Methodist Bishop

Jeremiah 23.1-6, 2 Corinthians 12.2-10, Mark 6.30-34 The Christian approach to happiness finds it through engagement not detachment, through loving God and others as much as we love ourselves. Like a Greek philosopher, Jeremiah sees the ideal leader as someone who should, above all, be wise and just, although he uses a very Biblical term to sum up what he’s looking for - righteousness. A righteous leader will not only be at peace within themselves, but they’ll make other people happy too. The opposite of being like this - being unwise, unjust and self obsessed - is evil. It doesn’t lead to happiness, it brings woe upon the leader. Woe is the very opposite of happiness, it’s unhappiness, and that’s what the bad leader is going to reap. Of course, Jeremiah is thinking about kings, but his prophecy can be applied to any sort of relationship where people are called upon to to guide and inspire one another - marriage, parenthood, relationships between workers and their supervisors and man...

Ezekiel 2.1-7, 2 Corinthians 2.1-12, Mark 6.7-9 Here are some lyrics from a song that got several young people put in prison just for dancing along to it. See if you recognise what all the fuss was about. It might seem crazy what I'm about to say; Sunshine she's here, you can take a break, I'm a hot air balloon that could go to space With the air, like I don't care baby, by the way. Bring me down, I can't nothing, Bring me down, my level's too high, Bring me down, I said. Here come bad news, talking this and that, yeah, Well, give me all you got, and don't hold it back, yeah, Well, I should probably warn you I'll be just fine, yeah, No offence to you, don't waste your time. Here's why… Can anyone tell me how that sentence is supposed to end? Why is the singer feeling lighter than air, so that even bad news can’t bring him down to earth? Let’s play the song and see if that helps to joy your memories. And, while we’re...