John Stott's prayer before preaching was a concise and powerful expression of dependence on God and a desire for God's glory to be revealed. He would typically pray: Heavenly Father, we bow in your presence. May your word be our rule, Your Spirit our teacher, and your greater glory our supreme concern. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Image source: …
On contrition and compassion
Alasdair MacIntyre, one of the world’s great twentieth-century philosophers, died on Wednesday. He is best known for reintroducing virtue ethics as a viable alternative to consequentialism. He also saw his faith and his philosophy as mutually enriching. Reading the obituaries, I was reminded of this quotation from one of MacIntyre’s twenty books: Man is in …
Nothing in my hand I bring
Last week, I suggested that, in his inaugural sermon at the Nazareth synagogue (Lk 4:16-21), and in the Beatitudes which must have been taught very soon after, Jesus echoed the words of Isaiah 61:1-7. I said that Jesus came to change the world, to turn the world upside down, to right wrongs, to pour out compassion, …
A guide to the Beatitudes
In what would be his last sermon, Pope Francis emphasised a contrast between the way of the world and the Way of Jesus. He said: Today’s builders of Babel tell us that there is no room for losers, and that those who fall along the way are losers. Theirs is the construction site of Hell. …
A grain of wheat
John 12:23-24; Luke 9:23 Sprouted shoots of barley and wheat. Walk into almost any church, and you will see one of two realities – either the predictable machinations of moralistic therapeutic deism and passive consumer religion, or the beauty, mystery and enthusiasm of a gathered community of Jesus followers, experimentally living out their faith. One reality …
All Told 