Advent and Christmas Journey
December 3rd Immanuel I love Christmas. The carols, the wonder, the traditions, the too-much-food-only-eaten-once-a-year. It is the time of year I most miss being with my family, the time when living overseas is most costly, not in money but in feeling, the feeling that comes when you are surrounded by those who know... Continue Reading →
December 2nd The Living Branch The days were coming… but they were not there yet, and the aching pain of invasion and exile scraped across old wounds as ancient Israel strained their eyes into the distance hoping for the promise of hope. Wondering if it was really possible. Really true. And we... Continue Reading →
December 1st The Coming King He ‘shall come’ . That was the promise all along. He shall come. The One to stamp on the serpents head (Genesis 3:15), the one to whom the sceptre belongs (Genesis 49:10), the one who will establish His throne in love (Isaiah 16:5). He shall come! This King.... Continue Reading →
Two days to go… (and A Way to Keep Advent at the Heart of Your Home) The puppy sat whining at the fence unable to follow me, as I slipped between the fence wires into the wooded corner of our field. Resigning herself, she sat moping, nose through the fence, waiting. I was on... Continue Reading →
Last Monday the railroad tracks of our life upended in the most beautiful way. We awoke to powdery soft snow blanketing everything in brilliant white. We declared it a snow day and after a hot chocolate breakfast spent most of the day outside playing, laughing, sliding and marvelling, breathing out and soaking in the unexpected... Continue Reading →
We stumbled across this cafe down a side street, searching for somewhere to have a moment together out of the cold. The cheery cafe owner took our order and we sat and waited in the corner, looking around us at the tinselled walls and festive decorations. The cafe owner soon slapped our sandwiches and drinks... Continue Reading →
Well my friend, Lent and Holy week draw to a close, and here in the Northern Hemisphere Spring light is warming up the world with all the hope of summer on its way. As the blossoms on the trees bud and open out, this Long Walk journey through the ‘Sermon on the Mount’ and then... Continue Reading →
EPILOGUE Easter Monday The Road Home… There are roads sometimes that go nowhere, nowhere but away, nowhere but far from all we want to leave behind us, far from all we fear and cannot face. Wandering roads, retreating roads, roads that give the illusion of forward motion while all the while leading nowhere. Nowhere but... Continue Reading →
EASTER SUNDAY Sunrise “Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene…”John 19:25 “…At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish day... Continue Reading →
EASTER SATURDAY Flashback THE MORNING AFTER THE NIGHT BEFORE ‘“You will all fall away,” Jesus told them, “for it is written: “‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.” Peter declared, “Even if all fall away, I will not.”... Continue Reading →
Good Friday IT WASN’T SUPPOSED TO BE THIS WAY? “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.” “Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had... Continue Reading →
Maundy Thursday Empires, Kingdoms and Truth on Trial “Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, made their plans. So they bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate.” ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’” asked Pilate. Mark... Continue Reading →
Wednesday 27th A Vision at Night “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 26th Night ‘As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.’ John 13:30 It was the cool of the day in that first Garden long ago, when God had come looking for the first Human Beings¹. But now it is the chill of night, in this second... Continue Reading →
Monday 25th Gethsemane “Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground – trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden... Continue Reading →
Palm Sunday Misunderstood Our lives are all part a story, folded into time, a longer story, a larger story. A story stretching from the beginning of time and reaching through to the end of it, the story of God’s long walk with human beings, the long story of His grace journeying to find us. The... Continue Reading →
Palm Sunday A Slow Walk through Holy Week… Well now that we’re down from the mountainside and on the dusty flats of ancient Israel once more we begin our walk alongside God incarnate to the cross. In your inbox you will find for each day of Holy week (From Palm Sunday to Easter Tuesday) a... Continue Reading →
Day 40 Epilogue ‘When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law. When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him.’ Matthew 7:28-8:1 ‘When Jesus had finished saying these things…’ Matthew 7:28-8:1... Continue Reading →
Day 39 Treasure On The Mountainside As you sit here on this mountainside, lingering one last time over Jesus’ words which we’ve explored together over these last 39 days, what has moved you? What has alarmed you? What has caused you to take a breath in wonder? As you engaged (to whatever extent you... Continue Reading →
Day 38 (& 39) Building Strong Take a moment in the stillness and imagine yourself sitting on this Galilean hillside having spent a whole day listening, hearing, absorbing Jesus’ every word. Feel these familiar yet new teachings turn over and over like somersaults in your mind, like gentle rain on a dry heart. Now,... Continue Reading →
Day 37 Knowing And Being Known By God In Jamaica, for many years (over a decade) we ran many programmes in inner city communities. Its a tough context and these programmes varied in effectiveness but we battled on, committed to being there and shining God’s love into these communities. But then one day God... Continue Reading →
Day 36 Who is Lord? ‘Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.’ Matthew 7: 21 In that first garden long ago everything spoken into being by God was held together by His word.... Continue Reading →
Day 35 A Good Tree ‘A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognise them.’ Matthew 7:18-20 We were created to be fruitful. To bear... Continue Reading →
Day 34 Good Fruit We, all of us long to feel like we are not alone in this world. Indeed the one ‘not good’ thing in all creation before the fall was for us to be alone… “The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make... Continue Reading →
Day 33 The Road To Life (Guest Post By Jenny Garvin) Jesus came among the kingdoms of this world to found and establish a new Kingdom, the Kingdom of heaven – unique and separate and essentially spiritual, but also practical. After teaching us how to throughout the Sermon on the Mount He then showed us... Continue Reading →
Day 32 So In Everything (Guest Post By David Campbell) ‘So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.’ Matthew 7:12 Jesus was speaking to a people on this mountainside … to God’s people … to His people, Israel. He... Continue Reading →
Day 31 Ask, seek, knock ‘Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. ‘Which of you, if your son asks... Continue Reading →
Day 30 Pearls Sometimes I wish Jesus’ words were easier, tidier, less politically incorrect. But that would make them cheap. And drained of all their truth. ‘Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear... Continue Reading →
Day 29 How To See Clearly ‘Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” when all the time there is a plank in... Continue Reading →
Day 28 Do Not Judge One of the things that has struck me most in writing our way through the Sermon on the Mount is the generosity of God laced through it all… ‘Don’t see with stingy eyes, see with generous eyes’, ‘Love your enemy’ ‘Give to the one who asks you, and do not... Continue Reading →
Day 27 Do Not Worry About Tomorrow ‘Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.’ Matthew 6:34 This day a few years ago I was down. Way down. Weighed down by worries and stresses and cataloguing my anxieties in a litany of... Continue Reading →
Day 26 Seek First His Kingdom ‘But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.’ Matthew 6:33 There are a lot of things in this world vying for the human heart, so many calls enticing our eyes, our time, our lives… so many... Continue Reading →
Day 25 Your Heavenly Father ‘So do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.’ Matthew 6: 31-32 When my daughter was around eight years of age her... Continue Reading →
Day 24 Flowers of the Field (Guest Post By David Campbell) ‘And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes... Continue Reading →
Day 23 Look At The Birds Of The Air ‘Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to... Continue Reading →
Day 22 Do Not Worry ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?' Matthew 6:25 Jesus’ words on this mountainside, they sound like good advice, like a... Continue Reading →
Day 21 Who Is Your Master? When Adam and Eve threw down God from the throne of their hearts that sad day long ago, when they listened to the whispering hiss of darkness and followed its lead all the way down to the "knowledge of good and evil"… and death, darkness wedged it’s foot... Continue Reading →
Day 20 How To See A single moment passes so quickly, yet can change a life forever. This moment in my adolescence has never really left me. I was in the back seat of our family car. I watched the world from here a lot in my early years. I used to love... Continue Reading →
Day 19 Treasure ‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your... Continue Reading →
Day 18 Fasting (Guest Post By David Campbell) ‘When you fast, do not look sombre as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so... Continue Reading →
Day 17 Forgive (Guest Post By David Campbell) ‘For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.’ Matthew 6: 14-15 This whole set of teachings, the Sermon on... Continue Reading →
Day 16 How To Pray ‘This, then, is how you should pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us... Continue Reading →
Day 15 When You Pray What a strange paradox it is that the more we human beings strive towards self actualisation and a sense of personal self worth, the more it eludes our grasp. The more we fight to make ourselves feel valuable, the emptier our identity rattles. There is a strange connection between... Continue Reading →
Day 14 When You Give ‘So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honoured by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let... Continue Reading →
Day 13 To Be Seen ‘Be careful not to practise your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.’ Matthew 6:1 Human souls have onion-layered depths that run so deep that sometimes we ourselves are not aware of... Continue Reading →
Day 12 Perfect Love ‘If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.’ Matthew... Continue Reading →
Day 11 Love Your Enemy ‘You have heard that it was said, “Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.” But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and... Continue Reading →
Day 10 Turn To Them The Other Cheek Also... (Guest Post By David Campbell) ‘You have heard that it was said, “Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.” But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone... Continue Reading →
Day 9 Radical Integrity In the beginning, God created the world. He brought everything into existence simply by His word. ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the... Continue Reading →
Day 8 Faithfulness ‘It has been said, “Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.” But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.’ Matthew 5:31-32 God’s original plan... Continue Reading →
Day 7 It Is Better For You... In a world that values autonomy, freedom… and rebellion, following Jesus’ commands is a radical act. It looks almost paradoxical that obedience and love could coexist. It is important to comprehend deeply when exploring the Sermon on the mount, that though it is full of commands, these... Continue Reading →
Day 6 First Go... (Guest Post by David Campbell) ‘Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift. Settle... Continue Reading →
Day 5 You Have Heard It Said, But I Say... (Guest Post by David Campbell) ‘You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, “You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.” But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will... Continue Reading →
Day 4 Fully Filling It is not just what happens to us in life, but the story through which we interpret what happens to us that matters. The story we live (often subconsciously) manifests itself in our behaviour and choices. Jesus, on this mountainside was giving His people a new story to live, which... Continue Reading →
Day 3 Salt and Light For just under a decade, our family lived in a small rural community on a hillside, overlooking the constantly buzzing city of Kingston, Jamaica. The brown boards of our rustic home were faintly visible from the city, but whenever we left the small one-bulb verandah light on, we could see... Continue Reading →
Day 2 Blessing On this Galilean mountainside, under vaulting skies, Jesus begins to unfold His battle strategy for His Kingdom on earth: A people. An unlikely community of people who live their lives belonging to a different Kingdom. Jesus is inviting his hearers into a lived expression of His Kingdom on earth as it... Continue Reading →
Day 1 Ash Wednesday Blessed ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the... Continue Reading →
Shrove Tuesday Treasure On the Mountainside ‘Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down.’ Matthew 5:1-2 Did the grass crunch under His feet as He ascended the hillside that day? Did pebbles slide and roll between His dusty sandalled toes? Was the breeze warm against His... Continue Reading →
Just a few days before we begin to scale the mountainside to discover the treasure God has for us there! Each day throughout Lent I will send you a passage from Jesus' teaching on the Mountainside with questions to reflect on, journal or talk over with friends. Some days this will include a fuller reflection... Continue Reading →
I didn’t expect it. Not at all. I didn’t expect that a bud piercing through dark earth to find the light could bring such joy. Such hope. My sister had said once that that was what got her through the winters, looking for the signs of spring, the snowdrops, the crocuses, the blue bells and... Continue Reading →
Well Christmas day has lit it's way around our spinning globe and now we wake to the sleepy remainder of Christmas week giving way to anticipation of a new year emerging. Thank you for taking time to walk through the Christmas story with me this season. Next Christmas my hope is that I will have... Continue Reading →
December 25th Christmas Day Angels Singing Somewhere There were angels, but Mary didn’t see them. There was singing, but Joseph didn’t hear it. There was dazzling light, but neither felt its blaze. In Nazareth, they had seen the shaming sideways glances, heard the disapproving whispers, and felt the glaring judgment as Mary’s belly swelled.... Continue Reading →
December 24th Christmas Eve Right On Time I have a silver watch that ticks on my wrist and there are days when it feels like a draining chain, hand-cuffing me to rush and hurry and breathless keeping up. We’ve always had a strange relationship time, we humans. Partly perhaps because part of us is timeless…... Continue Reading →
December 23rd Plot Twist In our small life in this large world, it can feel like powerful forces in mighty places make decisions and we all fall in line, falling into the story line that they dictate, subjects subject to their script lines laid down. “In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that... Continue Reading →
December 22nd Silence to Singing The silence in Elizabeth and Zechariah’s house must have felt so loud. But perhaps not as loud as Zechariah’s own thoughts as he processed the Angel Gabriel’s words. Words that left him speechless. He hadn’t believed in the strange reality this Angel had foretold, but now the evidence of... Continue Reading →
December 21st Glorify: A Song to Light the Dark When God is doing something new, the air is full of singing. He sang human kind into being in the beginning (Genesis 1:27), He called Abraham with a poem (Genesis 2:2-3), Moses and Miriam sang over Israel as they left Egypt (Exodus 15:1), Moses sang... Continue Reading →
December 20th Magnify: The Song Of Mary We think our eyes are the part of us that see, but actually they’re the part that see in part. Just because the image of something is reflected onto our retina, it doesn’t mean we see it clearly. Our soul is also a lens this image... Continue Reading →
December 19th Strengthening Strength In the beginning, in the first garden long ago, God drew close. As close as breath. And then with His breath He spoke truth into the hearts of the first human beings: Loving truth. Generous truth- ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden’. Truth that acknowledged... Continue Reading →
December 18th Yes... What we say yes to forms us. One way or the other. Mary. She said yes. To God. She gave Him all she had. “I am the Lord’s servant,’ Mary answered. ‘May your word to me be fulfilled.’ Then the angel left her.” Luke 1:38 She held nothing back. And... Continue Reading →
December 17th Kingdom Revolution King. It’s a word with baggage. We have other words with baggage, like politician, ruler, president. All these words carry stories. Stories of human failings and fallen-ness. Stories of political ambition and corruption. Our world has learned the hard way that the truest measure of any human ruler, is not... Continue Reading →
December 16th His Name This insignificant teenager from this nothing town of Nazareth, she is first to hear his name spoken into earth’s round atmosphere. This name of this coming King. This name that is 'above every name’ (Philippians 2:9-11). This name full of power and light. This name of Him through whom all... Continue Reading →
December 15th Two Stories This is a startling story, but not just because it begins with an angel’s visit. It’s the location where he was sent that may have raised eyebrows amongst Luke's early readers. On a surface level (the one we see with our eyes and live with our perceptions) this story could very... Continue Reading →
December 14th Unexpected ' In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. But... Continue Reading →
December 13th The Whole Story Doubt is a skilled teacher, and we learn its lessons well. It can school our soul suddenly through a momentary disillusionment, or train it slowly over years, through long seasons of small disappointments. “In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged... Continue Reading →
December 12th Absence and Presence They were like Noah in righteousness but like Abraham and Sarah in childlessness. Just as God was about to do something new when he called Noah ‘righteous and blameless’ (Genesis 6:9) and just as God was about to do something new when He promised Abraham and Sarah a family,... Continue Reading →
December 11th Radical Humility We hear Mary’s voice, we hear Zechariah's voice (for a while), we hear Elizabeth’s voice. Mary, Zechariah and Simeon even get a vocal solo song. But Joseph. He is silent. There are no mentions of his words. Only his actions. But his actions speak a thousand words, revealing who he... Continue Reading →
December 10th Fully Filled, Brimming Over There are days when life can feel like one big heaving mess. Like a game where happiness, hope and meaning stand unprotected in the Russian roulette line of fire. Aching days when sudden news cuts gaping holes in hearts, when a head spinning diagnoses alters the direction of... Continue Reading →
December 9th De-Railed We run our lives on railway tracks of hope and expectation. We make our plans, and then build them, rail by rail, sleeper beam by sleeper beam. We weld them together in the direction of what we feel will make us happy, give us meaning, give us security, provide for our family.... Continue Reading →
December 8th Disruption What if your calling put you at odds with your whole world? What if God's will in you seemed like a kick in the face of all you had been told, raised in and led to believe? If you knew His call would leave you alienated and alone, estranged from your... Continue Reading →
December 7th This is the Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah Take your finger and run it across the names listed in Matthew 1:1-16, all lined up to tell you a story. Like many great figures of the Bible, Jesus' story begins with a genealogy. A genealogy was a family tree that acted as a way... Continue Reading →
December 6th He Will Come We stumbled across this cafe down a side street, searching for somewhere to have a moment together out of the cold. The cheery cafe owner took our order and we sat and waited in the corner, looking around us at the tinselled walls and festive decorations. The cafe owner... Continue Reading →
December 5th Unfurling Hope If you run your finger across the round face of a sawn-off tree stump, tracing the circular path of its rings, it will tell you a story. Each line has a tale to tell, a story-line revealing years of droughts, the story of rains, the story of bushfires, the story... Continue Reading →
December 4th Prince of Peace She twists the wire around the branches, around and around and around, until all the unruly Christmas greenery finally yields and hangs submissive on the circular frame. There's an intensity to how she does this that most ten year olds don’t have. A determination. Because for this ten year old... Continue Reading →
December 3rd Immanuel I love Christmas. The carols, the wonder, the traditions, the too-much-food-only-eaten-once-a-year. It is the time of year I most miss being with my family, the time when living overseas is most costly, not in money but in feeling, the feeling that comes when you are surrounded by those who know... Continue Reading →
December 2nd The Living Branch The days were coming… but they were not there yet, and the aching pain of invasion and exile scraped across old wounds as ancient Israel strained their eyes into the distance hoping for the promise of hope. Wondering if it was really possible. Really true. And we... Continue Reading →
December 1st The Coming King He ‘shall come’ . That was the promise all along. He shall come. The One to stamp on the serpents head (Genesis 3:15), the one to whom the sceptre belongs (Genesis 49:10), the one who will establish His throne in love (Isaiah 16:5). He shall come! This... Continue Reading →
Two Days Until the Beginning of Waiting... We started baking our Christmas cookies over the weekend in anticipation of this coming season. We've baked the same cookies for years and years now, filling our home with the warm aromas of cinnamon and spices and filling our minds with warmer memories of past years where we... Continue Reading →
So we did it! We put up our Christmas tree on Saturday. Some might think it’s early, but in our family Christmas can never come too early- especially as the days here grow short and the dark evenings grow long, a whisper of glowing life and cheering anticipation- it’s just the thing! There is a... Continue Reading →
Walk On… So my son, these years ago, we gave him this Bible, an ‘Action’ Bible. And then throughout that Lent, as we read our Bible stories and hung our decorations daily on our Easter story tree, we all soaked together in the long story of grace, the story of God walking with His people. With... Continue Reading →
EPILOGUE The Road Home… There are roads sometimes that go nowhere, nowhere but away, nowhere but far from all we want to leave behind us, far from all we fear and cannot face. Wandering roads, retreating roads, roads that give the illusion of forward motion while all the while leading nowhere. Nowhere but away.... Continue Reading →
Happy Happy Happy Easter! He is Risen! Time to celebrate! Well you have made it all the way to Easter Sunday! But this long story of grace isn’t over yet! In many ways it’s just getting started! But today is the day we’ve been anticipating all along. So take a moment to celebrate. To sit... Continue Reading →
It was still dark. Sometimes darkness is so thick, you can touch it. Drown in it. And when it takes you, when you give it ground, the shadows wrap around your mind, your heart, your soul, setting up camp in all the empty spaces; spaces where light once dwelt. And you scrape your skin to feel anything, but your senses are captive to the numbing dark.
The coals that night, they throbbed, glowing orange and red. Sparks danced splintering the dark. It drew him closer, coaxed by the warmth, pushed by the chilled night air and the rising dark.
Good Friday It wasn't supposed to be this way? “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.” “Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had... Continue Reading →
How could any of them understand this King? This Kingdom? They had bought the lie of empire. The lie that human beings are in control. Of anything. Jesus didn’t come to build an empire. He came to establish His Kingdom. These trials, they are really about one thing: 'Who is truly King?’. And the question His trial asks of every human heart today is: ’Who is it you want? As King?’
Underneath all the noise of human circumstance there has always existed this one storyline thread. A thread that began before human existence. A thread that ends long after this world's time is done. All the weavings of this world come and go, knotting, tearing, unravelling. But this thread remains: ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth’14, ‘and in the end He shall stand upon the earth’15 as its redeemer. Having bought it back. From the dark.
It was the cool of the day in that first Garden long ago, when God had come looking for the first Human Beings¹. But now it is the chill of night, in this second garden. And Human Beings have come looking for God. To Kill Him.
There were two gardens. Two gardens in this long tread of time. And God walked in them both. So did frail humanity, humanity forged in the image of God forgetting themselves and forsaking God. This is the story of the first garden, but only part of the story of the second.
Happy Palm Sunday! We are on the homeward stretch now, with just over a week left in our journey. Every day brings us closer to the cross and deeper into this Easter story, this long story of grace. I hope this week you will find time to soak in the story and in Scripture as... Continue Reading →
Our lives are all part a story, folded into time, a longer story, a larger story. A story stretching from the beginning of time and reaching through to the end of it, the story of God’s long walk with human beings, the long story of His grace journeying to find us. The story we human beings miss, miss-shape and misunderstand, most of the days of our lives.
