Biscuits, begonias & God's grace in East London

We've lived in the same part of London for almost ten years, and we love it - but not because it's always lovely.

As Luther wrote in the Heidelberg disputation, there is a kind of love that goes outward and creates loveliness, rather than responding to the innate condition of the object itself. It is a kind of love that is unique to God Himself, a love that goes out and rescues from the muck what anyone else would just throw away. It’s the love that rescued us, and the love we are trying to show here where we live.

Originally we moved here as part of my ministry, but as life evolved and shifted, and when we could have moved away, we prayed fervently to stay. God answered our prayer. And really, nothing dramatic has happened since then; scattering seeds is a good way to describe what we are trying to do. Reaping a rich harvest? Not so much. Or at least not yet.