Author Archives: admin

Responding to the current global health crisis

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In the light of the current viral pandemic, Brian Tabb remarks that disease is iconoclastic: it challenges and destroys our most treasured cultural idols.

What follows is based on (and quotes from) Brian Tabb’s article.

First, ‘disease smashes the idol of security’.  People long for security: physical security, economic security, emotional security, online security.  But the most determined government, the most formidable military force, the most sophisticated surveillance system, cannot protect us against the invisible threat of the Covid-19 virus.…

On NOT clinging to hope

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A recent article on the BBC website sets out to tell us ‘why we should all hold on to hope.’

‘Through difficult times, the daily grind and the problems that we encounter in our lives, staying positive and committing to change can be a real challenge. That’s where hope comes in.’

What, then, do we need to know about the importance of hope?

1. ‘Hope helps us to reach our goals.’  Unlike optimism, which is passive, hope is active. …

God’s presence

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The presence of God’s glory is in heaven;
the presence of His power on earth;
the presence of His justice in hell;
the presence of His grace with His people.

If He denies us His powerful presence we fall into nothing.
If He denies us His gracious presence we fall into sin.
If He denies us His merciful presence we fall into hell.

Fear God for His power.
Trust Him for His wisdom.
Love Him for His goodness.…

God does not need us

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What! he who guides the stars, and keeps them revolving in their orbits by the motions of his fingers, does he need an insignificant atom like one of ourselves to serve him?

What! he whom all the hosts of angels do worship, and before whose throne the cherubim do veil their faces with their wings, does he need a tiny creature like man to give him homage and reverence?

If he did need men, he could soon create as many mighty kings and princes as he pleased to wait upon him, and he could have crowned heads to bow before his footstool, and emperors to conduct him through the world in triumph.…

Tozer on God’s self-sufficiency

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Here are some extracts from A.W. Tozer on God’s self-sufficiency.

A voluntary relation

‘God has a voluntary relation to everything He has made, but He has no necessary relation to anything outside of Himself. His interest in His creatures arises from His sovereign good pleasure, not from any need those creatures can supply nor from any completeness they can bring to Him who is complete in Himself.’

We must learn to think differently about God

‘We must reverse the familiar flow of our thoughts and try to understand that which is unique, that which stands alone as being true in this situation and nowhere else.…

Christ in all the Scriptures, but…

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We preachers are rightly urged to preach Christ from every Old Testament passage.  This is sound advice, and finds support from our Lord himself, in Luke 24.

There are, however, some dangers and pitfalls in doing so, as helpfully pointed out by Colin Adams.  Here’s what he has to say (in his own words, but slightly abbreviated):

i) Christ is everywhere in the Old Testament but he’s also the promised one.

Christ was certainly present in the entire history of redemption (John 8:56-57, Hebrews 11:26, Jude 5).…

Ten suggestions for reading Old Testament Narrative

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Here’s some sound advice from Colin Adams, with examples from 2 Samuel.

1) Try and grasp the overall point of the book. 

The overall point of 2nd Samuel is that God is establishing an eternal kingdom through David. Even David’s grotesque sin will not stop the promise and grace of God.

2) Read in big chunks – narrative often tells you ‘a little, in a lot.’

Chapters 2 to 5 of 2nd Samuel are basically about God raising David to power.…

Exodus 12:37 – How many Israelites left Egypt?

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12:37 The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Sukkoth. There were about 600,000 men on foot, plus their dependants. 12:38 A mixed multitude also went up with them, and flocks and herds—a very large number of cattle.

To the reader who is inclined to take Old Testament history seriously, the presence of large numbers – particularly in military accounts – presents a significant problem.

What are we to make of

  • the standing army of Israel of over half a million (Numbers 1:46; 2:32; 26:51)?
…

God the Judge

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J.I. Packer writes:

Do you believe in divine judgment? By which I mean, do you believe in a God who acts as our Judge?

Many, it seems, do not. Speak to them of God as a Father, a friend, a helper, one who loves us despite all our weakness and folly and sin, and their faces light up; you are on their wavelength at once. But speak to them of God as Judge and they frown and shake their heads.…

Wine and strong drink in the Bible

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In the interest of complete disclosure, I ought to say that I was raised within Methodism, a Christian tradition that tends to support total abstinence.

I am acutely aware of the devastating effects of alcoholism: a relative came close to destroying both himself and his family because of his addiction to drink.  (He was enabled to give up alcohol completely – apart from a couple of temporary lapses – after he exercised saving faith in Jesus Christ.)…