Pilgrim

A couple of years ago I wrote a contemporary version of Psalm 23 when I was helping at a youth Alpha day; it went something like this. The Lord is my saviour, I shall not hide he saves me from my nightmares, my self doubt, my anxiety. From demons in the night, from destruction of anger, mistrust and fear. He is the restorer of my soul He guides me through the darkness of my mind. Even though I still get scared, even though I sometimes find it hard to pray. He provides me with all I need. He sends Angels to walk by my side and fills me with his Spirit. I fear no evil when God is with me, holding me in his arms, surrounding me with his love. Surely I will rest in the wings of the Lord, my saviour all the days of my life. Whilst it is OK, one of the main failings as far as I can tell is that it is very “me” focused”.   And that says a lot about my criticism of a lot of Christian teaching and worship today.   We are often told that Jesus died on the cross ...

LIGHT A light shines deep within me. You cannot see it, I wish you could. Silently amidst the roar It comforts and consoles; Convicts and corrects. A bright light surrounds me You cannot see it, I wish you could. Guiding me on the path Seeking, sanctifying; Protecting, projecting. What is this light? You cannot see it, I wish you would. A morning star, bright new dawn! A spirit of resurrection. You know who! This is the light. The light in the life of all. The whisperer of God Comforter, Paraclete; The Holy Spirit of God Let me take you back 2000 years to the upper room, the same room that only a few days before the friends has shared a supper.   Imagine you are one of the followers in the room and listen to the voice of one of these. I’m Myriam; I come from a town you will know as Magdala.   You’ll know me as Mary Magdalene.   I’m one of the Rabbi’s followers, and I can’t begin to tell you about how much emotion...

Christianity is often in the news, on TV, in the tabloid media, on the internet and of course all over social media.   Mostly though, I don’t hear the Gospel being preached, at least not very clearly.   How many times do we instead see court cases regarding whether someone can wear a cross at work, whether a registrar should keep or lose their job over their stance on same sex marriage, of child abuse carried out in one church or another, or because of warped views on theology; of cases of young babies at the centre of complex medical cases with grieving parents at loggerheads with healthcare professionals.   Ultimately- we hear of course about the extremes of misogyny and homophobia spread by a particular brand of so called evangelical Christianity. What sort of image of God is portrayed in the media then? A poe faced old Man who doesn’t trust women, and trusts men even less; with a long list of rules as long as …. Well eternity? An all-powerful...

I'd like to go off piste a little and just reflect on how important it is when we comment of other peoples work and the effect that our words can have. This blog has principally been about my work as a local preacher, but outside of this I actually have two "proper jobs" so to speak.  I am a physiotherapist and an associate lecturer at a local University. I submitted a case report to a journal recently and today received the feedback.  Now first of all, the think about being in academia means that you stick you head above the parapet whenever you submit anything and in a sense you are welcoming reviewers to find fault with your work.  I do this and I am doing it now actually as I have just put to side a portfolio to mark to write this blog.  However commentary can be supportive and enabling even when the student has missed the mark.  Just to be certain on this matter, I don't have an issue with receiving critique at all. I have just submitted a large grant a...

Deuteronomy 34: 1-12 Matthew Chapter 22: 34-46 Deuteronomy’s reading is quite straightforward and not so bloodthirsty as most of the Old Testament, though Moses’ death is still squeezed in.   I don’t normally have OT readings if I can avoid it, principally because it is my belief that when Jesus came and fulfilled his mission, he brought to fruition what we call the Old Testament, or God’s revelation to a specific group of people.   This isn’t meant to be defamatory to ancient Judaic or Islamic scriptures, however I believe that Jesus came and announced the fulfillment of the law, announcing a new age on that first Easter Sunday.     However the death of Moses, considered to be one of the greatest people in Jewish history, is important when laid against our second reading, because we have Jesus explicitly challenging the viewpoint of the time concerning the Messiah.   Jesus in claiming the title of Messiah, is claiming himself to be greater than Moses; ...

Do not be afraid.   How many times does that phrase occur in the Bible?   Well there are some things that the internet just doesn’t tell you, at least accurately.   There are claims that it is there or thereabouts for 365 times.   A nice idea, but not really upheld by various search methods, but then what is it that we are being advised not to be afraid of, and can we compare advice if the context is totally different?   In the end, it probably doesn’t really matter whether it was said 1 time or 10,000 times, what matters is why it was said and to what purpose. Our two readings today have two totally different contexts and two separate storylines.   In Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth, we are in the midst of his second visit, which to all intents and purposes was a difficult one.   There are hints of Paul being accused of fraudulent activity in his collection of money for the church in Jerusalem that was suffering from persecution and was fi...