I was chatting over coffee about a passage from the Bible. The chatting was with purpose, a sort of discussion I suppose. There were six of us sitting around a cafe table in the worship area of Mill Hill East Church, where I work as a preacher. This informal discussion was to plan a very informal service that we have regularly on Wednesday evenings. We were talking about ways to illustrate the content of Romans chapter 1. Romans 1 is bleak excoriating expose of human society, a terrifying indictment of humanity's propensity to be inhumane. Humans, it seems, are capable of ignoring evidence that doesn't suit them to such an extent that they will even subscribe to the ridiculous notion that God might not exist let alone have claim on their allegiance. In the latest episode of my podcast I talk about how God is reaching into this mess and providing a lifeline. One of the best responses to this is to shout (or sing for that matter) hallelujah!
Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkien tells a story in an imaginary world that somehow rings true. In Tolkien’s fantastic universe of humans, hobbits, elves, wizards, dwarves and monsters, a great evil threatens to cover the world in darkness and make every living being its slave. Chaos is the order of the day. Fear rules the hearts of most. Hope is faint. Yet amid the darkness, there are flickers of light in the love, unity and courage of a few heroic characters. One of them is Aragon, who is destined to be king. The trilogy ends with his long-awaited return to the throne and triumphant deliverance of his people. Mark 11:1-10 is one of the Bible passages for Palm Sunday, it tells of Jesus entering Jerusalem to the cheers of the crowd, it is the return of the King: Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a c