When Moses is in the wilderness, he spots a bush on fire, the famous burning bush. However, it’s not the fact that a bush is on fire that gets his attention. This may well have been a normal sight for him. What really is the miracle there? It’s the fact that the bush itself is… Continue reading What isn’t consumed
Category: Bible Study
Is your satnav set right? Why we need faith
This is the text of a sermon I recently preached from Luke 17. Introduction A few years ago, we went on holiday with some friends to a place called West Bay which is down in Dorset and famous as the place where Broadchurch was filmed. Our friends’ parents had a holiday home there but they… Continue reading Is your satnav set right? Why we need faith
How does Jesus answer the problem of suffering?
Luke 13 begins famously with Jesus being asked about a tragic atrocity. Pilate had not only slaughtered some Galileans but had also had their blood mixed in with their sacrifices, thus contaminating the altar and making the sacrifices ineffective. The implied question that Jesus answers is as to whether the victims had been particularly guilty… Continue reading How does Jesus answer the problem of suffering?
The man who got trampled to death
One of my favourite Bible events is in 2 Kings 7 where some lepers discover that the siege of Samaria has been lifted and go to tell the King that there is food outside the city. The king’s officer whom he relied on for advice was sceptical, cynical even. So the prophet tells him that… Continue reading The man who got trampled to death
Marriage as witness to Christ and the Church
Here’s another of our videos looking at how we share our faith through our lives
The big story
It’s the start of a new academic year for those involved in school, college or university – parents, teachers and students. So for those of you who make use of faithroots for training purposes, it might be a good time to dig into a new course I’m going to run through the Autumn. We are… Continue reading The big story
Do Christians need deliverance from demons?
You may recall from previous articles that my answer to this is “no.” I though tit might be helpful to flesh out why, by engaging with some arguments that Jon Thompson makes in his book “Deliverance.” Thompson’s argument can be summarized as follows. Now, I agree with Thompson that “demonized” is a more literal interpretation… Continue reading Do Christians need deliverance from demons?
Sharing your faith in the face of death, dying and bereavement
We have been working through a summer series about sharing Jesus with others at our church. One of the things we wanted to get across that this is about the whole of life and so we have picked up on a few examples of life circumstances and how to live for Jesus and speak for… Continue reading Sharing your faith in the face of death, dying and bereavement
Household baptisms, paedobaptism and the Onesimus problem
Why does Onesimus cause a problem for paedobaptists? Well a lot has been made in their argument of the descriptions of converts being baptised with their whole households. The argument is that it would run contrary to the culture for people to be only baptized if they repented themselves. Rather, we would expect them to… Continue reading Household baptisms, paedobaptism and the Onesimus problem
Household baptisms, headship, corporate salvation and paedobaptism
A common argument for infant baptism is that in Acts, whole households are baptised and that must have included children. This has also been developed by some into the argument that the culture of the Bible was more corporate with a greater emphasis on fathers acting as heads of families so that it would be… Continue reading Household baptisms, headship, corporate salvation and paedobaptism
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