Tag: shame

Demons

Last Sunday, I preached on Jesus casting out demons. I highlighted three points in reference to this. Demon possession is possible today though I suspect rarer than in Jesus’ day Christians cannot be demon possessed because we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit The demon exorcisms in the Gospel help us to understand the wider… Continue reading Demons

My country right or wrong?

“Patriotism is the last resort of a scoundrel” This was the classic first term subject for the University debating club to get their teeth into.  Of course, each year we would make the mistake of debating whether or not patriotism was a good or bad thing. In so doing, we missed the point that the… Continue reading My country right or wrong?

Lockdown -an opportunity to relearn how we do forgiveness and reconciliation

Lockdown -an opportunity to relearn how we do forgiveness and reconciliation In Sunday’s Zoom talk I talked about moving from submitting to the ruler of this world to submitting to Christ.  One aspect of this was that we should move from holding onto bitterness and hate to learning to show compassion and forgiveness. This led… Continue reading Lockdown -an opportunity to relearn how we do forgiveness and reconciliation

How (not) to be a guilt driven church (The truth about cats and dogs 2)

The book we bought and the book we read Bridging the gap – Ephesians 2:8 -10)  For by grace….To do good works Useless and harmful bridges L……………….. L………………… M………………. Solving the problem Two reasons why we don’t boast                S……………..                N……… C……………………………… It’s g……….. all the way To think about When I am challenged… Continue reading How (not) to be a guilt driven church (The truth about cats and dogs 2)

The thing we don’t talk about (The truth about cats and dogs 1)

This is the first of three talks/studies. I will include a handout followed by a video talk The thing we don’t like to talk about – but probably should (Psalm 51) The difference between cats and dogs What is guilt? Often when we talk about guilt we really mean s……………. g….. and s………… Shame is… Continue reading The thing we don’t talk about (The truth about cats and dogs 1)

The Shaming of the Shrew

This is the third in a little series of articles reflecting on the controversy surrounding Dominic Cumming’s trip to Durham. I guess it also relates to the issues that came up with Professor Neil Ferguson and Catherine Calderwood, the former Scottish Chief Medical Officer I am more concerned with the lessons we learn for our… Continue reading The Shaming of the Shrew

Love is not an excuse to tolerate and cover up abuse

Yesterday, I wrote about what love is not. This is because sometimes people use the concept of love to manipulate victims to continue living with abuse and without justice. I want to explore that a bit further today because one of the arguments used is that this is part of a wife’s responsibility to submit… Continue reading Love is not an excuse to tolerate and cover up abuse

Love is not

Last week I started writing some articles about what a healthy church looks like and I argued that the one most neglected mark is the one that Jesus and the New Testament argues is of first importance, Love. But there is a risk if we just talk about “love” without thinking carefully about what it… Continue reading Love is not