I am republishing this article from 2016 in the light of recent challenging news stories How can we be alert to the risk of abuse, manipulation and control in church life? Sometime back, I preached on 1 Corinthians 12:1-3. I talked about how the devil wants us to stop hearing God and instead turn to… Continue reading Idolatry and Abuse
Tag: idolatry
Do we worship freedom?
When he wrote Escape from Reason, Francis Schaeffer talked about how we have divided the word in half, below the line is the natural world and above it is the supernatural, what we look to for meaning, what in effect we worship. Once we remove from God from above the line we replace him with… Continue reading Do we worship freedom?
Racism, social justice, crime, sin and idolatry
This is a follow up article to my most recent article on #BlackLivesMatter and specifically to some comments, questions and interaction. One notable comment was to the affect that Justice was being done in the George Floyd case because the policeman was standing trial Christians should stick to preaching the Gospel and not spend time… Continue reading Racism, social justice, crime, sin and idolatry
Resisting Tyranny – Two case studies
In response to my articles on obeying Government and civil disobedience, I saw this comment on twitter. So, I thought it might be worth working through the two case studies. First of all Daniel. I want you to notice a few things about Daniel’s account because it is in fact important to our thinking. First… Continue reading Resisting Tyranny – Two case studies
Why attempting to control COVID is not an idolatrous attempt to conquer death
A narrative is emerging from some quarters of the church that measures to deal with the pandemic represent state and societal hubris, a humanistic confidence in our ability to defeat death. If this was the case, then we would be dealing with idolatry. Of course, as Christians we should not be surprised to see evidence… Continue reading Why attempting to control COVID is not an idolatrous attempt to conquer death
When a community has a blind spot
I want to pick up on a brilliant question that was raised by one of our church family on the Zoom discussion last Sunday. We had listened to James preach on Matthew 7:1-6 and then one of the members asked “is it possible for these verses to talk about a whole community, church or institution?”… Continue reading When a community has a blind spot
Seduced (Proverbs 7)
“You want business?” It was a persistent question walking back to my flat after work. I’d managed to rent a place in one of the less desirably parts of town and along the road I had to walk along was where the local prostitutes operated. I have to say they hadn’t made much of an… Continue reading Seduced (Proverbs 7)
Adultery and the forbidden woman
There is nothing more devastating than adultery. The discovery that the person you trusted your life to was living a lie, the fear, guilt and shame that it was in fact failure on your part, the destruction that comes as a dad or mum walks out refusing to heed the pitiful cry of their children… Continue reading Adultery and the forbidden woman
The fear of being forgotten (our obsession with statues)
The debate about tearing down statues that has dominated our news headlines this week has been a proxy for a deeper debate about what we value. Behind it has been questions about who we remember and who we forget and what that says about the things we value. So, one of the key arguments for… Continue reading The fear of being forgotten (our obsession with statues)
Listen very carefully
Here’s today’s Afternoon Tea discussion. As it is Sunday, we have a first look at the Sunday Night topic which this week is “Listen carefully” (Hebrews 2:1-4). Here are the key points: 1. The context is that Jesus is greater than the angels. 2. Although Jesus’ revelation is greater, it does not replace the OT… Continue reading Listen very carefully
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