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 […]
Once a year I attempt to do a biography of a leading Christian character on a Sunday evening. You can hear the talk on John Bunyan here. I tried to tell Bunyan’s story using his own words. That meant there were lots of quotes! So, if you want to follow the talk, it is probably […]
I’ve been reflecting on sin recently. A number of things have made me ponder the subject: 1. Preparing for last Sunday with Jesus’ diagnosis of the world as evil. 2. Writing up my notes on Paul Tripp’s book A Dangerous Calling. This is his book on the nature of pastoral ministry and it is painfully […]
On Sunday morning we faced up to a painful diagnosis- Jesus says that what the world does is evil (John 7:7). You can listen to the sermon here. It is not something that he says just once. I noted Graham Beynon’s comment based on Matthew 7:11- “We think of ourselves as basically good people who […]
This week is a mixture of sabbatical plus involvement in the Kidlington Holiday Club (plus the ongoing filling of boxes in preparation for the arrival of the electrician!) The Holiday Club has been a real encouragement with a number of youngsters coming who have had little contact with the Bible before. Tempting as it is […]
Everybody appears to be making the contrast between our Olympic athletes and footballing heroes. It’s not hard to understand why this is the case. I heard many interviews with Olympic performers over the last two weeks and, as a general rule, they came across as humble and generous in their praise of coaches, opponents and […]
Sometimes friends ask me what I have been reading recently. Often my mind goes blank- I know I have been reading books but I can’t for the life of me remember what they were about. So I’m hoping that writing up lessons that I have picked up from my reading will at least be of […]
In my last post I noted that the great distinctive of Luke’s Gospel is the theme of reversal- introduced by Jesus and completed when he returns. That means that there are dangers for us to avoid (lest we be brought down) and attitudes to cultivate (that we may be lifted up). The chief danger, of […]