With My WholeHeart - Psalm 40:10, 12, 15
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 40:10, 12, 15
by SPCK - James Jones
Psalm 40:10, 12, 15 To be content to do only the will of God is how God originally fashioned the heart to be. With the gift of freedom came also the risk that the human heart might chase after other desires. These psalms testify to the vagaries of the heart, but they also capture…
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 54:6
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 54:6
by SPCK - James Jones
Psalm 54:6 In the world of the psalms the worship of God involved the offering of gifts. These were signs of the worshippers’ dedication to God. There were rules about the quality and purity of the offerings and the sacrifices. As we draw near to God in our searching after him we…
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 38:8, 10
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 38:8, 10
by SPCK - James Jones
Psalm 38:8, 10 The success of those who trample on others with no regard for God or any moral principles can be very confusing for those of us who try to live our life by faith. It’s not unusual for us to make a costly decision in favour of doing what we believe to be right befor…
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 45:1
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 45:1
by SPCK - James Jones
Psalm 45:1 Because the heart is the seat of the will it has the authority to direct the imagination. This psalm is a paean of praise to the king. To a cynical age as ours it sounds somewhat sycophantic! You are, in our time, unlikely to hear such praise for our leaders and those …
Nothing Too Religious - Drama/Dialogue: Oh, no! Not that again!
Nothing Too Religious - Drama/Dialogue: Oh, no! Not that again!
by Marjorie Dobson
Drama/Dialogue: Oh, no! Not that again! 1. Oh no! Not the Good Samaritan again! I don’t believe it! 2. You mean you don’t believe the story of the Good Samaritan? It’s one of the most favourite ones in the whole Bible. 1. Of course I believe in the story – it’s just that we never…
Prayer: Reassuring God
Prayer: Reassuring God
by Marjorie Dobson
Prayer: Reassuring God Reassuring God, we come to thank you for all those caring and compassionate people who offer support and encouragement to others in so many different ways. Their love and their service is offered willingly and with a true spirit of dedication. Yet we so oft…
Poem/Reflection: Amos
Poem/Reflection: Amos
by Marjorie Dobson
Poem/Reflection: Amos Was he a professional prophet? No, he wasn’t. Was he the son of a prophet? No. he wasn’t. Did he earn money from preaching? No, he didn’t. Amos had been a shepherd. Amos had worked as a farmer Amos had been called from the fields and sent out into other fiel…
Poem: Justice
Poem: Justice
by Marjorie Dobson
Poem: Justice God calls for justice for the weak and defenceless, for the ignorant and the misunderstood, for the poor and the hungry, for the oppressed and the orphaned, for all who cannot understand why the greedy and the selfish, the wicked and the unjust seem to win every tim…
Simply Jesus - Space, time and matter
Simply Jesus - Space, time and matter
by SPCK - N T Wright
Space, time and matter The one thing we can be sure of is that inhabitants of first-century Palestine didn’t think of space, time and matter in quite the way that we do. If we’re going to understand Jesus, it’s vital to grasp the difference between his world and ours...
Simply Jesus - Under new management
Simply Jesus - Under new management
by SPCK - N T Wright
Under new management: Easter and Beyond If I say that there is a whole book to be written on the subject of this chapter, writer and readers may be permitted to share a wry smile. I have already published extensively on Easter and its meaning, and for much of this chapter I shall…
Simply Jesus - At the heart of the storm
Simply Jesus - At the heart of the storm
by SPCK - N T Wright
At the heart of the storm With all of this now on the table, we return to the perfect storm: to the build-up of pressure from the Roman Empire in one direction, the thousand-year hope of Israel from another direction, and the cyclone itself, the strange and powerful purposes of G…
Simply Jesus - Battle and Temple
Simply Jesus - Battle and Temple
by SPCK - N T Wright
Battle and Temple First, the battle. Whether we look at the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5—7 or the Nazareth Manifesto in Luke 4; whether we look at the strange language about ‘binding the strong man’ in Matthew 12 or the even stranger language about the ‘coming of the son of m…
Simply Jesus - Further reading
Simply Jesus - Further reading
by SPCK - N T Wright
Further reading It would be possible to compile a bibliography for the present book that would be almost as long as a chapter. An annotated bibliography could easily be as long as the book itself. Instead, I content myself here with noting some recent books that I regard as suppl…
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - Acknowledgments
1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone - Acknowledgments
by SPCK - John Goldingay
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The translation at the beginning of each chapter (and in other biblical quotations) is my own. I have stuck closer to the Hebrew than modern translations often do when they are designed for reading in church so that you can see more precisely what the text says. T…
Drama: The Tale of the Pigs
Drama: The Tale of the Pigs
by Marjorie Dobson
Drama: The Tale of the Pigs A Here, piggy, piggy! Here, piggy, piggy! B What are you looking for mate? A Here, piggy, piggy! Don’t you think that might give you some clue? Or did you think I was calling my dog? Here, piggy, piggy! B Well, if it’s pigs you’re looking for, I don’t …
Poem: Hope
Poem: Hope
by Marjorie Dobson
Poem: Hope When tears are the only companion and solace; when worship is empty of devotion and meaning; when the heart is heavy and the soul is weary; when the problems of life are overwhelming; when no one seems to care; when pain and suffering are part of every day; Continues..…
Poem: Children of God