SANITY'S COVE

Intimate Jesus: The sexuality of God incarnate By: Andy Angel Rating: 2.5/5 stars
I was given this book in exchange for free in exchange for a review. Sometimes it’s great when such things happen, sometimes it’s a bit… meh. It all depends on the book.
This book falls in the ‘meh’ category. It was thrillingly easy to put down. I think I read four other books during the time I was supposed to be reading this one.
I don’t mean that the book was terrible. I almost wish it was. Instead, it was just ‘kind of’ good. I occasionally read terrible books by arch-heretics. Gross error can at least make you pay attention. There were no major heresies here. Nor was he arguing for any form of orthodoxy that was especially shocking. What was disappointing about this book was that it was about sex and God – two of my favourite things – and yet I was bored by it.
It is based on exegesis from the gospel of John. The author – a University lecturer at St. Johns College in Nottingham – rightly uses two key text…

‘They will prophecy for 1,260 days clothed in sackcloth.’ -Rev. 11
Last week, a major denomination here in the UK announced that they would begin to recognise homosexual practicing relationship as sacred marriage. Although this would have been seen as an unthinkable act for 99% of church history, this announcement passed with relatively little comment from church leaders of other denominations. 
   There was no blowing of trumpet horns, no ashes, and no beating of the chest. There were no tears. Other denominations and churches did not assemble to mourn as Israel did in Judges 21 crying out ‘Why, God, has Israel lost one of its tribes?’ It has happened before and is it assumed that it will happen again.
The apocalyptic witness of Moses and Elijah in Revelation 11 – whether we see their appearance as something past, present, future, or some combination – gives us a glimpse into the prophetic call of the church in several ways. One of these is the description of their clothing: that of sa…

4/5 Stars. In many ways, this is an excellent book. If you want a book that gives a review of the social and political causes and impacts of recent immigration into Europe, this is the one. And I say that as an immigrant myself.
Regardless of your political stance or what you’d like to believe about immigration into Europe, it will be hard to argue with Murray’s research. The facts don’t care about our feelings and this book is filled with facts – many of which our feelings might not care for. His thesis is that Europe is committing suicide and one of its primary tools is through the unstrategic and (seemingly) unlimited immigration that has occurred in recent decades and – more importantly – in the last three years.
Those who may not like the facts that he presents may be tempted to paint him as a xenophobe or racist. He isn’t. He often shows how these policies aren’t particularly helping immigrants either and how genuine refugees who need our help the most, often aren’t getting it.
I …

Elijah took the child, and brought him down into the house, and gave him to his mother. -1 Kings 17
A superficial understanding of Elijah could mislead someone into believing that he – or perhaps even the God who worked through Elijah – was a misogynist.
Sadly, that term - in addition to being hard to spell - has become loaded, politicised, and increasingly vague. CS Lewis pointed out that when such things happen we are witnessing verbicide – the death of a word. It’s a shame because misogyny and its counterpart misandry are both real things. So, let’s define. By misogynist, we do not mean someone who despises a woman or who believes men and women are different. We mean someone who despises a woman because she is a woman.
Elijah was not one. Elijah stood against the work of a certain Sidonian princess – but not because she was a woman or even because she was a foreigner. He resisted her plans because she was leading God’s people into false worship and sexual immorality. Any man whose i…

‘O man of God, I plead with you, let my life, and the life of these fifty men, be precious in your sight. I know that fire came down from heaven, and burnt up the two captains and their squads of fifty men each.’ -2Kings 1
King Ahaziah, son of the late king Ahab, sends a captain with 50 soldiers to go fetch Elijah who is sitting on a hill. Like the king, this captain and his soldiers have no fear of God. They arrogantly command Elijah to obey the message like he’s the king’s lapdog. As a result, God drops fire on them. The king then sends another 50 up the hill in an equally proud manner – and God equally napalms the lot of them. Lastly, a third captain goes up in humility, falling on his knees, and asking for mercy. This man and his soldiers live.
Last century, Arthur Wallis – at the beginning of his landmark book, God’s Chosen Fast – wrote, ‘When people do not like the plain literal meaning of something in the Bible they are tempted to spiritualise it, and so rob of its potency.’ Wha…

I awoke this morning to see that a few FB friends had tagged me in a BLOGthat’s making the rounds. As I’ve written on the issue of gender imbalance in the British church before, they thought I may be interested in this article that seeks to deconstruct the ‘muscular Christianity’ movement. And they were right.
I had not heard of Eric Pazdziora before, but apparently, he’s quite an accomplished pianist, writer, and blogger. His gift for word artistry certainly comes through in this article and overall, he makes some fair points.
I welcome his deconstruction of muscular Christianity on a personal level. We have such a movement here in the UK just like they do in the States. I’ve never felt entirely at home in them. I’ve felt uncomfortable largely because of who I am. On Myers-Briggs, I’m an INFP. Typically, that’s a woman’s personality. Among other things, it means I’m a feeler more than a thinker.
I'm also not the typical sporty male – I write poetry more than play football. I'd …