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Faith

God, doubt, prayer and the seasons of the Christian year.

52 posts

  • Your hands are full of flowers

    The church I went to this morning had two trumpeters, a choir, and a cross of gold. Stripped of language, there was gesture and posture and light. I wondered…

    Faitheaster · Faith · jesus · resurrection

  • Bus Stop Nativity

    Where should we go looking for God? Advent means the "coming" or arrival of God. It's a season of fasting in the church, one of waiting and anticipation. We…

    Faithabuse · advent · bible · comfort · Faith · fasting · God · good-samaritan · institutional failings · jesus · leadership · nativity · power

  • "You only know Pikachu?"

    The tiny voice of an alert 8 year-old calls through the bedroom door. "Hello? Are you ready?" I am, of course, not ready. I am not yet out of bed, and I am…

    Faithhuman · incarnation · jesus · rest

  • The owl, the fox, the ocean by the village, and God

    I fell in love with a poem called 'The Other' I read close to the beginning of this year by RS Thomas. It goes as follows: The Other There are nights that are…

    Faithdeus absconditus · God · otherness · unknowable

  • Sitting in the dark

    When I was younger, an advent calendar was all about the countdown to Christmas. This was an especially exciting sort of countdown on the occasions where your…

    Faithadvent · apocalypse · christmas

  • taken, blessed, broken, given

    Discover the power of the eucharist as a celebration of hope, remembrance, and unity in the face of suffering. Join the broken-hearted celebration.

    Faith

  • Do you believe there's more?

    The eight year anniversary of my baptism is tomorrow, and I've recently been thinking about what on earth keeps me plodding along to church each Sunday, when…

    FaithFaith · Why I am a Christian

  • Jesus, Logos & the "Inside Out"

    I was once told of a preacher who always started to explain the gospel by talking about angels, because doing so was a way of making obvious that the gospel…

    Faith

  • On belonging

    "I go to some meetings and think 'Thank goodness, there are many rooms in my Father's house, because I don't want to share'" I have taken to referring to the…

    Faithbelonging · church · community · denominations · difference · otherness · reconciliation · unity

  • Behold, a new thing

    One of the things which has been mentioned to me often by a particular generation of Christians, is an action which happened as part of the Jubilee 2000…

    Faithadvent · fruit of the spirit · longing · power · renewal · Spirit

  • Place.

    Incarnation is a hope which is not escapist. I wonder how much of our hope winds up in forms of escapism. This has partly been on my mind with the…

    Faithcommunity · creation · environment · hope · incarnation · place · resilience

  • A Sexually Literate Church

    Explore the complexities of church teachings on sex, relationships, and the need for open conversations about desire and consent.

    Faithchristian dating · church · consent · Faith · relationships · sex

  • The bread is enough.

    Perhaps the thing I've missed most of all in lockdown is church in person. I deeply miss the physicality of being with others to worship, and have struggled…

    Faithcommunion · embodiment · the bread of life

  • we are the perpetrators

    Lord, We are afraid to admit culpability because we are worried we will be held accountable. We are afraid to repent because we are worried we will have to…

    Faith

  • Lament

    At the grave of Lazarus, Jesus wept. Even for one who would be raised again. Lament means grieving death in all its forms. It's an expression of faith -…

    Faithdeath · grief · lament

  • endings are part of living

    Endings are a part of living. They mark out chapters of change, create divides, place fractures between a now and a then. There are so many endings in our…

    Faithdivides · endings · peace · reconcilation

  • Prophets of a future not our own

    It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view. The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision. We accomplish in our…

    Faithchange · future · kingdom · pandemic · uncertainty · vision

  • advent, waiting

    What does it mean to say 'My Lord'?

    Faithabiding · advent · letting go · waiting

  • holding to light

    Maybe it's the nights getting colder, and the feeling of setting out home in the dark - but I've been thinking a lot about holding onto light this week. "Let…

    Faithadvent · creation · dark · Faith · light

  • Broken Unbelief

    Some quick scribblings from a recent experience. Dedicated to Rachel Held Evans who showed me the beauty of broken unbelief. Let me hear it for a church built…

    Faithbelief · brokenness · church · Faith · unbelief

  • Holy Week - Suffering God

    At the centre of Christian faith is the memory of suffering. This is Holy Week, when Christians recall the last days of Jesus's life, "in whose body was named…

    Faithdivine solidarity · holy week · king of the jews · kingship · messiah · pain · reflection · suffering · violence

  • Re-crucifying Christ

    Cone writes about the crucifixion as a first-century lynching, and about how black people facing the state-endorsed terrorism of lynching identified with Jesus; they, "found in the cross the spiritual power to resist the violence they so often suffered" (p22).

    Faithblack theology · creation · crucifixion · death · environmental theology · grief · James Cone · justice · lynching · non-violent direct action · resistance · The Cross and the Lynching Tree

  • The Breaking of the Bread

    the pulse of hope/ the echo of our name/ and the bread in our teeth/ a cup on our lips / and breathing at our side

    Faithawaiting · communion · eucharist · kingdom come · lord's prayer · prayer · sacrament · wine

  • A very short reminder of Grace

    Grace, as demon­strated in sal­va­tion and sanc­ti­fi­ca­tion, is a beautiful paradox. And this is the paradox: on the one hand we’re involved, and on the…

    Faithgrace

  • Starting with the Angels

    The road from Bethlehem to Calvary is trafficked by angels.

    Faith2018 · angels · Francis Schaeffer · jesus · supernatural · Timothy

  • The Interviews

    Chapter 10 of 'Love Does', by Bob Goff

    Faith2018 · 9/11 · Bob Goff · book · book review · extraordinary · Faith · love · winter

  • A Countdown to Hope (it's advent)

    The greatest has come - to serve and love and share life with the least. The author has written Himself into the story.

    Faith2017 · advent · creation · death · expectancy · Faith · glory · hope · jesus · messiah · shepherds · winter

  • This I know

    How I've been praying of late.

    Faith2017 · Faith · prayer · winter

  • Thinking about a tree

    Thinking about the tree that Jesus was crucified on.

    Faith2017 · autumn · blue-bottle · creation · crucifixion · Faith · jesus · thoughts · trinity · wonder

  • What am I entitled to?

    What does a Christian understanding of moral responsibility look like?

    Faith2017 · bob jeffrey · entitlement · giving · John · money · morality · politics · poverty · responsibility · summer

  • The First Job each morning

    Time in the morning is good time.

    Faith2017 · birds · C.S. Lewis · Faith · lifestyle · morning · morning routine · spring · Spurgeon

  • I was told something wise

    A little nugget of wisdom from Siân.

    Faith2017 · Cambridge · Faith · logic · philosophy · philosophy student · reflections · spring · work

  • What it means to have faith

    Our faith is built on the character we know God to have. Our faith lays a hold on the faithfulness of God.

    Faith2017 · book · book review · Faith · faithfulness · Hudson Taylor · James Hudson Taylor · mark · provision · spring

  • A Short Prayer

    May God bless you with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may boldly apply the truth of Christ and love as he loved.

    Faith2017 · Christ · Faith · jesus · justice · peace · prayer · restless discomfort · spring · tears

  • Irresistible Revolution - Shane Claiborne

    The challenge to love in the glamorous sense of big dreams, visions of fighting injustice and of bringing light to darkness, but doing so ready and alert that this will necessarily involve the gritty sense of long days and tired feet.

    Faith2017 · book · book review · Faith · irresistible revolution · John · mark · poverty · Shane Claiborne · winter

  • Words to Read Again

    Here for the next time I need them.

    Faith2017 · discipleship · Faith · jesus · unashamed · winter · words

  • Remind Me of Christmas

    "Dear world, there's intense bombing right now. Why are you silent? Why? Why? Why? Fear is killing me & my kids. - Fatemah #Aleppo" A reflection on Christmas in the midst of the tweets coming out of Syria.

    Faithchristmas · emmanuel · Faith · God with us · hope · jesus · manger · reflections

  • Bridgemas is Coming!

    I love this time of advent!

    Faith2016 · bridgemas · Cambridge · celebrations · Christ · christmas · jesus · university · winter

  • Amazing Grace

    We never 'graduate' from grace.

    Faith2016 · autumn · church · Faith · grace · HT · Newton · Wilberforce · worship

  • Justice is Restoration

    The whole of the Bible leads us towards seeking a world that models God's justice. Here's how to do that.

    FaithFaith · God · just love · justice · lamenting · restoration · righteousness

  • "Take Heart!"

    These words never fail to make a sense of calm wash over me. I needed them today. Serving suggestion: read slowly.

    Faithcalm · comfort read · drops of heaven · Faith · heartwarming · heaven · Hebrews · John · little droplets of heaven · peace · reflection · take heart · thoughts

  • Journal of God at work

    The first month of a starting a journal and where I've got to!

    Faith2016 · autumn · Faith · project · reflection

  • Be Perfect

    Christians are to do the exact opposite of the turn-of-phrase 'don't put all your eggs in one basket'. Christians aren't to be people who are 'hedging their bets' - we are to stake absolutely everything on the salvation we have in Jesus Christ.

    Faith2016 · autumn · eggs · Faith · grace · holiness · jesus · legalism · perfection · perfectionism