Walking With Giants
Posted on December 18, 2023 by admin
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During the night of Saturday, 17th December 2022, my dear wife Sarah became seriously ill with what turned out to be ‘flu, pneumonia, and then general sepsis. She was taken by ambulance to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, where she was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit. Gravely ill, she was sedated and put on a ventilator.
A few days later, I began sending out regular updates to her, and our, many friends.
What follows is a lightly edited compilation of these short bulletins. …
In Issues Facing Christians Today, John Stott urges evangelicals to a greater commitment to the social implications of the gospel. This requires careful rethinking of our theology. Stott speaks:
First, of “a fuller doctrine of God” in which we recognize that God is not confined to the religious dimensions of life or concerned only with his covenant people. Citing prophetic oracles against the nations, Stott comments, “It is clear from these Old Testament passages that God hates injustice and oppression everywhere, and that he loves and promotes justice everywhere.”…
Chapter 5 – Word Made Flesh: The Christlike God
Jesus is the perfect representation of God; indeed, he is God incarnate (Jn 1:14).
In the Nicene Creed, the Church confesses:
‘We believe in one God, the Father almighty …and in one Lord, Jesus Christ. Light from Light, very God from very God …of one essence with the Father.’
This is consistent with Paul’s teaching in 1 Cor 8:6.
The NT writers insist that Jesus:
…‘was and is the exact image of God’s essence, the precise imprint of God’s being (Col.
(William Nicholson, “Pearls of Great Price!”):-
All of God’s glorious attributes and perfections are yours!
His mercy is yours . . .
to save you,
to remove your guilt, and
to sympathize with you in times of distress.
His wisdom is yours . . .
to provide for you,
to counsel you, and
to direct all things for your good.
His omnipotence is yours . . .
to guard and protect you in the hour of danger,
to support you in every conflicting scene, and
to preserve you unto His heavenly kingdom.…
(Alexander Smellie, “The Secret Place” 1907):-
I have many agitations and misgivings. But when heart and flesh faint and fail, my Lord has three whispers for me that banish fear and alarm.
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you!” Isaiah 43:1
My PAST brings me trouble . . .
the sins I have committed,
the duties I have neglected,
the guilt I am chargeable with,
the penalty I merit —
these make the retrospect of my days and years sad in the extreme.…
I confess that I have, until now, accepted without question the ‘traditional’ attribution of the Fourth Gospel to John the son of Zebedee.
But I have been considering the view of Richard Bauckham’s, that the author and ‘Beloved Disciple’ of the Fourth Gospel is not John the Apostle, son of Zebedee. He is, rather, another John (later called ‘John the Elder’) who was a Jerusalem-based disciple (but not one of the Twelve).
I summarise Bauckham’s argument in Jesus and the Eyewitnesses (2nd ed.).…
The topic of hell is difficult, yet necessary; painful, yet useful.
Sam Storms says that he cannot contemplate the horrors of hell without a deep agony of heart. At the same time, he says, he feels a profound gratitude to the God who so lovingly and willingly reaches out and plucks the sinner from the jaws of hell.
With such thoughts in mind, Storms outlines eight common myths about hell:
Myth #1. There is widespread belief among non-Christians that Hell is a place where they will be united with their unbelieving friends and drink beer all the time in an endless party.…
From Chapter XIX of The Practical Works of Richard Baxter, “Directions for Profitable Hearing God’s Word Preached”
Titus 3: Directions for Holy Resolutions and Affections in Hearing
The understanding and memory are but the passage to the Heart, and the Practice is but the expression of the Heart: therefore how to work upon the Heart is the principal business.
Directions:
This is based on an article by Jeffrey Arthur, professor of preaching and communication at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.
Arthur points out that Jesus, the Master-Teacher, utilised a variety of techniques in order to nudge his hearers towards an understanding of (and response to) the truth.
Among these were greater-to-lesser and lesser-to-greater arguments.
They are known as argumentum a fortiori, and employ a ‘how much more…’ approach to persuasion.
They take something which is accepted by the listener as obviously true and build a bridge from it to the point the teacher wishes to make.…
Jim Gordon writes:
‘I’ve spoken with a number of folk for whom the church is a problem, or an irrelevance, or a menace. When the church becomes obsessed with ethical arguments about sexuality, or fails to speak with any authoritative, joined up and consistent voice about the genocide in Gaza, or appears so timid and morale poor in the face of its own declining clout in a culture that’s moved on without a backward look, then it;s time for Christians to ask the question: ‘What on earth is the church for?’…
‘Christians are like the several flowers in a garden, that have upon each of them the dew of heaven, which being shaken by the wind, they let fall their dew at each other’s roots, whereby they are jointly nourished and become nourishers of one another.’
‘Behold the flowers are divers in Stature, in Quality, and Colour and Smell and Virtue, and some are better than some: Also where the gardener hath set them, there they stand, and quarrel not with one another.’…
55:10 The rain and snow fall from the sky
and do not return,
but instead water the earth
and make it produce and yield crops,
and provide seed for the planter and food for those who must eat.
55:11 In the same way, the promise that I make
does not return to me, having accomplished nothing.
No, it is realized as I desire
and is fulfilled as I intend.”
In Urban Legends of the Old Testament: 40 Common Misconceptions, David A Croteau and Gary E.…
Chapter 4 – God of will or God of love?
Throughout Christian history, some have centred their theology on the idea of God’s absolute sovereignty. God is almighty, he is in control. Whatever he wishes comes to pass. Everything is foreordained – including the fall of humanity, the election of some to eternal life, and the fate of those who defy him.
So, if God commands the slaughter of a people, to obey is good, to disobey is evil (see 1 Sam 15).…