Sarah and Her Doppelgangers
She was a complex character. She gave her husband permission to get with her maid, but turned and blamed him for the consequence![1]Genesis 16:4-5 She
She was a complex character. She gave her husband permission to get with her maid, but turned and blamed him for the consequence![1]Genesis 16:4-5 She
Amy Biehl had been on a Fulbright scholarship working on projects to facilitate democracy and social justice in South Africa. A day before she was
Oskar Schindler was a faithful hedonist. This paradox was right up the biblical alley. He was a man to whom the Jewish imagination could relate;
“He prayeth best, who loveth best All things both great and small; For the dear God who loveth us, He made and loveth all.” –
The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead.[1]Proverbs 21:16 In the first instalment on understanding,
Wisdom is the principal thing. Get wisdom, and with all thy getting, get understanding.[1]Psalm 4:7 Asaph unleashed upon the making of scripture, a combined arsenal
In Sophocles’ Greek tragedy, Thebes is overcome by a plague. The oracle reveals that a murder and an incestuous relationship are the causes of the
“If God is unable to prevent evil, then he is not all-powerful. If God is not willing to prevent evil, then he is not all-good.
They told on him. He’d been bad. He was wasteful, said some. Unjust, posted others. His boss was having none of it. His head was
A Divine Prop There was the legend of the stick that turned into a snake, a bosom that made hands leprous and a mantle that
The Shaken Leaf As the children of Israel journeyed from Egypt to Canaan, they overcame large armies and defied nature. They were vectors of the
The Blind God Going by the first words that Goliath spoke to David, you knew it wouldn’t take a ‘David’ to knock Goliath out. Anyone
Joseph was God’s ‘sleeping’ partner, literally. Moses had the burning bush and Saul, the road to Damascus. But for the poor carpenter, no such moments
“Who is rich? He that is content. Who is that? Nobody,” said Benjamin Franklin. Wrong, says the Bible, and so begins a story that is
“For it is better to marry than to burn,” [1]1 Corinthians 7:9 Apostle Paul wrote in response to questions the Corinthian church posed to him.
Purpose. A word that often troubles every human being at some point in their lives. Who am I? What am I meant to be doing?
John Claypool draws on a medieval fable to illustrate, amongst other things, how circumstances often subvert our sense of self. In ‘The Stories Jesus Still
They came from all Israel. Scripture called them “mighty men of valour”. A few thousands from here, several thousands from there. Each tribe, eager to
What is love? Is it a euphoric feeling? An emotion? Or is it something that requires that little bit more. Perhaps, a manifestation or a
God is in a choke hold. The Almighty is gasping for air. We have squeezed him into our little religious boxes and imposed upon him
Everyone has a scriptural go-to character in a quest for the blessings of heaven. Everyone of these biblical figures has a peculiar anointing or specific
Their meeting started off as deferential as one might expect of a meeting between man and God. Abraham bowed, stooped and ran hither and thither
Puah and Shiphrah do not feature in any list of Bible’s biggest characters. They don’t get nearly as much mention on pulpits as does Jabez,
The love of God is universal to all mankind. I believe it, not because it’s what I’ve been taught but because it’s true. Scriptures are
“The Church exists to draw men unto Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the Cathedrals, clergies, missions, sermons,
I once asked a group of people with no church contact over dinner what they thought of the Gospel account of the Wedding at Cana.
The story of the Gerasene demoniac appears to be something quite out of the ordinary, even compared with some of the other miracles in the
Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? But whom say ye that I am? [1]Matthew 16:13,15 Those questions posed Christ Jesus
It is not an insignificant thing to be at the bedside of someone close to death. It’s actually a time when the mystery of life
He’s got the whole world in his hands, we sing. He’s the God who created heaven and earth, we say. He loves everyone because we
God does not play dice with the universe, Albert Einstein said. He obviously didn’t read the book of Job. In that book we read that
John the Baptist was the one sent to prepare the world for the messiah, the chosen one of God, and yet in prison he sent
Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” But they
What are the stories we tell about ourselves? The saying, “The sun never sets on the British Empire” was true as recently as 1937 when
Aaron was a blessed man. From his introduction in Scripture as the Robin to his brother Moses’ Batman, he rose to become the first high
And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his
Sermon preached at Bath Abbey on 12/7/15. Rev (Dr) Sarah Archer places the immediacy of divine mercy over against the urgency of human base instincts.
Adam was a simple guy. A guy who represented the first of human creation. Formed from earth with a rather basic understanding of who he
The story of Jephthah’s daughter dramatises the perversion of faith occasioned by a lack of knowledge. Did he? Did he not? The question is perennial.
Idolatry was one of God’s major headaches. The fact that those to whom he revealed Himself through signs and wonders and a lavish display of
A relationship with God is like a marriage. It’s a coming together of two people, often different in ideas, orientation and background who see a
The prophets of Israel were activists. They did not reveal much that was new. Their calling was to hold a mirror to society, mostly to
Jesus Christ had a challenge. It had nothing to do with the Pharisees or Sadducees. Neither Herod nor Pontius Pilate had anything to do with
God is not in the business of making wasted investments. Like any shrewd businessperson, he invests his gifts and blessings where he sees an opportunity
Cyrus ticked all the wrong boxes. For starters he was an idol worshipper. Although he did things for the ‘God of heaven’, history has it
Dear Child of God, Salutations in the name of our Father in heaven. Something has been weighing on my mind recently and I would like
This is the story of an incurable optimist. A God who acts in hope in the face of abject hopelessness.
The challenges and conflicts we come across are designed to equip us for enemies with potential to drag both our form and essence to Sheol. Often they are within and not without.
The world of God remains an open-ended challenge for spiritual and intellectual expedition. Both faith and science are the gifts of God to us for such a quest.
Like a greenhouse built and equipped with all that the plants within it require to grow, develop and thrive, the church needs to prioritize spiritual growth and development over that which chokes the spirit and renders it unfruitful.
God’s love, it would seem, is not based on us being on our best behaviour. It is based on the terms of a filial covenant. He said that though we were perpetually inclined towards evil, he would nonetheless remain merciful.
God’s intention for establishing the role of ministers, and indeed any other type of religious leader, is primarily to feed his children with the knowledge and understanding of Him and ultimately for the edification of the church.
Confession and profession of faith without due regard to works Jesus loves avail nothing.
“I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards: I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of
“God is known by knowledge and by unknowing; of him there’s understanding, reason, knowledge, touch, perception, opinion, imagination, name and many other things, but he’s
Prophet Jeremiah did not care much for his heritage. He was born into the Priesthood. He was raised as one and prepared for the task
God is just, but let us remember Him also for His unending love and His immeasurable mercy. Let’s also remember that He earnestly desires that you and I will learn to love His creation enough to stand in the gap for them.
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Anyone would be forgiven for believing that without faith it
It’s time we stopped this ‘God of the Old Testament’ and ‘God of the New Testament’ theosophy. Let’s grow in the knowledge that God, the one God of Heaven and earth, revealed in the Torah, the Gospels and the Epistles is one.
Dear Prophet Malachi, I don’t think Jesus likes you very much. Pardon me, but this is no time for niceties. For over two thousand years
Dear Daniel, I have a message for you; more like a question if you will. But before I deliver the Lord’s message, allow me to drool
There is no person who has ever read the bible that does not know about David. We’ve all read about his confrontation with wild animals,
Miriam and Aaron perfected the justification for the “Touch not my anointed” brigade when they challenged Moses’ decision to take an Ethiopian wife. That has