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Athesits and foxholes

Ezekiel 30:26 When I disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them among the countries, they will know that I am Yahweh.”   Thought for the day – Atheists and foxholes There’s an old military saying: ‘There are no atheists in a foxhole’. That particular version is from the battle of Battan in 1943 But the reality is, it’s something that’s been in circulation from at least 1914, when the Bishop of Liverpool read out a letter from an unnamed chaplain who had written to him, saying there are no atheists at the front, and men are not ashamed to say that though they have not prayed before, they are praying now. But it’s a reminder that people can and do call out to God in difficult times. Whether it’s the trenches of WW1, the foxholes of WW2 or the bedside of a loved one dying in hospital. It seems that disaster has a way of making us acknowledge God in some way. For the Egyptians it was their exile. For soldiers it may be the dropping of shells. For civilians it c...
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Ezekiel 29:15 It shall be the most lowly of the kingdoms and never again exalt itself above the nations, and I will make them so small that they will never again rule over the nations.   Thought for the day – Former glory Babylon conquest of the Near Middle East changed the region irrevocably. Under Amasis II Egypt had enjoyed a relatively period of prosperity though it never quite reached the power it had under previous Pharaohs. They had been beaten by Nebuchadnezzar  at Carchemish in 605 BC and then a final humiliation in 568 BC, twenty odd years after the fall of Jerusalem.     And while Egyptians returned to Egypt 40 years after their own exile, Egypt was then subject to invasions by the Persians in 525 BC at which point it became a province or the Persian empire for over 200 years, and even though there was a time of self rule, Pharaoh Nectanebo II became the last Egyptian to rule Egypt for over 2000 years. Alexander the Great took Egypt in 332 BC, ...
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Namaste

Ezekiel 28:9 Will you still say, “I am a god,” in the presence of those who kill you, though you are but a mortal and no god, in the hands of those who pierce you?   Thought for the day – Namaste Have you ever used the word ‘namaste’. It’s a traditional greeting used in India by Hindus, Buddhists and Jainists. When you say it, you hold your hands together like you’re praying, bow slightly and say ‘namaste’. And in translation it means ‘the sacred in me recognizes the sacred in you’. The god in me recognises the god in you. And I think it has entrenched that new age principle that I am divine. I am my own god. As Christians, we might read that differently. We are not divine, but we are made in the image of God. But we are definitely mortal. I remember having a conversation with someone who had an eclectic approach to faith. She wanted to take the best bits from every religion and incorporate it into her own faith system (her word not mine). She was dying of cancer and want...
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Eternal Father strong to save

Ezekiel 27:33 When your wares came from the seas, you satisfied many peoples; with your abundant wealth and merchandise you enriched the kings of the earth.   Thought for the day – Eternal Father strong to save When I was training to be a minister, I had the opportunity to visit the Queen Victoria Seafarers Rest. It’s a program run by the Methodist Church as an outreach to seafarers. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it here before, but my family has a long tradition of being seafarers. My Dad was a communications specialist in the Royal Navy; I had an uncle that served as a submariner; and my grandad served on a destroyer. I also have friends who serve in the merchant navy and from my time in Cornwall I know lots of people who are fisherman. I spent three months of my life aboard a ship as a project manager back in 2000. I have a huge respect and love for seafarers.   Seafarers are a special group of people who put their lives on the line for us on a regular basis. T...
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When the walls come down

Ezekiel 26:5 It shall become, in the midst of the sea, a place for spreading nets. I have spoken, says the Lord God. Thought for the day – When the walls come down Today’s verse has been described as one of the most accurately verifiable prophecies we have. And while there is some debate about how the prophecy was fulfilled Tyre was eventually destroyed by Alexander the Great. Tyre had two parts, the land city and the bit on an island. The city was besieged by Nebuchadnezzar for 13 years and was never fully destroyed until Alexander arrived, tore down the land city and used the material to build a causeway to finally tear down the island part of Tyre in 322 BC. And so finally Tyre did become a place where fishing nets were spread out. And it’s downfall was the result of the same hubris that was shown by Ammon, Moab and Edom.  Tyre was apparently secure. It’s walls and the sea gave it a real sense of security that was real and tangible. And it got me thinking about the things that w...
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Magnaminity

  Ezekiel 25:5 I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels and Ammon a fold for flocks. Then you shall know that I am the Lord. Thought for the day – What goes around comes around Have you ever caught yourself smiling at someone else's downfall? Not proud of it. But there it is — that little flicker of satisfaction when the arrogant get humbled, when the bully finally loses. That's exactly the mood God is confronting here. Ammon had watched Jerusalem burn and the temple fall, and instead of grief, they said "Aha!" They clapped. Judah's tragedy was Ammon's entertainment. So God speaks — not against Judah this time, but against the gloating. Rabbah, Ammon's proud capital, would become nothing more than a camel pasture. The mockers would become the punchline. I think of Winston Churchill, drafting his maxims for the Second World War. He didn't write "in victory, celebration." He wrote ‘in victory, magnanimity’. He'd watched what triumphalism doe...
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At what cost?

Ezekiel 24:16 “Mortal man,” he said, “with one blow I am going to take away the person you love most. You are not to complain or cry or shed any tears.   Thought for the day – at what cost? I wonder what went through Ezekiel’s mind when he heard God speak today. When he heard that God was going to take his wife suddenly and he was not allowed to grieve for her? I simply can’t imagine what he went through. And in some respects, Ezekiel’s story reminds of God asking Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. And on a deeper theological level, God must have known what he was asking Ezekiel to do, as he gave up his only son for us.   And as hard as God’s command to Ezekiel to is, the bigger question for us is: what is the cost of following God. Would we be willing to accept what God was doing for the greater cause of the Kingdom? If God told us he was going to take away our livelihood, how would we react? If God told us he was going to take away our church, how would we react? ...
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