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Love is Not All – a poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay
Love is not all: it is not meat nor drinkNor slumber nor a roof against the rain;Nor yet a floating spar to men that sinkAnd rise and sink and rise and sink again;Love can not fill the thickened lung with breath,Nor clean the blood, nor set the fractured bone;Yet many a man is making friends… Continue reading
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Forget covenant theology?
Covenant theology was, in many ways, a central aspect of Protestant theology and thinking from the time of the Reformation onwards. However, that’s all changed. For reasons too numerous to bother with here covenant theology has fallen into disuse in the modern church. It is not understood, valued, or utilised. In the Australian context, you… Continue reading
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Back in business
It’s me again . . . the sole contributor to the world’s least read theological blog. I’ve been busy studying, working (a LOT), and generally trying to get by. But I’ve finished my Master’s, and now I have a little more time to read and write about various theological and cultural topics. I am not… Continue reading
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Deliverance – a Puritan prayer
” O God of unsearchable greatness,Before thee I am nothing but vanity, iniquity, perishing;Sin has forfeited thy favour,stripped me of thy image,banished me from they presence,exposed me to the curse of thy law; I cannot deliver myself, and am in despair.But a resource is found in thee,for without my desert or desirethou didst devise an… Continue reading
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O Come, All You UNFAITHFUL?
I recently attended a community carols night hosted by a local church. It was, in many ways, a wonderful night. It had everything – free food, activities for the kids, sparkly lights, well-rehearsed skits, children dressed as angels, Christ-focused carols, and a gospel message. It was very well done. There were many carols sung (all… Continue reading
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In Praise of Solid Folk – a poem by C. S. Lewis
Thank God that there are solid folk Who water flowers and roll the lawn, And sit and sew and talk and smoke, And snore all through the summer dawn. Who pass untroubled nights and days Full-fed and sleepily content, Rejoicing in each other’s praise, Respectable and innocent. Who feel the things that all men feel,… Continue reading
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De-creation language: it’s not the end of the world
There are a few parts of the New Testament which contain dramatic language about divine judgement resulting in what appears to be a cataclysmic end to the world, or even the solar system. Some of these passages include Matthew 24-25, 2 Peter 3, and lots of passages in the book of Revelation. If you’re not… Continue reading
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A Hymn – a poem by G. K. Chesterton
O God of earth and altar,Bow down and hear our cry,Our earthly rulers falter,Our people drift and die;The walls of gold entomb us,The swords of scorn divide,Take not thy thunder from us,But take away our pride. From all that terror teaches,From lies of tongue and pen,From all the easy speechesThat comfort cruel men,From sale and… Continue reading
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Easter Wings – a poem
Lord, who createdst man in wealth and store, Though foolishly he lost the same, Decaying more and more, Till he became Most poore: With thee O let me rise As larks, harmoniously, And sing this day thy victories: Then shall the fall further the flight in me. My tender age in sorrow did beginne And… Continue reading
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The role of the children of believing families in Paul’s letters: the presumption of inclusion (pt. 1)
When we read Paul’s letters, what can we tell about the status of children in the believing community? How does Paul speak of them? Let’s pose a few questions: Does Paul consider children as a sub-group of ‘little unbelievers’ in the midst of the ‘real’ believers in the church? Does any of Paul’s teaching betray… Continue reading
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