EN91 The Parable of the Blind Kite Flyer
02/05/11 09:00
Taken from the introduction of Peter Lewis' excellent book on The Lord's Prayer.
Here are a few of my notes:
Peter Lewis Intro Lords Prayer
- Prayer: what do we get out of it?
- Blind kid with a kite - can't see it but enjoys the pull. We often associate prayer with push.
Why pray?
1. God commands it.
2. God is glorified in it.
3. People need our prayers.
- the self contained life knows little of love, but love opens us up to share others burdens and minister to others needs.
4. We change as we pray.
5. Things change as we pray.
- ArchWillTemple: prayer coincidences etc.
EN87 Spiritleaks
03/01/11 08:58
So the wikileaks event shook up a lot of people didn't it? So much controversy - on the one hand it feels wrong that private conversations should be exposed in such a provocative manner and on the other it seems like a good thing to have secretive behaviour called to account. Clearly there is much more to this event than meets the media eye, but it is definitely food for thought.
There is a powerful parallel spoken of in the Bible - how God has exposed hidden workings by His Spirit.
In Jesus Christ there is now a fresh means of approaching God - created by God Himself and now revealled (or leaked) into the public sphere. Much like the wikileaks scandal, this is scandalous on the multinational stage because God means business! No more can religious authorities keep the door closed on that most precious of secrets - the pin code to God's throne room is now out there.
Here is a link to the Ephesians 3 text.
HT to Tony Waghorn for feedback and the final line(s).
The Big Wedding Day: Revelation the 19th
01/12/09 17:32
My friends Kev and Kath are getting married in about three weeks. It is a massive chapter change for them and wonderfully they have included us in the celebrations. After stumbling upon a new personal style of adorning text, Kath asked me to do some more and this was the result.
It is an extended meditation on the Christian worldview narrative - from the Creation, to the Fall, to Jesus' Cross-work and finally the consummation.
May God richly bless this couple as they step out in awe of the truly BIG day. All the rest will fall into place.
EN17 The Dividing Aisle of Hostility
01/02/05 13:50
The Bible epilogue text can be found here (you may have to scroll down a bit to find the exact part...).
It is interesting how easy it is to legitimise snobbery. The 'chav' term had become far too regular among some christian acquaintances of mine and I wanted to draw a link with the story of the tax collector and the pharisee. Acceptance regardless of who you are is a priority for christians.