When the Spirit came at Pentecost, people began to practice the Be-Attitudes to such an extent they were able to create an exceptionally inclusive, completely egalitarian, post-Pentecost community. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders [...]

In order to create a hospitable space in their hearts for the Spirit, the disciples spent time together ”constantly in prayer” (Acts 1.14). For the disciples, prayer was a process of developing an awareness of, and availability to, the Spirit. It involved waiting upon the Spirit and a willingness to yield to the Spirit. It [...]

My friend, Asif, is right when he says we that need to nurture a ‘spirited faith’ rather than ‘doctrinaire beliefs’ if we are ever going to recover the radical compassion of Jesus and practice Jesus’ Be-Attitudes like the Good Samaritan. Jesus said there is always a mystery about the way the Spirit breathes vitality into [...]

If we want to be the change we want to see in the world, we know that Jesus says, we need to practice the Be-Attitudes. We need to be: poor – and/or identify with the poor in spirit empathic – and grieve over the injustice in the world meek –  and get angry about injustice, [...]

In order to be to the change we want to see in the world, embodying ‘heaven on earth’, Jesus tells us we need live the attitudes he advocated in the beatitudes. If we read the text carefully we see that both the first and the last beatitude are about experiencing the ‘kingdom of heaven’ or [...]

As Christians most of us feel confident about two things – one, we know the gospel; and two, we know we need to simply proclaim the gospel – as best we can – in word and in deed. But I’m not sure about either of those things any more. What is the ‘gospel’? Well, the [...]

I love catching up with friends over a cup of tea. It’s a chance to take time out, swap stories, compare notes, and get some much-needed encouragement for the next stage of the journey. By the time we get round to the second or third cup of tea,  we often find ourselves talking about our [...]

By Slavoj Žižek November 23, 2010 The recent expulsion oF illegal Roma (“Gypsies”) from France back to Romania sparked protests across Europe from both the liberal media and top politicians–and not only those on the Left. The expulsions, however, proceeded–and they are the tip of a much larger iceberg of European politics. Incidents like these [...]

by Bradley Shingleton Compassion is an indispensible word in the vocabulary of religious experience and practice. Its emotional recognition, in situations of suffering and need, of a common thread binding life with life is both vital and potent. “He who feels no compassion,” says a Hasidic proverb, “will become insane.” But in common parlance, we [...]

Mary MacKillop was born in Fitzroy in 1842 into a Scottish migrant family. Mary was the eldest of eight children, and their father – who had attended Scots College in Rome – educated the children at home. Having squandered most of the family fortune, the MacKillops were dirt poor. So at the age of fourteen, [...]

Eight foreigners and two Afghans have been found shot dead next to abandoned vehicles in the north-eastern Afghan province of Badakhshan, officials say. The foreigners are believed to be six Americans, one Briton and a German, who worked for an international charity providing eye care and medical help. The vehicles were found a day after [...]

June 14, 2010 Ross Gittins Should Christians support capitalism? According to a leading English layman, despite all its material benefits, capitalism as we know it contains moral flaws with serious social consequences. I’m in no position to preach to Christians, but I’m happy to pass on the views of Dr Michael Schluter, founder of Britain’s [...]