In Christ Jesus The Kingdom Has Come

When Tom and I speak about the kingdom of God we often use the following verses from Isaiah to portray the beautiful imagery of hope and completion for which we all long. Isaiah 65: 17 – 25;   Isaiah 2: 1-4;  Isaiah 25: 6-9,   Isaiah 35: 1-7;   Isaiah 9: 2-7 These verses are so indelibly [...]

Second Wednesday of Advent – Advent Waiting by Andrew Wade

This second reflection for today comes from Andrew Wade who lives in Hood river Oregon.  It was originally written for St Nicholas Day but makes a beautiful contribution to our What Are We Waiting for This Advent series Advent eyes straining to see dim light, dark glass, confusion God’s future unfolds longing, not ready distracted [...]

Happy Earth Day – Another Prayer

I have just been sent a copy of an earth day prayer by Sam Hamilton-Poore who has just written a book called Earth Gospel: A Guide to Prayer for God’s Creation.  The book has just jumped to the top of my must read list.  It is available from Upper Room. Here are links to a couple [...]

A Native American Prayer from the Earth

This beautiful Native American prayer was sent to me this morning by a Native American prayer group that I belong to.  It seemed very appropriate to share it as we think about the brokenness of creation   Earth Teach Me to Remember    Earth teach me stillness    as the grasses are stilled with light. [...]

Generosity not fear

Check out this great post with a poem on Generosity and Fear by Todd Hierstand. We are living in a time where fear and despair are the overwhelming attitudes. Whether we’re talking about our personal financial situations or our national financial situation or our world’s financial situation these attitudes are prevalent. Fear. Despair. But as [...]

A Christmas Promise

Joy to the world our Saviour comes Not in power, not in might But in the tenderness of love He comes as the promise of life Hidden in a mother’s womb Sing aloud and dance with the angels God has sent his son to save the world Love and faithfulness meet together Righteousness and peace [...]

What in the World is God Doing?

I wrote this poem a few years ago as a reflection on God’s desire to see all things made new – I come back to it frequently when I am struggling to understand what God is doing in our world Rejoice forever in what I will do Earth and heaven are being made new No [...]

The Many Faces of Jesus

You can probably tell from my reflections over the last few weeks that I am spending a lot of time meditating on the many faces of Jesus in different cultures, in different ages and in this post in different situations. I have always been fascinated by how Christians perceive Jesus. It is interesting to me [...]

An African Prayer

One of my favourite books of prayers is An African Prayer Book, compiled by Desmond Tutu. It gives some powerful prayers and liturgies from Africa that really make me feel connected to the African people who wrote them. Here is one by Desmond Tutu himself that I think is quite profound. Victory is Ours Goodness [...]

Under the Southern Cross

It is not just art that is impacted by our cultural views of Jesus. Our prayers are shaped by our culture too. Over the next few days I will share some that I have gathered over the last few years from different countries and cultures. Here is one from the South Pacific Islands. It seemed [...]