This is not a comforting part of the Bible. These passages don’t get onto inspirational posters and facebook memes. This is hard. But so is life, sometimes. … More Isaiah 5:1-7, Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19
You can really hear the frustration in Abraham’s voice as he points out to God the elephant in the room. ‘It’s all very well you telling me I’m going to have so many children that I’ll have to barcode them to keep track, but in case you hadn’t noticed, the total so far is zero. … More Genesis 15:1-6, Hebrews 11:1-3,8-16
This is a beautiful passage of God’s love for his children. And this is not some distant father dashing out of his study to pat the washed and brushed children on the head before nanny puts them to bed. This is one who lifts infants to his cheeks, who bends down to them and feeds them. This a hands-on, story-reading, nappy-changing dad. … More Hosea 11:1-11
The first child is called Jezreel. That probably means nothing to you (I had to go look it up) but it meant a lot back then. Today, it would be like calling a child Auschwitz or Hiroshima or Nine-Eleven. Ouch. … More Hosea 1:2-10
Mary was focussed on the process, the journey, the who she was going with, not the where she was going. She walked the labyrinth. … More Luke 10:38-42 – Labyrinths
They were Rangers supporters if you’re Celtic. They were United if you’re City. Lancaster if you’re York. French if you’re English (they’ve never forgiven us for Waterloo). Surely, surly, someone had mentioned this before? … More Luke 10:25-37 – The Good Samaritan
But who would listen to a slave? Who cares what a foreigner has to say? Who pays attention to a child – and a girl at that? In terms of social status we really are in the gritty bits at the bottom of the bathtub. … More 2 Kings 5:1-14
We try to live well because we are forgiven, not so that we will be forgiven.
Free From: free from needing to save ourselves by trying to be good enough. Why?
The bad news: We’ll never be good enough.
The good news: We’ll never be good enough. But that’s OK because God loves us anyway, imperfect as we are. … More Galatians 5:1, 13-25
One of my favourite aspects of this song (psalms 42 and 43 are one song) is how the writer alternates between what his heart feels and what his mind knows. He is in a dark place and he does not hide that. He does not pretend everything is alright when it is not. … More Psalms 42 and 43
And God? God forgives. Fully and immediately. It’s almost like he was waiting for someone to confess so that he could release all the pent-up mercy. … More 2 Samuel 11:26-12:10, 13-15
The Reflectionary 