by James Webb
For many people, God is a silent God. As far as they’re concerned, He says nothing. But when I read the Bible I can’t help but be left with the strong impression that actually this is a God who just won’t shut up. Take Abram for example. He’s sitting in the desert, counting his livestock and minding his own business, and then God comes along – “Psssst…Abram.” Read more
I had an idea for a blog post, but just as I was about to start writing I got distracted by browsing through some old stuff that I’d written. I found this thing from 2007 which, while needing a bit of work, is probably better than what I was going to write… Read more
If you’ve been following this blog from the very beginning (nearly five years now!) then you might have read one of my first posts about the potential virtues of cynicism. I’m a lot less cynical than I used to be in my twenties, but every now and then I do like to indulge myself.
Here’s a quote that I came across last year, and I’ve really appreciated it. It’s from a guy called Andy Peck.
“As my old pastor used to say, it’s not how often we go through the Bible that counts, but whether the Bible goes through us.”
That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him.
Mark 4:35-36
The thing about reading the Psalms is that occasionally, at just the right time, there will be a sliver of poetry that speaks directly to your heart. Here are some crumbs from the table that have fed my soul in the past, and continue to do so, along with commentary on what they mean to me.
On my desk sits a copy of Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible (Complete and Unabridged I’ll have you know). It’s not there for the reason you might think it is. Read more
Over the past half a decade or so, I’ve gradually moved into my new home over in the land of Middle-Age. It’s a wonderful Tolkienesque place where you now need to get up to go to the toilet in the middle of the night and your shoulder is still twinging even though it’s been nearly a week since you lifted that suitcase. Read more
Every now and then I’m going to find myself short of inspiration and time, and still needing a weekly blog post. In these moments of emergency, I’m going to mine my previous blog for something suitable (you remember my previous blog – the one I wrote while in Australia? I mentioned it a few weeks back). Anyway, this is one of those times. Here’s some decade old musings on purpose and happiness. I was quite the deep thinker in those days…
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(Once again, I wrote a devotion for our church’s week of prayer. Once again I’m using it as my blog post for this week.)
“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.” (John 17:24)
This morning the streets of Canterbury, in the early wind and rain, are almost deserted. It makes a nice change after the Christmas excess. Read more
