"Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers." - VoltairE

Showing Tag: "god" (Show all posts)

Identity 2 - God’s identity revealed to us

Posted by Anne Witton on Monday, June 26, 2023, In : Reflections 


In the last blog post in this series I looked at identity in society and culture. In this post I want to focus on God’s identity revealed to us.

The importance of names

Pause to think:

  • What does your name mean?
  • Is there a particular significance to your name? Did your parents choose it for a specific reason?
In Biblical culture, names (both place names and people names) were very important - you can pick up on some of that from the prominence of genealogies. Biblical names are often really signi...

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Good things come to those who wait (for bears and God)

Posted by Anne Witton on Wednesday, June 7, 2023, In : Reflections 


On a recent trip to Slovenia, my friend and I booked to go with a nature expert to try and see a wild brown bear. We drove out into the forest, hiked to the wildlife hide, climbed the ladder and took up our positions on the wooden bench, binoculars at the ready, to watch and wait.

After the third hour sitting silently and patiently in the hide, I was getting a bit restless. Despite being on high alert, the only wildlife we’d seen was a shrew. I was starting to wonder whether we should have j...

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How much do we want God?

Posted by Anne Witton on Friday, August 26, 2022, In : Reflections 


Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.
Hebrews 12: 1 – 2a

I want to have a richly satisfying, intimate relationship with God but at times I haven’t been prepared to put any effort in. I know that I’m saved by grace and that I’m sustained by grace alone and ...

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The case for Christian humanism

Posted by Anne Witton on Sunday, June 21, 2020, In : Resources 


I just watched a video about humanism which I found very interesting, particularly because of the use of words like ‘wonder’, ‘awe’, ‘dignity’, ‘infinitely precious’, ‘miraculous’. There’s lots that I can agree with, even if I don’t hold to the overreach of scientism or the naive optimism that we can all somehow get along fine if we try to be good and use ‘common sense’.
Many people don’t realise that humanism owes a lot to a Christian worldview. The difficulty is...

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Picture This Thought - Tree [Growth]

Posted by Anne Witton on Saturday, May 9, 2020, In : Video 
Some reflections on what growth means for a Christian and for the Kingdom of God. I explore the fact that growth comes from God and isn't manufactured by us; that something huge and beautiful can come from something tiny; and that a seed needs to die in order to fulfil its purpose of flourishing.



You may also like this post on spiritual growth.


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Picture This Thought - Temple [God’s presence]

Posted by Anne Witton on Tuesday, January 7, 2020, In : Video 
Where can we go to meet with God and how can the gap between a holy God and a rebellious people be bridged? A short explanation of the meaning of the temple for God’s people and the new way that Jesus has opened up for us to know God.

See also the Bible Project video on the Temple


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Picture This Thought - Derelict church [Christendom]

Posted by Anne Witton on Sunday, December 8, 2019, In : Video 
Why the crumbing of Christendom is a good thing. Christianity was never meant to be a state religion, forced on people by powerful authorities. The Kingdom of God is much more subversive. Jesus showed the greater power of foot-washing and self-sacrifice.


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Are we efficiently miserable? Relational breakdown vs the Kingdom story

Posted by Anne Witton on Monday, June 4, 2018, In : Reflections 



Sometimes it’s hard to see what the goal of human progress is. As technology develops, we’re doing things quicker and more efficiently than ever before, but at what cost?

We’re bugged by constant reminders and notifications. We have advanced technological systems to keep us in line and ‘on track’ but what’s it all for?

We seem to be advancing technologically at the expense of human contact and community. We've lost the ability to relate to strangers. We can now perform mos...


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Loving God

Posted by Anne Witton on Tuesday, March 13, 2018, In : Reflections 


“Jesus replied, ‘“Love the Lord you God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.”
(Matt 22: 37 - 38)

What does it mean to love God? Maybe some of us would struggle to answer that question.

When I was younger I used to be taken by my Gran to see my great Auntie Nellie. I used to love going there because I knew that at the end of the visit I would be given 20p spends. Did I love Auntie Nellie? The truth is that I didn...

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Hiraeth - Biblical reflection video

Posted by Anne Witton on Sunday, December 31, 2017, In : Video 

Over Christmas, I did some reflecting on the concept of 'home'. I came across the word 'Hiraeth' in a book I was reading and it got me thinking. ‘Hiraeth’ is a Welsh word that has no direct English translation. It is a "strange, conflicted feeling of incompleteness, the boundless longing for a home from which we feel we have been exiled." [Glynn Harrison, A Better Story P. 149]

The best of this world and the worst of this world inspires my longing for home, so I made a short video to try a...

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Allowing our Father to clean up the mess

Posted by Anne Witton on Thursday, December 8, 2016, In : Reflections 
Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."



The other day I saw a little boy running along and he tripped and fell flat on his face. He was covered in mud and gravel with blood all over his knees and snot and tears all over his face, but his Mum scooped him up and hugged away the pain, getting covered in blood, snot, mud and tears in the process. He wasn’t embarrassed that she saw him in that state. He didn’...
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How long does it take to become a mature Christian?

Posted by Anne Witton on Thursday, May 19, 2016, In : Reflections 


In today’s culture, we so often want quick fixes and instant results. We’re told that attention spans are getting shorter and shorter. The window of opportunity for catching someone’s attention in a YouTube clip is 5 seconds. We buy on credit because we don’t want to save up. We get impatient if we have to wait more than 5 mins for a bus. So often we want something instantly without having to wait at all.

In contrast, maturity is something that develops over time and with perseverance....
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God's Big Story in 10 videos

Posted by Anne Witton on Thursday, July 23, 2015, In : Resources 
My colleague Duncan has been working on an exciting project to help tell the gospel story through a series of 4min videos, all shot with the gorgeous backdrop of Newcastle and the surrounding area.

God's Big Story gives an overview of the story of the Bible in 10 parts and helps us to reflect on our own life in light of it. The videos take us through Creation, Fall, Patriarchs, Exodus, Kingdom, Exile, Messiah, Church, Judgement and New Creation.

There is an accompanying handout with the script,...
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