After writing about Luke’s description of Jesus entering Jericho yesterday, today I was reading Alister McGrath’s book ‘Christianity’s Dangerous Idea’. A completely different genre and topic but suddenly I found McGrath referring to the city himself as I read: “For…
A couple of posts ago I reflected upon the city of Jericho. I didn’t note that it was known as the city of Palms (Deuteronomy 34:3). The Hebrew word for palm links to the word is spelt the same as…
I was browsing Marcus Loane’s book ‘Mark These Men’ which provides 25 very short biographies of men who influenced the Anglican Diocese of Sydney in the 20th century. I’ve had a bit of a chuckle over these lines about Richard Bradley…
“As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. … He entered Jericho and was passing through. And there was a man named Zacchaeus.” (Luke 18:35, 19:1). I was preaching on Luke 18:35-19:10 recently.…
I was reading an Ann Cleeves’ murder mystery last night entitled ‘The Darkest Evening’. I learnt that the title is taken from a Robert Frost poem ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’. In spiritual terms, the times that we…
“We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” (Romans 6:4). More than a decade…
“And again he said, To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.” (Luke 13:20-21). I spoke yesterday on Luke…
My last three posts have had a ‘Sorrow’ theme: ‘Sorrow, and then the two from Anne Frank’. I did not plan it that way…just the way it went. This one closes the mini-series. Over many years, I have taught children…
“As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs” (Psalm 84:6). (Baca is similar to the word for ‘weeping’.) Last post I quoted from Anne Frank. I love how passionate Anne Frank is about…
This evening I read Psalm 84 as part of a prayer for a brother who was experiencing great discouragement. My friend’s experience has been constant over many years. “Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are…
