rozandmarkarnold

Tears

I will not say do not weep, for not all tears are evil – Gandalf, at the end of Lord of the Rings as Sam and Frodo part. “All our enemies have opened their mouths wide against us.47 We have suffered terror and pitfalls, ruin and destruction.”48 Streams of tears flow from my eyes because my people are destroyed. 49 MyContinue reading “Tears”

Lamentations 3: dissonance

I wanted this series to be one that I wrote during March, during the latter half of Lent, and maybe finished off during April. But three things happened that slowed down that process. One was good news – I got a new job, and so lots of energy has gone into working out learning ofContinue reading “Lamentations 3: dissonance”

100 Years: Humble Listening

Today is the 100th anniversary of the birth of John Stott. I am not simply blogging about that because I happen to work for one of the organisations which he founded. Rather I thought it was worth paying a personal tribute to someone whose writings have been a formative influence on my own theology andContinue reading “100 Years: Humble Listening”

Waiting for compassion

This next section of chapter 3 is the section that has struck me most profoundly. We see in these verses God’s complete goodness in the midst of what seems like utter darkness. The poetry of these verses leads us deeper into the heart of God – a God who is always and completely good, andContinue reading “Waiting for compassion”

He is Risen Indeed! Hallelujah!

Happy Easter! I’ve posted this before – but I couldn’t not post this again, because this year Easter day is also April 4th. It would be wonderful to think that this day someone would enter into a full assurance of salvation and have the same impact as Charles Simeon an Anglican Evangelical minister in CambridgeContinue reading “He is Risen Indeed! Hallelujah!”

Easter Saturday: Waiting

This is a strange day in the church’s year. A day caught between the sorrow of Good Friday and the joy of Easter morning. A day to remember. A day for reflection for all who are caught in between times. We have several children’s bibles, and one, the Big Picture Story Bible has a chapterContinue reading “Easter Saturday: Waiting”

Faithful Mercy, Steadfast Love

In the middle of this third chapter of Lamentations we finally reach some hope in the book as we come to the words many of us are familiar with from the great hymn of hope: Great is Thy Faithfulness. As we look at these words we need to notice that the poets outward circumstances haveContinue reading “Faithful Mercy, Steadfast Love”

Lamentations 3: In the Depths

Lamentations 3 brings us a change of voice – rather than the voice of Jerusalem, or the poet’s description of Jerusalem we hear from the poet himself about his personal experience of grief. This chapter is even more highly structured than the previous 2. In English it is split into 66 verses, although it isContinue reading “Lamentations 3: In the Depths”

Lamentations: The darkness of judgement

Lamentations is not an easy book to keep on reading, and in some ways I have found chapter 2 harder than chapter 1. For chapter 2 forces us to confront the reality that Jerusalem’s pain at this point in her history was in large part the consequence of her own sinful and foolish choices. JerusalemContinue reading “Lamentations: The darkness of judgement”

Lamentations: Alone in the Pit

As we move onto the second half of chapter one we are still listening to the voice of Jerusalem. She sees her suffering as brought upon her by Yahweh’s fierce anger. It is vital that we feel the force of this suffering, and that we do not try to water down her words. It isContinue reading “Lamentations: Alone in the Pit”