The Right to Become Children of God

He came to his own people, but they didn’t want him.
But whoever did want him, who believed he was who he claimed and would do what he said,
He made to be their true selves, their child-of-God selves.
These are the God-begotten (From John 1: 11- 13 The Message)
The Spirit of God, the Master, is on me [...]

God moved into the Neighbourhood

I love the translation of John 1: 14 in The Message: “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighbourhood.” Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have Jesus living down the street? And imagine if we heard that he was moving into the neighbourhood but we did not [...]

A Witness Will Go Before You

Tom & I have been reading the daily scriptures from the Book of Common Prayer and I must confess that I have been feeling a little depressed as I have read about the judgment of God in Amos & Haggai so the scriptures that we are focusing on in this Johannine synchroblog have been quite [...]

The Light Shines in the Darkness

“In him was life and that life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:4,5). As I read these words this morning I could not help but remember my first trip to Norway when I flew from New Zealand at [...]

Advent - Hoping for the Promises of God

It is almost the end of the first week of Advent and I am struggling to focus on the hope of God. This has not been an easy week. Monday our basement flooded and we spent the day helping our Mustard Seed House companions Anneke & Peter try to dry out their basement. [...]

Advent Traditions

On Saturday we set up our Advent wreath on the dinning room table. It is something we do every every year at this season.
Four bright red candles nestle in a bed of greenery around a central white candle. At breakfast each morning we light the appropriate candles, symbolic of the fact that [...]

Advent Synchroblog

I have been asked by Brother Maynard to be a part of an Advent Synchroblog . I am delighted by this opportunity as Advent really is one of my favourite times of year. The idea comes out of Brother Maynard’s book That You Might Believe: Praying Advent with the Gospel of John [...]

To Pray Without Ceasing

As we move toward Advent I have been thinking a lot about what it means to pray without ceasing - a concept that I have always struggled with and at times felt guilty about.  For most of my Christian life I have thought of prayer as constant intercession, something that gets both exhausting and draining [...]

Advent II Homecoming - Let Your Kingdom Come

Our Advent Seed Sampler will be out at the end of the week & our focus this year is on Advent II homecoming.  Part of what we look forward to during Advent is the return of Christ and the coming of God’s kingdom in its fullness - a time when everything will be made new, [...]

A Short and Easy Method of Prayer

I have just finished reading A Short and Easy Method of Prayer, first written by Madame Jeanne-Marie Bouvier de la Motte-Guyon.  Madame Guyon was imprisoned for 7 years because her prayer style unsettled the established church of the time.  I have thoroughly enjoyed this delightful book which has been a wonderful preparation for the season [...]