-conformist graveyard just north of Moorgate. Step off the busy City Road, and the place has an eerie quiet and beauty. In the centre there is the tomb of Bunyan, and […]
Categories: Stuff, Writing & writers
by Nick
This week I have been rediscovering my inner geek. I have installed the awesome Dragon Dictate and started to learn how to pour all my information into DevonThink. The latter first. It’s basically a huge database, into which you can chuck anything that comes your way – pdfs, pictures, text files, web pages, docs. You […]
Categories: Stuff, Technology