At our church weekend away we pondered, amongst other things, the joy of Christ. Matt Searles pointed us to something I had never noticed before- the disciples were unsurprised when Jesus talked about “My joy” in John 15. He evidently had a reputation for being full of joy. We noticed a foretaste of that in […]
A couple of years ago I wrote a few posts around the theme of personality. It is perfectly clear that we all have different temperaments- look at people’s approach to a crowded room of strangers and you’ll quickly notice a difference between introverts and extroverts. We probably sense within ourselves (especially if we are reflective […]
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 spent last week speaking on John 13-21 at the Oak Hall Mountain Bible School in the German Black Forest. It was a busy time- I covered those chapters in eleven sermons and five interactive sessions. However, there was something wonderful about that. Speaking day after day rather than week after week it was more […]
It is interesting to see which of the blogs that I write receive most feedback. Sadly from my perspective the accounts of various historical figures seem to attract relatively little! However, my post from a few weeks back- “Busy and Lifeless” has resulted in various conversations. In it I noted that a significant number of […]
Over the last few months I have had the same conversation several times. Sometimes I have been the one listening and sometimes the one speaking. The conversation involves somebody who is active in church- perhaps a pastor, an elder or a youth leader. They are doing good stuff- preaching sermons, seeing Christians grow or trying […]
I enjoy Graham Beynon’s writing. He has an ability to take an issue that is relevant to us and then write balanced biblical sense on it. His book on self-esteem, Mirror Mirror, is excellent and three years ago he wrote on the subject of Emotions. I read the book earlier this year and thought I […]