Every November we have our season of remembrance. It begins with All Saints Day on the 1st – a chance to remember the global church – moves through Bonfire Night and concludes with Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day, when we remember the impact of war, and rededicate ourselves to the cause of peace. Remembering is … Read more
We live in a workaholic society. Take the Enlightenment dogma of continuous progress, mix with a subtle blend of the Protestant work ethic, add a sprinkling of consumerist worship at the altar of customer entitlement, shake thoroughly and hey presto! A fabulous modernist cocktail. And, like a cocktail, tasty as it seems at the time, … Read more
People can’t obey God. Or at least, not all of the time, or even most of the time. You could say that, ‘People can’t obey God’ is a pretty good summary of the whole Old Testament, certainly its history books. Renewal is only ever temporary, things usually go back to how they were after a … Read more
Strictly speaking, I don’t earn anything at all. I haven’t done for 16 years now. What ministers get paid is called a ‘stipend’ rather than a ‘salary’. It’s easy to forget why this matters. I’ve often caught myself referring to my role in ways that suggest I earn a wage: if someone thanks me, I’ll … Read more
There is something wonderful about worshipping the Lord in a large gathering. I first experienced that powerfully at Easter 1999, when I attended Spring Harvest. Walking into the Big Top for the first evening celebration and realising there were 5,000 people there gave me goosebumps. I had never praised God in such a large crowd, … Read more
What are you like with lists? Did you find todays passage a fascinating journey through some exotic names and even more exotic places? Or a dreary trawl through meaningless information? The bible is full of lists; and we’ve already seen several big lists in this little book so far: ch3, ch7, ch10 and even yesterday … Read more
That title got your attention, didn’t it? A reflection on the National Lottery? Well, yes, in fact – the original national lottery: today’s passage describes those families who were chosen to settle in Jerusalem. The method for selection was casting lots, and those included were drawn from across the country – hence national lottery. Imagine … Read more
‘In view of all this…’ And so, we get to the heart of the prayer. After a long and detailed confession of the people’s rebellious ways, their repentance is manifested in a ‘binding agreement’, witnessed by their spiritual leaders (10:1-27). True conviction and confession always ends in commitment. Indeed, the word repentance, which we often … Read more
Someone once said that the definition of madness is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result each time. I don’t know if that’s true, but it’s certainly a decent definition of human nature. We do the same thing over and over, intending to change… only to find the cycle repeating … Read more
Confession is good for the soul. It’s also a practice which has become increasingly unfashionable in modern culture, where the word sin is often seen as an outdated concept. If there is such a thing as sin, it’s something like not being true to yourself – whatever that means! The primary issue, of course, is … Read more