The “Holy Land” is home to more than 12 million people and a significant place for at least the half of humanity that is Jewish, Christian or Muslim. It is a beautiful and conflicted land treasured by so many. I am mindful that I am neither a native nor a resident of the land, nor…
In order to add billions to the UK’s GDP, the Government wants to double the number of 14-15 year olds who study a foreign language at school, primarily through investing £14.9 million in a Centre of Excellence to: “Improve standards of language teaching across the country in line with the teaching methods set out in…
An additional 10% of pupils learning Chinese at school would increase the UK’s GDP by £12 billion Joint research by RAND and the University of Cambridge projects that an additional 10% of pupils learning Spanish, French, Arabic or Chinese at school would increase the UK’s GDP by £9-12 billion/language over 30 years. (1) (2) The…
“Pilgrim” comes from the Latin word “peregrinus,” meaning “foreigner” – literally, someone walking “through” (per-) the “fields” (ager). Being foreigners on a journey is a recurring theme in Scripture. We are citizens of a kingdom that is not yet fully here, and we should never feel entirely settled until it is. So we read that the…
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you…
“El Shaddai” is a name of God that occurs 48 times in the Bible and is usually translated as “God Almighty.” There is debate around the origins of “Shaddai,” but contenders for the etymological root are words for “mountain”, “wilderness”, “strength” or “breast”. It is also suggested the name may come from a mountain in…
Psalm 105 praises God’s faithfulness to His covenant with Abraham, which he reaffirmed to his son Isaac and grandson Jacob and thus to his descendants – the people of Israel. This covenant is summarised in verse 11: “To you I will give the land of Canaan as your portion for an inheritance.” So does the land of…
Disney movies have extraordinary power to enchant young children and to capture their imaginations, so we watched ‘Encanto’ with friends – whose kids are utterly enthralled by it – looking to see if there was anything in it that might help us all on our faith journey. Here are some of our reflections … The story…
We all want someone who will save us from the mess we are in and make things right: a new president, a new boss, an inventor of a new solution, or just an opportunity for ourselves to take the reins. That hope is captured in the Hebrew name “Joshua” and its Greek equivalent, “Jesus,” which…
“I baptise you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but…