ON every side a wail is rising over the irreparable damage that is being done to the rural England that we all claim to love. The change that has occurred is most evident to those who have not witnessed its steady progress, rapid as it has been. To realise what has happened, let us put ourselves in the place of an Englishman who is now returning home after a sojourn of twenty years in some remote Eastern outpost of our Empire. Imagine him as a sensitive observer like Doughty or Kinglake, a...

In the mid 1980s the Waterboys took a sudden turn away from their climb up the ladder of UK rock stardom and headed out to Ireland--and eventually the rural West of Ireland--to record the remarkable Fisherman's Blues album. They drew together traditional Irish music; folk, gospel, and blues stylings; and a joyful sense of storied wonder. This tale of the rediscovery of an enchanted musical and lyrical kingdom serves as the framework for Richard Briggs to explore gospel re-enchantment, in d...

Explore the Future of the Countryside in "Rusticus" by Martin S. BriggsJoin author Martin S. Briggs on a thought-provoking journey into the heart of rural life and the evolving landscape of the countryside in "Rusticus." This insightful and engaging book offers a compelling glimpse into the future of rural communities and the challenges and opportunities they face in a rapidly changing world.Discover the Changing Face of Rural LifeIn "Rusticus," Briggs paints a vivid portrait of rural comm...

Rusticus: Or, The Future of the Countryside by Martin S. Briggs is a novel that delves into themes of rural life and its evolution in the face of modernity. Published in 1912, the book explores the transformation of the countryside due to industrialization and societal changes.The story presents a vision of how the rural landscape might adapt or struggle against the encroachment of industrial progress and urbanization. Through its characters and setting, the novel ...

What does it mean to take the Bible seriously? This introductory book explores how Scripture itself gives us the resources to read it wisely. First, it looks at the basic questions of reading in context--historical, literary, and theological--and understanding the significance of the two-testament structure of the Christian Bible. Then it looks at how the Bible can itself contribute to shaping a wise doctrine of Scripture. Finally, it considers some of the many hermeneutical perspectives t...

This book is for all those who wonder how to hold together spiritual life and the study of the Bible. It asks: "How may we read Scripture for a word of life?" The answer: by reading carefully, critically, imaginatively, theologically . . . in short, spiritually. Richard Briggs offers a series of "spiritual readings" in John's Gospel, going in search of life, and life to the full. Along the way he discovers surprises, love, humor, tears, truth, and suffering, all wrapped up in a profound th...

How should Christian readers of scripture hold appropriate and constructive tensions between exegetical, critical, hermeneutical, and theological concerns? This book seeks to develop the current lively discussion of theological hermeneutics by taking an extended test case, the book of Numbers, and seeing what it means in practice to hold all these concerns together. In the process the book attempts to reconceive the genre of "commentary" by combining focused attention to the details of the...

In a world in which genuine forgiveness seems as rare a commodity as ever, this collection of essays offers an opportunity to explore where and in what forms forgiveness may be found in the Hebrew Bible--a text which is foundational for Western religions and the cultures they have influenced over the last two millennia. In the wake of renewed interest in forgiveness in antiquity and recent suggestions that it bears little resemblance to modern conceptions, this book investigates the ways i...

D. S Briggs is the Senior Pastor of the New Dora Missionary Baptist Church of St Louis, Missouri and the author of four previously published books. Communicating Your Passion; Rekindle the Passion for your Preaching (2000) First Things First; Tithing, Giving, and Stewardship in the Local Church (2002) We are the Family God; Learning, Loving, Living, and Lifting the Word of God (2003) and Daily Memo; A Thirty-One Day of Reflections for Personal Growth (2018)

Decades of theory, research, and practice have singled out sense of belonging (in its many derivative forms) as a pivotal component of healthy development: psychologically, socially, culturally, academically. The human need for belonging, and therefore its essential nature, have been well established across multiple arenas. Despite growth in this field, answers to the barriers to belonging among marginalized groups and contexts remain especially elusive. For decades, this work was anchored...

God is at work among us. The “kingdom of God”—that dynamic, active power that breaks in to the hardest of hearts and places—is on the move. And how may we have eyes to see and ears to hear all that is truly taking place in, with and under the reality of our daily lives?Here the gift of poetry may come to our aid. In poems that range from loose informality to tight structure, and from the humorous to the sombre, Richard Briggs seeks to let poetry open our eyes and ears to the strang...

Join Rhea and her fellow detectives as they crack some of day care's most puzzling cases. Mrs. Bearington has gone missing. Help Rhea find her by using your supersleuth counting skills to solve each clue. Is Mrs. Bearington lost forever? Only time will tell.