Back to Blog

Lord, may I never be free from wanting you - Evening Prayer

Lord, I’m not free –but who wants to be?You’re all that matters in my life.I don’t want to be free of my hungerfor your bread.I don’t want to be free of my thirstfor your word.I don’t want to be free of my desirefor your will.I don’t want to be free of my longingfor your presence.I don’t want to be free of my needto be taken up,taken over,joined to you.Lord, may I neverbe freefrom wanting you.Brennan Manning...

Daniel Blog #5

Daniel was a man who was in touch with a supernatural God who was a revealer of secrets. Daniel heard, with tremendous clarity, the voice of God and saw with some regularity the supernatural activity of God. The Book of Daniel has been ‘savaged’ by liberal critics. Their main point of contention is the supernatural elements in this book. They claim that there is no way the things recorded in this book could be true – people don’t survive being thrown in fiery furnaces, been thrown into ...

Midday check-in with Mike and Chris!

...

Daniel Daily Reading

Daily Reading: Daniel 5:1-12We get our saying ‘the writing is on the wall” from the story of Belshazzar. Belshazzar throws a feast and wilfully ridicules the God of the exiles. Notice the change in the king as he goes from indulgent and proud to powerless and frightened at the sight of the finger of God....

Daniel Blog #4

Daniel 2:31-45 Most scholars believe that what Daniel describes is the ‘Cosmic Prophetic flow’ of the Gentile powers that will follow Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian Empire. ·     Gold = Babylon. ·     Silver = Medo -Persia. ·     Bronze = Alexander the Great and the Greek Empire. ·     Iron= Roman Empire. The dream can also be looked at as a picture of the dreamer himself – Nebuchadnezzar.He was a towering c...

Midday check-in with Brian!

...

Daniel Daily Reading

Daily Reading: Daniel 4:28-37At the beginning of this portion we see Nebuchadnezzar’s response to the dream and its interpretation. In the year that had followed Nebuchadnezzar had failed to humble himself before God and so God humbles him. The effect of this judgement is the conversion point for Nebuchadnezzar. As the king submitted to God, both his sanity and kingdom were restored....

Midday Check-in with Nick!

...

Daniel Daily Reading

Daily Reading: Daniel 4:1-27At the beginning of chapter 4 we see a surprising turnaround where Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges the Most High God. When the exiles had arrived in Babylon, the king wanted them to be assimilated into being Babylonian. But through the life and witness of the exiles we see Nebuchadnezzar submitting to the God of the Jews. The following verses outline how this happened through another dream and it’s interpretation....

Midday check-in with Hannah!

...

Daniel Daily Reading

Daily Reading: Daniel 3:19-30In a rage Nebuchadnezzar has the three friends tossed into the furnace. However he moves from fury to astonishment - he had thrown three into the fire and now there are four, he had thrown them to their death but they are alive, he had thrown them tied up but they are unbound walking around....

Wisdom to find you - Evening prayer

Gracious and holy Father,please give me:intellect to understand you;reason to discern you;diligence to seek you;wisdom to find you;a spirit to know you;a heart to meditate upon you;ears to hear you;eyes to see you;a tongue to proclaim you;a way of life pleasing to you;patience to wait for you;and perseverance to look for you.Grant me:a perfect end,your holy presence.A blessed resurrection,And life everlasting.(A Prayer of Saint Benedict 480-547)...

Daniel Blog #3

Daniel and his friends had been deported to Babylon. In ancient times, when an area had been conquered by a foreign force, there were a number of ways of dealing with the subjugated population: #1. EXPEL THEM. They were simply driven out , going wherever they could to find safety and refuge. The problem with this strategy was that as soon as the conquering force departed they would return and resume normal life. #2 ENSLAVE THEM. This would require a garrison of soldiers from the conquering forc...

Daniel Daily Reading

Daily Reading: Daniel 3:1-18Daniel’s friends are commanded to either bow or burn. The pressure these young exiles face, to accept the world’s gods as equal to the one true God, is the pressure that we face too. These exiles are respectful in the way they answer the king even as they defy him. They trust that God will be faithful to his promises even if it doesn’t look like rescue for them....

Midday check-in with Gary!

...

Thank you - Evening prayer

Everything in me says thank you.Thank you for your love. Thank you for your faithfulness.The moment I called out you stepped in, you answered, you made my life large with strength, you increased my strength of soul. You know everything about us. When I walk in the thick of trouble keep me alive - stretch out your hand to save me.When I feel overwhelmed, worried, fearful by the uncertainty of Covid-19 stretch out your hand to pull me out of the thickness. And God finish what you started in me, yo...

Daniel Daily Reading

Daily Reading: Daniel 2:24-49  Daniel acknowledges that no one can do what the king requests apart from God. Daniel tells King Nebuchadnezzar both the content of his dream and the interpretation of the dream. Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom won’t last just as all the kingdoms of this world will end. But they will be replaced by a kingdom established by the God of heaven....

Daniel Blog #2

DANIEL CHAPTER 1. In many respects what was happening in Daniels time is very similar to what is transpiring in our own time. Let’s examine this thought by using some simple headings and asking four questions of the text. 1. WHAT WAS HAPPENING? Verses1-2. Tremendous change/upheaval  was occurring.The city was being invaded, overthrown.All Daniel had ever known was undergoing tremendous change. Verse 2 “Vessels of the temple were carried away.”Those things that had had long term signif...

Daniel Daily Reading

Daily Reading: Daniel 2:1-23 Today we jump back into our ‘Faith as Exiles’ devotion. Facing execution, we are told that Daniel responds with wisdom and tact. Living wisely in a time of pressure and crisis is something that we are all called to demonstrate, but is not something we can do in our strength. Daniel and his friends, knowing they are powerless, fervently seek God for his intervention and mercy....

He is Risen! - Evening Prayer

Christ is risen: The world below lies desolate. Christ is risen: The spirits of evil are fallen. Christ is risen: The angels of God are rejoicing. Christ is risen: The tombs of the dead are empty. Christ is risen indeed from the dead, the first of the sleepers! Glory and Power are His for ever and ever! Amen.— Saint Hippolytus of Rome...

HE IS RISEN!

...

God will arrive - Evening Prayer

Psalm 31 adapted (Jesus’ last words from Psalm 31 vs 5)I’ve put my life in your hands, committed my spirit to you God.You’re my mountain, my high place to stand.Set me free, release me from the trap hidden for me.Desperate I throw myself on you: you are my God!Hour by hour I place my days in your hand. Smile on me.When I am trapped you hear me. I am safe with you.Kia kaha you who don’t give up. God will arrive....

Midday check-in with Sylvia!

...

Learning to read 'cross-eyed'

I suspect that if I told you to read your Bible ‘Cross-Eyed,’ you might be thinking that self-isolation was affecting my brain.However, that is exactly what I am suggesting that you try and do.Obviously, I’m not talking about ‘Convergent Strabismus!’That is the fancy name for when a person’s eyes don’t properly align with each other when looking at an object. {Some of you might recall comedian Marty Feldman, whose ‘Convergent Strabismus’ made some of his skits even more hilario...

Communion

...