We have friends from #Tonga. Here's 5 things they've told us re. the #TongaVolcanoEruption and #tongatsunami:
1. At least one inhabited island is now completely submerged. Survivors unlikely.
2. The main island is dependent on rain water for drinking... /1 It's now tainted by ash; no longer drinkable.
3. So, no water, AND it's the hottest time of the year. The people of Tonga now face the real threat of dehydration & disease. AND the hottest time of year brings w/ it the risk of cyclones. /2

THREAD: 32 yrs since my family migrated to Australia. It’s quite a story as to how/why it happened. In 1984, my mother died just before my 4th birthday (pneumonia). Suddenly, my father was a widower at 26 y/o with 3 children under the age of 4 (my sister was barely 4 mths old) /1 2 yrs later my father re-married. His new wife (now my mother) was also a widow. Her first husband died of a brain tumour while she pregnant with their first child (now my sister). Both my father and new mother wanted a fresh start. It was time to leave death & darkness behind /2

Time for Wednesdays in 1 Peter (pt 3), this time considering 1 Pet 2:11-17. Not a central part of my PhD, so perhaps not as refined as I'd like, but here we go... /1 On 2:11-12: v. 11 seems to capture again the idea of holiness back in 1Pet 1:15-16. That is, Christian believers are to pursue holiness and in so doing imitate their heavenly Father as opposed to pursuing the sinful desires that characterised their former way of life. /2

THREAD: A portion of my PhD thesis in relation to 1 Pet 1:18-19 where Peter writes about Anatolian believers being 'ransomed . . . with the precious blood of Christ , like that of a lamb without blemish or spot...' /1 It has been argued that Peter's reference to the lamb without blemish or spot maybe a conflation of 3 trad's: i.e, the Passover of the Exodus (Ex 12:21–23), the sacrificial cult in general (Lev), and the prophetic tradition connected w/ the Suffering Servant of Isa 53. /2