Simon Says ...

Isaiah 35.4-7a ; Mark 7.24-37 Right at the beginning of the summer, before the schools had even broken up for the holidays, there were signs in the shops saying ‘Back to School’.   A little cruel, perhaps for those whose summer holidays had not even started yet.   Now however, the time is upon us, it is back to school.   For Christians, however, there is no gap.   It is always back to school.   There is always something to learn.   The church is, or at least it should be, a school for Christians, a place where we learn. For those following Jesus, as he wandered around Israel and Palestine, this would have been familiar.   Jewish Rabbis had disciples who followed them everywhere.   The disciples were learning how to live faithfully as God’s people.   They did this first of all by learning the scriptures by heart.   When they had done this, the more difficult task began – to learn how to live in the light of th...

The fantasy US President Jed Bartlett seeking re-election, finally found a three word question to ask his republican challenger - 'And then what?'  It's a question that I've found myself asking a lot over the past week as Presidents and Prime Ministers have sought to advocate bombing as a response to the use of chemical weapons seemingly by the Syrian government. Let me set out a few things that seem to be clear.  Some are obvious, others appear to me to be in danger of being forgotten. The use of chemical weapons is abhorrent, immoral and quite clearly outlawed by international law.  It appears that they have been used by the Syrian government against their own people.  This is rightly a matter of international concern. Since the genocide in Rwanda, there has been a renewed international determination (at least in some quarters) to prevent such terrors happening again. There has been military intervention in conflicts in Kosovo, the Congo and Libya inspired ...