Treasure Hunting…
Today I felt liked I’d jumped out of a plan without a parachute. It wasn’t the talk of ‘moobs’ and ‘pretty pants’ which made me feel uncomfortable…
Theology
Legend of the Forest
As dawn awoke within the Forest glade, the rising sun broke through the leafy shade;
Looking Forward & Backward
‘Over and over again in life, we stand in the shoes of the disciples in this passage [feeding 5000]: surrounded by human need, faced with a challenge, knowing we do not have the resources, in our own wisdom, wealth, and strength, to meet the need, to stand up to the challenge. This story motivates us to get up out of…
11 year old atheists
The following is a reflection by Sam Donahue, Children’s Ministry Adviser for Diocese of London (and co-Editor of the soon-to-be-released ChildrensWork Magazine) reproduced from their latest Children’s Ministry Newsletter with permission (full credit below): I was reading a book by James Fowler on how faith develops in children and within it he comments on the something they noticed during their research…
Lent vs Social Media
It’s traditional to give something up for the period of Lent. Many people do so – even those without any personal religious conviction or understanding of the significance, which puzzles me a little. I usually struggle to know what to give up (if I should bother at all) and many of the things I’ve given up previously I’ve not ‘taken…
Heaven’s Gates Swing Wide
Last Friday as I was doing an 8k training run I was listening to ‘Awakening: Live from Chicago’ by Jesus Culture. The track ‘Break Every Chain’ has a fantastic chorus: All sufficient sacrificeSo freely givenSuch a priceBought our redemptionHeaven’s gates swing wide The last two lines stuck in my head as the run continued. When I got home I posted the…
Holiness
Holiness is consecrated closeness to God. Holiness is in essence obeying God, living to God and for God, imitating God, keeping His law, taking His side against sin, doing righteousness, performing good works, following Christ’s teaching and example, worshipping God in the Spirit, loving and serving God and men out of reverence for Christ. In relation to God, holiness takes the form of a single-minded passion to please by love and loyalty, devotion and praise. In relation to sin, it takes the form of a resistance movement, a discipline of not gratifying the desires of the flesh, but of putting to death the deeds of the body. Holiness is, in a word, God-taught, Spirit-wrought Christ-likeness, the sum and substance of committed discipleship, the demonstration of faith working by love, the responsive outflow in righteousness of supernatural life from the hearts of those who are born again.
Trinity Analogies
Yesterday was Trinity Sunday, the day when preachers cower and hide away from the challenge of trying to explain the Trinity (God: Father, Son & Holy Spirit). I felt challenged by a few updates on Twitter yesterday. The first read: Well, I’ve been invited to preach at a local church next Sunday and as they didn’t have a Trinity service…
#LoveMonday
There’s a small but steady ‘movement’ on Twitter to use Mondays as a specific opportunity to encourage others. It’s called #loveMonday and it works like this: You send an encouraging message (public or private) to three other Twitter users, and invite them to encourage three of their friends/contacts/followers. Don’t forget to include #loveMonday in the message. Simple. Of course, it doesn’t have to just be via Twitter. Feel free to do the same but on Facebook, via email, or even offline (send a postcard, leave a message scrawled on a post-it note, etc.).
Easter Live: a critical view
I’m a big fan of Easter. No really, I am. But this year I’m feeling a bit grumpy about it. It all started about two weeks ago, and has been building since then. Let me try to explain why:I’m also a big fan of Twitter. I find it an incredibly useful tool for connecting with people who have shared interests…