Ah, that weekend is approaching when those who have worked all year round producing bizarre latex products and tubes of fake luminescent blood, finally get to see the fruit of their labours for 48 hours or so. Slashed throats. Bullet holes in foreheads. Blood-stained t-shirts, and wild attempts to make vampires and witches ‘sexy’. I…
Category: Writing
Passing Idols: Salt Bae, Moses and foodolatry
By now you have probably heard of Salt Bae and his £1,450 steaks wrapped in gold leaf. If you haven’t, you’ve not spent a lot of time on social media recently. And I suspect your life is better for it. Nusret Gökçe, otherwise known as Salt Bae, is the chef behind the chain of luxury…
404: The releasing power of non-existence (repost)
This week I opened my Twitter app and was greeted by the following message:
“@liamthatcher does not exist”
Sweat: A Biblical Theology in Three Acts
Sweat. It’s the body’s natural cooling mechanism, regulating our temperature when it rises due to heat, exercise, fear or stress. Perspiring can be an unpleasant but very necessary bodily function which all of us experience. * For something so common, it is perhaps surprising to note that sweating is only mentioned three times in the…
Looking for a Saviour: Solar Power and Lorde’s spiritual quest
In the summer of 2017, we took a family holiday to France. One of the albums we played on repeat as we drove was Lorde’s Melodrama. It’s a beautiful, moody, layered, self-reflective, electro-pop album, and although not as commercially successful as her first album Pure Heroine, it’s my favourite of the two. And despite the…
A Conversation and a Clarification
Well, that was a bewildering experience… Usually my blog gets a couple of hundred hits a day, maximum. Last week I got half as many views as I’ve had in total since I started writing in 2014. And I think I also used the word ‘p**n’ more last week than in the rest of my…
Unintended consequences of failure porn
I’m seven episodes into The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill and my feelings are more mixed than before. Not particularly towards the podcast itself. I have some questions about particular editorial choices in the more recent episodes, but I still feel it’s an important project, generally well-executed, and a valuable though painful listen. But…
The Business of Busyness: Prioritising and Posterioritising
Last week I received an email which, after a long, kind preamble saying “sorry to bother you, I know you must be incredibly busy…” etc, asked if I would pray for something that is going on in the author’s life. It made me wonder… and a quick word-search for ‘busy’ in my emails verified what…
Parting reflections on preaching, from me and Paul.
This coming Sunday I am preaching my final sermon at Christ Church London. It’s already pre-recorded for our online service, and I’ll get to preach it live at two of our services. Having worked for this church for twelve years, it’s a strange experience full of mixed emotions. Helen and I feel full of excitement…
A Lesson on Listening: The Rise and Fall of David and Driscoll
My Bible in One Year (which is taking me considerably longer than a year!) has me struggling through 2 Chronicles. I’m nearing the end, and if I’m honest, I’m grateful! There have been beautiful moments and I’ve blogged about a couple of them. But all in all, I’ve found it hard going. And one of…