Those who have had to listen to my preaching a bit will know that I have a couple of hobby horses. Partly because I think they are under-taught I will tend to major on the themes of union with Christ and strength in weakness. What I have not been good at is bringing those two […]
My sabbatical came to an end last week and I was left reflecting on the wonderful time that I had enjoyed and the astonishing sights that I had seen. The trip to Australia was a particular highlight. I loved seeing kangaroos on my opening night and breathtaking coastal scenes throughout the trip alongside the richness […]
In the last two posts I have argued that, despite the difficulties of handling the text, we need to read and preach Song of Songs more. We live in a culture where there is much talk about love and the song gives us an opportunity to speak about a love which is as strong as […]
So what do you discover if you do read or preach Song of Songs? You learn about a love that is as strong as death and burns like a blazing fire (8:6). Instinctively when we read that I think we know that is true- love is the force that moves us and motivates us most […]
I first preached Song of Songs by accident. A few years ago I was asked to speak on Oak Hall’s Alpine Bible School. The print deadline for their brochure was coming up so I had about twenty minutes to work out what I wanted to do 16 sessions on. I had recently done Job and […]
I was grateful that many people in the church were praying for David, Janet and me as we attended the Pastoral Refreshment Conference last week. Several asked me on Sunday whether I was, indeed, refreshed! The answer was yes! Let me explain why. By far the most helpful thing about PRC is that it treats […]