In the 16th and 17th centuries, following the reformation - a new form of Christianity took hold and tightened its grip across the British Isles. It replaced the earthy, joyful, nature-infused spirituality of the Celts with a colder, harsher, more systematised theology. We know it today as Calvinism.

Christ wears "two shoes" in the world: scripture and nature. Both are necessary to understand the Lord, and at no stage can creation be seen as a separation of things from God.

When we are told that God is the maker of all things, we are simply to understand that God is in all things – that God is the substantial essence of all things.

We know these aren’t historical in the modern sense. But they weren’t meant to be. These stories don’t ask, ‘Did this really happen?’ They ask, ‘What kind of world would be possible if it could?’

𝑨𝒔 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒔, 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚, 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝑾𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚 - 𝒊𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒖𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑬𝒖𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒈𝒐, 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝑳𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒖𝒔.

Where have all the “radical believers” from the Charismatic Revivals gone? Aren’t there any Christians left who are committed to the rewilding of faith? Didn’t we embark on a mission to reclaim a church that is vibrant, unpredictable, and truly alive - where love and justice flourish beyond the fences of convention?

Making peace with the incomplete. https://tinyurl.com/ykwwads5

Now his brothers had gone to graze their father’s flocks near Shechem, and Israel said to Joseph, “As you know, your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem. Come, I am going to send you to them.”

The nation of Israel was divided into two nations, and they told their origin stories in different ways. What happens when the redactor starts to put them together after the border collapses?

Is 40:26 "Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name.”

With knowledge of “emergence”, this becomes something like:

Lift up your eyes and see the cosmic diversity that has arisen from almost nothing. See how these celestial fire giants die out one by one, giving rise to ever more complex, powerful and beautiful realities. See how their rich dust pools into new forms of life - bringing into existence entirely new realms of being. What is emerging from all these? The divine presence of God, who the stars call forth one by one by name.

“I have now seen the One who sees me.”

“I have now seen the One who sees me.”

Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”

Cain and Abel weren't the only feuding brothers in the ancient world.