A Sermon on Sunday – John 5:1-20
At our church we have been reflecting on the seven signs of Jesus in the gospel of John. We are now up to sign number three, the healing of the lame man at the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem (see John 5:1-20). …
Real Good-Looking Boy
I’ve been enjoying listening again to this song from the later career of the Who. It’s a nice ballad with an evocative lyric and a cool moment of inter-textuality as Roger Daltry channels his inner Elvis. Pete Townsend has told a little …
Who Am I? (Bonhoeffer)
Peter Kline, ‘Bonhoeffer,’ acrylic on paper, Australia, 2018 Who am I? They often tell me I would step from my cell’s confinement calmly, cheerfully, firmly, like a squire from his country-house. Who am I? They often tell me I would talk to my …
‘Prophetic’ Proclamation or Didactic Doctrine?
In 1963 Emil Brunner wrote that, ‘A further consequence that necessarily follows from the basic error of orthodoxy is the overvaluation of doctrine in the life of the church and in the faith of the individual’ (Truth as Encounter, 178)—this from a …
Spiritual Conversation
We had our final Zoom Church service this morning; well, for now at least. From next Sunday our church will be meeting in person again, gathering for worship, fellowship, and teaching, and it seems that most of us are pretty keen to …
On Quoting Shakespeare and Scripture…
A delightful post widely circulated on Facebook highlighted how many English expressions originate from Shakespeare. Here is a taster: “If you bid me good riddance and send me packing, if you wish I was dead as a doornail, if you think I …
On May One Flee a Deadly Plague?
The latest edition of The Advocate is now available (published by the Baptist Churches of Western Australia). During COVID this has been a digital publication only. This month’s edition has many reflections with respect to the situation in which we find ourselves, …
Richard Rohr’s Falling Upwards (2)
In my earlier post on Richard Rohr’s Falling Upwards I endeavoured to set forth sufficiently and sympathetically, the central tenets of his spiritual vision. It is a vision of ageing gracefully by finding a way—being led—to personal and spiritual maturity. The measures of this …
More Reflections on COVID-19
This remarkable image from an unknown artist is used in volume 2 of the COVID-19 reflections in Stimulus: A New Zealand Journal of Christian Thought and Practice. All three parts of the present issue have now been published, and there are some very good articles …
Richard Rohr’s Falling Upward
Richard Rohr, Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life (San Francisco: Jossey Bass, 2011), xxxvii + 199. ISBN: 978-0-470-90775-7 Most of us tend to think of the second half of life as largely about getting old, dealing with health …