Tag: compassion

The church is still the bride of Christ

Imagine turning up at a wedding, heading towards the groom and telling him he was a great mate, a general all round good guy and your favourite friend. Then after a short pause you tell him “but your bride is a hideous troll isn’t she. Can’t stand her mate.”  A few minutes later you find… Continue reading The church is still the bride of Christ

So why run clubs and toddlers’ groups?

I’ve written a couple of articles recently about our outreach post COVID. I’ve suggested that we might want to revisit some of our weekday programmes. That’s partly because I suspect there will be a nervousness about attending such events for a while, and indeed, the suggestion that social distancing measures will be needed until well… Continue reading So why run clubs and toddlers’ groups?

Fruit from the harvest … fruit for the harvest

The other day, I sat and read one of those “history of our church” books that local churches produce to celebrate centenaries and 150th anniversaries. There was a beautiful little story in it. The church were looking to do a bit of building work and began to raise the funds. A large legacy of £58k… Continue reading Fruit from the harvest … fruit for the harvest

Jesus and the shamed woman

Yesterday, I wrote about how the woman with an issue of blood experiences shaming from powerful men. Today, I want to highlight how Jesus deals with her differently.  All the Gospel writers present her as creeping up quietly, nervously and sneaking a quick touch of her garment. Her aim seems to be to make some… Continue reading Jesus and the shamed woman

Exploring Forgiveness and Repentance

I’ve been writing a little recently about forgiveness. It arises out of our recent studies from the Sermon on the Mount. It also relates to some other things I have written recently about our pastoral responsibilities to victims of abuse and to those accused. So, I was interested to see the other day that my… Continue reading Exploring Forgiveness and Repentance

Why is there a stigma about mental health issues and suicide?

If I called in sick with a broken ankle, a severe bout of flu (genuine flu not man-flu)  or because I was due serious surgery, you would probably think nothing of it. Yet, despite all of the progress in our understanding of mental health, we still have a problem with its stigma. Why is that? … Continue reading Why is there a stigma about mental health issues and suicide?