Parenting 'Dad, can I have an ice cream?' 'Not now, wait til you have had lunch.' A conversation familiar to anyone who has been a parent, saying no to your children, letting them down gently. Of course, in the above example a good parent wold have to come up with ice cream after lunch. At …
Tag: Jesus
Refugees – part 2
...as you did it to one of the least of these... An encounter with Jesus went like this: Luke 10:25-37 ESVUK And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do …
Who judges who?
Here comes the judge Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgement you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your …
Bad news, the tomb is empty
They thought death had happened to Jesus, but Jesus has happened to death.
United Airlines and the Kingdom of God.
This last week a man was forcefully ejected from a flight because the seat was required by staff of a partner airline to United, who turned up at the gate after the flight had boarded. Using a phrase straight out of an Orwellian dystopian novel United's cheif executive Oscar Munoz used the phrase designated volunteers to …
let the water and the blood…
Let the water and the blood... Words from Rock of ages, written by the wonderfully named Reverend Augustus Montague Toplady. The song takes it's imagery from a gorge in Southern England, where Toplady sheltered from a storm, from the rock that was struck in the desert and from which water flowed during the Israelites' Exodus from …
…and round his piercèd feet
...and round his piercèd feet fair flowers of paradise extend... The words are from the hymn Crown him with many crowns by Matthew Bridges. Then there's this from Psalm 110:1 The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” The footstool is where the king puts …
Hands that flung stars into space
Hands that flung stars into space... ...To cruel nails surrendered Words from Graham Kendrick's song The Servant King. Jesus who John's Gospel tells us "Created everything there is, nothing exists he did not make," (Living Bible) When Mel Gibson made the film The Passion of the Christ, the hand you see nailing Jesus to the …
…or thorns compose so rich a crown
...or thorns compose so rich a crown A kine from Isaac Watts hymn When I survey the wonderous cross. A crown of thorns would have been very painful. But this was mot about pain or torture, this was mockery. And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor's headquarters), and they …
What will Jesus do next?
Palm Sunday Sunday 9th April, 2007, Holy Trinity, Huddersfield. As usual when talking about a service these are my impressions after the event. I have taken no notes or anything to fall back on. This was a family service, so there was a talk to the children and a drama rather than a reading. There …
Making an ass of myself 