Looking at Christ

Isaiah 55:12-13 is a beautiful end to a beautiful chapter.  "For you will go out in joy     and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills     will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field     will clap their hands. Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper,     and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the Lord’s renown,     for an everlasting sign,     that will endure forever." The great call of the chapter (v1-7) is to come to the free banquet of grace, to open ears as if mouths to eat, to seek the Lord, to come to him who is the feast. And then there are three reasons given: v8-9 - this Lord is nothing like you imagined, v10-11 - His Word is coming down from heaven to earth to bring life, v12-13 - this is all for joy God's great plan is the joy project . We are heading towards eternal joy - the greater Exodus - "led forth in peace." Miriam singing and dancing on the far s...

"So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only [literally: 'they became'] a few days to him because of his love for her." (Genesis 29:20) Robert Alter,  Genesis Translation and Commentary , on Gen 22:9-10: "In contrast to the breathless pace of the narrative as a whole, this sequence inscribes a kind of slow motion: building the altar, laying out the wood, binding... reaching out the hand..." Adam Ramsey's beautifully written  Faithfully Present is summed up well by the subtitle: "Embracing the Limits of Where and When God Has You." Big idea: God is unlimited by place and time but we are limited. Ramsey gives wisdom on what it looks like to 'make peace' with those creaturely limits, in a way that is rooted not in trendy mindfulness (and not unrealistic about the demands of real life) but is grounded in the gospel realities of creation, fall, redemption, sanctification and consummation. Highlights Ramsey's des...

From the archives - originally written 8 years ago in the midst of international family transition… When Duncan Olumbe led an excellent session for the iServe Africa ministry training course on transition , there was one thing that he mentioned but didn’t have time to go into detail on: building a RAFT. The idea of building a RAFT comes from Pollock & Van Reken's  Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds but it’s applicable to anyone moving on, whether adults or children, expats or citizens. The basic plan is Reconciliation-Affirmation-Farewells-ThinkDestination. It’s not only practical and proven but it also fits well with the pattern and teaching of the apostle Paul, someone who certainly knew what it was to go through a lot of transitions. Reconciliation Deal with conflict before you leave. Forgive and ask for forgiveness. We can easily sweep conflict under the carpet. Particularly when we are leaving it’s very tempting not to bother dealing with unresolved issues. But...

LORD God, our God, the Maker of Heaven and Earth, our Father, as your children in the northern hemisphere enter this season of the academic year, please give us fresh grace to walk, stand and sit aright. May those of us who enjoy running and walking in your creation give thanks to you for that privilege but not be as concerned about the daily step count on our trackers as in taking practical steps this summer in kindness, in compassion, in forgiveness, in building others up, in pleasing the Lord - steps of progress in gracious, sacrificial, Christ-like loving (Ephesians 4-5).  May those of us who look forward to getting out of the city give thanks to you for the privilege of travel but not ultimately be as concerned about the physical location in which we stand (whether "beneath the boughs" or on a hot and sweaty tube train) as about our location "in Christ" - the address of every spiritual blessing, complete forgiveness, intimate sonship, total security (Ephesians ...

We live in a culture where stability, stick-ability and consistency are not really seen as virtues but disabilities. We told that it’s good to be flexible, agile, constantly shifting, morphing, evolving, jumping from one thing to another. Everyone offers us change – politicians, internet providers, management gurus. To stick with one thing, to be the same person yesterday, today and tomorrow is strange, boring, old-fashioned, impractical and probably deadly. Change becomes the new constant, flux and flex the new buzz words. That culture affects us personally and as churches. And there are some things about willingness to change (reformation?) that are hugely positive. We've talked about the need to be willing to change as a good farmer seeking growth . And how change is often spiritually good for us . But there are negative aspects to a culture that makes a virtue of constant instability. Is it good for customers and companies if employees change jobs every year? Is it good for chi...

What makes swearing / profanity - whatever you want to call it - wrong? This is something I was too slow to work through as a new Christian and it is something that I've had to think through more recently in response to what seems like an ever more ubiquitous use of crude language. Why should those following Christ avoid using certain words? Is it just prudish? Is it just middle class? Is it just legalism based on a few proof texts? Here's a first-draft sketch of a theology of profanity... The image of God Duncan Forbes and others have highlighted voice as a key element of the image of God. As God speaks creation into being and evaluates and names and blesses, so he gives humanity voice through which to rule and relate.  In the frame of that big picture, what is the problem with swearing? It's a wrong use of the voice. Instead of using my voice to build others up and benefit them, I am using my voice to cut them down and curse them. Instead of using my voice to praise and t...