I came across this in my daily reading the other day. It's from the Old Testament but Matthew in his gospel has Jesus say it, not once, but twice which means it ought to be underlined three times in our Bibles, especially because what Jesus actually says is, 'You don't get this... you haven't understood... Continue Reading →
Definition of Faith?
I’ve been noticing the emergence of a new definition of faith for me. It’s a personal definition, I’m not offering it as any kind of radically new, catch-all, snazzy, jazzy definition. But it might help someone which is why I offer it. (I’m very aware that the Bible gives a very adequate definition of faith,... Continue Reading →
Church: who is in? who is out?
Psalm 24 1 The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it; 2 for he has founded it on the seas, and established it on the rivers. 3 Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? 4 Those who have clean hands and... Continue Reading →
Understanding the Trinity Part 2
This is a picture of God and how I fit in to the big picture of God (see previous post for further explanation). For me, prayer is like taking time on the sun lounger. Worship is similar. Church is realising that there are other people also on sun loungers (but being the imperfect people we... Continue Reading →
Why your life should look like this…..(understanding the Trinity)
This is an image I often draw when I'm in conversation with people about serious stuff in their lives. I ask them "is this how you experience life?" Responses range from 'you've got be joking/chance would be a fine thing/is it heck? And I agree with them, it's not generally how I experience life either... Continue Reading →
Being a Christian when God feels far away (part 1)
I've been thinking a lot lately about what to say to people who feel disconnected from God. They had once felt close, they would call themselves Christians but life got really bruising and now they are not so sure. I woke the other morning with this insight going round my mind: " Part of the problem... Continue Reading →
When love isn’t enough…
What do you do when someone you love refuses to change or seems incapable of change? When their life seems hopeless or helpless and they seem utterly incapable of doing anything about it? If you love them you want to 'fix them', right? But here's the thing: love isn't enough to fix anybody. Or is... Continue Reading →
When you think you’ve found a mistake in the gospel…
Two weeks ago I was reading out loud a passage from Matthew chapter 9 and I came across something I'd never noticed before in a story I thought I knew inside out and backwards. I was so shocked I almost stopped and said out loud "Hang on that's not right" which would have been a... Continue Reading →