Lingua Divina

Sermons and scribblings
on scripture
and books

website developer, theology digger, sporadic preacher, incorrigible reader.

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Psalm 48: Hobbits, Hikers & the Shining City - The Call: Are You Thirsty? I first read The Hobbit in primary school, and the Lord of the Rings at 13 or 14. For anyone who lives in a hobbit hole, Hobbits are little people – 3-4 foot tall – … Continue reading →

Dancing with Death and the Meaning of Life - Kick the oxygen habit. Baste the formaldehyde turkey. Pay Charon’s fare and cross the river Styx. Count worms or juggle halos. The metaphors are many; the timing may vary; the outcome is dead sure. When I was eight, a stroke … Continue reading →

Father of the Homeless: Four Stories of Desert Grace in Genesis - Have you ever had a near death experience? Have you met God in an unexpected place? Today we’ll see four stories from Genesis, the first book of the Bible. Four people who faced death in the desert, And found it … Continue reading →

Lion or Lamb? The Conflict of Two Messiahs - Warrior Kings In three weeks, Christians will celebrate Easter And Jews will celebrate Passover. The first Passover was around 1500 BC. The people of Israel were slaves in Egypt. They suffered and cried out to God. Then Moses led them … Continue reading →

Regreening Graves: The Easter Pattern in Scripture and Life - As we face the biggest storm Auckland has seen in our lives, Our topic is Easter, the biggest spiritual storm in history. [1] How would you sum up the message of Easter in two words? Two words for Good Friday and … Continue reading →

Rocky Rooster and Resurrecting Love - Rooster breakfast He thought about how much he hated roosters. He thought about how he’d like to break each one’s neck, Slit each raucous throat, Before it could open its beak and… it was really his own neck he wanted … Continue reading →

Unchaining the Future: Jesus’ Way of Forgiveness - The F-word Put up your hand if you’ve had this experience: Someone did something wrong to you, It hurts, and you can’t let it go.[1] Or, you did something stupid that hurt someone else; You wish you could take it … Continue reading →

Kaleidoscope Mystery: Paul’s Symphony of Unity in Christ - Overture We’ve been reading Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Last month I gave a mountaintop overview of its big themes. We imagined five rooms in God’s palace. (Read here or watch here) This is a sequel in music and colour.[1] Music? Ephesians has … Continue reading →

Exalted Vision: The Palace Plan of Ephesians - Introduction Today we are starting three months on Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Ephesus is in Western Turkey today. In Paul’s time, it was the capital of the Roman province of Asia. Maybe one quarter of a million people, the … Continue reading →

Jesus’ Law: Fulfilling the Righteous Heart - The last month we’ve journeyed through the Easter season. Did you share the sadness of the disciples on Good Friday as they saw Jesus hanging on the cross and buried in the tomb? Did you feel their excitement and joy … Continue reading →

Resurrecting Forgiveness: Turning Pits into Peaches with Joseph and Jesus - Borders and beatitudes It’s a long time since I’ve seen live faces here – well, half faces. Maybe we’ll soon see new faces too! Is anyone counting the days until the border opens? Waiting to see family from overseas? In … Continue reading →

Weaving Grace: Glimpsing God’s Ways in the Dark - “All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveller is unaware.” Martin Buber Janus Reflections My last three sermons were in lockdown,so it’s great to see live faces out there.I hope you’ll be more responsive than my phone at home,though with … Continue reading →

Words strain,
Crack and sometimes break, under the burden,
Under the tension, slip, slide, perish,
Decay with imprecision, will not stay in place,
Will not stay still.

And so each venture
Is a new beginning, a raid on the inarticulate

T. S. Eliot

All Sermons — Scripture Index — All Book Posts — Author Index