faithrootsdw

Don’t look back in anger

We are coming to the end of the story. In fact w are coming to the end of several stories, the story of famine in Egypt, the story of Joseph and his brothers, the story of Jacob and the story of beginnings, the end of Genesis. We should therefore treat the conclusion here as one,… Continue reading Don’t look back in anger

The future of a family

Joseph has had his own private audience with his father and his sons but as Jacob gets closer to death, he has things to say to his whole family. Read Genesis 49 Jacob assembles his family. Once again note the interchange of names, they are “sons of Jacob”, he is their “father Israel.” He prophesies… Continue reading The future of a family

Echoes of a blessing

I think there was a real sense in which Joseph had died to Jacob when he went to Egypt. He now was more Egyptian that Hebrew and that’s where his priorities in the life lay, even if he still had hope for return to Canaan one day. This fact probably helps us to understand a… Continue reading Echoes of a blessing

Priorities, excuses and a reality check

The Jews who had returned to Jerusalem were arguing that it was the wrong time to rebuild the temple. It seemed that a mixture of economic circumstances and opposition for outsiders had convinced them that even though they didn’t disagree with the plan, that the timing simply wasn’t right. However, God has made it clear… Continue reading Priorities, excuses and a reality check

Notes on emergent church and deconstruction

Questions about these things come up from time to time and feed into blog articles. Here’s some notes I wrote in response to a recent request to say something about the issues and dangers with emergent church/deconstruction. Emergent church is the idea that every so often (say 500 years or so), the church goes through… Continue reading Notes on emergent church and deconstruction

Servitude

The popular version of the Joseph story runs that Jacob spoils his son and is at fault for the brother’s jealousy. This is exacerbated by Joseph’s arrogant boasting about his dreams. However, being sold into slavery changes Joseph making him good, wise and just. Is that a fair rendition? Well, there have been clues along… Continue reading Servitude

Who makes the call?

What is the thing that you are putting off? It could be the decision to move job or house, to start a family, to get involved in a particular area of ministry. Sime times it feels like the time is never right. Read Haggai 1:1-2 The background to these verses is the first few chapters… Continue reading Who makes the call?

Signposts to home

We are moving to the end of the book of Genesis, the foundation of the whole Bible story of God’s redemptive plan. This also means that w are moving towards the end of Jacob’s life story. Remember that whilst our focus has been on Joseph, this is really the story of “what became of Jacob… Continue reading Signposts to home

Haggai and Nehemiah – background

This autumn our church are going to be looking at two books of the bible which take us into the period of history after the Jews return from exile in Babylon and Persia where they had been dispersed to due to their sin and rebellion against God. A bit of historical background to show how… Continue reading Haggai and Nehemiah – background

Training revisited

I recently exchanged some correspondence via Evangelicals Now’s letters to the editor with John Brand, the Principal of Edinburgh Bible College). You can read his original letter here, my response here and his comeback here. I was tempted to respond in detail and in fact, drafted something but realised there was little benefit in a… Continue reading Training revisited