Our church have been working through Mark’s Gospel both in our Sunday morning services and at our midweek life group. Most of Mark feels like plain sailing (well, there is the occasional storm). However, there are a couple of more challenging texts. I suspect that the ones that stand out are Mark 10 which raises… Continue reading What do you do with difficult Bible passages?
Author: faithrootsdw
Twenty-one
If you’ve been following along with Faithroots over the past few months, you’ll have got used to reading quite a few articles linked to Mark’s Gospel. That’s because I’ve been linking in the day to day articles with the teaching programme that our church are currently following. However, once a month, we take a break… Continue reading Twenty-one
Why I believe in preaching through whole books of the Bible
The other day, I wrote about how we engage with theology in the local church. In the current debate about this, some people are setting up the practice of systematic expository preaching in opposition to engaging with theology. In fact, the idea that we should preach through a whole book of the Bible has long… Continue reading Why I believe in preaching through whole books of the Bible
Where are the worship songs about gout?
Quite a few worship songs these days announce spiritual power to break strongholds with a particular focus on addictions, mental health and depression. Now there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact as someone who has suffered from depression I have appreciated heart felt songs that have spoke about God’s presence at the very point when… Continue reading Where are the worship songs about gout?
For all the Saints
What is today? For most people, it’s the day after Halloween. That’s true whether or not you’ve enthusiastically celebrated the event, attempted to create an alternative or desperately sought to avoid it. However, that’s quite ironic because Halloween is a contraction of “All Hallows’ Eve” or “All Saints’ Eve. We say “Happy Halloween” but not… Continue reading For all the Saints
What shall we do with Halloween?
It’s strange isn’t it that October 31st has become quite the big deal in some ways, yet less so in other ways. In fact, that’s true of this time of year generally. Back when I was a child in the 1970s-80s, there were things that were big about late October/early November. Bonfire Night was fast… Continue reading What shall we do with Halloween?
Taking care about what you are singing
Christian song writers can certainly have a knack for finding the most bewildering and cringeworthy song lyrics. Sometimes, it ends up being silly and amusing. Sometimes, context just makes a hymn inappropriate and sometimes we suffer from the way that words and phrases have changed meaning and usage over time. For example, a few centuries… Continue reading Taking care about what you are singing
How do you respond when God shakes your world?
Today at church we were looking at “The Birthday of the Church.” You might think we are a bit out of season for Pentecost but we’ve been working through the big story of the Bible at our monthly “all-age-services”. As you may recall, there were different responses to the events as people heard God’s name… Continue reading How do you respond when God shakes your world?
Curiosity is crucial
I think that often the difference between leaders who are able to change things and those that aren’t is often to do with curiosity. Some people are naturally curious. They are always wondering why things are the way they are, always asking questions, always considering different options, scenarios and reasons. They employ the famous “W”… Continue reading Curiosity is crucial
Not without hope
Genesis 11 paints a pretty hopeless picture. The new, post flood humanity have in effect squandered the blessings and privileges of the covenant with Noah. Their hubristic rebellion against God has been crushed, they are divided by language and scattered across the world of the day. However, at the end of the chapter, we are… Continue reading Not without hope
Faithroots 