QUESTION: In the area of discovering God’s will how do you and how should we distinguish between what we want and what God wants? Do you regard the Bible as the inspired word of God and if so how should the Bible influence our decision making? RESPONSE: The Bible is ‘useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting,... Continue Reading →
Apologetic Resources
Here are just some of the great resources I’ve found over the years, and here they are in no particular order (compiling this short list here does not necessarily mean I wholly subscribe to all the associated groups or persons' theology, just that they have some very important things to say that are nevertheless, worthwhile and valuable):... Continue Reading →
Chicken Preaching, Flat Mountains and Glorious Contradictions
The funny guys at Babyon Bee have hit on a Forsythian nerve of mine. The headline 'Half Of Congregation Dies Of Starvation As Sermon Goes 15 Minutes Over Time' is brilliant satire, as are almost all of their other articles; a much welcome relief to the tedium of seriousness we Protestants can so easily find... Continue Reading →
The Three Words
Christians hold a very high regard for the notion of 'The Word of God' and rightly so. But it does seem to me at least, that we confuse categories and blur boundaries. There are three Words: The Word that is Scripture The Word that is Christ The Word that is Preaching Evangelicals (and I count... Continue Reading →
The Ancients on, and in defence of, Preaching
Martin Luther (1520): "The soul can do without anything except the Word of God. . . . The Word is the gospel of God concerning his Son . . . To preach Christ means to feed the soul, make it righteous, set it free, and save it....The Word of God cannot be received . .... Continue Reading →
The truth: the holy truth, and nothing like the truth – post-truth society and the church
The following article is a guest post by Rev'd Dr Helen Paynter, a Research Fellow and Coordinator of Community Learning at Bristol Baptist College, as well as part-time minister at Victoria Park Baptist Church in Bristol, and it is published here with my thanks to her friendship and ministry. The paper was originally published in... Continue Reading →
FOLLOWING JESUS
The first thing and the last thing that Jesus said to Peter was the same—“Follow me!” The first occasion was when Peter and his brother were casting a net into the Galilean Lake. Jesus passed by and called out, “Follow me, and I will teach you to fish for men” (Mk. 1: 16-18). Peter quickly... Continue Reading →
Prophecy: “Ad hoc cries of an expressive, diagnostic, or tactical nature, delivered as ‘spontaneous’ mini-messages” it is not!
Some thoughts...... On Prophecy Broadly speaking, my view is that prophecy is either an anointing of the Spirit or a gift of the Spirit, depending on which form of prophecy is in view. I believe that the biblical prophets had a unique anointing that nobody else has had since the closing of the canon. The... Continue Reading →
X marks the spot
Having had the best part of the weekend in Oxford (Baptist Union Assembly), I must say what an inspiring place it is. I'm sure the sun shining was a major factor, not to mention the incredible falafal wraps I enjoyed, with a decent pint at the famous pub favoured by C. S. Lewis and the... Continue Reading →
Eucharist is….
The biblical meaning of ‘Eucharist’ (or 'Communion' or 'The Lord’s Supper') as it comes to us through the Old and New Testaments, contains a vast array of images and meanings that are there to prevent us from dogmatic one-dimensionalism, but gift us with a multi-dimensionalism of blessing and enrichment: From the OT: Eucharist is.... ...... Continue Reading →
Gralefrit Theology 