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	<title>wordandspirit</title>
	<link>http://www.wordandspirit.co.uk/blog</link>
	<description>pursuing faithfulness to the Word of God and fullness of the Spirit of God</description>
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		<title>Esther and the Gospel</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Over this summer I have been teaching my way through the book of Esther as a part of a summer school that my church has been running. I’ve also been blogging my way through the subjects we touched on during that series. I wanted to finish my seminar series with a look at the question,]]></description>
		<link>http://www.wordandspirit.co.uk/blog/2010/09/01/esther-and-the-gospel/</link>
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		<title>Esther and Complementarity</title>
		<description><![CDATA[We’re more or less at the end of the book of Esther now. It closes with a postscript that describes how both Esther and Mordecai worked together to write letters and create legislation (e.g. Esth 9:29). Esther has of course grown up from being a girl to a woman during the course of the story.]]></description>
		<link>http://www.wordandspirit.co.uk/blog/2010/08/31/esther-and-complementarity/</link>
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		<title>Esther and Mercy</title>
		<description><![CDATA[We have already looked at the way that Esther didn’t speak up in Haman’s defence despite his pleading with her for his life (Esth 7:7). At least some form of justice was served, even if he was executed on a false charge. But we have a second example of lack of mercy in Esth 9:13,]]></description>
		<link>http://www.wordandspirit.co.uk/blog/2010/08/30/esther-and-mercy/</link>
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		<title>Esther and Remembering</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Naturally the great deliverance of the Jews from Haman’s wicked plot was the cause of much celebration and feasting (Esth 9:17-18). But Mordecai and Esther were determined that the story should not be forgotten, so they instituted an annual holiday to commemorate it – the festival of Purim (Esth 9:20-21). Although Christians do not celebrate]]></description>
		<link>http://www.wordandspirit.co.uk/blog/2010/08/29/esther-and-remembering/</link>
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		<title>Esther and Revival</title>
		<description><![CDATA[There is a remarkable statement in Esth 8:17 which says that “many people of other nationalities became Jews”. What does that mean? Did they really convert to Judaism, worshiping the Lord and being circumcised? Or is it that they just claimed to be Jews, or were supportive of the Jews, or respectful towards them? A]]></description>
		<link>http://www.wordandspirit.co.uk/blog/2010/08/28/esther-and-revival/</link>
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		<title>Esther and Holy War</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Esth 8:11 is one of the most troubling verses in the book of Esther for many Christian readers. Not only does Mordecai’s counter-edict effectively authorize a civil war, but its provisions seem unnecessarily barbaric. Although many English translations smooth things over somewhat, many commentators agree that the edict permits the Jews to kill the women]]></description>
		<link>http://www.wordandspirit.co.uk/blog/2010/08/27/esther-and-holy-war/</link>
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		<title>Esther and Finishing</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Chapter 7 ends with Haman being impaled on the pole he set up for Mordecai (Esth 7:10). If this was a movie, we might expect the credits to start rolling – the arch-villain has been defeated and now things are surely going to be OK. But there is still work to do. Haman’s edict of]]></description>
		<link>http://www.wordandspirit.co.uk/blog/2010/08/26/esther-and-finishing/</link>
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		<title>Together at Westpoint 2010</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I got back today from Together at Westpoint, a regional newfrontiers camping weekend featuring Bible teaching, worship and kids’ work. We had teaching from Guy Miller and Dave Stroud, with Chris Kilby finishing off with a gospel appeal. Probably my favourite talk from the week was Dave Stroud on Noah and the life of faith.]]></description>
		<link>http://www.wordandspirit.co.uk/blog/2010/08/24/together-at-westpoint-2010/</link>
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		<title>Esther and Justice</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Most action movies climax at the moment where the villain gets his comeuppance, usually by being killed in a particularly gruesome way. But no one is overly bothered by this, since it is understood as justice being meted out. The story of Esther reaches a similarly satisfying climax, as Haman ends up being impaled on]]></description>
		<link>http://www.wordandspirit.co.uk/blog/2010/08/20/esther-and-justice/</link>
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		<title>Esther and Shrewdness</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Whilst we have admitted that we don’t know exactly why Esther chose to delay her request until the moment she did, we can certainly say that it was a wise thing to do. She comes across in several places as a shrewd young woman, knowing not just when but how to act. Here she seems]]></description>
		<link>http://www.wordandspirit.co.uk/blog/2010/08/19/esther-and-shrewdness/</link>
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