Reading in Community

I'm floating an idea here, so if you read this please comment even if you don't like the idea.

I'm thinking of trying to start blogging about Scripture. The idea would be to take a book for a period, say Galatians for three months or Exodus. To offer chapters to read and study for each week, comments on study resources, text and language, exegetical cruxes, and of course, biblical theology.

The idea will work if through a blog post a reading and commenting community grows up where we share with and encourage one another in reading Scripture. If there was interest a meeting could be arranged to take further any key issues that come up in our studies.

What do you think?

I'm away at the Kingdom Come conference next week, so I'll probably being on this week beginning Feb 8.

A Busy Week

I've not been able to do much blogging this week as it has been a bit busy.

Monday - I had two meetings, first with a group of friends to discuss matters of importance within the life and future of the Church of Scotland which was good. In the afternoon an excellent meeting at the ICC Glasgow to consult with church leaders on biblefresh, some really good ideas about this.

Wednesday - we had a great meeting of the EA Scotland executive, God is doing some very exciting things in Scotland.

Apart from that just the usual church stuff to keep up with.

Tyndale House Newsletter

The newsletter from Tyndale House is available on line - here.

Our new Newsletter gives a taste of the many things happening at Tyndale House.

> BibleAndChurch and TheJesusAccounts - resources for apologetics
> Erasmus Scholars and STEP project - future resources for the church
> Scholars featured from Mongolia, Greece, Japan and Australia
> A new Hebrew inscription from the time and place of Goliath
> and more..

Well worth a look.

A Week Of Prayers

This week, beginning yesterday (25/1/10), the daily worship readings and prayers on the Sanctuary Frist web site were written by myself. I hope they are helpful and if you want to leave any comments on them I appreciate that also.

Biblefresh and N T Wright

Over at slipstream on the EAUK site - here - a video clip has been published of N T Wright, one of the biblefresh bible champions talking about bible reading and Christian leadership. Just in case you don't want to go over to the EA site, which you should some time, here is the clip:

Haiti

Earlier today I was able to join in a second conference call with Tearfund workers.

I gathered from the call that some Tearfund partners are located outside Port-au-Prince and their sites have become like hubs for displaced peoples to gather and so food and other resources on site for various projects have been divered to supply the immediate need of between 1500 to 2000 homeless and desperately needy people.

Some prayer points:

from Mark who is leading the Tearfund needs assessment team which is presently in Haiti:

> pray for wisdom in establishing programmes to meet the needs,

> pray for good connections and working relations with other aid/relief agencies,

> pray for Jean-Claude and his family. Jean-Claude is Tearfund's lead person in Haiti his wife is suffering from severe trauma following the earthquake. The Tearfund office, where Jean-Claude would usually have been working was destroyed, his home, where he and the family were, was partially destroyed.

from Jean-Mark, who is part Haitian:

> pray for the coordination of access ports that aid may flow smoothly through and get to the places where it is most needed,

> pray for the miraculous opening of the harbour to shipping as a means of bringing large scale aid into Haiti.

from Oenone, who works with Tearfund's disaster response team in the UK,

> pray for those deeply troubled by what they have seen following this disaster, for peace of mind,

> pray for many people who are asking, 'Why have I survived? Why was I saved?' Many are searching for some reason why they lived while others did not.

I am challenged by so many of these prayer requests. Do we believe in a God who works miracles and are we willing to ask him to work miraculously to intervene in this situation? I hope we do, and I hope we are.

Haiti - Tearfund respond

I'm copying here an email I received from Andrew McCracken from Tearfund with information about the response Tearfund partners are making in Haiti.

Latest on the Tearfund Haiti earthquake response

Tearfund partner World Relief is treating earthquake survivors around the clock at one of the few functioning hospitals left in Port-au-Prince. Staff are also mobilising local churches to distribute emergency aid packs. Another partner is running a camp for 2000 people at Dalmas on the outskirts of the capital.

A team of Tearfund's disaster response experts are on the ground working with partners to provide basic essentials such as food, water and shelter, and are planning our longer term response.

Just like the 2004 southern Asia tsunami, the devastation in Haiti is total and the need is immense. Our partners were operating in the country before the earthquake struck, and, just like the tsunami, we'll be there long after it drops out of the headlines, working towards long term recovery. But we need your help.

As Tearfund staff and partners respond to last week's terrible disaster, the support your church can give remains vital. We're on the ground but we can't do anything without money. We want to equip you to communicate this message of need to your churches. We will continue to cover the latest news and prayer points on our website at www.tearfund.org/haitiearthquake but from Saturday morning (23 January), in time for the Sunday service, you will also find:

* An updated prayer PowerPoint presentation
* A brand new film for churches on Tearfund's Haiti relief work

Please use these resources to encourage your church to give what they can to our appeal, either by making a direct online donation at www.tearfund.org/haiti or by sending cheques, payable to Tearfund, to Tearfund, 100 Church Road, Teddington, TW11 8QE

'We believe now is the time for the church to give as Christ has given - without holding back.' Jean Claude Cerin, Tearfund Country representative for Haiti.