A reflection on Hosea 1:1-3; 2:1-23 In this passage, through the example of Israel’s troubled relationship with God, we learn that God will judge the unfaithful but ultimately also call them back to Him. From this, we are reminded once again that our God is both a just and gracious God. At the start of the passage, a parallel is drawn between Israel the unfaithful nation and Gomer the adulterer (1:2). Hosea then speaks at length, using this extended metaphor, about the disregard that Israel has shown for God. He emphasizes that it is Israel’s unfaithfulness that lies at the heart of its attitude (2:1, 2:4, 2:5): Israel has worshipped false gods (2:8, 2:13) under the mistaken impression that
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: 2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, 5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, 6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, 7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, 8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for
How can we make use of university to be messengers of God’s amazing good news to people who don’t yet know him? Ever since Jesus first commanded his disciples to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19), his followers have gone to all kinds of lengths to bring the gospel to the world, and eventually down the chain of many disciples, to us. Jesus promises us the greatest and the only true hope. We are transformed by the work of the Holy Spirit in us, and we long for our friends, for the whole world, to experience this amazing, saving grace of God through Jesus, who died on the cross for our sins so t
It has been a cold and gloomy Christmas in Cambridge, but I have been strangely encouraged by the families in Eden Baptist Church that have accepted me and by a short trip to the Lake District with my mother. Through these experiences, I believe that in this Christmas season, God has been revealing to me more deeply what being a child means in my daily walk with him. After growing up, I’ve lost some traits associated with children, and I probably will have to learn them again. I would sum this up in three points (1) imagination (2) to receive love (3) to feel safe. Imagination. That is something that Spongebob would say as he draws a rainbow. Visiting the Lake District during winter meant th