Matthew’s Gospel contains rich teaching on the kingdom of God, with thirty-two sayings peculiar to himself.
Mt 3:2 – John preaches repentance in view of the nearness of the kingdom of heaven.
Mt 4:17 – from the time of John’s arrest onwards, the same message is found on the lips of Jesus.
In Mt 4:23; 9:35 this message is linked with Jesus’ ministry of healing. In Mt 10:5-8 Jesus commissions the Twelve with the same message and ministry.…
Mk 1:15 – Mark introduces the public ministry of Jesus with his proclamation that, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel”.
Mk 4 relates the teaching of Jesus in which the mystery of the kingdom is explained to his disicples, but conveyed to others in dark parables, Mk 4:11. The kingdom is likened to seed which is sown, shoots up, and grows quietly, Mk 4:26. Mk 4:30 stresses the contrast between the insignificant beginning and the immense growth of the kingdom of God.…
At first sight, the selection of an instrument of brutal execution as the symbol of a religion of love seems extremely odd, perverse even.
There were, after all, plenty of other candidates. The church might have chosen
But the cross is the fitting symbol of the Christian faith. …
In Evangelical Truth (p87) John Stott highlights a report, commissioned in 1945 by the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher and written by a group of Anglican Catholics with the aim of examining the causes of the current deadlock in Catholic-Protestant dialogue.
The report is entitled Catholicity: A Study in the Conflict of Christian Traditions in the West, and is available in full here. The authors accused evangelicals of emphasising the doctrine of grace in such a way as to sacrifice the doctrine of the image of God:-
It would be difficult to find a more universally celebrated virtue in modern Western culture than the virtue of tolerance.
The trouble is (writes D.A. Carson) that a new (but not necessarily improved) definition of tolerance has crept up on us and is now accepted virtually without question.
According to the old definition, tolerance meant something like ‘recognition and respect for the views of others without necessarily sympathising or agreeing with them.’
According to the new definition, tolerance means something like ‘acceptance as equally true and valid the views of others.’…
Intercessions in church and in small groups tend to follow a pretty predictable path: jobs, exams, upcoming events, mission partners and, of course, health needs.
Nothing wrong with praying for such things – nothing at all. But the prayers of the Bible are rarely about such things. They are much more frequently about one’s own, and other people’s relationship with God.
Suppose, says David Powlinson, someone asks you how they might pray for you. And imagine the impact of the following response:-
…“I’ve had a lot on my mind lately, and have been inattentive and irritable to those nearest and dearest to me.
For too many Christians, vagueness is the vogue; all they have is the courage of their confusions. (Anon)
Doubters invert the metaphor and insist that they need faith as big as a mountain in order to move a mustard seed. (Webb B. Garrison)
Give me the benefit of your convictions, if you have any. Keep your doubts to yourself; I have enough of my own. (Goethe)
Christ distinguished between doubt and unbelief. Doubt says, “I can’t believe.”…
I came across the following:-
We, as Christians, tend to complicate our faith. We use words like ‘sanctification’ when we mean ‘growing’ or ‘substitutionary atonement’ instead of ‘Christ died for us’.
(Rob Wilkins, ‘The profound simplicity of love’, in Willow Creek magazine, January/February 1991)
Can you spot the problem here? ‘Growing’ does not mean the same as ‘sanctification’. ‘Growing’ can be predicated of many different things (trees, toe-nails, debts, and so on), whereas as ‘sanctification’ refers specifically to growth in holiness (but is that another ‘complicated’ word that Wilkins thinks we should eschew?). …
When it comes to involvement in our world, two options are available: escape and involvement. Many evangelicals seem to have opted for the first option. They have withdrawn from the world, pulled up the drawbridge, and, apart from occasional evangelistic excursions, been blind and deaf to those in need. After all, the Bible teaches us to separate from the world (doesn’t it?), and to wait for the new age that will be ushered in by the return of Jesus Christ. …
“Everyone,” says James, “should be quick to listen, slow to speak” (James 1:19). In context, James’ words refer both to listening to others, and listening to God in his word.
Most of us would have to agree that, while we realise that God has given us two ears but just the one mouth, the time and effort we expend in using them are not in the same proportion.
So, what qualities should we be looking to develop and improve?…
