At this point, all looks well. God has created a good creation, fit for purpose. Humans live in that Creation, enjoying a garden paradise under God’s rule and blessing. They are responsible for caring for and ruling over creation. Then things start to go wrong The Enemy The Serpent’s cunning (v1). The snake is introduced… Continue reading The Challenge (Genesis 3)
Category: Out of the Freezer
Beasts, Dragons and a COVID vaccine passport
What if someone with a lot of wealth, tech no and power, maybe someone with a name like Gill Bates was able to get a vaccine into you that changed your DNA? What if the authorities insisted we had a digital passport to prove we had been vaccinated or tested. Isn’t that like the mark… Continue reading Beasts, Dragons and a COVID vaccine passport
The “both – and” of mission
Republished from the archives (2018) One of my personal passions and priorities is to see people get involved in urban mission, making disciples who make disciples in communities where there is practically no gospel witness at the moment. That’s why I keep pointing visitors to faithroots.net to our ActBC pages. That urban focus means that… Continue reading The “both – and” of mission
Gifting, discernment and abuse
This is the sermon mentioned in my article about spiritual abuse Worship is about Glorifying and praising God Encouraging one another up /being a witness Hearing God speak to us? How do we know that it is God speaking? By Knowing our own limitations (v 1-2) A question about Spiritual things –… Continue reading Gifting, discernment and abuse
Idolatry and Abuse
I am republishing this article from 2016 in the light of recent challenging news stories How can we be alert to the risk of abuse, manipulation and control in church life? Sometime back, I preached on 1 Corinthians 12:1-3. I talked about how the devil wants us to stop hearing God and instead turn to… Continue reading Idolatry and Abuse
Reflections on Grief
“Blessed are those who mourn for they shall see God” These reflections arose from a sermon preached some time back on 2 Samuel 1. Mourning the death of a faithful servant of God This year we have stopped to mourn on a couple of occasions. As a church, we said goodbye to one of our… Continue reading Reflections on Grief
The urban mission field is not a playground
There are a number of parachurch organisations dedicated to encouraging people to get involved in evangelism and world mission. There’s often a focus on young people and an emphasis on short term missions. Now, this is one of those articles where lots of disclaimers are needed and I’m running the risk of causing offence. So,… Continue reading The urban mission field is not a playground
What does not change
This is based on an article I wrote just after the Brexit vote. Today the US goes to the polls in the US Presidential election. For good or bad the election will affect most of us in some way, all around the world. However, we should keep the result in perspective If the Gospel is… Continue reading What does not change
Why did God test Adam with the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil?
“If God knew that Adam would fail the test and eat from the Tree, then wasn’t it unfair of him to set the test in the first place?” This is one of the questions we often get asked. The simple and short answer is “ He didn’t set a test” at least not in the… Continue reading Why did God test Adam with the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil?
Can I be a faithful follower of Jesus without attending church? (5 Reasons why the answer is “No”)
It is actually the wrong question to start with. Church is not a venue or an event that you attend. Church is the people of God. You don’t attend a church, you are part of the church. If you belong to Jesus then you belong to his family meaning that you are a member of… Continue reading Can I be a faithful follower of Jesus without attending church? (5 Reasons why the answer is “No”)
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