Chickens

Lately I have been learning how to cook. Last Friday I cooked a meal for my family (a chicken curry) without supervision for the first time. Due to a change in the family timetable I was unexpectedly doing this against the clock, but still managed a creditable result. I go back to Cambridge armed with a book entitled A cookbook for a man who probably only owns one saucepan. (That honestly is what it's called.) The blurb on the back reads "This is the cookbook that's simple enough for a man".

I have also been to see the new film of Pride and Prejudice twice. We tried to spot someone we know who is an extra standing by the fire during the ball, but failed to do so on either occasion. The film is an intelligent adaptation with some clever camera work and a great script. The screenwriter, Deborah Moggach, recently wrote an article for The Daily Telegraph explaining some of her choices. She basically went for more realism in the depiction of the relative social status of the characters. Lots of chickens is the key, apparently. She also attempted to make more explicit the social context of the events of the novel, drawing out particularly how financially necessary the marriage of the Bennett girls is.

The wanderer returns

For those who don’t know, I am coming back to Cambridge in a week or so to undertake an MPhil in Medieval and Renaissance Literature. I have also just heard (well, last Friday, in actual fact) that a college fund has decided to give me full funding, covering my fees and a living allowance. I had heard earlier that I had some funding, but would have had a shortfall to make up somehow. I would very much like to thank the managers of the Levy-Plumb fund for their generosity, since their award was much larger than I expected. I hope it will not seem overly pious to record that the letter came two days after I asked my mum’s church homegroup to pray that I would get more funding. They prayed on the evening of Wednesday 7th September; the letter was dated Thursday 8th and arrived on the morning of Friday 9th. You may regard that as entirely coincidental if you so wish.

I will be living in a basement flat with bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living room, which sounds like more space than I’ve ever had before (though my bedroom at home is pretty spacious (though I did have to wait 15 years to ‘inherit’ it from successive siblings who moved out to get married)). This year is going to be great!

Promises

Over the bank holiday period (Friday to Tuesday), I was at Grapevine, a large Christian gathering on the Lincolnshire Showground. This was an encouraging time, with many coming to faith and a significant number miraculously healed. The theme for the year was 'Promise' and the 'theme verse' was 2 Corinthians 1:20:

"For no matter how many promises God has made, they are 'Yes' in Christ. And so through him the 'Amen' is spoken by us to the glory of God." (NIV)

"Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus." (The Message)

The idea of claiming the promises of God is one I've been thinking about recently in relation to the question of how we can have an accurate and contextualised understanding of Scripture without falling into the trap of explaining away the challenge of what the Bible says and losing the simple faith that whatever God says is true. One of the major issues I am trying to work through at the moment is that of hermeneutics, how to handle the Bible. It seems to me that we need to have a hermeneutic which is responsible (i.e. not reading into the Bible things that God doesn't intend us to find there) without being restrictive (i.e. not writing out of the Bible things that God does intend us to find there). Reflecting on these issues, I was interested to find this passage in a book by John Stott:

"We sometimes smile at the Victorians' 'promise-boxes'. Biblical promises were printed on small pieces of paper, rolled up like minature scrolls and stored in a wooden box for random selection in times of need. And, to be sure, that practice did wrench the divine promises from the context in which they were originally given. Nevertheless, I rather think that even such a naive trust in detached promises was better than the present-day accurate but unbelieving knowledge of the promises in their context."
(John Stott, Life in Christ, 1979, 1991, p.27)

I think the challenge in maturing both young Christians and the younger churches in the world with a lack of trained leadership is to discover how to develop a depth of understanding whilst holding onto and enhancing the zeal for God which often characterises both new Christians and the new churches in the non-Western world. These two things need to be held together for the church to attain maturity (see Ephesians 4). Simon Ponsonby's book More spends a long time expounding Ephesians, encouraging us to connect our understanding of our positional status in Christ with an ongoing experience of what we have in Christ.

Ness Wilson, of Open Heaven Church in Loughborough, spoke at a student meeting at Spring Harvest this year. She said, "People often say to me, 'Ness, you're so naive'. Well, maybe I am. But I'd rather be naive than be cynical." The ideal would seem to be to have a depth of understanding coupled with a bold faith that takes God at his word. Ultimately, a greater knowledge of God shouldn't cause us to settle down complacently but spur us on to greater faith and vision.

Simon Guillebaud's latest prayer letter from Burundi includes this quotation:
"The eyes of the Lord are still searching out those willing to live their lives above the gunnels of mediocrity and beyond the realms of inevitability. In our cynical age, God is looking for those naïve enough to believe that the world can still be changed, those simple fools whose vision is to live and die for Christ alone."

Oslo City Guide

The following is an article accurately transcribed from page 47 of the Oslo City Guide.

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Perfect relax in Coma

Are you fed up with long queues and ignorant waiters? Enjoy Oslo as the natives do. Whenever thirsty or hungry - Coma at Grünerløkka is a place for you.

Grünerløkka is one of the most charming and pulsating urban districts of Oslo. In Helgesensgate 16 you'll find Coma. A very pleasant restaurant with a genuine and well-supplied bar. The place is decorated 1970-funky style. Here you'll feel an authentic atmosphere, where the local inhabitants associate with people from all over the world, meets for a lunch, a glass of wine - in deep philosophy or a simple small talk.

"We are an ultimate combination of a restaurant and a bar. When the guests have finished their meal, they move further on to the bar for more enjoyment. People often stay here from daytime, during early evenings and until we close. We open 11 am and we serve food until 11 pm. In the weekends we have open until 03 am", Coma's manager Mustafa says.

"We offer an extensive lunch menu, and in the daytime we play laid back chill-out music. I believe we have made a perfect place for relaxation. We can turn the large windows facing the street wide open and bring in the pulsing city life instantly to the tables.

"Hunger maker"
When you pass Coma a noticeable scent of food reach the nose, which results in many ad hoch decisions for dining out in stead of home ... Besides, the prices are reasonable, and if you are in an exclusive mood Coma offers one of Oslo's most extensive champagne menus.

"Our kitchen is international with many exiting tastes. I will also point out our hambuirger, which got the top score in several newspapers, says Mustafa.

"For a little bit more simple ordering we offer a 3-dishes and a 5-dishes meny, or an 8-dishes surprise menu. As the menu, the staff is international. Here people meet from all over the world, whether it's behind the bar or at the tables. The chef is Italian, and among our employees we have people from Norway, Sweden Turkey, Columbia and Australia. At Coma everybody feels like home," Mustafa says.

Perfect localisation
Grünerløkka is a bar and restaurant paradise! In this area it's simply impossible to get bored. Bars and restaurants are in such a number that you never will experience the "horror of queues". It's also a safe area, with an almost total lack of aggression.

"In general people here are polite, and the service is much better than in other parts of the city," Mustafa says. "Being a restaurant manager in such a city culture is very important to me." (Liv Loftesnes)