Disagreeing with Frank Viola on Baptism with the Holy Spirit

November 13, 2012 By 13 Comments
Frank-Viola

I love Frank Viola and really rate his writings, but it surprises me how often it seems to me like people I totally respect seem to apply different rules of interpretation to usual when it comes to issues connected with the Holy Spirit. So far in his first post on baptism with the Holy Spirit he begins by mentioning people being coached to "speak in tongues" which is surely something everybody can agree is totally wrong! Secondly he seems to assume that everyone who believes in the baptism … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 1 and 2 Corinthians, John Piper 13 Comments

On having an area of influence and not comparing yourself with others

September 29, 2012 By 27 Comments

I continue to update the "Top 100 list of Christian blogs ranked by Twitter followers" which looks like it will soon be renamed the Top 200!  As well as looking at the list on this site, you can subscribe to it on Twitter, or go through the list there and follow the people that look interesting.  I am still looking for any I have missed, but to get into the Top 100 it now seems you need at least 2,000 followers! But what of you? Were you pleased to be included? Disappointed that I somehow … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 1 and 2 Corinthians, Social Media 27 Comments

Your authority ends at the bedroom door: Doug Wilson, Jared Wilson and Rachel Held Evans controversy

July 25, 2012 By 39 Comments

I never thought I would write this blog post. There are some internet controversies that I know immediately that I will jump feet first into. There are others that I really don't feel like getting myself involved with. This one is definitely firmly in that latter group. My head tells me that there is more to loose than gain by getting involved. Today there are few issues more likely to raise emotions among professing Christians than discussions about gender. It's not actually an issue that I … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 1 and 2 Corinthians, Complementarianism, Sexuality 39 Comments

Is writing "God can heal today" on this website now illegal in the UK?

February 4, 2012 By 6 Comments

This week, the Advertising Standards Authority upheld a complaint against a Christian group who's leaflet claimed God can heal today. To be fair, their adjudications do not represent a legal judgement as such, and nobody is going to be sent to prison. But they apparently do have the power not only to stop people advertising in the printed press, but to command someone to take down a website advert.  I suppose potentially, even, they could criticize this post.  If they do, my defense would be … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 1 and 2 Corinthians, Faith, Holy Spirit 6 Comments

Some questions that seem to need rewording in my charismatic spectrum questionnaire

December 2, 2011 By 1 Comment

Pop over to the charismatic spectrum post first before reading this one. I have looked at the first batch of survey entries, and it seems clear that some of my questions are eliciting more "Yes's" than they should, especially the beliefs section. So, any thoughts on why and how these selected questions need rewording so that a cessationist is more likely to disagree with them? This process of understanding what we do and do not believe is where the previous spectrum posts have proved most … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 1 and 2 Corinthians, Charismatic Spectrum 1 Comment

Some initial responses to my charismatic spectrum post from yesterday

December 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Following on from yesterdays post on a charismatic spectrum, I do intend to try and improve the questionnaire, and if necessary tweak some of the categories I used. Some of the comments I received anonymously are really helpful, and so I thought I would share them here, partly to prompt further discussion, I have removed anything that might identify people from these comments: "Just a thought, but I think that many of our divisions in the broad Christian Church are often a result more of "gift … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 1 and 2 Corinthians, Charismatic Spectrum Leave a Comment

How Charismatic are YOU? A Spectrum of belief and practice

December 1, 2011 By 28 Comments

Today, in the tradition of my previous Arminocalvinist Spectrum, Evolution vs Creationism Spectrum and Spectrum of belief on hell and salvation  I present a "Charismatic-cessationist spectrum."  For some more background on this issue, and a fairly typical charismatic perspective see my series of posts on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.  As usual this may be a bit of a living document for a couple of days as I welcome suggestions for improvement from others. Intriguingly this spectrum … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 1 and 2 Corinthians, 300 Leaders, Assurance, Cessationism, Charismatic Spectrum, Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit Baptism, Theologcial Spectrums 28 Comments

Terry Virgo- What do we mean by being filled with the Spirit?

June 22, 2011 By 1 Comment

Here is the video, downloads and my notes from Terry Virgo's second session at this month's 300 Leaders event: Downloads: mp3, video In his first session, Terry spoke about the Spirit-filled church. This requires Spirit-filled people. We need to help people come into understanding, so they will be clear. Terry will almost always explain the Bible to people before praying for them to receive. Acts 1:4. V8 is called the key to understanding the book of Acts. The disciples had … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 1 and 2 Corinthians, 300 June 2011, Acts of the Apostles, Terry Virgo, The Spirit-Filled Church 1 Comment

TODAY is Resurrection Sunday too

May 1, 2011 By 6 Comments

Did you have a great time at your church on Easter Sunday? Was there a sense of celebration in the air? Was there excitement? Joy? Maybe even a conscious awareness of the Spirit being poured out? Do you want to capture that vitality week after week? Then preach the resurrection every week. For the good news of Jesus' resurrection IS the Gospel proclamation. In the gospel is the power of God for salvation. And salvation is not just an intellectual response, it is a rebirth. In that rebirth, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 1 and 2 Corinthians, Resurrection 6 Comments

The Apostle Paul's Blogging Checklist, Hell, and Rob Bell

April 12, 2011 By 9 Comments

Now that Rob Bell's controversial book Love Wins is on sale on both sides of the Atlantic and many other comments have been made, I am feeling like I cannot avoid engaging in the controversy, or at least should read some more material to understand it better. I did not seek out such involvement, as you can see from my post which ironically listed Five Reasons I hadn't previously blogged about Rob Bell. Since then I have posted a couple of highly relevant articles without directly addressing … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 1 and 2 Corinthians, Atonement, Attributes of God, Charles Spurgeon, Dave Pask, Discipleship, Eschatology, Gospel, Gospels, Grace, Heaven Hell and Rob Bell, John Piper, Leadership, Mark Driscoll, Neoliberalism, Prayer, Resurrection, Sanctification, Sin, Tope Koleoso 9 Comments