The other day as part of #AfternoonTea, we talked about relationships and the question of “Is there the one?” In other words, does God have one specific and ideal partner in mind for you who will complete you in every way. In classic style, I responded with the good old “No and yes.” Now that… Continue reading Meeting “The One”
Category: Discipleship
Victory and the Church on Display (Sealed with the Spirit Part 4)
In the fourth part of our look at the work of the Holy Spirit, how we know him and experience his work in our lives, we complete the background look at the context of Ephesians 1:13 which talks about being sealed with the Spirit. The goal of the Holy Spirit is to enjoy God (himself)… Continue reading Victory and the Church on Display (Sealed with the Spirit Part 4)
The Holy Spirit and two gods to worship
There is a brilliant little booklet called “Two Ways to live” that helpfully presents the Gospel in picture form. But there are not only two ways to live but also two gods to worship. There is the true and living God who made us, loves us and in Christ has redeemed us. Then there is… Continue reading The Holy Spirit and two gods to worship
The Holy Spirit guarantees the promises of God
In our second look at what it means to be “sealed with the Holy Spirit” we look at the wider context. To understand what a phrase means we need to see how it fits within a passage and a book. So have a read of Ephesians 1:1-14. God the Father is worthy of praise and… Continue reading The Holy Spirit guarantees the promises of God
Sealed with the Holy Spirit
Sealed with the Spirit A few articles back I began an in depth look at the work of the Holy Spirit. This was prompted by a provocative article by Matthew Mason where he argued that Conservative Evangelicals suffer because they lack a functional doctrine of the Holy Spirt and a meaningful experience of him. I’ve… Continue reading Sealed with the Holy Spirit
#Coronavirus – why do the rules have to be so strict?
You are driving down the street and you see one of those road signs, it has a red outer circle and on the inside it says 30. What does the sign mean? That’s obvious isn’t it? It means you could probably get away with driving at 40 miles per hour! There is something about our… Continue reading #Coronavirus – why do the rules have to be so strict?
Justice and Salvation (2 Peter 2:4-10)
Introduction Last time, we saw that we have to be on the look out for false teachers. However we also saw that despite their sneakiness and arrogance, false teachers cannot avoid God’s judgement. However, how can we be sure that they will receive justice and how can we be certain that in the meantime and… Continue reading Justice and Salvation (2 Peter 2:4-10)
Prayer when praying is hard
We are called to pray, prayer can be a great help in our daily life, but sometimes prayer feels like hard work, we find our minds wander, we don’t know what to say, we struggle to get the right words or sometimes because of guilt and sometimes other emotions we struggle even to start praying,… Continue reading Prayer when praying is hard
Pastoring in a pandemic
One of the most read, most quoted, most promoted books amongst Christian leaders is “The Reformed Pastor” by Richard Baxter. Baxter was a minister who served in Kidderminster at the time of the English Civil War. The book describes his methods in seeking to care spiritually for his parish. It is also one of the… Continue reading Pastoring in a pandemic
Law and Legalism, Grace and Wisdom
On Sunday mornings recently we were tackling the middle section of Deuteronomy. It’s a challenging section with at first sight a lot of rules and regulations where it is not always easy to see how they relate to each other and where at times the culture they represent seems alien and even offensive to our… Continue reading Law and Legalism, Grace and Wisdom