Thursday, 15 July 2010 – 12:27 pm
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?; [...]
Thursday, 15 July 2010 – 9:19 am
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 [...]
Sunday, 11 July 2010 – 7:52 pm
In this post: The defective gospel of the Alpha Course; False assumption 1 – We can judge what is right by whether it ‘works’; False assumption 2 – Growth in church attendance proves God’s blessing; False assumption 3 – A transformed life is proof of salvation; The right way, and the wrong way, to view [...]
Friday, 19 March 2010 – 11:36 pm
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 [...]
Saturday, 13 March 2010 – 6:07 pm
Have you noticed? Christian organizations everywhere are emphasizing the importance of engaging in practical ways with the poor and needy. The talk is of ‘impacting people’s lives for the Kingdom’ and ‘responding to Jesus’ call to look after the poorest and most vulnerable’. This is a good thing, surely? Is this not simply following the [...]
Friday, 26 February 2010 – 9:05 pm
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.
Friday, 26 February 2010 – 7:10 pm
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 [...]
Monday, 22 February 2010 – 5:17 pm
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 [...]
Tuesday, 26 January 2010 – 7:52 pm
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?
Tuesday, 12 January 2010 – 7:52 pm
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 [...]
