Expressions
A Creative Word
Old open book with magic light and falling stars on wooden table Copious words from scholar, priest or saint make no indent like a word from the Master that cuts through bone and marrow into the hidden chamber of thought and feeling, and brings into being in a single day what takes a […]
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God is good?
beautiful spring landscape with rainbow, sunshine and green meadows We must fall in line with God’s understanding of goodness, and not the other way around. When we meet someone we have not seen in a long time, we might ask, “How have you been?” We sometimes hear the response, “I’m fine. God has been good.” […]
Soundings
Science and wonders
Nanotechnology and energy computer generated abstract background ** Note: Shallow depth of field At Johns Hopkins University, neurosurgeons and biomedical engineers collaborated to create tiny, biodegradable “nanoparticles” that can transport DNA to brain cancer cells in mice. These scientists hope that one day, they will be able to load these particles with “death genes” and […]
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Why we love superheroes
Captain America Shield on white background.3d rendering Captain America and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 hit our cinema screens most recently. Last year, The Wolverine and Thor thrilled audiences. Superheroes represent the idealised virtues that we want in ourselves, our spouses, or our leaders. More than that, they represent the overcoming of weaknesses by virtues […]
Expressions
Discovering God
Beauty landscape with sunrise over sea “The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork” Psalm 19:1 The glory of the burning sun, Reflected in the gleaming water; Declares the majesty of One, Who is Creator and Sustainer. The waves in the boundless sea, Rolling ceaselessly onto the shore; […]
Soundings
Sacred space
St. Patrick’s Cathedral a Neo-Gothic-style Roman Catholic cathedral is the seat of the archbishop of the archdiocese of New York Ceiling perspective detail Manhattan NYC Almost sixty years ago, the Romanian philosopher Mircea Elaide perceptively noted that certain physical spaces in many traditional religions are regarded as sacred. However, modernity with its corrosive secularism has […]
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The cross by the wayside
“Think of the way he persevered against such opposition from sinners and then you will not lose heart and come to grief.” Hebrews 12:3, New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) With the recent visit by the Chinese President Xi JinPing to Paris, the French media was quick to point out the dissonance between the fact […]
Expressions
John Wesley at Aldersgate
Tired and weary in the truth or Spurred by duty’s firm estate Mr Wesley learned from Luther Late one night at Aldersgate. None proclaimed the kingdom missal, Holy sang, or set apart; Dry the words of the Epistle That strangely warmed the faithful heart. And from the boredom of a reading Heaven opened, faith […]
Soundings
TECHNO SAPIENS?
José Padiha’s recent stylish “reboot” of Paul Verhoeven’s 1987 B-Grade movie Robocop is perhaps one of the more successful remakes in this genre. To be sure, Padiha and his screenwriter Joshua Zetumer have much more material to work with than Verhoeven did back in the late 80s. The movie throws up issues that could serve […]
Soundings
Religious KITSCH
In his insightful book entitled Contending for the Faith, Ralph Wood, Professor of Theology and Literature at Baylor University, describes a sweatshirt on sale at an annual Christian Book Fair designed by a Christian T-Shirt company called Living Epistle. Labelled “The Lord’s Gym”, it depicts Jesus Christ as a muscle-bound body-builder. He presses himself on […]
Discipleship
Salvation and Discipleship: A privilege and a challenge
METHODIST MESSAGE (MM) IS HONOURED TO HAVE THE REV DR DAVID LOWES WATSON, OUR SPEAKER AT THIS YEAR’S ALDERSGATE SG 2014 CONVENTION, GIVE US A PREVIEW ON “SALVATION AND DISCIPLESHIP”, THE SECOND OF HIS THREE LECTURES THIS COMING MAY. A PREVIEW OF HIS FIRST LECTURE, “BORN OF THE SPIRIT”, WAS PUBLISHED IN THE MARCH 2014 […]
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An inextricable link: Faith in God and that ‘theology stuff’
Let us not draw any more false distinctions between “having faith in God” and “getting involved in the theology stuff”. The two belong together in a healthy Christian life. May we not put asunder what God has joined together. Once at a dedication service for some undergraduates who were going on a mission trip, […]
Expressions
He is risen indeed!
I stood that day away from the Cross-silhouette hill Afraid to look, yet aware of the figure so still– He was the one they called Jesus of Nazareth. Once a babe of lowly birth Then a man who walked the earth Teaching the worth of life And love’s win over strife. I stood that […]
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Trophy Kids
Rooting our children in Christ, growing them in the faith and giving them wings to go where God wills – these must form our primary education to our children. We run a real risk of inadvertently breeding a generation of “trophy kids”. These are children who see themselves as so special that they have come […]
