In Praise of Rosemary – in Praise of Marriage
I thought I’d take a weeks break from the current series “Towards a Theology of Personal Development” to mark a milestone birthday for Rosemary, the love of my life, who turned 70 on Monday. Actually, it isn’t really a break, for nothing develops you in quite the same way as love and marriage – and in a few months we will have been married for 45 years. When I say that, people often congratulate me and I never really understand it. After all, we congratulate people on achieving things that are difficult, or have required great effort, but this has been...
Read MoreRefresh: Reclaiming and Redeeming Gossip…
A couple of my recent posts have looked at words and the power of words. I thought it would be helpful to supplement these with this Refresh post from June 2022 which looked at the possibility of redeeming gossip. To find the fascinating origin of the word gossip – read on… Refresh: Reclaiming and Redeeming Gossip It was a prayer meeting I was at several decades ago. The person praying suddenly asked that God would help James and Jenni (yes, I have changed their names) in their marriage problems, especially after their last major argument which had been overheard by neighbours...
Read MoreTowards a Theology of Personal Development (4): Because the Body is a Temple…
It’s interesting how some Bible verses get emphasised in one era, are then almost forgotten about in the next, before making a bit of a comeback. 1 Cor 6:19-20 fits into this category: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your body.” The immediate context is a discussion on sexual immorality, but shortly before Paul was working with a wider canvas that also included theft, greediness, drunkenness, cheating and gossip (v10)....
Read MoreRefresh: When Faith is a Quest…
I’ve met several people who have said words to the effect of: “I would really like to believe, it’s just that I don’t. And even with the best will in the world, that doesn’t seem likely to change. I have so many questions that seem to annoy those who believe. I find people of faith often lack curiosity. But that’s the catch for me. I’m very curious. And I love asking questions. And in the end it seems that I’m just irritating to believers, so I’ve backed away.” This refresh post from Dec 2022 looks at this question. Perhaps in some...
Read MoreTowards a Theology of Personal Development (3): 7 Pointers to Shaping Words as Gifts
As a child I often heard the ditty, “Sticks and stones will break your bones, but words will never harm you.” Much as I loved my childhood, this was an untruth I have had to recognise. Far closer to reality is a sign I saw in military barracks where the Sergeant Major had above his desk, “Sticks and stones will break your bones, but words will kill you!” He also had a philosophy that you shouldn’t say something if you could shout it, and though not all were slaughtered by his words, many were deafened! The power of words is forcefully affirmed in the opening...
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