The obedience of Faith
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…
Category Bible
Shut up John
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…
Jumping over Jericho’s walls
“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.…
Delusion, deceit and the day of the Lord
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…
The River Jordan & Easter Day
“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…
The Day of Small Things
“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…
Shortest verse – John 11:35
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…
Anne Frank’s aspiration
“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…
Anne Frank looks up
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…
The sad reality
“For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.” (Ecclesiastes 1:18). I was given this note by a parishioner, Ann Dawson (now gone to glory), some years ago. It is entitled: ‘Sorrow comes to Every…