Thought for the month
personal observations on life and faith |
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THIS MONTH'S ARTICLE |
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WHY IS THERE SO MUCH CONFLICT IN OUR CHURCHES? |
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Like radioactivity, conflict is the natural crackle in the background of our common life which may become toxic beyond certain levels.
How conflict-averse are you? The answer may depend on several factors, including personality, upbringing and experience. Some cope better than others: extroverts are easier in the middle of conflict than introverts, who tend to ...... |
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A PAST ARTICLE |
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IN MEMORY OF MIKE |
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A final tribute to the friend who made this website possible.
First contact was by email, a short and sparing account of one man’s search for truth. Clergy increasingly receive these kinds of approaches, but in the late nineties it was rare. He had some questions about the Christian faith and wanted to ask them of his local vicar by email. |
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BACK IN MY DAY |
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Adults have always struggled to interpret the heartbeat of the generation they bring up,
but this has become harder with the fluctuating rhythms of social media
There are few experiences like the joy of watching your child grow up. To hold a child so close, watch their first steps and help them build up words while catching a glimpse of your spouse ...... |
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THE DYNAMIC WE CANNOT DO WITHOUT |
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Death and resurrection can be difficult truths to hold together, but together they have remarkable potency for church and society
People have selective memories and assimilate information in ways that suit them. This is just as true in memorising scripture. In Philippians, Paul says ‘I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection’. |
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THE CALL IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT |
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How do we know when God is calling us to do something?
Samuel’s story speaks to us across the ages
The epithet ‘professional’ is one of a select number of over-employed words in the lexicon. All people aspire to it because it denotes a job thoroughly and efficiently performed. As if in conjunction with this, there has been ...... |
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DAVID’S STAR |
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Many act from mixed motives which they are barely able to identify or articulate and those who judge them are often wrong to attribute one motive at the expense of others. King David’s life is a prime example.
There are usually two poles to the genre of biography. One is the nauseatingly sychophantic text which extols the virtues of dubious ...... |
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WHAT ST. PAUL MIGHT SAY TO THE MIDDLE CLASSES |
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We cling unthinkingly to secular modes of distinction which undermine
what it might look like to lose all things for the sake of Christ.
Despite claims to the contrary, status is alive and well today. People have a natural tendency to rank themselves in hierarchies. This starts as early as the school playground, with its ruthlessly enforced pecking order ......... |
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TO BOLDLY GO |
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There are many places we cannot walk into in this world and others make sure we know that. Yet the place we belong to the least is one we can walk confidently into without
expecting a hand on the shoulder.
We have a great fear that others can see through us and will identify our inadequacies, as if we are the one person sitting in an orchestra who can’t .. |
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THE FLOW |
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Interpreting the past and visualising the future are essential components of enjoying the now.
Daydreaming is one of the more fulfilling and risky of endeavours. Amid the tedium of the present we can transport our minds to another time, another place. This seemingly harmless activity is complicated by the presence of other people, who are usually talking to you at the same time. |
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UNANSWERED PRAYER |
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We do not readily acknowledge the impact that seemingly unanswered prayer makes on us,
yet this awareness is vital to a robust and honest life of intercession
We usually avoid the use of words like success and failure in the life of faith because other words are employed by scripture, like faithfulness or fruitfulness. There are good reasons for ...... |
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THE BREAD OF LIFE |
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What kind of eater are you at the shared meal of faith? There are at least four kinds but only one to aspire to.
Jesus said: ‘unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you’ (John 6:53). This has to rank highly among his hard sayings, though it expresses something amazing about his self-giving love. |
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TWEET JESUS |
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What 140 character tweet would you send to Jesus if you could? A selection from the people of Rochester Diocese offers an illuminating insight into Christian thinking.
The acclaimed American author Jonathan Franzen may have described Twitter as ‘unspeakably irritating’ ...... |
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FEELING IT LIKE YOU DO |
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Some may more naturally discern the feelings of others but we are not excused
this duty of care because we find it difficult.
Mel Gibson and Lindsay Lohan are toxic property in Hollywood today - linked as they are, variously, to antisemitism, misogyny, drug abuse and shoplifting - yet in two of their ...... |
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THE FOG |
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We all lose our way with God at some time or other; more honesty in the Christian community would help those who no longer know which way to turn.
Travelling on the road in foggy conditions is a disconcerting and uneasy experience. It is monotonous; the vivid contours of the ...... |
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BECAUSE YOU’RE WORTH IT |
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That we live in a meritocracy is so widely accepted now it is hard to argue against it.
But there are subtle dangers inherent which may deny the gifting of God and the duty we owe him.
Where is our equality as human beings located, if at all? |
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WHEN SIMPLE STEPS OF FAITH FEEL SO HARD |
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Joy and prayer are a woven piece of fabric which gives us resilience in faith.
The task of sewing them together is made daunting by the unfriendly climate we live in.
‘Rejoice always and pray without ceasing’ exhorts the Apostle Paul of believers |
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WHAT JEREMIAH MIGHT SAY IF HE WERE NICK ROBINSON |
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Thus says the Lord: Do not let the wise boast in their wisdom, do not let the mighty boast in their might, do not let the wealthy boast in their wealth.
It is becoming common currency that three great scandals have afflicted British public life in the new century: politicians’ expenses;
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‘I KNOW VERY WELL BUT…’ SYNDROME |
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We all have ways in which we are not prepared for the inevitable. This lack of preparedness is perhaps the most serious risk in our relationship with God. So how might we overcome it?
Have you ever come across a bride who is unprepared for her wedding day? I can think of no other day
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THE SECRET PRAYER LIFE |
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Why God calls us to be more like Clint Eastwood and less like Jonathan Ross when we pray to him.
Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others… Whenever you pray, go into your room and
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THE STROLL TO EMMAUS |
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Two people give up hope on the first day of the working week. It sounds a familiar story to us.
Except a stranger has a different idea.
Two followers of Jesus who assume he is dead are joined by the risen Messiah but are kept from recognising him until he gives thanks . .....
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THOSE WHO HAVE EYES TO SEE |
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True healing comes when people are restored to their rightful place in the community, which should be a guiding principle in our support of disabled people.
The Church is sometimes accused of insensitivity to disabled people. At a practical level, until recent legislative .....
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SHALLOW GROUND |
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What does exposure to new sources of information do to our minds and how do we sift what is
important from what is trivial? An old story gives us a clue.
There is always the risk that some parables are carelessly restricted to certain situations or times of the year. .
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THE FREE MOBILE WITH FULL COVERAGE |
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We are so in love with the advances being made in technology year on year
that it has diminished for incurious minds the wonder of human prayer.
Polling carried out by BEBO, the social network site, has revealed that teenagers send an average of 10,000: ,......
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TAKING THE BULLET |
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There were no bodyguards for Jesus, despite his status. That the uncreated God would give his life for us instead is a continuing source of wonder and awe.
Among the must-have fashion accessories today, the personal bodyguard ranks highly. They protect your space as you jog through a north, ......
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THE BUBBLE |
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We live in a little personal bubble in the busyness of urban life and need God to pop it
to see what he has in store for us outside.
One advert that makes me smile is the cosmetics pitch to ‘get the London look’. In this case the London look is Kate Moss after three hours ......
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A LIFE MORE ORDINARY |
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No cash or connections or charisma? You’re just the person for the job.
I am always struck by the way the disciples just seemed to drop what they were doing to follow Jesus. They must have known something about him. Perhaps there was a buzz surrounding, ,......
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THE WISDOM DEFICIT |
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There is no lottery about the gift of wisdom because God promises it to anyone who asks him for it in faith
When you are taking on a new job where the consensus is that, though you are succeeding someone, you certainly won’t replace them, it’s a good idea not ,......
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THE BONFIRE OF OUR VANITY |
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If you were a firework for God, which one would you be?
Of all the dates we commemorate in our common life, the uncovering of the first high profile terrorist plot on November 5, 1605 is the most enduring. Thankfully it has long been ,......
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CONSIDERABLY RICHER
THAN YOU |
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Religious
self-righteousness is an ugly trait, yet in a consumer society we are,
more than ever, making distinctions between ourselves and others that mimic this ancient human flaw
The parables of Jesus have a timeless capacity to inspire and ......
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THE LANGUAGE OF LOVE |
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Two trends in society and the Church empty the joyful impulse of love of its divine authenticity.
Recognition is the first step to overcoming them
The English language is rich and robust but there are points at which it fails us. One perfect example is living with only ......
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THE MOMENT OF CRISIS |
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When a time of trial arrives we can be sure of only one thing: Jesus won’t desert us,
won’t deny us and
won’t disappoint us. Such is the living God we worship.
Plenty of studies show how people need to control their environment to feel secure. This makes responding to a ......
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PAST ARTICLES |
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GIVING OUR LIVES AWAY
Until more space is afforded staff by companies greedy for
their time, the idea that we will
solve social problems by ... |
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POP IDOLS
What do we worship today and what has it done to us? |
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PAST ARTICLES |
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LOGOS
The commercial world’s brands offer pale, imitation
promises in comparison to the eternal Logos. |
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BELTING UP
Most Christians suffer from a daily loss of focus in
their faith. Is there a remedy for this? |
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KICKING THE DARKNESS UNTIL IT BLEEDS LIGHT |
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The world is becoming a more dangerous place for many who believe in Christ. What can be done about it?
These are some of the places where it has been documented that Christians have faced persecution recently:
, ......
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BREAKING POINT |
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Most of us are willing to let God bend our will in the hope that when he lets go, it will spring back to how it was.
Yet only by allowing ourselves to be broken can God re-make us.
The verb to break has taken on a darker meaning in the twenty-first century, as it has come, ,......
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THE GIFT OF GRATITUDE |
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Being thankful is one of the most subversive gestures we can make in life.
But how do we get to this point in the first place?
A short time ago, the public polling body MORI claimed to have uncovered a new social stereotype in Britain: grumpy middle aged men. They called them ......
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HERE’S LOOKING AT YOU, KID |
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Our faces tell others all they need to know about the faith. We can witness to the goodness of God in a look.
Some time ago I was about to visit a family that had had a new baby. When they heard I had a cold, I was ,......
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WANTED: DEAD AND ALIVE |
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What does God do deep in the heart of a Christian? Something startling and radical, we are told.
One of the beautiful things about the Christian faith is the paradox of simplicity and depth. The Gospel is disarmingly artless in its claims: ......
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THE STONE THAT ROLLED |
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Over ninety percent of human communication is non-verbal. Sharing the risen Christ is a similar story
When I was young and trying to figure out whether Christianity was true or not I spent a lot of time thinking through the ,......
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ALL GOOD THINGS |
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Final thoughts on a time of rest that held more surprises and joys than I could have hoped for.
At last, journey’s end. A life changing sabbatical draws to a close in the warm humidity of Wembley Stadium. I last saw U2 in concert as an ....
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HOLOCAUST AND MEMORY |
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A two week learning encounter with the worst atrocity in history has been, paradoxically,
a life-affirming experience like no other
Some lines in life are just conversation stoppers. Telling people you are going to spend two weeks studying the .......
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THE GREAT LEVELLER |
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The war cemeteries speak more eloquently of our common humanity under God
than perhaps any other public monument.
Does equality matter? Peter Mandelson once said that the Labour government was ‘intensely relaxed about people becoming filthy ,......
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| HOW SHOULD I LIVE AS A CHRISTIAN
IN TODAY’S COMPLEX WORLD? |
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Personal liberty is more challenging than we like to think.
This question is posed by so many Christians now that it makes one wonder if there is a deeper issue still that needs to be addressed. Are the churches, for instance,
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THE FORGOTTEN FRUIT |
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What is joy and why does it have such a low profile today?
“I’ve got joy and it’s down in my heart, way deep down in my heart”
Anyone who attended Sunday school, holiday camps or beach missions
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HELP DO I HAVE TO PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING ON THE NEWS? |
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What should Christians pray for among all the problems
that command their attention
in an information rich world?
One of the outcomes of the information revolution has been an explosion of guilt and helplessness ....
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THE SABBATICAL |
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The next four months of my life are a journey into the unknown, but I am ready for them
On Easter Sunday 2009 I begin a four month sabbatical from work (including annual holiday entitlement). Anglican clergy can do this ....
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WHEN THE ‘BIG PICTURE’ IS MORE THAN A CLICHÉ |
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God’s goal is nothing less than the renewal of creation itself.
Corporate vocabulary is full of cliché. Some have to endure it on a daily basis. Many are guilty of using it. People are often, for instance, encouraged to do ‘blue skies .....
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CUTTING EDGE CHRISTIANITY |
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Word and Spirit act like the cutting edge of a pair of scissors in the Christian life.
Research has shown that it can take up to ten years in the life of a non-Christian adult to move from their first expression of interest in . |
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SABBATICAL REFLECTIONS |
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I shall shortly be approaching the half-way stage in my sabbatical. It is time to share some observations.
After the busyness of Easter I felt it important to spend some days away from home to mark an immediate break from the routine of work ......
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TAKING UP OUR NETS AND FOLLOWING CHRIST |
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How seriously does the Church take the secular workplace? Not seriously enough if the following testimony from a recent publication is anything to go by:
I spend an hour a week teaching Sunday school and they haul me up to the front of church to pray for
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ON BECOMING AN ARCHDEACON |
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The times they are a-changin’. Once again.
For all its global dominance, the English language sometimes lacks the subtlety of other languages in conveying meaning. When we read the word ‘time’ in New Testament Greek, for example, ...........
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PAST ARTICLES |
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MORE THAN THE JANUARY BLUES
Christians are often slow to admit they are feeling mentally
unwell because they fear others will see it as a sign of .... |
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PAST ARTICLES |
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THE CONVICTION OF THINGS UNSEEN
If we cannot embrace the God of hope with conviction in our lifetime then the politics of fear will come to shape our ..... |
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WORDS MADE FLESH
Just as in the surrounding culture, words pass in and out of fashion in the Church. |
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