Category Archives: Articles

A closer look at the Alpha Course and whether it is permissible to judge what other Christians teach

In this post: The responsibility of elders for sound doctrine; Do ordinary believers have the right to judge an elder’s doctrine?; Doesn’t Jesus tell us not to judge?; Doesn’t Paul tell us not to judge another’s servant?; Is the Alpha Course really that bad?; Is God not able to use Alpha, even if it imperfect?; [...]

Our transformed lives: what are we to make of good works?

In this post: On professing Christians who seemingly bear no fruit; Paul Washer on our unbalanced understanding of Christianity; Of those whose lives do seem to bear fruit in keeping with repentance; Bonus comments: Brief study of assurance in 1 John 3:14–20; Is it right to share our testimony of a changed life? In my [...]

In thankfulness for my readers and their comments

This blog is blessed with intelligent, thoughtful and gracious commenters. One of the delights of posting a piece is in the subsequent interaction with its readers. Whether they agree, disagree or are simply asking questions, I often find that the ensuing conversation helps me to sharpen my understanding of the glorious Gospel and its outworking [...]

The power of the Gospel

What is the Gospel? I briefly covered this in my article, The mysterious case of the disappearing gospel. But the topic is so important that I return to it here. St. Paul defines the Gospel very clearly and concisely in his first letter to the Corinthians: Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which [...]

Bob DeWaay on the dangers of spiritual formation and spiritual disciplines

My friend Mike Ratliff presents a superb article by Bob DeWaay that gets to the heart of the problems inherent in spiritual formation and spiritual disciplines. As usual, Pastor DeWaay is Scriptural, clear, insightful and convincing. What more could you want? If you have read my article Spiritual growth? There’s an app for that, you’ll [...]

Rick Warren plays the Pharisee card

Rick Warren, CEO of Saddleback Church, yesterday played the Pharisee card. He wrote: ‘It drives Pharisees nuts to watch God keep blessing ministries they ridicule & despise.God’s sovereignty is often humorous.’ What’s the Pharisee card? Good question.

Legalism and licence

Which of these two statements is true? We are never permitted to sin. We cannot avoid sinning. Both of these assertions appear in an excellent article by Todd Wilken (of the Issues, Etc radio programme). Todd writes: They seem so different. One person lives his life striving for moral perfection. The other person doesn’t try [...]

What is a sermon for, and is it right for us to judge a poor one?

My friend James kindly posted some thoughts in response to my How to diagnose a sermon article. That article gave a three-step diagnostic (courtesy of the Issues, Etc. radio programme) for reviewing sermons. You can read his comments in full on that article, but his three main points were: That I seemed to be ‘casting [...]

What if? (Absolute truth)

Many people in the Church seem to be asking ‘What if’ questions. Which started me thinking… What if…there exists a truth which is absolute? What if…it is true that there is a God? What if…this God made the heavens and the earth?

The point of the ‘sheep and the goats’ passage is NOT that we should try harder to do good works

During his Olivet discourse, Jesus tells His disciples of the coming day of judgement when He shall separate the sheep from the goats: 31When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32All the nations will be gathered [...]