I was saddened to hear of the death of Esther Rantzen recently. As well as being a significant TV personality throughout my childhood, Esther Rantzen built a formidable reputation as a campaigner. In later years her campaigning passion was particularly linked to the assisted dying cause. Recently, the attempt to ass an assisted dying act… Continue reading More than campaigning: the pastoral dynamic to ethical issues such as assisted dying
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Building God’s House – A life of Terry Virgo
I’ve recently finished Andy Johnston’s highly readable biography of Terry Virgo. It is a fascinating and detailed account of the life of one of the senior leaders within Evangelicalism, indeed I would argue specifically Reformed Evangelicalism. It specifically highlights how someone who might have been seen in his early days of ministry as a rebel… Continue reading Building God’s House – A life of Terry Virgo
The Church and the issue of suicide
Here are some reflections on how we might go about addressing the issue of suicide in church
The Doctrine of the Incarnation
The solution to the problem of sin, according to the Bible is seen in the incarnation by which I mean the whole story of the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus.[1] This was central to the argument made by Athanasius in his book “On the Incarnation”. Athanasius says: “…It was unthinkable that God, the… Continue reading The Doctrine of the Incarnation
The Doctrine of sin
In this chapter, we are going to look at little further at what sin is and how it affects the human condition. This will include a consideration of original sin and what is referred to in Reformed Theology as Total Depravity. What is sin? A number of words are used to refer to sin in… Continue reading The Doctrine of sin
Building God’s house – invitation to a conversation
Just a heads up. I’ve been reading Andy Johnston’s brilliant biography of Terry Virgo. I’ve got two articles coming up. First a review and then an article based on a conversation with Andy The conversation began to open up a discussion around questions that at the same time might be of interest both to those… Continue reading Building God’s house – invitation to a conversation
The Doctrine of Humanity
What are the key things that we believe about humanity? Well, we can sum up a Doctrine of Humanity as follows. Humans are created in God’s image, equally as male and female. They may be described as embodied spirits. They were made to worship God and to rule his creation. We of course will want… Continue reading The Doctrine of Humanity
How many are you sending?
A lot of churches measure fruitfulness in terms of growth. They ask how many people attend on Sunday, how many kids in the children’s groups, how many conversions, how many baptisms? I think we can get over hooked on measurements. I’m more mindful to emphasise the importance of churches learning to love, enjoy and glorify… Continue reading How many are you sending?
Not the ending you were hoping for?
Here’s a sermon I preached on Nehemiah 13 that also coincided with our thanks giving service for our daughters. I opted to preach on the originally planned passage rather than something different for the day.
From now on I will bless you
Here’s an example sermon from Haggai 2:10-23. How to preach from prophetic literature and how to apply God’s amazing bold promises without slipping into prosperity teaching
