Tag: Jesus
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spam, spam, spam, spam
The first time I got one of those emails it was quite exciting. I was being offered the opportunity to make a life-changing amount of money simply by helping a poor war widow from Africa to gain access to her late husband’s estate. All they needed was to use my bank account for a few…
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The parable of the okay Samaritan
(This is the most recent parable we are sharing with our churches. It is based on The Message paraphrase of the Bible). Just then a religious scholar stood up with a question to test Jesus. “Teacher, what do I need to do to get eternal life?” He answered, “What’s written in God’s Law? How do you…
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stone-faced
I was just innocently browsing my news feed on Facebook (other social media sites are available, apparently) and was struck by something someone had posted: they said that they were no longer welcome in a particular church. Now, I do not know the person in question. I do not know any of the context. So…
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eh?
As I was driving home after spending an inspirational morning with one of our Chaplains I was listening to some music and realised for the first time that I had misheard some of the lyrics, and had kept that misheard interpretation in my mind for many years. Coincidentally I also saw a post on Facebook…
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praying
This morning I spent some time at a prayer space at South Woodham Evangelical Church and found it very helpful. During the time several different thoughts occurred to me and a couple of them stuck. One is that I personally find it a lot easier to spend time in prayer if I have activities to engage…
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face-planting in the highest
If you are a dog owner you will probably know how dogs like to find the smelliest, muddiest, sludgiest places in which to wallow and roll. And they then come back to you wagging their tails, feeling very proud of themselves. I have a feeling that they think that they are doing something nice for…
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confession is good for the soul
Among the presents I received for Christmas was this: You might be wondering why someone would give a 48 year-old man a Beano Annual (although if you know me you probably won’t be at all surprised). It was from my sister. And it was a gift in response to something I did many years ago,…
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why do people go to church services?
I’m not entirely sure why, but I have been wondering why people go to church services. That’s not intended to be a negative question – it’s not ‘why on earth do people go to church?’ – it’s a genuine enquiry. I have not done any empirical research into this. What follows is the usual random bloggerel that…
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Black Friday deal
Great news. I’m pleased to be able to announce an incredible Black Friday deal. You won’t be able to find a better one! You can get a fresh start in life, forgiveness for the past, a relationship with God, a helper who is always with you, live life in all its fullness, a global family…
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how free is speech?
One of the foundational principles of life is ‘freedom of speech’ (or freedom of expression to use the more inclusive term). In many countries it is enshrined in the Constitution and a basic ‘right’, and where it is denied by those in power it is one of the things that the people crave. It is one…