thatrunningrev

thoughts on theology, faith, and the joy of running

Author: Paul

  • failure is not terminal

    failure is not terminal

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    Paul
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    Biblical Text: Luke 41v13 I imagine we’ve all come into a room, or a gathering, maybe a few minutes later than everyone else, only to realise we have no idea what’s going on. There’s already an in-joke, and you are completely lost. Speaking of being lost, I had that experience while watching an episode of…

  • turn away from sin

    turn away from sin

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    Paul
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    Biblical Texts: Psalm 51, John 8v1-11 ‘Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.Turn away from sin, and be faithful to Christ.’ For years the church has set aside today, Ash Wednesday, as the beginning of the Lenten season. We receive the sign of the cross, a sign of both death and…

  • Spiritual but not religious?

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    Biblical Text: James 1v19-27 Not too long ago, it wasn’t uncommon to hear the phrase, “I’m spiritual, but not religious.” If you asked someone what they thought about church, that was often the answer you got. There were plenty of reasons for this answer. Sometimes people would say it because they had lost faith in…

  • a diverse faith

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    Paul
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    Biblical Text: Luke 2v22-40 What was the last thing you truly looked forward to? That you waited for expectantly? Christmas has just been and gone. Perhaps there was a particular present you were hoping to get, or to give. Or perhaps you’ve had the experience of waiting for a baby, whether yours or someone else’s.…

  • a parable

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    Biblical Text: Mark 4:1-20 Today, the lectionary gives us the parable of the sower. Parables were a common teaching method for Jesus, but this one is unique. Here, we get an explanation. There is no guessing at what this parable may, or may not, mean. Jesus spells it out. Let’s take a brief look. Jesus…

  • a Christocentric ethic?

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    Paul
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    (A slightly different post. This is a very small portion of my thesis, in which I begin to argue that Christian ethics should be Christocentric, or it shouldn’t call itself ‘Christian.’ It’s a first draft, but if you’re interested I would love to hear your thoughts on this, as well as any areas you think…

  • in the beginning

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    Paul
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    Biblical Text: John 1:1-14 (The video recording of our Christmas service is here. The sermon begins at 23:50.) Merry Christmas! It’s finally here. After 4 weeks of Advent the wait is over. I was here for the midnight service last night, and I always love that moment when you finally get to sing the last…

  • while we wait…

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    Paul
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    Biblical Texts: Malachi 3v1-4, Luke 3v1-6 Advent. A time of waiting. It is a time of the church year when we eagerly await the coming of Christ. The word comes from the Latin, meaning arrival, or coming. I love the church calendar, the liturgical year, because it takes us through the arc of God’s salvation…

  • looking back, around, and forward

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    Paul
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    Biblical Texts: Psalm 23, John 15v9-17, Revelation 21v1-6 Remembrance Sunday is a tough service to deliver a talk. Here we are at the beginning of November, remembering those who died in war, and in just a few weeks we’ll enter Advent, where we often hear Jesus described as the Prince of Peace. It feels like…

  • all the feelings

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    Paul
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    I don’t know where you stand politically, but I know for myself there are a whole mixture of emotions today. Anxiety, frustration, maybe a little foreboding. Having relatives and friends in the U.S., it’s hard to watch what is going on there and not be concerned. And what happens in the U.S. often has effects…