What is the most important thing that is happening this week? All eyes have been on Washington for the inauguration of Donald Trump as US president again. I notice there was some controversy about Franklin Graham saying that God had raised Trump up. I agree with my friend Steve Kneale here. We can talk about… Continue reading Smaller is bigger! What really matters in the week that Donald Trump becomes US President again?
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“Temptation comes from our own desires” What does James have to say about sin, desire and temptation?
James 1:13-14 says: Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire (ESV). The NIV translates epithumia as “evil desires”, although whilst… Continue reading “Temptation comes from our own desires” What does James have to say about sin, desire and temptation?
Heads, submission and BDAG -my response
Andrew Bartlett has kindly responded with some comments on my most recent article in our conversation series. As I noted then, I sent him an advanced draft copy and I made a couple of amendments prompted by his comments. I left his response as is because I thought it still helped to prompt a few… Continue reading Heads, submission and BDAG -my response
Is there such a thing as “The Reformed view”?
John Stevens recently drew followers of his Facebook page to a quote from Sinclair Ferguson Within Reformed theology there has always been a diversity of viewpoint on various issues. Being aware of this saves us from naively (but dogmatically!) saying, “The Reformed view is…..” when all we are entitled to say is, “The view held… Continue reading Is there such a thing as “The Reformed view”?
Preaching: what and how.
This is one of the additional chapters to “How do you know?” That I mentioned I was planning It is impossible to talk about the Doctrine of Revelation and how we know about God, Creation, Humanity and New Creation without talking about preaching. What is preaching? It’s important though to be clear about what we… Continue reading Preaching: what and how.
Southport doesn’t mean that we are facing a new kind of terrorist threat
Yesterday I wrote responding to Nigel Farage’s claim that there had been a coverup concerning the Southport killer. In his haste to make political capital, Farage seems to have forgotten that the cause of tension at the time related to the false rumour that the attacker was an asylum seeker. The issue was not as… Continue reading Southport doesn’t mean that we are facing a new kind of terrorist threat
Heads, bodies, submission and BDAG: Andrew Bartlett’s response to my article on Ephesians 5
Heads, bodies, submission and BDAG: Andrew Bartlett’s response to my article on Ephesians 5 Below is Andrew’s response to my latest article. I try to send Andrew an advanced draft of what I’m about to say and keen-eyed observers will notice that I amended the first comment he picks up on, prompted by his comment. … Continue reading Heads, bodies, submission and BDAG: Andrew Bartlett’s response to my article on Ephesians 5
Southport, coverups and short term memories
Axel Rudakubana, the Southport attacker has now pleaded guilty to murder and to related terror offences. The terrorism charges relate to him possessing Ricin and having accessed Al Queda documents. We know at this stage that he had a long history of violence and an obsession with violence which meant that he had been referred… Continue reading Southport, coverups and short term memories
Marriage at work in Ephesians
In my detailed engagement with Andrew Bartlett’s book, “Men and Women in Christ, we’ve got to the bit where he engages with Ephesians 5 and Colossians 3. You will probably have picked up that I think he should have made this his starting point Now, you might think that maybe this reflects my own bias,… Continue reading Marriage at work in Ephesians
More mangled Bible reading in support of Paedobaptism
This article attempts to argue that infant baptism is mentioned in the Bible by reference to the way Paul describes those who passed through the Red Sea as baptised into Moses (1 Corinthians 10:1-2). It relies on some pretty woeful interpretation of Scripture. First, what Paul does is he takes the events of the Exodus… Continue reading More mangled Bible reading in support of Paedobaptism