Thinking Big Thoughts on Lord Howe Island

Hi there - here I am, temporarily holed up in the Anglican rectory on Lord Howe Island.  In between the arduous tasks of leading a Bible Study group, teaching a Scripture lesson and preaching at two church services, there's a whole lot of God's glory to behold and enjoy.

I'm also taking time to read, think and pray (i.e. I am working!).

This morning I was sitting in a cafe, enjoying a nice coffee, overlooking the lagoon with Mt Gower towering in the background, reading an article 'On Evangelical Ecclesiology' by John Webster (Ecclesiology, 2004, p.9-35), and came across this idea:  that the church has its origins in the free will of God that desires to move beyond himself so that 'there should come into being a creaturely counterpart to the fellowship of love which is the inner life of the Holy Trinity' (p.9).

How amazing is that!  (1) that I could get paid to sit on Lord Howe Island and read theology!  (2) that God would desire to create us, the church, the 'creaturely counterpart' to his eternal fellowship of love! and (3) that he has made us with the ability to sit in a cafe and contemplate his inner life of love!

Simply breathtakingly good in every sense of the word.