If Jesus was willing to keep attending the synagogue despite its problems, should I keep attending the established church despite its?

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If you are in a church that follows the lectionary (we are not), then this Sunday, one of the readings will be Luke 4:14-21.  I saw one person on Facebook ask whether a legitimate application was thar despite all of its problems, Jesus was there in the established church of his day.  Now, I suspect… Continue reading If Jesus was willing to keep attending the synagogue despite its problems, should I keep attending the established church despite its?

Sin, desire and temptation -going a bit further

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I’ve recently started to engage with a recent debate/controversy that has been brewing.  I think this has primarily been at an academic level, although London Seminary’s Pastor’s Academy seems to be promoting in conferences around the UK. It seems that a significant contribution to the debate is through those seeking to insist that there is… Continue reading Sin, desire and temptation -going a bit further

Thank you for telling me what I think

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Evangelicals Now have published a couple of articles responding to Trump’s inauguration, one from a concerned Evangelical. The other from someone seeking to explain why Trump has evangelical support. Unfortunately most of the article is given over to telling us UK Evangelicals what we think about Trump and why we are mistaken. We are also… Continue reading Thank you for telling me what I think

Smaller is bigger! What really matters in the week that Donald Trump becomes US President again?

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What is the most important thing that is happening this week? All eyes have been on Washington for the inauguration of Donald Trump as US president again.  I notice there was some controversy about Franklin Graham saying that God had raised Trump up.  I agree with my friend Steve Kneale here.  We can talk about… Continue reading Smaller is bigger! What really matters in the week that Donald Trump becomes US President again?

“Temptation comes from our own desires”  What does James have to say about sin, desire and temptation?

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James 1:13-14 says: Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.   But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire (ESV). The NIV translates epithumia as “evil desires”, although whilst… Continue reading “Temptation comes from our own desires”  What does James have to say about sin, desire and temptation?

Heads, submission and BDAG -my response

Andrew Bartlett has kindly responded with some comments on my most recent article in our conversation series.  As I noted then, I sent him an advanced draft copy and I made a couple of amendments prompted by his comments.  I left his response as is because I thought it still helped to prompt a few… Continue reading Heads, submission and BDAG -my response

Is there such a thing as “The Reformed view”?

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John Stevens recently drew followers of his Facebook page to a quote from  Sinclair Ferguson Within Reformed theology there has always been a diversity of viewpoint on various issues. Being aware of this saves us from naively (but dogmatically!) saying, “The Reformed view is…..” when all we are entitled to say is, “The view held… Continue reading Is there such a thing as “The Reformed view”?

Preaching: what and how.

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This is one of the additional chapters to “How do you know?” That I mentioned I was planning It is impossible to talk about the Doctrine of Revelation and how we know about God, Creation, Humanity and New Creation without talking about preaching. What is preaching?  It’s important though to be clear about what we… Continue reading Preaching: what and how.

Southport doesn’t mean that we are facing a new kind of terrorist threat

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Yesterday I wrote responding to Nigel Farage’s claim that there had been a coverup concerning the Southport killer.  In his haste to make political capital, Farage seems to have forgotten that the cause of tension at the time related to the false rumour that the attacker was an asylum seeker.  The issue was not as… Continue reading Southport doesn’t mean that we are facing a new kind of terrorist threat

Heads, bodies, submission and BDAG: Andrew Bartlett’s response to my article on Ephesians 5

Heads, bodies, submission and BDAG: Andrew Bartlett’s response to my article on Ephesians 5 Below is Andrew’s response to my latest article.  I try to send Andrew an advanced draft of what I’m about to say and keen-eyed observers will notice that I amended the first comment he picks up on, prompted by his comment. … Continue reading Heads, bodies, submission and BDAG: Andrew Bartlett’s response to my article on Ephesians 5