Arising out of God’s sovereignty, is the truth that God elects and predestines. These concepts often prove controversial and leave us with a lot of questions about human responsibility. As we will see, Paul’s intention in Ephesians 1 is not to stir up controversy or make a philosophical point but rather to encourage us pastorally.… Continue reading God Predestines
Tag: Doctrine of God
God is sovereign
One of the other things I tend to look out for when preparing either a one off sermon or a series is the particular doctrinal issues that arise. In the case of Ephesians 1, a big theme is the sovereignty of God. Here’s a chapter from my E-book “Who is God” on thi. As we… Continue reading God is sovereign
Holiness as blessing and challenge
God’s holiness is a great theme in the Sinai passages. We see this in the way that the Law tells his people how to live in his holy presence and in the conditions that are set. There is a delineation between who can approach YHWH and who cannot. Some of the people can come so… Continue reading Holiness as blessing and challenge
Kenosis and Kingdom: The problematic theology of Bill Johnson and Bethel
Bill Johnson’s big argument in his book, When Heaven invades Earth, is that we are meant to experience the bit in the Lord’s prayer “Your kingdom come, on earth, as in heaven”, here and now. What does this specifically mean? Well, very early on, in the first chapter, in fact, Johnson tells the story of… Continue reading Kenosis and Kingdom: The problematic theology of Bill Johnson and Bethel
Preachers: Don’t make things that are about Jesus about yourself
Have a listen to this sermon. It was delivered by Bishop Cei Dewar at Christopher Wickland’s church. These are two key men in the current Christian Nationalism movement. Both spoke on the platform at the Unite the Kingdom rally. I was therefore interested in the talk partly because of that but also partly because we… Continue reading Preachers: Don’t make things that are about Jesus about yourself
Do we believe in the same God?
I had previously written about the question of whether Muslims and Christians worship the same God. Recently I picked up on the same type of question through for different reasons, asking whether Evangelicals and Roman Catholics believe in the same God. Well when I started to think about that question, I was already thinking that… Continue reading Do we believe in the same God?
None Greater
I must admit I wasn’t looking forward to reading “None Greater” by Matthew Barrett. Simply Trinity had not just left me frustrated and disappointed but angry as well. You can find out why here and here. None Greater is a much better offering but the bar was set quite low. Barrett’s book is about what… Continue reading None Greater
Oh thou who changest not: God as pure act and a warning about imported metaphysics
One of the challenges with the EFS debate was the tendency by those critiquing Grudem Ware and others was to get frustrated with their failure to follow classical theist formulations. They would then accuse those who held to EFS of either being in outright heresy or straying into heresy. The problem was that they ignored… Continue reading Oh thou who changest not: God as pure act and a warning about imported metaphysics
Talk about God. Some ways in which we can get our understanding of God wrong
One of the legitimate concerns in current debates is to know and speak of God correctly. In other words , we want to get our doctrine right. However, one of the risks we have is that we can be so concerned about making one mistake that we make another. Here are some dangers in how… Continue reading Talk about God. Some ways in which we can get our understanding of God wrong
Does the Good Father really allow his children to suffer?
At one extreme during the COVID coronavirus was the claim that the pandemic was a judgement from God or at least a wake up call from him. I have responded to this claim frequently and in detail in the past. However at the other extreme is the argument that God cannot have sent the pandemic… Continue reading Does the Good Father really allow his children to suffer?
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