It’s funny, the things we get finicky about and the things we relax about when someone dies isn’t it? I was intrigued by one conversation I observed on social media following the death of the late pope. It was in response to Stephen Kneale’s excellent article about how we should respond to the news. As… Continue reading What happens when we die?
Tag: resurrection
Prodigals, Adam, Death and Resurrection (An Easter reflection)
It’s Easter Sunday and I find myself drawn back to three key things in Luke’s Gospel. First, we have the Resurrection Sunday afternoon walk on the Emmaus Road. Jesus works his way through Scripture to show that the whole account was pointing towards him and his death and resurrection. Then back in Luke 3:21-38, we… Continue reading Prodigals, Adam, Death and Resurrection (An Easter reflection)
Paul and the supposed lost message of love
I promised that I’d pick up on the substance of a couple of recent social media debates. Here’s the secind one. Readers will recognise immediately that this is a pretty old misconception. It’s been doing the rounds as long as I can remember. Some of my readers are significantly older than I am and I… Continue reading Paul and the supposed lost message of love
The Redemption of Moses
AS Moses stood facing the Red Sea and God told him to stretch out his staff over the water, how did he know that he could trust God at that point? I want to suggest that it was in part because he’d sort of been there already before. He was about to take the people… Continue reading The Redemption of Moses
There is a hope
Throughout Isaiah, among all the warnings of judgement and desolation are scattered promises of salvation and restoration for God’s people. In the early parts of the book, the theme of judgement is the one that dominates but there is light in the darkness with the calling of a messenger, glimpses of God’s glory and the… Continue reading There is a hope
What the hope of resurrection doesn’t encourage us to do -and why that’s good news
Something struck me over the past few months, particularly as our family have been through a period of grief having seen Sarah’s dad and my mum die in a very short space of time. One of the emotions that we go through in grief is that strong sense of missing a person and wishing that… Continue reading What the hope of resurrection doesn’t encourage us to do -and why that’s good news
In sure and certain hope of the resurrection
I’ve led or taken part in quite a few funerals. Recently we said goodbye to my mum and laid to rest her mortal remains. At the graveside, as the coffin is lowered, it is normal to read out these words or similar. “In that the Lord has chosen to take [name] to himself, we now… Continue reading In sure and certain hope of the resurrection
The New Heavens and New Earth
What is your experience of living in “the now and the not yet” between Jesus first coming and second coming? Are you looking forward to his return, excited about eternity? Do you ever become despondent and ask “How long?” Does it ever feel as though God is distant and silent? Read Isaiah 65 -66 Yahweh’s… Continue reading The New Heavens and New Earth
Biblcal Theology and Isaiah
Biblical Theology helps us to see God’s big story of redemption unfolding on the pages of Scripture. There are a couple of aspects to this. First of all, authors such as Graeme Goldsworthy and Christopher Wright have identified three themes running through Scripture. We can talk about The story that the Bible tells us the… Continue reading Biblcal Theology and Isaiah
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
Faithroots 