word | spirit | world | church
This is the next part of my ongoing series exploring the letter written by St Polycarp to the church in Philippi, collaborating with my friend Adsum Try Ravenhill of the Raven’s Writing Desk. You can read the previous parts at these links: I; II; III, IV, V, VI, VII. Dear Adsum Thank you for your last letter. Your strong encouragement to… Continue reading Hold on to Hope: Polycarp VIII
In Matthew 16 Jesus declares to Peter that he is the rock on which he will build his church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. What does that mean? In popular piety it’s most often quoted when we feel under attack by the forces of the Enemy. We’re most likely under… Continue reading The Gates of Hell
Christianity is weird. Really weird. In middle-class western churches we seem to have forgotten that in the name of respectability. That isn’t actually why, of course, though it’s an easy accusation to throw. In the evangelical world we’ve shuffled away the weirdness because it’s not easy to explain. We’re keen to get a hearing ‘for… Continue reading Making Christianity Weird Again
Honestly, so does everything worth having. We always have to die in order to rise. The scriptures command us to rejoice with those rejoice and weep with those who weep (Romans 12). That’s a lot harder than it sounds. It is, I think, almost impossible to rejoice with those who rejoice until someone has wept… Continue reading Joy requires sacrifice
Larry Crabb tells story after story in his book Shattered Dreams of people whose lives have been upended by grief and pain and the unexpected mundanity of living. Tears have become my deepest form of worship, some reflect. They discover deep desires for God, and then a new hurt on top of the cavalcade of… Continue reading God in the Pit
It was a Thursday evening when they took him, guards appearing at the prayer meeting, all his friends scattering to the four winds. He went meekly, like the lambs being lined up outside the Temple, waiting for the Passover. Earlier that evening Jesus had sat up a hillside surrounded by olive trees, with his three… Continue reading This Bright Surprise: An Easter Sermon
The Psalms have sharp edges. They cut the unwary and cut the bonds of the broken. I’ve just prayed my way through them, at roughly one a day. I’m starting again at the moment. I knew they were raw but have often been surprised by how raw. Which I really shouldn’t be, but my church… Continue reading The Hard-Edged Psalms
We should desire wisdom. “Get wisdom!” Solomon tells us (Proverbs 4). We see that eating from wisdom’s tree (Genesis 3) was Adam’s mistake but also the destiny he was supposed to bear. We also see that one of the ways we learn wisdom is by suffering. Let’s not get this backwards, suffering is not our… Continue reading Learning wisdom
We all struggle. We all suffer. We all know pain. At the same time, we’re acutely aware that we don’t have access to each other’s struggles except as they are related to us. There is nothing more humanising than suffering—this is the human condition—and there is nothing more isolating. When Christians suffer, when we experience… Continue reading The Privilege of Pain
I’m going to let you in on a secret that I’m only getting to grips with myself, it’s simple, but oddly revolutionary: hope is an action. We learn it. Hope is not an emotion, as though we summon it up and have a bright day looking at the future. We can certainly feel hopeful, but… Continue reading Hope has to be learned
nuakh 