word | spirit | world | church
The music swells, the symphony approaches its glorious end. You’re swept up in the majestic writing and the promise of what is to come. You’re noticing the intricate detail and the way the rest of the story is being recapitulated here at the eventual end. There is a new heaven. Wonder of wonders. There is… Continue reading The edge of the sea
In John chapter four Jesus encounters a Samaritan women. I think it’s a fascinating encounter that tells us more about ourselves than I’ve previously allowed. Jesus is on his way to Galilee, and to get there he has to pass through Samaria, John tells us. Thing is he didn’t ‘have’ to, lots of Jews would… Continue reading A woman at a well
Christians believe in life after death. We believe that God is in the heavens and we are on earth, and that death isn’t the end. We often would say that when we die, we “go to heaven” forevermore. While that’s not wrong per se, the Bible doesn’t teach what I think most people imagine. Having… Continue reading On the hereafter
Sometimes light reflects, refracts, and disperses in water droplets causing its brilliant white radiance to split into the visible spectrum and hang suspended in the air. We call it a rainbow, as the sun breaks through rainclouds and colours bend the sky. It has a similar effect on most of us as snow does, we… Continue reading On Rainbows
In the last year I’ve read three different Christian self-help books. I wasn’t a particularly big fan of any of them, but they all came recommended by someone I trust, and they all had things I appreciated about them. There was wisdom in each and every one. I’m comfortable reading books I disagree with or… Continue reading On Biblicism
“When I caught Gerald in ‘68 he was completely wild.” “Wild? I was absolutely livid!” There’s a cliché that abounds in evangelical spaces that you can’t “put God in a box”. Well, no. If we’re feeling particularly clever with ourselves, we might then quip that “someone tried that, it didn’t end well.” Quite. I haven’t… Continue reading The wildness of God
Christians are supposed to be the wise. I often wonder if we really are. While my own preaching and teaching, as well as that of others I know well or have sat under, contains a lot of practical application, I am beginning to suspect that I haven’t spent a lot of time teaching about wisdom… Continue reading Get Wisdom
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