In my first post on the Mountain Bible School I noted that I had persistently used a phrase when teaching through John 13-21: “It is a wonderful thing to be a Christian.” It was an attempt to summarise the raft of privileges that Jesus promises His disciples in these chapters. However, I can imagine circumstances […]
I am deeply thankful for the last six weeks of sabbatical and holiday. I’ve seen some remarkable places (the excuse for the random picture above) and enjoyed fellowship with a variety of churches. As it draws to a close I am trying to draw some threads together on what the Lord has taught me. Book […]
A few weeks ago I posted the handout that accompanied my recent talk on John Bunyan. In that talk I focused principally on three of Bunyan’s works- Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, Pilgrim’s Progress and his Advice to Sufferers. I didn’t have much time to reflect on his Holy War that I read […]
I was grateful that many people in the church were praying for David, Janet and me as we attended the Pastoral Refreshment Conference last week. Several asked me on Sunday whether I was, indeed, refreshed! The answer was yes! Let me explain why. By far the most helpful thing about PRC is that it treats […]
Our Relationships Series has come to an end. On this blog over the last few weeks my main focus has been on the subject of homosexuality. However, I think our time considering friendship was as important. I am convinced (and I made this point again on Sunday morning) that close relationships, where anxieties, temptations and […]
Last Sunday evening we held the second in our series considering Relationships and Sexuality. I spoke on the subject of homosexuality and then was interviewed. Since my teenage years, I have been exclusively attracted to other men rather than women. So the question we pondered in the interview was this- what does it mean for […]
This evening was biography night at the church. I think it is good for us to remember the Lord’s work down through history and so each year I try to include a biography as part of an evening service. Tonight we looked at John Newton. You can hear the talk here. I tried to use […]
The first thing I should admit is that this conference was two months ago- I’ve not been good at writing recently! However, I was reflecting recently that I needed to revisit some of the lessons from it so have decided to write it up. The Pastoral Refreshment Conference is organized by Living Leadership. The aim […]
A few weeks ago I spent some time with a good friend. I suspect I am not always the easiest character to read but my friend has an unnerving ability to discern my thoughts accurately: to spot when I am finding an issue difficult even when I don’t say anything. At times that can be […]
Those who have listened to enough of my sermons will know that Tim Chester is a modern author I tend to quote frequently. I’ve read many of his books and have always appreciated his engagement with Scripture and challenging application to the church today. Both of these qualities are evident in his book based on […]