Too hot for the shed at times today. Finally finished a book. That's 2 in 3 weeks. Not good. I once read 6 in 6 days to justify going on a reading week. To myself I suppose. (Proper books with footnotes - not novels or anything, obviously.)
So I've read 'Simply Christian' by Tom ("that's my friendly name for my easy books") Wright. Who was bishop of Durham. A position soon to be occupied by our own Dean of Liverpool.
'Simply' echoes C.S. Lewis' "'Mere Christianity" for me - I expect that was intentional. NTW's writing style is reminiscent of CSL in that he uses lots of metaphors and analogies. Not quite as well, in my opinion, but at least he tries. e.g. ‘enough barristers to run a battleship’. Barristers don’t run battleships do they? Neither do baristas for that matter. It would all go horribly wrong if you ordered a decaf.
NTW does have lots of wisdom, plenty of snippets for sermons. Must do one on Waters. In Genesis 1 they are divided and conquered. NTW notes how Moses in his basket is rescued from the waters - prefiguring how he will later rescue Israel from Egypt through the sea.
I did a bit of a talk on Jonah at the Baptists' last year.
There was a fine illustration of that bit of Ezekiel that I once saw using the Another Place Gormley men at Crosby beach.
There's also Noah of course. Plenty of bad chaos water just in the Old Testament.
Speaking of Noah being Left Behind while the bad people are swept away, NTW is very clear on some things. Like life after life after death, and:
‘The great drama will end, not with ‘saved souls’ being snatched up into heaven, away from the wicked earth and the mortal bodies which have dragged them down into sin, but with the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven to earth, so that ‘the dwelling of God is with humans’
Location:Shed
The first paragraph about the children singing the Lord's Prayer is great. Maybe it might be lyrics included in the latest Lady GaGa song they are singing or some Hip Hop tune that is out at the moment. Which may not be a bad thing to get the message across. Seriously, It is great to hear.
ReplyDeleteI was walking to the shops a few weeks ago and a little boy just walking past said good morning to me and it really made me smile. Sadly you just do not expect that this day and age. Maybe that is what makes it so special.