All Things Seen & Unseen

Have just written a piece on the famous Scot, Alexander Cruden (1699-1770) of Cruden's Complete Concordance fame for a Christian articles' website. He was born in Aberdeen and soon showed diligence and persistence in his studies. It's been an adventure learning about this intrepid, diligent and badly abused man who was three times committed to 'mental asylums' in the 18th century in England and Scotland. Interestingly in each case a woman was central: the first two cases women involved with his wish to be married and the third case featured his sister. Significantly, he never married but it wasn't for the want of trying! In the first case, just as he was about to be ordained to the ministry in the Aberdeen Presbyterian Church, he fell in love with Elizabeth Blackwell (according to Julia Keay, Cruden's biographer) who rejected him. He took this rejection very badly but he wasn't to know she was pregnant by her brother! (Cruden carefully guarded E

A dear friend sent this poem to us just recently for Christmas and after asking her permission to publish it I present it here in full. Jeanette’s Christmas Poem, 2011 In the back blocks of Heaven where the angels hang round , when not much is happening down here on the ground, there‘s a bit of commotion, a gasp and a sigh – a Wiki leaks coup from the Lord God on High. Chatter subsides, then comes a great hush, followed by moments of panic and rush - angels on telephones, email and Skype, journalist angels exploiting the hype. “Ground breaking headlines have just come to hand –   God is sending His Son to earth as a man. ” “To earth as a man? You mean live like a mortal? Just shows what that Wiki leaks mob will resort to.” “But it’s true mate, I tell you, I’ve seen preparations,   years of God’s dealings with people and nations . And now all is ready, He walks through earth’s door round about midnight, Decemb

At the small meeting we attend in an Anglican Church on Wednesday mornings where we are the 'young folk' of an older group of 80 and 90 year olds, the senior pastor spoke on the connection among Oaks and Isaiah 61. In Isaiah 61 the Messiah (the Anointed One) says:   1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;   2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;   3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified (KJV).  The KJV speaks of 'trees of righteousness' which the NI

Recently, I heard Jesus' birth recounted in Matthew ( 1:18-25 ) spoken about as if it were an object lesson on obedience. The speaker emphasised the fact that just as Joseph was obedient to the voice of an angel of the Lord in a dream so we also were to be obedient to the direction of the Lord. Viewing this passage I would have to say that I think it is not primarily about Joseph's obedience at all. It's more about the faithfulness of God in keeping covenant with his people by his sending of a new King, a deliverer who will save his people from their sins. For firstly consider that the passage is preceded by 17 verses of genealogy that we readers usually ignore to get to the birth story. In doing that we just show how Western we are because we have little knowledge of our ancestors in the way that Middle-Eastern peoples have. Jesus Christ has an impressive lineage that begins in Matthew's account with Abraham the patriarch but goes through David the King. Jesus

Happened to listen to a YouTube featuring a Muslim speaker using the NT to deride the fact that Jesus is God. He reeled off the normal scriptures from John's gospel account that the cults use against the deity of Christ which I found ironic. Got into discussion with a Muslim after I commented and we exchanged a few points of difference. But he (she?) started to become more aggressive and scornful. Faced with such a response one can either not reply, assertively reply in kind or do something else. I did something else. I was enabled to do something else. It was as if God's Spirit said to me, 'Deal gently with this person for My sake'. I can't remember feeling quite like that before but am convinced that the Spirit of gentleness overcame any wish on my part to retaliate. I told him that he wasn't dealing fairly with me but also said that according to Jesus he was my neighbour and hence I wished him the best in his life. He responded positive

Yesterday I had what I can only describe as a feeling of Paradise. I was babysitting my 2 y.o. granddaughter and we had been up to our local park. She hadn't been as interested in that as she normally is but she did enjoy her regular swing. We left there to buy some bread and as we walked home with her pushing the pusher--or trying to--I was seized with a spirit of thanksgiving. I began to sing, Praise My Soul the King of Heaven . I didn't care who heard me. (In any case I didn't and can't sing very loud!) This was a grace-filled moment when the privilege of being when I was with my gorgeous little granddaughter on a beautiful, albeit hot, sunny day with her steering the pusher all over the place because she can't see over the top of it!!

Have just finished reading, Leaving the saints: How I lost the Mormons and found my faith by Martha Beck (2005). It's a well written book and tells a fascinating story of a couple who left the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS). (A Mormon critique can be found at here .) In Martha's case, she left the Mormons and finds a new faith. Beck alleges that she was sexually abused by her scholarly father, an apologist extraordinaire for the LDS, from the age of five although none of her siblings support her accusations. What I found fascinating about her journey from one faith to another was the character of the new faith. Just a day after reading her book, I was researching Emmet Fox's teachings and suddenly noticed the correspondences and resonances between the two. Of course, behind the two is the New Thought movement to which Oprah Winfrey also belongs. Martha Beck describes movingly her experience of trying to connect with God with the words: please, please