The Puritan John Flavel invites us to ask the following questions about our desires for Christ:-
‘Are they ARDENT? Has Christ the supreme place in our hearts? Do we esteem all things but dung that we may win Christ and be found in him?
Are they UNIVERSAL? Is everything about Christ desirable in our eyes? The hypocrite is for a divided Christ. The believer loves his government and his grace, his sovereignty and his mercy, his Lordship and his priesthood.…
Many Christians feel a tension between the teaching of Jesus in the Gospels and that of Paul in his Epistles. The central theme of Jesus, it would appear, was ‘the kingdom of God’, and the main focus of Paul was ‘justification by faith’. These themes are so different that any attempt to reconcile them seems futile. We then allow Jesus and Paul to be set up in opposition to one another, and end taking sides in favour of one or the other.…
In South Africa, Nelson Mandela lies in hospital on life support. While he does so, his family are feuding over his legacy and his money.
In Egypt, just one year after that country’s first democratic elections, its prime minister is in detention. The country is in turmoil, its population sharply divided between supporters of the ex-prime minister and those who forced him from office.
In Syria, more than 90,000 people have died in 2 years of conflict.…
(This was part of a series on the Kingdom of God.)
The theme of God’s kingdom is prominent in Matthew’s Gospel:-
1:1 – ‘the son of David’
2:2 – “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?”
3 – John and Jesus announce, ‘The kingdom of heaven has drawn near.’
5 – The kingdom of heaven belongs to the poor in spirit and to those who are persecuted.
6 – ‘Your kingdom come…Seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness.’…
Peter Mead has put together a collection of 50 ways in which preaching might helpfully be tweaked. Here’s a summary, in a mixture of his words and mine:-
In the light of a recent tragedy, Doug Wolter, pastor in Humbolt, Iowa, shared the following with his congregation as a simple giving real help to those who were hurting. This is a summary.
H – Offer hope. We may not be able to offer any explanation of why this has happened, but we can point to Jesus, who has uniquely entered into our pain and suffering.
E – Enter into the other person’s pain. …
Revelation has suffered at the hands of both its critics and its friends.
to strengthen God’s people, especially in times of adversity and persecution, and to reassure them of Christ’s ultimate victory and their ultimate safety.
Rev 4 – a vision of the throne
At the centre of the universe there is a throne. Our God reigns.…
Ask any preacher what they think is the weakest part of their sermon, and ask any sermon hearer what aspect of preaching is in greatest need of improvement, and the answer is likely to be the same: application.
Indeed, it can seem so difficult to get from text to application that some preachers are tempted to give up on expository sermons and offer topical messages the seem to speak more directly to contemporary issues and to people’s felt needs.…
‘Irony’ means using words with the opposite meaning to that which is usually intended. It is a powerful device, and can sharpen up our understanding of people and events by showing us who ‘gets it’ and who ‘doesn’t get it’.
Irony is not only a verbal device. There is also ‘dramatic irony’, in which the ‘real’ meaning of an entire event may be the opposite of its assumed, or apparent, meaning.
The account of Jesus’ crucifixion as recorded in Gospel of Matthew (Mt 27:27-51) is dripping with irony. …
Some atheists are optimists. They are so enchanted by the idea of giving up all belief in God, the supernatural, and fairies-at-the-bottom-of-your-garden that they imagine that the void that has been left is utterly benign.
Others, however, are not so sure. They are inclined to be much more pessimistic about the implications of their unbelief. They have the honesty and insight to face up to what a world-view without God really means. Professor Dawkins, while he knows little about the Christian faith and still less about the Bible, rightly regards the cosmos with awe and understandably regards it as staring back at him with ‘blind, pitiless indifference’.…
