Author: faithrootsdw

Suspended Tolerance?

I’ve just had time to look a little bit more at this story that emerged over the weekend.  On social media, the story has been presented focusing on one severely autistic boy being suspended and then receiving death threats due to a Quran being scuffed/damaged.  A local councillor defended the school for suspending the boy… Continue reading Suspended Tolerance?

The toxic danger of gossip for both men and women

I recently engaged with an article that described gossip and slander as “the curse of women.” The article has since been withdrawn, I suspect one if those articles written in haste and frustration at specific circumstances. However, the association of women specifically with gossip is a common misconception. I found that phrasing unhelpful because I don’t… Continue reading The toxic danger of gossip for both men and women

Come let us walk

Take a moment to pause and mediate on these words   come, let us walk  in the light of the Lord. Isaiah 2:5 This is an invitation to the people of Israel and comes in the light of God’s promise that he will re-establish Zion as the place where he reigns “with justice and peace.  It is also an… Continue reading Come let us walk

Questions to ask when considering church revitalisation

Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to get involved in a few church revitalisation initiatives.  Now the word revitalisation is potentially broad in its definition and could it could be suggested that every church will need an element of revitalisation from time to time if it is to stay fresh and relevant.  So, when… Continue reading Questions to ask when considering church revitalisation

Established

We tend to associate the early stages of Isaiah with gloom and judgement. However, rifght from the start, warnings of judgement are framed by promises of hope. Read Isaiah 2:1-5 If the city of Jerusalem and the Temple there faces imminent destruction, this will not be a permanent state of affairs.  God promises that a… Continue reading Established

Is the protestant position on abortion contradictory?

I just wanted to pick up on this tweet. I think that it runs with a number of misconceptions and confusions.  First,  a misunderstanding of what we mean by things like original sin and Total Depravity.  The choice of wording in the tweet suggests that the doctrines require us to regard people, including babies and… Continue reading Is the protestant position on abortion contradictory?

Unfaithful

Warning, today’s reading will contain strong language from the start. We are used to a kind of gentle, nice respectability to our Christianity but the prophets were prepared to deal directly with root problems and unashamedly use shocking language to get their point across. Read Isaiah 1:21-31 Israel is compared to a prostitute. Sexual immorality… Continue reading Unfaithful

Death and resurrection – applying Jonah through Jesus

We want to apply the Old Testament to our lives today but how do we best do that.  There’s a risk that if we just use an Old Testament character as an example that we end up with legalism.  The message of Jonah gives us a helpful case study. Jonah runs away from God and… Continue reading Death and resurrection – applying Jonah through Jesus

Listen up

God spoke to and through the prophet Isaiah about 700 years before Jesus came and so over 2700 years ago.  Yet those words spoken millennia ago still resonate powerfully today. Ultimately, it is a message of hope as Isaiah points to Jesus but he had many tough things to say too. The question today as… Continue reading Listen up