“Tradition holds that Saint Patrick, enslaved as a youth, was brought to this area and tended sheep herds on Slemish, and that during this time he found God….” Read the Wikipedia article here
I have been guilty this week of downplaying Slemish as a bit of a let down and, definitely not much of a mountain but then I hadn’t ‘climbed’ it before and it is near Broughshane……….so………
Anyway, we had a fun morning and you know what? The view on top of Slemish was fantastic and well worth the ‘climb’
“Normally, when we think of people in need of God’s rescuing grace, we think of the unrighteous and the immoral. But, what’s fascinating to me is, throughout the Bible, the immoral person gets the gospel before the moral person. It’s the prostitute who gets grace and the Pharisee who doesn’t. What we see in this story is God’s grace wrecks and then rescues, not only the promiscuous, but also the pious.
The Pharisee in this story can’t understand what Jesus is doing by allowing this woman to touch him because he assumes that God is for the clean and competent. But Jesus shows God is for the unclean and incompetent, and when measured against God’s perfect holiness, we’re all unclean and incompetent. Jesus shows the Pharisee the gospel isn’t for winners, but losers. It’s for the weak and messed-up person, not the strong and mighty person. It’s not for the well-behaved, but the dead.”
H/T: The Resurgence
I was thinking about this in light of the violence in Northern Ireland over the last couple of days…..
I was challenged by ‘our’ tweets and facebook updates that placed ‘us’ a few rungs higher up the ladder than the ‘yobs’ throwing the bricks and petrol bombs. I was thinking about my own pride and how I didn’t want to go near a bonfire on the 11th night…….due to the the unsavoury people in attendance at such things!
“God’s grace doesn’t demand you get clean before you come to Jesus.”
I know, I know, there are lots of cultural issues to be considered re: bonfires, orangemen, 12th July etc etc
Or are there?
Why do we expect people to ‘get clean’ like we think we are before they can be around us?
Heard of a van that is loaded with weapons, packed up and ready to go……
…….This ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco…..
………Try to be careful, don’t take no chances, you better watch what you say….
Last Monday we set off for a few days Holiday……
Our destination? A thatched cottage in Fermanagh with no internet or television!
Some of you who knew we were going, gloated and chuckled at this idea as if I am some kind of internet junkie who would crumble without web access!
First though, we stopped in Hillsborough for lunch with friends which was great. Good food and great fun. We then had a tour of 350 year old Anahilt Presbyterian Church and its graveyard which, was as fascinating as it was humbling.
Then we headed here…….
Click the picture for more of our images on Flickr.
Geaglum Cottage is one of the ‘Under the Thatch‘ cottages…….go have a look!
The cottage was beautiful, small with sloping uneven floors and low ceilings but, beautiful.
It is rustic to be sure so, if you are a bit of a snob and like 5 star accommodation then don’t bother…..
We spent our days sitting around reading with a few walks thrown in and a couple of visits to shops for supplies. The intention was to relax, switch off from normality and enjoy the surroundings. I think we achieved all of that…..
I managed to read a few books which I’ll mention soon……
And, I did not miss the internet or the emails or the weird behaviour we all indulge in via twitter & facebook!
So, Iris Robinson returned to ‘public life’ in a very public and high profile way…
British and Irish combined at Dublin Castle as the Queen continued her Ireland trip with a big fancy meal and a speech! Hurray!
And there was Iris…
Eighteen months ago as the world heard of her affair and rather dodgy money dealings we may not have looked ahead and saw her re-appearing for such an event but anyway, thats not why I am blogging about this.
On the radio this morning I listened to some varied opinion about the Robinsons and it got me thinking.
Can I, as a Christian be impressed (not sure thats the word I should use) with Peter Robinson and his decision to forgive his wife and work at his marriage despite her behaviour? Should we be saying complimentary things about this act of forgiveness?
I think we should…
Such a public figure who was dragged through such difficult of circumstances……love him or hate him……..I’ve got to say, wow!
How the public reaction will continue is anyones guess but, it encouraged me to see such a highly publicised, media saturated marital meltdown being reconciled ……
