[musings from the manse]
One of the things surveys say people are giving over more time to during lockdown is reading a book.
For some of you this may not be anything new. You may always have a book, or two, or even three on the go. For others this may be something unusual.
Those of you who know me, know I read a lot, and that has not been stopped by lockdown. Books are something that give me great joy when I read. Novels, non-fiction. Christian, non-Christian. I have fairly broad tast...
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Other Activities
praying the Psalms
[musings from the manse]
“But as for me, it is good to be near God.” (Psalm 73:8)
Sometimes we want to pray, but we do not feel we have the words. We might have a book of prayers on the shelf that may help us, but even then those words of others may not bring us the comfort we desire.
One way that can help us pray when we do not feel that we have the words is to use the words of the Psalms.
This is something that Christians have done through the centuries, indeed, before there were ...
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growing in Christ in a time of isolation: watering
[musings from the manse]
Continuing to reflect upon what does it mean to grow in Christ by bearing fruit in our lives as followers.
And the final aid to us growing good fruit is watering.
I expect all of us at times have found that house plant hidden away that we have forgotten to water, and it has died. Plants need sustenance just to survive, let alone produce fruit.
We need to be fed as followers of Jesus if we are to produce good fruit. We need to regularly read our bibles. Share...
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growing in Christ in a time of isolation: pruning
[musings from the manse]
Continuing to reflect upon what does it mean to grow in Christ by bearing fruit in our lives as followers.
The third aid to us growing good fruit is pruning.
When you come to garden that has been a bit let go, extensive pruning is important. Getting rid of dead branches, giving space to let others grow. Giving shape. Allowing plants to flourish and not be stressed. Pruning is important.
Pruning is something Jesus talks about in John 15:1-2:
“I am the true...
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growing in Christ in a time of isolation: sun & air
[musings from the manse]
Continuing to reflect upon what does it mean to grow in Christ by bearing fruit in our lives as followers.
The second aid to us growing good fruit is full sun and good air circulation.
We need full sun. We need the full Son of God. We need full Jesus in our lives. To produce good fruit, we need to know Jesus intimately and passionately.
As Jesus says in John 15:4:
“Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain i...
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