Tag: Prayer

Have we got waiting on God all wrong?

Sometimes I think that the big dividing lines between Christians are not primarily about doctrine but about temperament and how we mentally process things.  Take for example the recent debate about whether pastor’s have jobs, whether their vocation is about leisure or work.  It strikes me that some of the arguments against work came from… Continue reading Have we got waiting on God all wrong?

What is Birmingham’s bankruptcy saying to us?

Yesterday I wrote about our city going bankrupt and what that might mean for us.  As I explained in the article, there’s actually a lot of uncertainty and the honest answer to “what does this mean?” Is that we really don’t know yet.  It is entirely possible that for most of us we’ll see very… Continue reading What is Birmingham’s bankruptcy saying to us?

A still small voice?  Learning the wrong lessons from Elijah’s encounter

In 1 Kings 19, Elijah has fled for his life from Ahab and Jezebel.  God meets with him, gives him rest and food, then he tells him to go and stand in his presence, to prepare for the covenant Lord, Yahweh to pass by.  We are then told: “Then a great and powerful wind tore the… Continue reading A still small voice?  Learning the wrong lessons from Elijah’s encounter

Services saturated with Scripture

My friend, Richard Baxter makes this important point.  I think there are a few reasons why church services can feel like they’ve been shorn of Scripture reading. Daniel Blanche raises one possibility here. I agree with Daniel but I want to add a couple of other reasons here in order to help us think practically… Continue reading Services saturated with Scripture

Does God care particularly about special places?

The other day, I wrote about the Eternal Wall of Answered Prayer. One of the things I picked up was that there were claims of a special experience of God’s presence at the site.  One of the questions that has come back in discussion is whether or not God does show concern for specific places… Continue reading Does God care particularly about special places?

We don’t need “the world’s largest Christian land mark” in Birmingham

“We’re one step closer to building the world’s largest Christian landmark”  reports Richard Gamble about the building of an “Eternal Wall of Answered Prayer”.  There’s a lot going on in the report in Premier Christianity from the association of a physical place with spiritual presence to odd hubris of declaring this an “eternal wall.” Then… Continue reading We don’t need “the world’s largest Christian land mark” in Birmingham