We live in a culture obsessed with not causing offence.  Sensitivity training has become big business.

This leaves us Christians with a problem.  Jesus described the gospel as a skandalon - something which would offend people.

It’s a good thing to be sensitive to people, and it’s certainly a good thing to respect each person as a unique creation of God.  And we have a mandate to offer the unconditional love of Christ to everyone we meet.  But while we need to be caring and respectful for people, we do not need to respect everything they believe, say or stand for.  Dietrich Bonhoffer was not sensitive to Hitler, even though it cost him his life.

Jesus talked about sowing seed.  The seed fell all over the place and a lot of it was lost - at least three quarters of it if you take the parable literally.  He could have looked at the results and felt discouraged.  But instead he chose to look at the small portion of the seed that actually produced fruit, and that is what he focussed upon.

This week we toured Winchester College, the oldest private school in England, founded in 1394.  What stood out to us was the power of tradition.  In many ways, the school has changed beyond recognition, but some practices have remained virtually unchanged from what you would have seen five or six centuries ago had you been touring the college then.  Even the dining hall was original.

And that is the secret of the school’s success.  It is built on foundations that have stood the test of time.  Outward features have changed to suit the times but the things that matter have not.

Why is it that sometimes we can get things so backward in church?

Jet lag, from which we are both presently suffering, can be a pain.  You are awake when you want to be asleep and asleep when you want to be awake. 

It’s also unpredictable.  It may happen when you expect it, it may sneak up on you later or it may not happen at all.

I wonder if it’s possible for Christians to suffer from spiritual jet lag?

“I alone am left and they seek my life.”

The worst place to be in a time of crisis is alone.

By controlling the weather systems, Elijah had ruled the agricultural economy of Israel for three and a half years.  He had raised the dead and been fed by birds.  He had made fire come down from heaven.  He had defeated 850 false prophets on Mount Carmel, and then triumphantly brought the drought to an end by forcing the humiliated king to make breakneck speed back to the city in his chariot to avoid getting soaked.