COWARDS CASTLEReflections by Bernard Preston
Rev Nigel Goodwin
(Keywords: COWARDS CASTLE, Bernard Preston, Catholic sex abuse, Todays Christian Women, Christian hypocrisy, Leap of Faith, Spirititual and Stupid, Accept one another, Lonely road of faith) The Christian Walk has been a tortuous, but blessed Pilgrim's Progress for me. From my very own COWARD'S CASTLE I'll be telling the whole truth, even when it's been uncomfortable. No, I won't pretend it's been easy, because it hasn't, as the Lord consistently seems to be challenging me to draw nearer to Him, as close as a pair of underpants, said the prophet Jeremiah. That close? Jup, that close! And then there's the on-going call to be sure that who I really am is consistent with the Bernard Preston I portray in my daily walk through this World. While there's plenty of room in heaven for sinners, it does seem that hypocrites might have a hard time of it from St Peter, the man with the keys to the Kingdom. Read more about Christian Hypocrisy …
"We are not human beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings having a human experience." - Teilhard de Chardin COWARDS CASTLE: CATHOLIC SEX ABUSELiving in Limburg, the southernmost province of the Netherlands, formerly a strongly Catholic bishopric, I quickly realised that the people are voting with their feet. Churches stand empty and derelict. Many have been turned into dance halls, accountant's rooms...Sickened by the divide between what is preached from the pulpit, and their own experience of life, and human sexuality, they have simply stopped going to church. Limburg has not (yet?) been touched by Roman Catholic sex abuse scandals, but in a titillating story Bernard Preston tells all in "Priest in my Bed", from soon-to-be-published Stones in my Clog.
COWARDS CASTLE: THE PRAYER THAT SHOCKED THE WORLDBeware, this made me distinctly uncomfortable. It's not for the faint-hearted, nor the smug and self-satisfied. SHOCKING PRAYER ...COWARDS CASTLE: Spiritual and Stupid?Is it possible to be spiritual yet very, very stupid? Yes! Just look at Jephthah, son of Gilead. Mind you, his father was also spiritual and stupid! Could the poor man avoid being chip off the old block?COWARDS CASTLE: Todays Christian WomenFor Eve and her daughters - Adam's daughters too! - their rightful place in society has been a long, long time in coming. And in few places in society has rank sexism been more evident than in religion, in Christianity too.From not being allowed to even speak in church, and certainly barred from the priesthood, women have had to forcefully claim that fundamental human right, rather than men abdicating from their pedestals. But now Today's Christian women have an undeniably important role in the Church. To be honest, the Church would fall flat on its face if it were not for them ...
Read more... Todays Christian Women. The First StepEvery journey has a beginning. Here is my own first tenuous step, Leap of Faith.Born AgainFew phrases in our religious jargon have brought more confusion, more mocking and more doctrinal discussion that the question: "Have you been born again?"Yes, Jesus made it very clear that, "Unless you are born again, you cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven." Just what did he mean? Is it simply about a Christening, and First Communion, or is there more to it? Read more …You Must be BORN AGAIN. COWARD'S CASTLEby Rev Nigel Goodwin"The first time I went to Church was a Sunday morning, From what I've heard I'd likely find I'd spend the whole time yawning. At 18 years of age or so I thought I knew it all. My hair was long, my jeans were tight, I loved a knife or bottle fight, Provided mates stood left and right ..."
We Christians don't like it when someone poke's fun at us, but vicar Nigel Goodwin has the right, and will surely have you rockin in the pews. COWARDS CASTLE NIGEL GOODWIN >>>
Cowards Castle Nigel Goodwin. Accept one anotherI have no doubt whatsoever that the division in the Church Universal grieves the heart of our Lord, almost as much as any other sin. Our hardness of heart, our judgement of our brother, our determination to cling to this or that precious doctrine, the Catholic-Protestant divide ... will certainly be called to attention when we reach the judgement seat ... and who knows, our clinging to a belief about Darwinism, Marriage, Homosexuality, Baptims ... may actually exclude us from the Kingdom. Read more about ACCEPT ONE ANOTHER … The Kingdom of HeavenFew thoughts have challenged me more than the question of the Kingdom of Heaven, the only phrase mentioned twice in the prayer Jesus gave to his disciples. How is it that we Children of the Kingdom can do such devilish things? Oh, woe is me ... read more about my Lonely Road of Faith."If your morals make you dreary, depend on it they are wrong." - Robert Louis Stevenson LINKSMonthly Newsletter - signed up yet?Chiropractic-Help.com and Bernard-Preston.com send out a joint monthly newsletter. It covers an overview of a health topic (this last month’s Issue #14 Hip and Groin pain), always a nutritional corner (Cholesterol /Statins and aching legs), and a piece from Bernard Preston.Sign up at the bottom of any Chiropractic Help Page, for example this one on the Exercise and Cholesterol link. It’s free.
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