Al Musing

Just after Jesus raises Lazurus from the dead the chief priests and Pharisees say 'If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation' (John 11:48) It's a common response to Jesus. Jesus demonstrates uniquely that he has power over death, the great enemy of humanity. But people respond by seeing this as a threat to their comfortable lives, and the positions they have earned themselves. They don't want to give their self-rule up to another authority, even if it is one who has power over death! If this isn't foolishness and misplaced pride I don't know what is! If Jesus does have authority over death then surely the only sensible and wise thing to do is to give up our self-centredness and follow him, for in him we don't have to fear death and can have true life forever. In Acts I note there is a great emphasis on Jesus's resurrection- more than is emphasised in much Christi...

Back from Oak Hall skiing in Hotel Staubbach, Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland. Had a great time, and there were some excellent Bible talks too by Paul Mayo, mainly on Isaiah. There was loads of great stuff and I won't go through it all, but just highlight what particularly challenged me... Isaiah 42 - Jesus by his grace (vs2-3a) is fixing the world (3b-4). And he will definitely succeed (vs 8-9). So what am I spending my life doing? All aspects of life on earth ultimately are futile and pointless by themselves - we try and make a difference, but it is minimal and ultimately doesn't matter. But if Isaiah 42 is true, being involved in Jesus' mission is the only thing to live for, and the only thing to be part of in which I can make a real difference to the world. So many people are 'addicted to trivialities' - and so am I most of the time. My conversations (to both Christians and non-Christians) are usually about trivial things, very rarely about the great things of God an...

http://theresurgence.com/r_r_2006_session_eight_video_keller Tim Keller on Doing Justice - challenging stuff.

I realise I haven't written much here for quite a while! But as part of my PGCE course I'm having to do another blog about my teaching experience. And since I've had to do that most weeks, I haven't been bothered to put anything on here. Anyway, my other blog can be accessed at: https://my.newport.ac.uk/cs/blogs/20404948/ (though to be honest, it's probably a bit dull!)