Keen Bible readers will observe a footnote at the start of Ephesians 1. It tells us that the words Ephesians or Ephesus are not present in the earliest manuscripts. This means we cannot say for certain that the letter was specifically intended for that church. The consensus is that this letter was originally intended as… Continue reading How much does it matter if Ephesians was not written to Ephesus?
Posts
They came for the Jews
I’ve just made some updates to my book “Against Christian Nationalism”. One important inclusion is a chapter on how the movement has engaged with the issue of antisemitism. I’ve included it below. To be clear up front, the thesis of this chapter is not that prominent UK Christian Nationalists are intentionally promoting antisemitism. Rather, it’s… Continue reading They came for the Jews
Fire and flood
A month back, Sarah had a message to say that serious wildfires had broken out near her school. These had caused havoc leading to a number of people losing their homes to the fire and others being treated in hospital. Then a few weeks later our neighborhood was battered by a terrific thunderstorm with torrential… Continue reading Fire and flood
First Look
There are plenty of excellent evangelistic resources out there including well known courses such as Alpha, Christianity Explored and 3-2-1. A few years ago, I put together First Look as an additional in house option for our church. This was not because there was anything lacking in the existing national options. Rather, I wanted an… Continue reading First Look
Evangelistic Resource for Christmas
This is probably the first blog mention of Christmas. Whilst it is perhaps too early to be talking about Christmas in some regards, it is actually a little late in the day for those of you planning Christmas evangelistic events including carol services. Some churches like to have a little free give away booklet for… Continue reading Evangelistic Resource for Christmas
Tales of the Kingdom
I mentioned in a recent post that one of the aims of Faithroots is to make preaching and teaching resources readily available for free. Another little publication available here is Tales of the Kingdom which provides an overview of Mark’s Gospel
Wages
I once preached at a church known locally as “The wages church”. The reason was that the church had posted on a banner outside Romans 6:23, Unfortunately, from the top deck of the bus, you could only see the first part of the verse emphasising that “the wages of sin is death”, you missed out… Continue reading Wages
Romans 6:20-23
We always belong to someone or something meaning that we are always free from someone or something. If we are slaves to sin, we are free from righteousness. That’s not as good as it might sound to some. It’s not that we are free from legal obligations, it is that we are free from being… Continue reading Romans 6:20-23
Romans 6:15-19
This next section repeats the “what then…by no means” pattern. Again, Paul asks if it is okay to sin, this time because we are under grace. Does this different constitution give us freedom to do what we want. The answer is an emphatic “no”. (v15). Why? Because our obedience confirms our ownership. We tend to… Continue reading Romans 6:15-19
Good constitutions and bad rulers
Most countries have some form of a constitution. The UK is unusual in that unlike most countries its constitution is unwritten, however, it still has one. Many countries have constitutions intended to encourage liberal democracy and the rule of law. However, that doesn’t always work out. Sometimes the people find themselves governed by brutal dictators… Continue reading Good constitutions and bad rulers
