World without hope?

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Summarising ch 1 of The Jesus Hope, by Stephen Travis (1974)

Visions of the future

Most twentieth century prophets are prophets of doom, not of hope – we need think only of George Orwell’s 1984, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange, and Neville Shute’s On the Beach.’

‘People have been lamenting man’s decline for a long time.

It was Aristotle, before 300 B.C., who is supposed to have said, “When I look at the younger generation, I despair of the future of civilization.”…

Heirs of God

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A summary of ch. 16 of Practical Religion, by J. C. Ryle

Rom 8: 14-17

The Apostle is speaking to the richest people on earth. The inheritance of which he speaks:-

  • is the only inheritance really worth having. All others are unsatisfying and ‘They bring with them many cares. They cannot cure an aching heart or lighten a heavy conscience. They cannot keep off family troubles. They cannot prevent sicknesses, bereavements, separation, and deaths.’
  • is the only inheritance which is within everybody’s reach.
…

Is there a Scriptural model for the public meetings of Christians?

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Here’s an essay I wrote back in 2000 as a basis for discussion amongs the preachers and worship leaders at my church, Holy Trinity Norwich.

1. Starting-Point: Scripture or Tradition?

Our starting-point should not be, ‘Where can we find scriptural warrant for our current practice’; but rather, ‘What form of public meeting might be suggested if we went back to Scripture and ignored, for a moment, what we have become used to?’

2. Scriptural Basis: Old Testament or New Testament?…

The case against euthanasia

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Current interest in this topic takes me back to a lucid and insightful article by Donald MacLeod in The Monthly Record, Feb. 1981.

Current publicity probably gives an exaggerated impression of the pro-euthanasia lobby. But the subject cannot be dismissed lightly: ‘respect for human life derives ultimately from the fear of God and that is becoming an increasingly rare commodity.’ Danger highlighted in the Voluntary Euthanasia Bill of Lord Raglan in 1969. The provisions of this were:

  • The patient signed in advance a form requesting “the painless inducement of death” in the event of him contracting an incurable illness.
…

1 Cor 13:4 – ‘Love is not envious’ – sermon notes

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These are notes of a sermon preached many years ago (possibly 1994 or 1995) at Holy Trinity Norwich.

Text: 1 Cor 13:4 – ‘Love is not envious’

Envy is a member of a nasty little family of vices that also includes greed, covetousness and jealousy. As a public service, I have conducted some practical research over the past week, by trying out each of them in turn.

On Monday, at tea-time, there were four currant buns, and four of us sitting round the table.…

Death

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Summarising ch. 17 of God’s Words, by J.I. Packer

Death as an uninvited intruder, evoking panic. “He passed, however, a not unsuccessful life in his profession, and the only Intruder he found himself unable to deal with was death.” (Charles Williams)

Fear of death universal. Heb 2:15 ‘through fear of death were subject to life-long bondage.’ Job 18:14 ‘the king of terrors’. “Nineteen times the Bible calls the prospect of death its ‘shadow’.”

Some ‘shrug it off’ – ‘morbid’. …

Bible thoughts on time

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1. God in time and eternity

Psa 90:1 – ‘O Lord, you have been our protector through all generations!
90:2 Even before the mountains came into existence,
or you brought the world into being,
you were the eternal God.
90:3 You make mankind return to the dust,
and say, “Return, O people!”
90:4 Yes, in your eyes a thousand years
are like yesterday that quickly passes,
or like one of the divisions of the nighttime.’

2.…

Ten time robbers

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Which of the following are your main ‘time robbers’?

  1. Doing things myself when someone else should be doing them.
  2. Being too easily sidetracked.
  3. Too many interruptions.
  4. Tiredness, lack of energy.
  5. Not being able to say ‘No’.
  6. Putting off difficult jobs or decisions.
  7. Starting things but failing to finish them.
  8. Spending too much time hunting for lost letters, books, bill, etc.
  9. Chatting and socialising too much.
  10. Dealing with unwanted phone calls, emails, etc.

 …

Theology of Prayer 12 – The Dignity of Prayer

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B.M. Palmer, Theology of Prayer, ch. 12

Chapter 12 The Dignity of Prayer

1. All the constituent elements of our complex being are distinctly united and exercised in prayer

In prayer, all the faculties or the mind are exercised – memory, reflection, judgment and reason. ‘Before a man can lisp a syllable of prayer, he must recognise something to pray for. He must know to whom the prayer shall be addressed, and he must consider the relations in which he stands to the Benefactor whose favour he solicits.…

Does God change his mind?

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An affirmative answer to this question underpins Christopher and Richard Hays’ book The Widening of God’s Mercy:

‘Contrary to the common idea that God’s decisions are eternal and immutable, there are numerous stories of God changing God’s mind in the Bible, and others in which God declares that past judgments were too extreme.’

On the basis of this, the authors develop a ‘trajectory’ argument, according to which sexual behaviours once rejected by God in Scripture have now become acceptable.…