We watched a film one evening last week. It came with a warning. “Viewers will find some dialogue in this film “racist”.” The remark reminded me that the Jews weren’t fond of foreigners. They would regard me as a “Gentile” (which I am) and would have nothing to do with me. “Gentile” in the New […]
When I did my National Service I was in the army and stationed in central London. I really just did office hours five days a week. It was during that time I met Dorothy L. Sayers. She was putting one of her religious plays on in the West End. I think it was called Emperor […]
Giles Gilbert Scott was a prolific 20th century designer creating such things as the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral to the common- or-garden iconic red telephone box. Lofty or lowly – God call some people to places of great responsibility and some to humble, hidden places of great obscurity that never attract any attention. God judges both […]
I’ve been studying my Bible for 65 years yet almost daily I get excited by a new discovery. I was looking yesterday at Jeremiah 31:31 – so very familiar – “The times is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a NEW covenant with the house of Israel.” I don’t know why but I […]
Oh dear! Yesterday, my Bible on my lap fell open at James. Haven’t read it for some time. And there it was: “Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly”(James 3:1). I don’t presume – I am a teacher and […]
“The fruit of the Spirit is…..SELF CONTROL”(Gal 5:22). Paul illustrates this 9th virtue when writing to the Christians in Corinth where the Ithmian Games were held every 3 years. Before the contest every athlete had to submit himself to rigorous training. For 10 months he was under oath to keep to a prescribed diet and […]
“The fruit of the Spirit is…..MEEKNESS”(Gal 5:22). We are taught with such emphasis at school that adjectives qualify nouns and we forget the reverse is true. And the reverse is certainly true when the noun is “Jesus” and the adjective is “meek.” If we think of meekness without taking Jesus into account, then straightaway the […]
“The fruit of the Spirit is…FAITHFULNESS”. (Gal 5:22). Jesus did not ask his followers to be clever or successful, but he did require them to be reliable and trustworthy. So it is not surprising that faithfulness is in the list of the fruit of the Spirit. Strictly speaking the word in Galatians is “faith” which […]
“The fruit of the Spirit is…..GOODNESS”(Galatians 5:22). J.B. Lightfoot suggests that “kindness” refers to a kind disposition, whereas “goodness” refers to kindness in action. Some people think it a rather fuddy-duddy word and make fun of it. George Bernard Shaw wrote a play called “Too True to be Good.” The main character was Private Meek; […]
“The fruit of the Spirit is…….KINDNESS. (Galatians 5:22) The phrase used by Jesus in one place is remarkable for the clue it gives to its practical meaning of kindness. Jesus say, “My yoke is easy” (Matthew 11:30). The Word “easy” there is our word “KIND.” In Bible times a farmer would take his ox to […]
