If you are truly a Christian, then the Holy Spirit dwells in you, Roman 8:9.
There is no ‘Premier Division’ to be promoted to. But we should all seek to be filled more and more by the Holy Spirit.
John the Baptist, Luke 1:15;
Our Lord, Luke 4:1;
Peter, Acts 4:8;
Stephen, Acts 6:5; 7:55;
Saul, Acts 9:17; 13:9;
Barnabas, Acts 11:24.
We also read of larger numbers being filled at the same time, Acts 2:4; 4:31; 6:3; 13:52.…
Here are some of his names and titles:-
Breath of the Almighty…Power of the Most High…Spirit of power…Spirit of the Father…Spirit of the Living God…Eternal Spirit…Holy Spirit…Power of the Most High…Sevenfold Spirit…Spirit of the Lord…Spirit of fear of the Lord…Spirit of life…Spirit of truth…Spirit of revelation…Spirit of knowledge…Spirit of understanding…Spirit of wisdom…Spirit of prophecy…Spirit of holiness…Spirit of glory…Spirit of fire…Spirit of counsel…Spirit of Christ…Spirit of sonship…Spirit of grace…
It is clear that we are talking about a Divine Being. …
Some lessons on faith from the story of Abraham in Genesis 15-18.
Abraham took God at his word concerning the birth of a son in his old age. Faith is not some kind of quality worked up in our own minds (‘believing in God for a miracle’). It is simply taking God at his word. If this is so, then the more we get into God’s word the stronger our faith will become.…
In an article in the New Dictionary of Biblical Theology, D.A. Carson warns against ‘word-based reductionism’:-
…‘When Amnon incestuously rapes his half-sister Tamar (2 Sam. 13, LXX), twice we are told that he ‘loved’ her, once with agapaō and once with phileō. It is hard to see how this love differs from erōs, acquisitive and sexual love (though the word erōs is never found in the Bible). Twice John tells us that the Father ‘loves’ the Son, once using agapaō (John 3:35), once using phileō (John 5:20), and it is difficult to detect any difference in meaning.
Trevin Wax reports:-
In 1911, Holbrook Jackson, a disciple of Nietzsche, wrote a book called Platitudes in the Making. He sent a copy to G.K. Chesterton, who write, in a green pencil, a response to nearly all of Jackson’s pithy platitudes.
Here are some examples: with Jackson’s proposals in bold type, and Chesterton’s responses in italics:-
In his book ‘Coming Events and Present Duties’ (1867/1879), J.C. Ryle summarises his views on prophecy and presents a handful of sermons preached on various aspects of this subject.
Concerning the future of the Jews, Ryle states:-
…‘I believe that the Jews shall ultimately be gathered again as a separate nation, restored to their own land, and converted to the faith of Christ, after going through great tribulation. (Jeremiah 30:10, 11; 31:10; Romans 11:25, 26; Daniel 12:1; Zech.
Genesis 12:1-9
After repeated failure, here is God’s new beginning.
Three horizons:-
1. An individual – Abraham
v2 – “I will bless you…I will make your name great.”
Many obstacles: – too old; childless wife; land already occupied, v6; famine (v10)! imperfect character! not the top candidate (why not Melchizedek?)!
He ‘did not receive the things promised,’ (Heb 11:13). By the end of his life, all he had was one field and one son.
He ‘obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going, (Heb 11:8). …
‘Older Younger Brother: ‘The tragic treatment of the Jews by the Christians’.
This is a 50-page booklet by Canon Andrew White (‘The Vicar of Baghdad’), published in 2014.
It has been placed into my hands by some Christian friends, and I offer here some words of summary and response.
White begins by setting out the context of his life-long ‘love for the Middle East and…hatred of all anti-Judaic polemic.’
He reminds Christians of how much they owe to the Jews:-
Their total history of salvation from the time of Abraham came through the Jewish people. …
In his 2010 book, If the Church Were Christian: Rediscovering the Values of Jesus, Quaker pastor Philip Gulley offers a recipe for, well, making the Church Christian. Richard Rohr thinks that the recipe is ‘superb’, and restates it in the following words:-
In his book Where Your Treasure Is: Psalms that Summon You from Self to Community, Eugene Peterson studies “psalms that shaped the politics of Israel and can shape the politics of America” [or Great Britain]:
2 the unselfing of America
87 unself-made
110 unself-centered
93 unself-government
46 unself-help
62 unself-assertion
77 unself-pity
14 unself-righteous
82 unself-serving
114 unself-sufficient
45 unself-love
He comments, “writing about prayer is not prayer; neither is reading about it.…
