Sacred Treasure If you've not come across it, "The Saint John's Bible is the first handwritten, hand-illuminated Bible to be commissioned by a Benedictine Abbey in over five hundred years." Some of the images are simply breathtaking. Here is a wonderful selectionMy…
These are in no particular order and I've picked them out as the ones I gave 5* to on my Goodreads page - you can see the rest here. The observant may well be able to discern themes and current…
Sacred Treasure A friend who pastors in Hong Kong tackles the church's divisions in the face of political turmoil and social unrest. We would do well to listen, here in Brexit Britain...The Simple Pastor draws on some fascinating Pew Foundation…
Sacred Treasure The Josh Harris 'deconversion' story (for those who are aware) is very sad and my heart goes out to him and his family. Too many have leapt in as pundits. These are the better responses I've readOn Caution…
The letter lay unobtrusively on the doormat, shrouding its contents in the nondescript white envelope. Her mind, distracted by the day's activities, barely registered its solemnity as she opened it. So the words struck hard, thudding through her until all…
Does the legacy of a heroic struggle for justice cover over a multitude of sins? Or does the iconic hero’s fatal flaw render him and, perhaps even his legacy, leprous? Is it 'one strike and you're out' or might the twitteratti just possibly permit nuance and, dare I say it, complexity?
There is an emotional complexity to this wonderful painting by Swiss artist Eugène Burnand. I know very little about him, apart from the usual resort of Wikipedia. But he manages to capture a moment of almost frantic inquisitiveness, as Peter and his young, fellow-disciple John rush in the golden sunrise light to the burial garden. Their faces seem filled with anxiety, confusion, hope, wonder, and longing all at once. Hoping against hope, but fearing a con, or something worse? Could Mary Magdalene, first to visit the tomb, possibly have been right...?
Sacred Treasure Forgiveness is quite mad says Derrida... what do you think?Pete Williams is Warden of Tyndale House in Cambridge and provides one of the highlights of my Twitter feed - this recent thread on the reliability of Bible books…
Sacred Treasure How many people view the recent death of missionary John Chau Emma Scrivener writes, as potently as ever, about the power of the gospel to counteract a self-harming mindset And then she followed it up with this blinder…
Here is part 2 of Sofia's story. If you've not read part 1, I suggest you start there. It is harrowing. But important. It is a testimony of experiences. This stuff happens. In our churches. Let us have ears to…