Harmony of Grace

Image Source:  Joshua Hibbert Today's post follows on from my previous post,  Leave A Light On . In his song with the same title, Tom Walker sings about leaving the light on for his drug-addict friend as a constant reminder that he will always be welcomed home. Here are the lyrics again: If you look into the distance, there's a house up on the hill Guidin' like a lighthouse To a place where you'll be safe to feel our grace 'Cause we've all made mistakes If you've lost your way… I will leave the light on I will leave the light on I will leave the light on I will leave the light on In my last post, I shared that God uses a similar approach to us, that no-matter how far we stray, God will always leave the light on for us as a constant reminder that we will welcome be welcomed home into God's open, loving arms. So this got me thinking... what is the church's role in all of this? While God is the one who accepts us and...

Image Source:  Johannes Plenio British singer and songwriter Tom Walker released a song last year titled  Leave A Light On. The lyrics tell a heart-wrenching story of one of Tom's friends who is a drug-addict and is losing his life to the addiction. Tom claims that he does not want to lose another friend to drugs and that no matter how dark his friend's life gets, Tom will always leave a light on to remind his friend that he is always welcome back home. If you look into the distance, there's a house up on the hill Guidin' like a lighthouse To a place where you'll be safe to feel our grace 'Cause we've all made mistakes If you've lost your way… I will leave the light on I will leave the light on I will leave the light on I will leave the light on There is such powerful imagery in this song. We all make mistakes.  We all lose our way. But no matter how far we stray or how bad our life gets, God will always leave the ...

Image Source:  3rd-strike I love playing board-games (If that came as a surprise to you then we obviously haven't seen each other in a while!) I was recently introduced to a party-style game called Codenames which   is quickly becoming one of my favourites. The game is set-up with 25 random words on a board in front of all the players. The aim of the game is for one player - the  spymaster -  to help his team members say certain words by giving them one related word as a clue. The team is rewarded for guessing correct words and punished for incorrect words. If a spymaster  does their job correctly, they could link 3 or 4 words with one single clue. I am not sure if my explanation does the game much justice, but I would highly recommend that you play this game if you enjoy (mostly) friendly rivalry with family and friends. The difficulty in C odenames  occurs when the spy master  is on a completely different line of thought to the other mem...

Image Source:  Gerd Altmann During chapel this morning, the seminarians were given an opportunity to theologically reflect on our Easter placements, particularly the time that we got to spend with our families. One of my fellow seminarians, Claire Banks, shared a story of how she and her husband finalized an adoption of a child this past week and how this experience reminded her of the relationship that Christ shares with us. Listening to her speak about this experience, I was reminded of God's Grace for us as we are adopted as God's own children. "In love, God predestined us for adoption as His sons and daughters through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will." - Ephesians 1:5 (NIV) Adoption is such a powerful example of the love and grace that God has for each and every one of us. In South Africa, when a child is adopted, they are given a new birth certificate with the surname of their new parents. When we are adopte...

Image Source:  Mindfuel "The Pharisees and teachers of the Law asked Jesus: 'Why do you eat and drink with tax-collectors and sinners?'" - Luke 5:30 Jesus spent his time on earth eating and drinking - a lot of his time. Throughout Luke's gospel, Jesus was either coming from a meal, at a meal, or going to a meal. It was often around a meal that Jesus' discipleship and evangelism took place. There is something special about sharing a meal together. I am reminded of this every time my wife and I get to visit our families in East London and every time we sit down to share a meal with friends. Whether celebrating a special event like Christmas, Easter, anniversaries, birthdays, or even just a quick catch-up session, God's grace is evident around a table of food and drink. Sharing a meal is more than merely eating food together. A shared meal represents friendship, community, hospitality and grace. Jesus was called a glutton and a drunkar...

Image Source: Business Insider The age old debate: Should toilet paper be placed so that it is pulled from over the top or from under the bottom? It's amazing how heated the debate of this seemingly insignificant topic can get. This made me consider how many of these "toilet paper" issues do we let consume us when it comes to our faith? What is the best way to worship? Hymns or contemporary? When is the best time to have church? Saturdays or Sundays? Mornings or Evenings? Should Christians be reading fictitious books with debatable theology? What is the right way to baptize someone? Full immersion or sprinkling? What is the right way to serve/receive Holy Communion? How often do we see issues such as these dividing religions, denominations or even local churches? I believe that there are primary issues and secondary issues in our Christian faith. Primary issues are core to the universal church and deserve to be debated. Secondary issues are beliefs that we personally ...