[ mites from our momentary marriage and ministry ]
The book of Ruth is a perennial favourite in women’s bible studies, retreats and devotional material. Much of it unfortunately preaches a gospel of prosperity though – “go find your Boaz” and other similar summaries abound. Is Ruth really about a harvest-time romance? Or is there more going on in this ancient tale? Our immigrant …
Continue reading “Thoughts on preaching Ruth from the Hebrew text”
In some Christian circles, it’s popular to look up the advice of “experts” and “consultants” for help with church planting, worship, preaching and strategy. Yet imagine if you could overhear a conversation between a young church plant in a strategic city, and the pastor and preacher who helped found their church. How helpful would that …
Continue reading “Thoughts on preaching the book of 1 Corinthians”
For a long time I had wanted to make meaningful colouring pages that don’t only entertain or beautify, but specifically help elucidate and synthesise the truths of scripture. I’d played with the idea for years between kids and homeschool but never could justify doing it properly (although I did learn a lot about inking, lettering …
In God’s kindness, this year I had the joy of helping with organising the annual East Auckland Combined Churches Easter Sunrise service. As mentioned before by Rev Richard Waugh (who helped to start these sunrise services over 30 years ago), it’s a small but significant opportunity to partner with other local churches to share our …
What does a “minor” prophet from 520 B.C. have to say to our post-Christian culture? Quite a lot actually. In the last fortnight, our church went through the book of Haggai and were challenged to “give careful thought to our ways” and to refocus our wandering attention back to kingdom priorities of Christ our great …
