By Rod Benson I picked up a bright, shiny Christian leaflet the other day, and the banner immediately caught my attention. “We are at a moral crossroad; it’s time to demonstrate the true meaning of Easter,” the flyer declared, advertising a nation-wide event scheduled for Easter. It looked so cheerful and hopeful. But its religious …
River hope
Jan van Eyck, "Adoration of the Mystic Lamb," c. 1390-1441 In the early chapters of the Book of Genesis, there are four rivers. Two are unknown to us today; the others are the Tigris and the Euphrates, flowing through present-day Iraq. At the end of the Bible’s narrative arc, there is also a river. John …
The love that lifts us to glory
A reflection on the classic hymn, O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus Part 3 By Rod Benson O the deep, deep love of Jesus—Love of ev’ry love the best—’Tis an ocean vast of blessing;’Tis a haven sweet of rest.Oh, the deep, deep love of Jesus—’Tis a heav’n of heav’ns to me;And it lifts me …
Seven stanzas for Easter
By John Updike Make no mistake: if He rose at allit was as His body;if the cells’ dissolution did not reverse, the moleculesreknit, the amino acids rekindle,the Church will fall. It was not as the flowers,each soft Spring recurrent;it was not as His Spirit in the mouths and fuddledeyes of the eleven apostles;it was as …
What is justification?
Or, How to find peace with God - A sermon by Rod Benson Romans 4:25-5:2 A lot can happen in three days. On Friday we reflected on what it means to affirm that “Christ died for us.” This morning, as dawn broke over Lithgow, people from various Christian traditions gathered at the old blast furnace, …
