Managing Monday: Some quotes for Christmas…
With Christmas around the corner, I sifted through a hundred or so Christmas quotes on Pinterest, and discovered a few I thought worth pondering… Advent is synonymous with hope, not the vain waiting for a faceless god, but concrete and certain trust in the return of him who has already visited us. – Pope John Paul II Look for Christ and you will find Him. And with Him, everything else. – C.S.Lewis Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we’re here for something else besides ourselves. – Eric Sevareid Blessed is...
Read MoreWhen family fails…
At Carey we recently finished a preaching series on the life of David – author of so many of the Psalms, and Israel’s most successful king. One of my topics was the family life of David – notable largely for its failure. As a fair few people found my reflections on the topic helpful, I decided to post my sermon notes on the blog. Perhaps the messiness of David’s situation might, in some round about way, be helpful for you… Don’t know if you had any imaginative dreams during your childhood. In my fantasy moments I would imagine that I had been born a prince – and...
Read MoreBorrowed Spaces: A Meditation for Advent
Audrey Francis has contributed to this blog on a few occasions. Recently she sent me this meditation for advent ‘Borrowed Spaces’ – allowing me to use it on the blog and also to give you permission to use and reuse it as you see fit, so long as you credit her as the author. Audrey recently completed her studies at Vose Seminary, and has a lifetime of service behind her, including a period as a missionary nurse in Africa. Borrowed Spaces A Meditation for Advent Her time was near, time to give birth to her first- born. She felt the movement of the donkey to the core of her...
Read MoreWhy the angels sang…
With the Advent season officially upon us, I thought it would be worth turning our thoughts towards Christmas. In an Advent message a few years ago I asked the question if the angels were right to sing a song of joy the night Jesus was born. Would a dirge not have been more appropriate given the shameful response Jesus met with? Here are some of the things I said… When at high school I was the chairman of the school debating team. I quickly learnt that there were two sides to just about any argument, and that it didn’t really matter if we were asked to propose or oppose a motion. There...
Read MoreManaging Monday with C.S.Lewis – Take 4
C.S.Lewis is one of the most oft quoted people. His insights are pithy and effortlessly and clearly get to the heart of each matter he addresses. A few weeks ago I posted on C.S.Lewis as apologist, and so it seemed appropriate to follow up with some of his wisdom in selected quotes for Managing Monday. This is the last of this short series from Lewis (well, for a while…) In our own case we accept excuses too easily; in other people’s, we do not accept them easily enough (from The Weight of Glory) If God forgives us we must forgive ourselves otherwise its like setting up ourselves...
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