The message of Isaiah can be summed up as follows. First, that we are rebel sinners. We have been unfaithful to God and chosen idolatry over worship and trust in him. Isaiah warns us that we will become like our idols, impotent, hardened, powerless, ignorant. Secondly, the consequence of sin and idolatry is God’s righteous… Continue reading Summing up the message of Isaiah
Tag: application
Avoiding wrong turnings
How do we apply the book of Isaiah to our lives and context today? * Well, first of all, it’s important that we don’t attempt to pick it up and synthesise a set of principles straight from 700BC to 21st century life. Instead, whenever we pick up an Old Testament book, we apply it first to… Continue reading Avoiding wrong turnings
When patching up no longer works
Our previous car lasted us a good decade. Well, strictly speaking it lasted a good seven years. Then things started to go wrong. Every time the car went in for service, it would come back with a big bill to pay and a significant bit of work. Then there were the times when we had… Continue reading When patching up no longer works
The idols must go
The things that we fear and the things that we put our trust in are the things that become our idols. They become our idols because we give power and authority to them. We think that they have control and influence over our lives. We are scared that if we do not do what they… Continue reading The idols must go
The limits of persuasion – when explaining doesn’t help
If only people knew what was really going on, they’d quickly change their minds and behaviour. If I could just sit down face to face and talk with them, then they would see that I was for them, they’d understand the decisions I’d made and the actions I’d taken. They might not like it but… Continue reading The limits of persuasion – when explaining doesn’t help
Death and resurrection – applying Jonah through Jesus
We want to apply the Old Testament to our lives today but how do we best do that. There’s a risk that if we just use an Old Testament character as an example that we end up with legalism. The message of Jonah gives us a helpful case study. Jonah runs away from God and… Continue reading Death and resurrection – applying Jonah through Jesus
When Scripture asks the questions
Steve Kneale has written helpfully here about what to do when a Bible passage doesn’t seem to be answering your questions. As Steve observes, it can often be the case that the passage simply isn’t intended to answer the question that you and me are asking. Indeed, it may well also be the case that… Continue reading When Scripture asks the questions
What is the preacher meant to do … and how should we introduce them?
The other day, I wrote about one of my bugbears which is the way in which sometimes preachers are introduced as being about to explain God’s Word. You can read here why I don’t like that phrase. This prompted the legitimate question “then how should the service leader introduce the speaker?” My answer would be… Continue reading What is the preacher meant to do … and how should we introduce them?
Stop saying that the preacher will explain the passage
I’m going to fess up to one of my bug bears. It really irritates me when a service leader announces that such and such a person is “now going to come and explain the Bible passage.” Please can we get out of the habit of doing this. First of all, it gets the idea into… Continue reading Stop saying that the preacher will explain the passage
Why I believe in preaching through whole books of the Bible
The other day, I wrote about how we engage with theology in the local church. In the current debate about this, some people are setting up the practice of systematic expository preaching in opposition to engaging with theology. In fact, the idea that we should preach through a whole book of the Bible has long… Continue reading Why I believe in preaching through whole books of the Bible
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