The "Pensive Pastor" Posts

(come on, I'm a preacher; I alliterate!!)

Welcome to my blog! These are the thoughts and musings of a pastor who, after a lot of years in ministry, believed he was retiring but then discovered that the word retirement does not appear in God's dictionary!

Not many posts just yet but expanding fast with an assortment of material. Do subscribe if you'd like to get weekly updates on posts published.


The third day (the women)

Posted on 22 Apr 2025 in category The Plan by The Pensive Pastor

Shabbat had ended at sunset the previous evening and immediately three of the women had dashed to the market and bought the myrrh and other embalming spices they needed. Praise to Adonai, the wealthy Tzaddick Yussef of Ramatayim had paid...  Read more...

The third day (the soldiers)

Posted on 22 Apr 2025 in category The Plan by The Pensive Pastor

For two days (in the Roman reckoning) the eight soldiers that made up a contubernium had sat and complained, as soldiers do, at the pointlessness of their task. As Roman soldiers, however, they had not questioned for one second the...  Read more...

At the cross, at the cross

Posted on 21 Apr 2025 in category The Plan by The Pensive Pastor

In the temple, flies gathered round body parts of the first sacrificial lambs of the day and worshippers filled all the courts of the Jewish sanctuary  as light turned to unexpected dark [1]. The timetable for the sacrifices that remembered...  Read more...

Two Years after Christmas

Posted on 1 Jan 2025 in category The Plan by The Pensive Pastor

Miriam sat with two other women outside her small house and watched their children playing dustily together in the warm afternoon sun while they took a break from the daily chores of living a humble life in a small Judean...  Read more...

This Child

Posted on 21 Dec 2024 in category The Plan by The Pensive Pastor

She knew the time was close. The birthing pains had started in the early evening and were beginning to come more frequently. Between spasms of pain the girl thought back over the events of the past year.It had all...  Read more...

But is it worship?

Posted on 27 Nov 2024 in category Church by The Pensive Pastor

What is the goal of corporate church worship? I suggest... "To lead the people into the felt presence of God  through their corporate worship of Him,  thus releasing the Holy Spirit to do His work  and His will...  Read more...