This might be a speculative punt but something struck me as I was reading through Nehemiah 8. That’s the passage where Ezra begins to teach God’s people the Law, The people celebrate the feast of Tabernacles at that point and so they build booths to stay in whilst hearing the Torah taught. Well, when a… Continue reading Transfigurations and tabernacles
Posts
Don’t serve thin gruel. Offer them a “better than” Christmas
A friend posted on facebook a comment to the effect that Christmas decorations are not meant to be understated, they are meant to be over the top, exuberant as though someone has “vomited up joy.” Well, I’m not sure if he went a little bit too far with that image but I think you get… Continue reading Don’t serve thin gruel. Offer them a “better than” Christmas
Are we really all credobaptists now?
I joined in an interesting discussion on Facebook recently. Someone was suggesting that the term “credobaptist” was meaningless and inaccurate it didn’t properly describe the Baptist position and didn’t really distinguish so called “credobaptists” from “paedobatpists”. They offered their own alternative. A little, though not completely tongue in cheek, I suggested that they stick with… Continue reading Are we really all credobaptists now?
People Matter: God’s safe and satisfied people
This is a written version of my sermon from last Sunday on Nehemiah 7-8. In the early parts of Nehemiah, one theme seems to get hammered home “walls are important.” If you are trying to put together kids clubs activities, that can become a challenge. There are only so many different ways you can build… Continue reading People Matter: God’s safe and satisfied people
Wicked and the Gospel
The other day I shared my thoughts on a review of the new film adaption of the stage musical “Wicked”. I thought that the review missed the mark in terms of its cultural analysis. I thought it would be worth following up by sharing how I would engage with the story from a Gospel perspective.… Continue reading Wicked and the Gospel
The difference between Jesus and Santa
I once made the mistake of provocatively stating that “Santa” about as close as you can get to the Anit-Christ. The mistake I made was not checking who was in the room. One of the youngsters in the church was present. Fortunately, I made the mistake in a Bible study/prayer meeting and not in a… Continue reading The difference between Jesus and Santa
Unworthy
A Son is along way from home, homeless, treated as an outcaste, on the brink of death. This could in fact describe two sons. In the story that Jesus has been telling, the younger son has left home for a far off country. There, he has wasted everything and at that point, famine hits. Penniless… Continue reading Unworthy
A perplexing review of Wicked
I’ve just read Brett McCracken’s review of Wicked on The Gospel Coalition Website and I have to admit to being just a little bit confused! McCracken seems desperate in his review to identify a post/anti-Christian plot. Now, of course, Wicked reflects a non Christian/post-Christian worldview, that’s unsurprising and yes, that does mean that it is… Continue reading A perplexing review of Wicked
The Toronto Blessing in retrospect
Thirty years ago, something significant happened in the life of the church around the World. Reports started coming through of something spectacular happening at the Airport Vineyard Church in Toronto, a possible move of the Holy Spirit accompanied by both spectacular and weird phenomenon. At the one end of the spectrum people were reported to… Continue reading The Toronto Blessing in retrospect
Herarchies, submission and love (A response from Andrew Bartlett)
Here is a guest post with Andrew Bartlett’s thoughts on my piece titled ‘Hierarchies, submission and love’. [1] HIERARCHY/UNILATERAL AUTHORITY? Since the phrase ‘unilateral authority’, is unfamiliar, it may help if I quote my explanation of it, from page 10 of my book: “By ‘unilateral’, I mean that the authority is one-way only, the husband… Continue reading Herarchies, submission and love (A response from Andrew Bartlett)
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