Tag: Jesus

Stones and Serpents

I don’t want to make too big a deal out of this but I was fascinated when looking at Jesus teaching on prayer to spot one of those little but intriguing connections. In Matthew 4, Jesus goes into the Wilderness where he fasts for 40 days and nights and experiences testing from Satan.  Satan basically… Continue reading Stones and Serpents

More on logs and specks: What is the heartbeat of our church?

The other day, I began exploring the question about applying Jesus’ teaching on logs and specks corporately to churches and communities.  Steve Kneale has helpfully developed the conversation here. At this stage I am struck by two very helpful things Steve asks us to think about. The first one is that only true heart change… Continue reading More on logs and specks: What is the heartbeat of our church?

Seeing clearly and reporting accurately (my responsibility in a dispute part 2)

On our After Eight slot for Bearwood Chapel we were talking about the bit where Jesus says to take out the log in your own eye before attempting to remove your brother’s speck the other day. I asked Sarah, in the context of this, what she thought was our primary responsibility in a dispute. She… Continue reading Seeing clearly and reporting accurately (my responsibility in a dispute part 2)

My responsibility after a falling out

I am not talking here about a minor argument but when there has been a serious breakdown in relationships and a sense from all parties that they have been wronged.  If you have ever been asked to mediate such a situation then you will know how hopeless and painful, they often are.  Usually, there is… Continue reading My responsibility after a falling out

How does the Father relate to the Son? (A second look at John 5:19-27)

The context to John 5:19-29 is that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. He claimed the right to do this because he was doing what his Father did.  His opponents saw in this reference to God as father a claim to divinity and therefore blasphemy. We can assume from that, that it was not the… Continue reading How does the Father relate to the Son? (A second look at John 5:19-27)

How do I want to be judged?

Jesus says that we will be judged by the same standard by which we judge others. This should slow us down before pronouncing a verdict on others. Judging is not just about coming to a conclusion about what has happened, it is also about handing out the penalty too.  When Jesus in Matthew 18 and… Continue reading How do I want to be judged?

On judging

Matthew 7:1-6 warns against the rush to judgement. Given that Jesus himself does make judgements, gives the keys of the kingdom to the disciples and encourages church discipline, it seems unlikely that this is a blanket ban on exercising justice or discernment. However, what we have seen throughout the Sermon on the Mount is that… Continue reading On judging

Eternal Functional Subordination, The Will of God and The Creeds

In the last two articles on EFS, we picked up on what Jesus says in John 5 and Matthew 26. We saw, that on the face of it, The Son submits his will to The Father.  Proponents of EFS argue that this is exactly what the Son is doing and that this must be an… Continue reading Eternal Functional Subordination, The Will of God and The Creeds

Conversations about God

There has been much debate about the Doctrine of God over the past few years. The technical end of the debate is about whether a particular historical approach known as Classical Theism is the benchmark of orthodoxy and whether certain theologians have strayed beyond that therefore making them heretics. There are two specific examples of… Continue reading Conversations about God