Simon Burton-Jones, Archdeacon of Rochester Expressing Christian faith in today's culture
Christian faith
in today's culture
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Website Ethos
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There’s a Chinese saying: ‘may you live in interesting times’.  This ambiguous blessing has fallen to us today as the world speeds up around us.

Most of us want to do the right thing with our lives, but how do we cope with the complex demands of modern life?  This website expresses a deep yearning of mine: to take the beautiful message of the Gospel about Jesus and see how it applies to our culture.  God has left clues scattered across society that lead us to him, as layered as the morning dew on autumn grass.  What you read here will, I hope, encourage you to pause, admire what God has made and understand a little better how to live for him in it.
 

 
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THIS WEEK'S ARTICLE
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THE BODY
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THE BODY
St. Paul’s metaphor about the body of Christ is one we are very familiar with and yet which remains surprisingly underdeveloped in our thinking.

People struggle to think in corporate terms; we come at the world from our own personal position, trying to reach others in order to understand the world better. St. Paul’s metaphor about the ......
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IN THE NEWS
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THE MOST DEBASED WORD IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
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THE MOST DEBASED WORD IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
We can’t stop talking about community today, yet there is less of it about than when Baroness Thatcher seemed to deny the existence of society.

Eighties retro evenings (shoulder pads, big hair, Spandau Ballet) have recently been supplanted by politics, as the death of Baroness Thatcher reminded us both of her stature and divisiveness in British life.
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LATEST TOPICS
JUST SEEN :-
media worth looking at
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GIRLS ON THE EDGE
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GIRLS ON THE EDGE
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Money, success and power are the hackneyed trinity of modern corporate life but they permit no room for other considerations like well-being and relationships.

It was inevitable that Sheryl Sandberg’s book: Lean In: Women, work and the Will to Lead (WH Allen, 2013) would attract ......
 
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THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH :- articles and
personal observations on life and faith
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IN MEMORY OF MIKE
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IN MEMORY OF MIKE
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A final tribute to the friend who made this website possible.

First contact was by email, a short and sparing account of one man’s search for truth. Clergy increasingly receive these kinds of approaches, but in the late nineties it was rare. He had some questions about
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ONE YEAR ON
An article you may have missed
Big Mouth or Big Ears
 
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Family News
 
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MY TALKS :-
gives you a selection of my public teaching
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THE THRILL OF THE CHASE
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THE THRILL OF THE CHASE
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In the case of David and Saul in the cave, we see a stronger power at work than all the weaponry used to defeat evil in modern storytelling

Many of us have recurring nightmares in life. One of mine is taking a maths exam without adequate revision and staring blankly at the page;
 
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FAITH IN CULTURE :- articles on the challenges and opportunities for faith in modern culture
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WHEN OBEDIENCE GOES WRONG
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WHEN OBEDIENCE GOES WRONG
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Would you do wrong if an authority figure told you to? If you think not, read on.

Ideas of authority and obedience are thought unfashionable today and virtue is made out of a willingness to question everything.  The military and the Church may be two of the residual places where this kind of strict ......
 
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Rochester Cathedral
 
 
Freedom From Torture
 
 
 
   
     
Are we all born liars?
Deceiving others is more a part of our common life than we like to think and it’s not just other people who do it. 
 
One of the worst judgments we can make of another ....
ARTICLES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED
Is there something
wrong with you if you're not on Facebook ?
There is a dignity to human privacy which tells of the mystery of being made in God’s image, but try ......

PUSHY PARENTS
The social phenomenon of the pushy parent has received a lot of attention recently. Can ambition be sanctified and put in the service of God?
We all know pushy parents – the kind who are so intent on ensuring their children get on in life that they will....
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Read Thought For The Month article.

HOW DO WE KNOW GOD’S WILL FOR OUR LIVES?
God may be unimaginably big for our brains but he makes it possible for us to know his will personally. Here are some clues how. Apparently, if we sent out eight probes into space in different directions from earth.
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THE GOOD SHEPHERD
In creating the image of a shepherd, Jesus identified with a lowly, rural working class. In doing so, he meets with the helpless and the burdened in this world.

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WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?
What God achieves through ordinary people shows there are no limits to spiritual mobility other than those we place on ourselves. Among several indicators of a retreat from Christian memory in this country is the reality ....

Read in My Talks articles

BECAUSE YOU'RE WORTH IT
That we live in a meritocracy is so widely accepted now it is hard to argue against it. But there are subtle dangers inherent which may deny the gifting of God and the duty we owe him.

Read in Thought For The Month articles...

UNANSWERED PRAYER
We do not readily acknowledge the impact that seemingly unanswered prayer makes on us, yet this awareness is vital to a robust and honest life of intercession

Read in Thought For The Month articles
     
     
   
Michael J Wallbridge
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