We are told that suppression of feelings is deleterious to our wellbeing - it’s not good for us. This is largely correct, taking into account what isn't being  referred to are fleeting emotions or petty offences, which can easily be as much taken as they are given. Neither should we indulge in the habit of constantly rehearsing our bruised emotions -  especially to unrelated others - even though they (our emotions) may be genuinely troubled or hurt….

If you were given the choice, what would you choose - localized and seen notoriety or wide spread and unseen influence? Choice isn’t normally given to us so both may be true for some; it isn’t strictly either/or, but the question still stands. If it was only one, which would you choose?

Community is a hot topic. The word is used to describe everything from a gathering of people, to those who use the same App, follow the same team, or live in the same high rise/condominium. It is used, in other words, for almost anything that involves people, which is just about everything. Its use is truly ubiquitous, and therefore in danger of becoming virtually meaningless.

Jesus welcomed little children, arms wide open; he saw in them something that the disciples, and most of us, miss. It would not be pressing the issue to say he liked children, more, he loved children -  and children, him too. They would have felt loved and safe in his presence.  We can only wonder what became of the children he blessed? What were their futures? *2

History hasn’t always been kind to children. They have suffered in many ways as victims of war, they’ve been sidelined as a burden, treated less than human, trafficked and abused. It’s of value to note, lest this gets too bleak, they’ve also been loved, cared for, nurtured and celebrated…

Isaiah 40 comes on the heels of numerous prophetic denunciations of Israel, the surrounding nations, and a recap of the life of Hezekiah - Isaiah 36-39. He was one of the very few kings who sought to follow Yahweh. But even his reign, for all its religious reformation, couldn’t hold back forever the inevitable exile to Babylon of God’s people; a people who consistently and provocatively worshipped other gods, blaspheming God’s name among the nations.

There is little as magnificent as a sunrise – out of darkness emerges an ever-changing living palate of reds, oranges and yellows that paint the awakening horizon. The sunrise heralds a new day, a new beginning, if you wish.

Who would think to start the Christmas story with a genealogy? We wouldn’t but Matthew did. Why? Matthew wanted to establish the credentials of the Messiah before telling the story of the Messiah. He did this by

We marvel at the depth, the height, and the breadth of God’s amazing grace. By this expression of his nature God has brought salvation to us, through Jesus, when we were helpless to save ourselves, so that whatever we do for God is never reciprocated as like for like. There is no spiritual or moral equivalency between God’s act and mankind’s response.

In this pivotal and defining Old Testament text God calls out to Moses, proclaiming his name. He, in other words, is revealing to Moses what he is like, what his nature is, what he intends and what mankind can expect of this God.

The art of plain-speak and its concomitant, truthfulness, is all but a lost art if the present electoral cycle in the US is any indication. Plain questions, leading questions, good questions, just – questions, are blatantly avoided whilst the candidates focus on the failings of their equally evasive opponents.

Solomon’s reign brought unrivalled peace and prosperity to Israel. His father, David, would have marvelled at Solomon’s accomplishments. But much of it came at a high cost to God’s people. The works projects for the temple and his own house/palace took twenty years of intensive building...

May I give you some advice? Only give advice when it is actively sought, or a relation exists in which advice is a necessity and/or at...

Winston Churchill famously quipped,

‘Many forms of Government have been tried and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…’

If you fly regularly, it is likely you have seen some sort of altercation on board. And, if you haven’t YouTube affords plenty of opportunities (obviously I amuse easily) to view people being everything from silly to reckless.  

The inability to make definitive choices is ubiquitous – common to mankind. People find it difficult to make choices due a variety of factors: little self-confidence, having had someone do it for them all their lives, a lack of motivation, fear that their choices will be wrong, etc. 

It would be strange when we are young to consider, too seriously, our mortality. Life appears endless with possibilities, which it is.

It would be strange when we are older to ignore our mortality. The signs of its inevitability are all too obvious…

There may currently not be a more important topic to give our attention to than discipling God’s people, to seeing them transformed in thought and action into the likeness of the Jesus of the gospels.  Discipleship occupied the full attention of Jesus when he was giving his final words/instructions prior to his resurrection, so should it occupy ours – “Go into all the world and make disciples …” This is our new creation mandate….

A place does exist, more easily in Liberal Democracies, for a faith/moral voice in the political realm. But it can never be at the cost of the otherworldly nature and call of the kingdom of God. We are fools if we fail to see that the whole world, and its systems…

World events that unsettle, unnerve us, often find Christians resorting to various readings of the Revelation of St John (or more precisely, the Revelation of Jesus Christ). The vast, terrifying, apocalyptic landscape of Revelation is read as a prophetic calendar of future events -  which in some ways, and consistent with multiple fulfilments of this literary and prophetic genre, is valid. There is something about the grand spiritual themes and battles in Revelation that will last the entire age, in that every era has the possibilities of seeing dragons, false prophets and persecution of the saints…