The family of God

Romans 16:17-27

I think St Paul would have been one of the first to sign up for Facebook and Google +. He would probably have been on AOL instant messaging and MySpace before the dawn of Facebook and Twitter. He would have been able to rein in errant churches immediately. The Good News would have been resounding throughout cyberspace. However it was his care for everybody he had met and even those who he had only met by hearsay as well as his wish to share greetings from all and to all that led me to ponder his possible involvement in social media.

Last week our whole family was on holiday together. I shared photographs with my Facebook and Google + friends. One friend commented on how much they miss our family now that we are on another continent. I was touched. Friends who are often in my thoughts but whom I seldom contact 'liked' my photographs. It is a way to say 'I still care about you even though I no longer see you weekly'.

I sent a message to a friend with a sick husband. This caused other people to comment on the message and share their love and support.

St Paul's letters are a wonderful example of the care and love which binds the family of God. There are a lot of words of instruction but under it all is the love that binds us all together.

It's starting

Matthew 27:24-31

There is a twinge, you wonder if this is it. After approximately eight months of knowing that this day would come you wonder if this is really it, if this is the beginning of the great pain, the pain that will release the new life. The pain increases and becomes more frequent but you know it is going to get  a lot worse. I think this is where Jesus is in today's reading. He is willing to endure great pain and death to give me life.

Sabbath Rest

Mark 2:23-28

I was planning to squeeze a job or two into the space between making coffee and reading at the morning service and taking my husband to the station so that he could go to the singing practice for the evening service. Then I read this passage; Jesus;said it was ok for the disciples to nibble the wheat as they passed hungrily through the field on a Sabbath. To me he said take your time, catch your breath. So that is what I am doing.

Sun set, peace

Psalm 50

Yesterday we sat at a dinner table and watched the sun set. 

¹ The mighty one, God the Lord,
   speaks and summons the earth
   from the rising of the sun to its setting. 
² Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
   God shines forth. 

Romans 15:1-13

¹³May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Sharing the peace of the setting sun and its reflection of God's glory.

Praise God

Romans 14:1-12

And every tongue shall give praise to God.

Psalm 45

my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe. 

Yes I am ready to write, though maybe not skillfully as the NIV translates the word. Words do not always come easily to my fingers. I hope this is a case of God understanding the praise that is in my heart even if it does not reach my lips. 
How easy it is to grouch about our fellow church members than to praise God for them. Though I must admit that today the praise that is welling up within me is nothing to do with my home church but an adoration of the beauty of creation and thankfullness that I now this area of the world and have the opportunity to be here.

Unanswered Prayer

Matthew 26:36-46


I pray. I believe that God answers prayer. On Saturday we were going to a concert. We did not want to miss it because Naomi was a member of the orchestra. We were not on home ground, the railway ticket system was strange and we did understand the route. We pressed a few buttons and bought what we thought was the correct ticket. When we got to the map we realised that we had bought a ticket for a longer route than was necessary. The next train in was the line we needed but our destination was not listed as a stop. Ah but the place we had bought the ticket too was and from there it was easy to get back to our concert station. Without even a prayer God had guided us. It was certainly  case of "Thank you Jesus." as we got on the train.

Answers do not always come that easy. When I read the gospel this morning I noticed that a few years ago I had written a note at the top "unanswered prayer". Jesus knew the pain he would have to endure. As a man he did not want to do it and wanted an alternative. God did not have one.
Things do not always work out as I think fit. Yes i wanted Matthew's eyes to flicker as they conducted the brain dead tests. The ICU sister had said "Watch carefully, parents often notice movement which we professionals miss." There was not sign of life. He was pronounced dead.

I do not know who Matthew would have grown to be but I do know the too caring daughters who we now have and would not have known if we had not endured the pain of Matthew's death.

Generosity or not

Matthew 25:31-46

This is not one of my favourite passages. It makes me feel uncomfortable.
Occasionally I give food to beggars on the street or a bottle of water, particularly in the warmer weather. If I have a suitable coin available and they are brightening my day with a cheerful tune on accordion or fiddle I will drop a little something in the hat.
In my days as an Open University Tutor I had a student in prison, I used to visit him, well I had to, it was part of my job but I could have opted not to go. I often pass our local prison and wonder if there are any English speakers there whom I should visit.
Once I asked an unknown Christian visiting our school for an interview to spend the night with us.

This is not much for the length of my life.

Lord Jesus guide me and forgive me.

What are my talents

Matthew 25:14-30

I do not risk anything with my money. Working the stock market is not for me. My money goes into the bank where I hope it earns a little interest. Thus I have a problem with this parable. However I am quite willing to use my talents for God. The problem may be discerning what they are and how best to use them to grow the kingdom.  So I keep on greeting people who I think are strangers, sometimes they are not which is slightly embarrassing and making coffee; praying or rather bringing my thoughts to God and writing this.

Rahab and I

Joshua 2:1-14

News travels fast nowadays. I knew just as it happened that Germany and Argentina had a 0-0 draw and were going to have to play overtime. Just over 30 minutes later I knew the result that Germany had won. I tell this not because I was particularly interested in the success of either Argentina or Germany or even in the outcome of the World Cup but as an example of how speedily and accurately we can follow world news.
This morning I was listening to one of the kidnapped Nigerian girls who had escaped from Boko Haram. The kidnapping was an event that was not covered by the world's TV cameras or watched by an estimated 1 billion people. The news of the girls spread slowly, as does the news of their current whereabouts.
I suspect that the news of the Israelites spread to Rahab in a way more akin to the Nigerian kidnapping than the World Cup win, slowly and not with the visual accuracy of a TV camera.

God's reputation preceded the Israelites. Rahab did not know all the facts but she knew that she wanted to be with God rather than on the other side. Me too.

Psalm 150

Psalm 150

It's a Psalm 150 day. This means that it is a day of praise.

To start
I praise God that I did not hang the washing out, it started raining soon after I made the decision.
I praise God that it did not start until the moment I came in from my ambling around the garden trying to remember where I had planted the rosemary. I praise him to that I remembered before the heavy rain came.

Ready?

Matthew 24:32-51

Today, 12th July I noticed a violet in bloom. I had to stop and ask myself why. The only conclusion I could draw was that it is a result of the colder definitely wet week that we have just experienced.
An unusual natural occurrence makes us think. Jesus tells us that everything will be going on just as usual when he comes back. We will not be stopping to think, just doing to same ole same ole. There will be little clues but only the thinkers will recognise them.Only those who are living a life doing what God desires will be ready.

Loving Psalm 119

Psalm 119: 1-24

Psalm 119 is that long one, each of the 176 verses contains a word for God's law. It was verse 24 that I noticed this morning-

Your decrees are my delight
they are my counselors.

For me this does not mean The Ten Commandments but the one which Jesus usually referred to and which I remember as

Love the Lord your God with your whole heart and your neighbour as yourself.

Thus I came to love Psalm 119

The Line in the Sand

Matthew 23:13-26

The Pharisees and Teachers of the Law believed in God, they followed his commands, they worshiped him, they prayed. They went to church regularly on the Sabbath and at other times too. They gave money to the synagogue and Temple coffers. If God had drawn a line in the sand, like William Travis did at the Alamo I am sure they would have marched rapidly to the God side of the line.
Yet Jesus likens them to blind guides who do not know where they are going, to somebody who could not find the line or know where side to stand. How blind am I in Jesus' eyes? I think I know where I stand. I believe that Jesus died for my sins and will forgive me my transgressions. But I do not see me through Jesus' eyes. I do not view sin in the same way that he and his father do. Like the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law my sins are far less heinous that those of my non-churchgoing, wife-swapping, thieving and murderous neighbours.
I want to stand with Jesus but is that a bit too presumptuous on my part?

Lord Jesus have pity on my, I do not even know my own sin but whatever it is I believe that you died for me.

Partially formed thoughts

Romans 8:26-30

I had a busy day. I thought that it would be nice if a student cancelled then I could do the meal delivery that I was offered. Another day something similar happened, in fact it often does; Last week I had a long work day on Thursday, my husband needed his car and  was left with the bike; It is a pleasant ride, that was not a problem. I was anxious about the time away from my furry friends since the bike travelling takes 5 times as long as the car journey. Yes the last student cancelled. It is amazing how often this happens, and other little coincidences too.

Perfectly articulated words are not necessary to communicate with God, he responds to our partially formed thoughts and desires.

Miraculous and mundane.

Acts 19:11-20

God did great things through Paul... some people gave up their occult books. So the word of the Lord grew. It grew in the magnificent miracles performed by Paul and his shadow, it grew by a nobody throwing away a book which led them in a different way. God's kingdom spreads in many ways, extraordinary and the seemingly almost mundane.

Balaam

Numbers 24:1-13

Sometimes God speaks in strange ways, earlier this week it was a donkey, now it is Balaam himself who is God's mouthpiece. Maybe next it will be you and I will need to listen or maybe you should listen to me.
God has many means of communication. I want to be ready to hear him when he speaks and to discern his voice amidst the other sounds which bombard my ears.

Hills

Psalm 121

A single word can trigger an hour of reflection. If I had the opportunity that might have happened this morning. Mighty waves and golden paths of descending sun never fail to raise in me memories of God's greatness so when I read that the psalmist was looking for help from the hills I pondered on the majesty of great mountains, the Great Tetons for instance but it was the humble Preseli Hills which caught my imagination. On a clear day coming over the top from Cardigan to Haverfordwest it is possible to see as far as the sea beyond the land. As a child this view always fascinated me. The Preseli Hills are the only home of the bluestone for the great standing stones of Stonehenge. How did the men of Wiltshire know of the special Pembrokeshire stone? here unfortunately I had move on to the rest of my day, or rather reading the next verse.

However there are many mysteries in creation and the history of mankind and I believe that God is behind them all.