Past Daily Thoughts
Collection: ThoughtOTD Staff BlogTuesday 20 May 2008http://londoninternetchurch.blogspot.com is our staff blog - why not check it out - and add some comments? In the meantime our new 'web 2.0' full social networking site is under development. We'll update you soon. |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Tuesday 30 October 2007If you read the great Sermon on the Mount you will be struck by The Beatitudes in Chapter 5-'The Blesseds'. They are quite extraordinary, they are the greater reversals. None of the states mentioned would normally be the things that this world would think of as happiness. However for Jesus Christ these are the things which make you happy. |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Monday 29 October 2007Prayer is not an option, it is essential to a life of faith. That is why Jesus Christ when teaching his disciples to pray begins by saying "When you pray say Our Father," not,"if you pray", or" when you feel like it", but "when"! |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Sunday 28 October 2007Amongst the twelve apostles are Simon & Jude, today is their day. Simon is called "the zealot", Jude is believed to be the brother of James, they are both named as disciples of Jesus. It is salutary to remember that some of the apostles were obscure and not famous for standing out but still remembered as close friends of Jesus, that is how we should be remembered. |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Saturday 27 October 2007"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you". This sentiment echo's much of the teaching to be found in the Bible, but much that is to be found in the Bible is based on common sense. If we were to see our religion not as some set of platitudes from the past but human common sense about living under Gods love, faith would be more attractive |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Friday 26 October 2007Alfred the Great whose day it is today is famous for burning the cakes. As King of the West Saxons he put an end to the constant threat of a Danish invasion. He gave half his income to founding relief centres for the poor, to set up schools and to set up places to relieve travellers and pilgrims. He was responsible for setting up a legal code for England based on common sense and Christian mercy |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Thursday 25 October 2007Today we give thanks to God for all those who witness to Jesus Christ and do their own work as well. Like Paul who was a tent maker, today's saints are Crispin and Crispinian, They were shoe makers in third century Rome and proclaimed the good news of Jesus as they made their customers shoes, true non salaried ministers of the gospel. |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Wednesday 24 October 2007If I were put on trial for my faith would there be enough evidence to convict me? If you were living in a country where it was illegal to believe would you be strong enough to stand up for Christ? Many people are in prison for their beliefs, pray for those held against their will because of their political or religious views to be given freedom. |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Tuesday 23 October 2007How many times must I forgive my brother asked the lawyer, seven times? "No, seventy times seven" and then more Forgiveness comes from gratitude that we have been forgiven, and because of that we must forgive over and over again, The worst phrase in the English language is too often heard, "I will never forgive him for what he did"! |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Monday 22 October 2007When god decided to save the world he didn't choose a committee he chose one woman Mary who said yes and made it possible for the cosmic powers to be changed because of her obedience to God. You only have to say "Yes" once to God to begin the change. |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Sunday 21 October 2007Most people who were ill were brought to Jesus by others. We need each other if we are to survive the hazards of this life. "No man is an island", Shakespeare wrote, we carry each other in prayer daily; if you haven't prayed for someone today you aren't pulling you weight. |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Saturday 20 October 2007Jesus refers to the flowers of the field and the birds of the air as examples of trust and faith in God. Have you recently looked, really looked and seen a flower close up or stopped to allow a bird to come close. If you have your faith will be stronger for the experience. |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Friday 19 October 2007The blue print for Christianity is the life of Jesus Christ. How well do you know the life and teachings of the founder of our religion? In Judaism and Islam the book of the foundation is studied daily, how often to those who profess to follow Jesus read and study the New Testament. If you don't know the source how can you live the faith? |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Thursday 18 October 2007The four evangelists hold a special place of honour amongst Christian people, they were eye witnesses of the great events in the life of Jesus Christ and they were on fire with the power of the Holy Spirit who enabled them to construct the gospels in their own way. St Luke is honoured today, especially by the Internet Church for London as he is a precursor of the communication process of bringing the good news of Jesus to a large number of folk through words and images about Jesus Christ. |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Wednesday 17 October 2007Early Christianity spread throughout the Middle East by letter and word of moth. Those who were good with words and felt inspired to preach held small groups of people in corners of cities and squares of villages whilst those who listened caught the faith. Ignatius of Antioch is one such writer and preacher who changed the third largest Ronan city into a centre of Christianity. He was unafraid to proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord. May we be so inspired too. |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Tuesday 16 October 2007Those who profess to believe in the one true God have a responsibility to treat each other seriously as people of faith. As people of the book Jews, Christians and Muslims must be seen to respect each other and to prove to atheists that common belief overcomes prejudice and that unity prevails. Should just one of each of these communities damage one of the other faith, the whole concept of belief in a God of love is made to look ridiculous. |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Monday 15 October 2007The English Reformation produced both Catholic and Protestant martyrs. Today it is Nicholas Ridley and Hugh Latimer who are commemorated. Both these men were scholars and contributed to the forming of the English Church and its Prayer Book. For sticking to their views and remaining loyal to their principles they were both burnt at the stake on this day in 1555. |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Sunday 14 October 2007Teresa of Avila is remembered today. Some thought her mad, some were afraid of her, none ignored her. She reformed the great Spanish Carmelite Order and with St John of the Cross wrote a spiritual diary which countless thousands of people have found a help in their faith. She wrote a poem to a flea and inspired men and women to read and pray intelligently. |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Saturday 13 October 2007Westminster Abbey stands as proof of the piety of an English King, Edward the Confessor. Whilst Edward was not the best political King he was a devout and holy man giving time and energy to protecting the poor and those on the edge of society, his founding of an Abbey at Westminster was to provide a centre of faith and service to the area around it. His body was laid to rest in the Abbey and became a centre of pilgrimage. |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Friday 12 October 2007Wilfred of Ripon was a monk educated at Lindisfarne whose wisdom dominated the great Synod of Whitby. His influence meant that British Christianity lost much of its Celtic influenced and followed the Roman rule and especially in the order of Benedict and its new monasteries. His gift to the English church was to make it more a part of the universal church and less parochial. A true Internet saint! |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Thursday 11 October 2007Ethelburga of Barking is a London saint remembered today. She was the sister of Erkenwald the Bishop of London and founded a sisterhood in Barking. She was a revolutionary for she encouraged a joint order of monks and nuns who shared worship and work but lived apart.. With the threat of a Danish invasion this joint order was a security guarantee with both groups sharing the integrity of prayer and work. Her church in the City of London, formerly destroyed by terrorism is now rebuilt as the Centre of Reconciliation. Their web site is ??? |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Wednesday 10 October 2007Paulinus was the first Bishop of York thus cementing Christianity in Northern England. He was sent to England by St Augustine following in the steps of St Augustine. He was zealous in his church building and in teaching the faith to new Christians. But England was still very much a pagan country with pockets of Christianity and Paulinus had to flee several times from his enemies to remain alive. He ended by being driven south and died in 644 as Bishop of Rochester. To day we remember him, England maybe Christian in culture it is certainly not Christian by faith. |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Tuesday 9 October 2007If all the electricity were to fail at the same time where would we be? So much depends upon this one form of power. The Holy Spirit is the energy and power of God and if he were to fail all communication processes, all healing, all love would cease to happen. We would be without the energy which keeps us spiritually alive. Never take any source of power for granted; just as we are being extolled to persevere and value all forms of energy on this planet let us be even more aware of the third person of the Blessed Trinity, God's power and energy - his Holy Spirit. |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Monday 8 October 2007Do you dread the telephone or do you find it a comfort. Now that it seems the majority of city dwellers have mobile phones the phone is everywhere. Have you ever stood back and seen groups of people manoeuvring their way through other people in the streets but without looking at each other or even beyond each other, rather through each other. Imagine what a Martian would think if he landed in London or New York or Parish and suddenly saw thousands of little ants twisting their way through their streets and holding strange devices to their ears and speaking in to space. What a strange life form they would think we are, and they would be right! |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Sunday 7 October 2007When did you last visit an art gallery? If you live in or near a city you will have some access to a collection of art from different centuries. When I am really fed up with meetings I escape to a marvellous gallery near to the office, there I find myself lost in the power of the images I see around me. Art galleries, concert halls, theatres, cinemas are places where you can loose yourself in the visions of other people. Through words, music, paint and stone God makes himself known, we only have to find him. |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Saturday 6 October 2007Today our blog is about William Tyndale reformer and translator of the scriptures. Because of what he believed and living in the intolerant age of the sixteenth century religious wars he was burnt at the steak for his beliefs. His work of translating the scripture into English annoyed the leaders of the church and they refused to publish his helpful and astonishing work. He therefore had to escape to Hamburg where he spent the rest of his life. Finally he was arrested and burnt in 1536. His last words were 'Lord open the King of England's eyes'. Open ours too Lord! |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Friday 5 October 2007If you have reached this web site you must at least be able to use a computer. What is your expectation of visiting an internet church site? Do you look for a religious experience; do you want to debate philosophical matters by email? Do you actually want to become involved in a church community; do you want to share your thoughts and prayers? This website is set up to try and satisfy some of your needs. Through Night Prayer you can enter into worship via your computer. If you want to leave a prayer to be shared by others you can add it to the site. If you want access to wider Christian information you can visit Premier.TV or the London Diocesan Website. This site is a means to an end, be careful or you might reach the end! |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Thursday 4 October 2007Today celebrates the great friend of the earth, St Francis of Assisi. Born in Italy in 1181 Francis began a career as a rich mans son going into the family business. He was rebellious and went to war. He had a difficult relationship with his father and rejected his family to live with the poor. He loved those in trouble, cared for lepers, the destitute and had a special empathy with animals. At the end of his life his very close identification with his Crucified Saviour meant that he actually received the marks of Jesus Christ's passion in his hands and his feet. He founded the Franciscan Order. |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Wednesday 3 October 2007If you look at the headings on this website you may see a topic which leads you to press the entry and discover what is behind the button. Knowledge is dependent upon learning new things and sharing information. Sharing information is at the heart of the work of an electronic church. But always remember that though the internet church is an electronic church, in reality the internet church is based in a real building on a real site and supported by a community at St Stephen Walbrook in the City of London. Your prayers are actually prayed each week in a shared ministry. Pray for us. |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Tuesday 2 October 2007Does God use theatre, television film and radio to speak to his world? Well the answer of course is 'yes' and 'no'. 'Yes' in that God is at the heart of all communication skills but not in every message! God can be seen in whole areas of life which do not name him or confess him as Lord. Is God dependent on us to proclaim the good news of Jesus? It is God who initiates all communication about the good news; we either respond and own the message or reject it and deny we heard it. Think how you first heard the good news if you have ever heard it? Through coincidence, through direct contact with a believer, through the compassionate act of another, in a time of great hardship and pain; God speaks though all this and more. |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Monday 1 October 2007Remigius is remembered today, he was Bishop of Rhiems in France in 460 AD. He was an evangelist and through his enthusiasm he extended the work of the church by creating dioceses, baptizing Clovis the King of the Franks and by this helping Christianity to spread in Europe. Remigius' power of persuasion convinced Clovis's subjects to abandon their pagan gods and to follow Christ. Imagine how he would have used the internet for his work, do we use it to extend God's kingdom on earth. |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Sunday 30 September 2007Jerome is an early webmaster working in the fifth century. From his cave next to the place where Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem he translated the scriptures from their original language into Latin, at that time the binding language of the empire. and in the dark hours of the night marshalled his information into intelligible form so that those who came after him might read, see and hear the Word of God. His mastery of Greek, Latin and other early languages gave him the tools to make God's Word available to all. That is what the electronic church does through the internet. |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Saturday 29 September 2007Michael, Gabriel and Raphael are three named Biblical angels. They are seen as messengers of God himself. Today Michael and all the angels are remembered by Christians. Michael means "Who is Like God?". He is known for the biblical battle between good and evil in which he slays the devil. Raphael whose name means "The Healing of God", restored sight to Tobit and Gabriel brought the message of God to Mary about the birth of her son Jesus Christ. Listen out today or you might miss the particular message meant for you by one of his angels. |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Friday 28 September 2007New is not always good, in fact if you watch the news on television or read it in the papers whatever media brings you news can depress and overshadow the good news also being told. Praying the news is a modern gift of contemporary Christianity. Firstly all news belongs to God, secondly in the darkest and blackest time Jesus Christ can shine through and change our understanding. New then is a form of praying, give the news back to God, ask him to open your heart and mind to the truth behind the headlines and turn news in to a prayer of thanksgiving. Have you thanked God for today? |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Thursday 27 September 2007Christians have a direct gospel command to care for the sick and oppressed and the marginalized in society. It is not a surprise therefore to find individual Christian men and women called to serve these marginalized people. Today we call to mind St Vincent de Paul who was converted to Christ in 1609 and immediately founded communities of people to care directly for the poor and the sick. Later he took up the cause of prisoners, slaves and victims of war becoming a legend in his own lifetime. A mark of a Christian is to stand beside and speak for those who have lost their voice in society for whom Christ died. |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Wednesday 26 September 2007Wilson Carlile founded the Church Army and came from Brixton in South London he was committed to caring for people first. He started as organist for Dr Sankey of Sankey & Moody hymn fame. His zeal for the gospel led him to give his whole life to working people and because of this passion he founded the Church Army in 1882 four years after William Booth founded the Salvation Army. He opened the work of evangelism to all those who felt called to preach and teach the gospel. His legacy lives on. |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Tuesday 25 September 2007Bishop Lancelot Andrews wrote his blog in sixteenth century England, he is remembered today. He would have approved of the internet church and its message; as one of the translators of the Authorized Version of the Bible he fought hard to bring the Word of God to people in their own tongue. You can visit his words on line and pray with him in Southwark Cathedral in London where he lies buried. |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Monday 24 September 2007To keep the good news of the gospel alive it needs to be told and re-told enthusiastically by those who believe it. Through the skill of radio, television and film that same good news is made known as you read this blog today. May he bless you who hear and read this message. |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Sunday 23 September 2007The miracle of electronic communication though explainable scientifically can be seen as a continuation of the incarnation, God became flesh to bring us back to himself;, through the medium of electronic church God continues to dwell in our hearts and minds. |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Saturday 22 September 2007General Booth, founder of the Salvation Army as he began his crusade to the East End of London said, "Why should the devil have all the best tunes". He then set out fearlessly to bring people back to God and with his army of musicians and angels of mercy he saved those who had fallen to Satan's demands. We claim the internet for Christ may he bless our endeavours. |
Collection: ThoughtOTD Friday 21 September 2007What a great day, the opening of the internet church for London website. Today Christians remember St Matthew the Evangelist, with pen in hand and words on his lips Matthew told the good news of Jesus Christ. London's internet church uses electronic skills to tell the same good news to a new generation - Alleluia! |