Our church this morning was surprisingly upbeat. Surprising, because it’s Good Friday, the day when Christian commemorate the crucifixion and death of Christ. Not exactly cheerful subject matter. In my western Christian tradition, it’s normally a fairly somber day, with a focus not only on Christ’s suffering but our own […]
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
We received the sad news this morning that the senior pastor at our church when we were downtown died very suddenly. It was a big church and I did not know him personally but I learned a great deal from Pastor Ranwell and am thankful for his ministry. One sermon […]
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
A notable absence in my recent discussions of Tanzanian theology has been the atonement. I asked questions about this way back in 2013 but it has not featured much since then. Atonement in terms of forgiveness of sin is preached in Tanzania in two contexts. First, we have observed it in evangelistic […]
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
This is the current list of songs that one or both of us have memorised and sing at bedtime as part of our family liturgy. The Cardiphonia albums curated by Bruce Benedict have been a goldmine for us. I’m hoping that we can increasingly use the church year as a rubric […]
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
A friend shared this and I really enjoyed it — lots of layers, with messages for everyone. Nazif short film on Facebook The description from the producer, Film Lab Kenya, reads: Nazif is a man of Muslim background and the father of Aisha, his four year old beautiful yet hyperactive […]
Estimated reading time: 1 minute
We had our friend Father John staying with us for a few days this week. He wrote his Masters thesis on the early exit of the girl child from school so of course I asked him about President Magufuli’s pregnant schoolgirl ban. Our friend, and Father John’s BFF, Father Gilbert was […]
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
This is the supplementary statement of faith of the Australian Evangelical Alliance, as found at Ethos. We worship the only God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, whose creative, outgoing love overflowed from the divine community to create the universe and who calls us to share in eternal life […]
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes