It is unlikely that we are going to find ourselves in exactly the same boat as the Galatian church. The issue of circumcision is unlikely to come up in our churches. So, what does the application of Galatians 2 have to do with us? I asked the question at our Life Group one evening and… Continue reading Exclusion
Author: faithrootsdw
Favour
The next part of our #WhatMatters series In Chapter 13, we’ve seen the Ark of the Covenant stay at Obed Edom’s house and he is blessed. Will the absence of the Ark of the Covenant from Jerusalem and David’s care deny him blessing? Rather than move to the conclusion of the account with the ark… Continue reading Favour
Infiltration
One big question that comes up as we read through Galatians is “How were the agitators able to be so successful?” It seems that they had already managed to infiltrate the Jerusalem church quite significantly when Paul and Titus visited (2:1-10). They also were able to get Peter to cooperate with them, even though it… Continue reading Infiltration
Saving Titus
One of the striking things in Galatians 2 is the pivotal role that Titus plays in the drama. Titus is part of Paul’s team and he goes to Jerusalem with him. Paul tells us that Titus is not compelled to be circumcised. We can skim read it as an incidental extra but actually, the point… Continue reading Saving Titus
Building church planting and multiplication into your DNA
These notes are based on a workshop I recently ran with the Birmingham Collective, a group of churches committed to encouraging and supporting one another in church planting, re-planting and revitalisation. One of our aims is to plant churches that go on to plant churches. So how do we encourage that? Well, one way is… Continue reading Building church planting and multiplication into your DNA
Is Racism a Gospel issue?
This issue became controversial following the death of George Floyd and the resulting #BlackLivesMatter protests. Quite a few churches sought to take the issue of racism and prejudice seriously with pastors publicly repenting from sin. Significant thought leaders such as Tim Keller had been arguing for some time that racism is a gospel issue. Whilst,… Continue reading Is Racism a Gospel issue?
Gospel Confrontation
The Prime Minister stood, proudly clutching a piece of paper. It offered good news he announced, confrontation and war had been adverted, we could look forward to peace in our time. The Prime Minister was Neville Chamberlain and he incorrectly believed that he had managed to appease Adolph Hitler. He was brutely proved wrong. We… Continue reading Gospel Confrontation
Is lying ever the better moral option?
This question comes up from time to time. What should you do if telling the truth would put you or others in harms way? Is it okay to tell a lie in such situations. Some people have argued that we are under no moral obligation to give the truth to someone who is morally evil.… Continue reading Is lying ever the better moral option?
No U-Turn
In the musical, The Phantom of the Opera, towards the end, the Phantom makes his move to bring Christine fully under his power. He commits murders and then she removes his mask on stage exposing him. He sings “Past the point of no return” arguing that there is now no going back, they are fully… Continue reading No U-Turn
Does it matter who I eat with?
The other day, a group of us were talking about what a meal with Jesus would be like. We were asked two things What would you ask Jesus? Name two other people you would like to have at the meal. The answer to the second question tells us a lot about ourselves. I went with… Continue reading Does it matter who I eat with?
