https://anitamathias.com Anita Mathias's Blog on Faith and Art Sun, 19 Jun 2022 15:52:00 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 https://anitamathias.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/cropped-Anita_lgr_hi_res_square_512-32x32.jpg https://anitamathias.com 32 32 https://anitamathias.com/2018/03/16/on-the-amazing-baptism-in-the-holy-spirit-and-its-limits/ https://anitamathias.com/2018/03/16/on-the-amazing-baptism-in-the-holy-spirit-and-its-limits/#comments Fri, 16 Mar 2018 21:25:37 +0000 https://anitamathias.com/?p=66826 John the Baptist’s preaching caused a revival, of sorts. “The whole Judaean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him.” (Mark 1:5) This explosion of popularity did not throw him off course. He did not try to maintain his momentum or his platform. He stayed focused on the Message-giver, and his message […]

The post On the amazing Baptism in the Holy Spirit–and its limits! first appeared on Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires.]]> https://anitamathias.com/2018/03/16/on-the-amazing-baptism-in-the-holy-spirit-and-its-limits/feed/ 7 https://anitamathias.com/2018/01/28/in-praise-of-desert-and-wilderness-experiences/ https://anitamathias.com/2018/01/28/in-praise-of-desert-and-wilderness-experiences/#comments Sun, 28 Jan 2018 22:47:08 +0000 https://anitamathias.com/?p=66810 John the Baptist, his heart and mind and spirit filled with the word of God, pregnant with his calling, does not do what we would today if we sense a calling. He does not go to the cities, to Jerusalem; he does not seek a platform; in fact, he initially does not speak at all. […]

The post In Praise of Desert and Wilderness Experiences first appeared on Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires.]]> https://anitamathias.com/2018/01/28/in-praise-of-desert-and-wilderness-experiences/feed/ 18 https://anitamathias.com/2014/05/21/god-clanging-cymbal-l/ https://anitamathias.com/2014/05/21/god-clanging-cymbal-l/#comments Wed, 21 May 2014 11:34:40 +0000 http://anitamathias.com/?p=60979 You are the God of the noisy gongs, and you are the God of the clanging cymbals,   of those who speak in the tongues of angels and are impatient, who prophesy and are unkind,   who understand mysteries and resent the success of the unworthy,   whose faith moves mountains, and are rude and […]

The post God of the Clanging Cymbal   first appeared on Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires.]]> https://anitamathias.com/2014/05/21/god-clanging-cymbal-l/feed/ 3 https://anitamathias.com/2012/09/09/in-which-god-forgives-us-we-forgive-ourselves-and-we-are-free-from-paralysis/ https://anitamathias.com/2012/09/09/in-which-god-forgives-us-we-forgive-ourselves-and-we-are-free-from-paralysis/#comments Sun, 09 Sep 2012 22:34:00 +0000 http://anitamathias.com/blog/2012/09/09/in-which-god-forgives-us-we-forgive-ourselves-and-we-are-free-from-paralysis/  I am re-reading Mark. John’s my favourite gospel guy, followed by Luke, but the immediacy of Mark, our immediate immersion in a fast-moving scenario of accelerating success grabs me every time. Jesus issues his great call to repent and believe the good news. He heals most everyone, dramatically, and so “news about him spread quickly […]

The post In which God forgives us, we forgive ourselves, and we are freed from paralysis first appeared on Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires.]]> https://anitamathias.com/2012/09/09/in-which-god-forgives-us-we-forgive-ourselves-and-we-are-free-from-paralysis/feed/ 3 https://anitamathias.com/2012/08/15/good-christian-blogging-should-be-john-the-baptist-blogging/ https://anitamathias.com/2012/08/15/good-christian-blogging-should-be-john-the-baptist-blogging/#comments Wed, 15 Aug 2012 23:29:00 +0000 http://anitamathias.com/blog/2012/08/15/good-christian-blogging-should-be-john-the-baptist-blogging/ How can a Christian blogger make sure her writing is a blessing to her readers? Not every post, of course. The word “blog” is an abbreviation of weblog, a diary, and there is a therapeutic, transformational element to  recording our lives in our blogs–who we are, and what we do and think. Without that, I […]

The post Good Christian Blogging should be John-The-Baptist Blogging first appeared on Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires.]]> https://anitamathias.com/2012/08/15/good-christian-blogging-should-be-john-the-baptist-blogging/feed/ 3 https://anitamathias.com/2011/07/01/repentance-and-forgiveness-2/ Fri, 01 Jul 2011 14:56:00 +0000 Image, Cafe Biblia Mark 1:4 Blog Through the Bible Project  And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Repentance. Changer la vie in French probably gives as better idea of what it means, or metanoia in koine Greek, changing one’s soul . What is so tricky […]

The post Repentance and Forgiveness first appeared on Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires.]]> https://anitamathias.com/2011/07/01/repentance-and-forgiveness/ Fri, 01 Jul 2011 14:56:00 +0000 http://anitamathias.com/2011/07/01/repentance-and-forgiveness/ Image, Cafe Biblia Mark 1:4 Blog Through the Bible Project  And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Repentance. Changer la vie in French probably gives as better idea of what it means, or metanoia in koine Greek, changing one’s soul . What is so tricky […]

The post Repentance and Forgiveness first appeared on Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires.]]> https://anitamathias.com/2011/06/27/repent-and-believe-the-good-news/ Mon, 27 Jun 2011 21:37:00 +0000 http://anitamathias.com/blog/2011/06/27/repent-and-believe-the-good-news/    Image :downeyubf.com  Mark 1: 14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” The first thing Jesus says in this first appearance in Mark’s Gospel, the first Gospel to be written is […]

The post Repent and Believe the Good News first appeared on Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires.]]> https://anitamathias.com/2011/06/21/repent-and-believe-the-good-news-5/ Tue, 21 Jun 2011 11:43:00 +0000  Image :downeyubf.com  Mark 1: 14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” And so we see Jesus for the first time in Mark’s Gospel. And the first thing Jesus says in this […]

The post Repent and Believe the Good News first appeared on Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires.]]> https://anitamathias.com/2011/06/17/the-spirit-sent-him-into-the-wilderness-3/ Fri, 17 Jun 2011 16:39:00 +0000 https://anitamathias.com/2011/06/17/the-spirit-sent-him-into-the-wilderness-3/ 9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you […]

The post The Spirit Sent Him into the Wilderness first appeared on Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires.]]>