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One of the joys of being a pastor (and Su would say, of being a pastor's wife!) is that we get to spend time with nearly every young couple in our church who are getting married. Typically, we spend seven evening sessions with them, helping prepare them for the joys (and struggles) that are bound to come their way. And one piece of advice we give - and like everything else...

The contest on Carmel, in 1 Kings 18, between the prophet Elijah and the prophets of Baal is an epic, even by Biblical standards. At its heart is a call to the people of Israel to compare. To compare between YHWH and Baal, and stop 'limping' between the two: "If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, then follow him" (v21). As I've previously written, it was not...

The story of David slaying Goliath is filled with comparisons. David hears the taunts of Goliath hurled at the men of Israel, and responds, "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?" (1 Sam 17:26). What is David doing? On the face of it, he is comparing Goliath to Israel's army - one man compared to so many, surely this is no...

'Comparison is the thief of all joy'. But not all comparison. As we've seen in the last three posts, comparing God to ourselves and to others, to angels and to idols, inspires worship and trust. But two can play at that game and in John's Revelation they do. A beast rises out of the sea - the place of chaos and confusion - and to it the dragon gives 'his power and his thr...

At the heart of Christianity lies a problem how do you describe the Trinity? Of what can you say, 'O, the Trinity is like this'? An egg? A three-leafed clover? Water in its solid, liquid and gas phases? All fall woefully short. There simply is nothing else like the Triune God. And yet, we're invited to compare Him to others, but not so we can find an adequate comparison, ...

In the last post, Incomparable God, we considered how comparing ourselves to God can become a means to praise and proclamation. But that is not the end of the fruit that can come from right comparison. Consider Job. A righteous man who suffered terribly, Job deserved answers if any man did. But did he get them? No. In fact, what he got was more questions - questions direc...

Theodore Roosevelt reportedly described comparison as 'the thief of all joy'. He certainly has a point. If you constantly compare yourself to others it will rob you of the joy you might otherwise have experienced in what you have and the joy in what they have. And a joyless life, pickpocketed by comparing, is a barren life. Having said that, I'd like to start further back...

In Psalm 126, the psalmist asks of God, 'Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like streams in the Negeb!' It is a powerful image: rivers of water running into the desert, turning a wilderness into a garden. And returning from exile, the psalmist is asking God to do just that in his life and the life of the people. But then he takes the metaphor further, to sowing and reaping an...

Advent is a time when the church looks back to the first coming of Christ, and prepares herself for the feast - the celebration - of Christ's birth at Christmas. But it's also a time to look forward to the second coming, the second advent of Christ, and his return. Those two comings are polar opposites: the first in humility, the second in glory. The first unnoticed, the ...

When Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal, he didn't just address the prophets but the people: "How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal then follow him" (1 Kings 18:21). That's instructive, because it tells us that the people of Israel had not stopped worshipping the LORD; they hadn't abandoned him for Baa...