Blog
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Hope will not disappoint
“Don’t give up hope!” the well-intentioned friend says. The one in pain wants to punch her friend, but restrains herself while thinking, “What does she know about hope? What does she know about disappointment and betrayal and death? How can she tell me not to give up on hope?” Though perhaps lacking tact, the friend…
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When God throws you a life ring
I sucked in my breath as I read a suicide note. Having seen plenty of movies, I was expecting drama or at least a nice piece of paper. But this was just a torn scrap with a few words jotted down. He was matter-of-fact in his note to my friend, saying that his girls needed…
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Devotional of the week: Painful pruning; lasting fruit
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes… Remain in me, as I also remain in you… If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.” (John…
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We will remember
We traipsed to the Tower of London on Sunday – Remembrance Sunday – to see the nearly 900,000 handmade poppies that have been planted to commemorate the start of the First World War. Although we were jostled by the crowds, we were moved by the beauty and pain of the sea of red. Each poppy…
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Devotional of the week: Gold dust in the skies
Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them… But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said…
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Interview with Tom (NT) Wright
My interview with Bishop Tom Wright appeared in Woman Alive in early 2013, but hasn’t dated too much – but of course, in the meantime his magnum opus on Paul has been released. Writers may read the line about the writing part of his brain taking over with amazement. I do. Simply Christian was and is…
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Devotional of the week: The three-in-one in us
But you will know him [the Spirit], for he lives with you and will be in you… Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. (John 14:15–21) Our text comes during what is known…
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My one word – train
Who loves training for a marathon? Not me. But that’s my word for the year (see my other posts on this movement) – train, with the accompanying verse is 2 Timothy 3:16 (about Scripture being God-breathed and useful for training in righteousness). Not exactly the word I was looking for in January, but it kept…
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Devotional of the week: Come to the waters
Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. (John 7:25–44) Here Jesus…
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My Tangled (Writing) Journey
Of making many books there is no end… So said the wise man in Ecclesiastes. And never has that been more true with the explosion of self-publishing, when people can crank out a book in an afternoon, converting to a digital format their academic thesis or that novel buried in a drawer. But who will…
