By the age of 18, I had a lot of the over-confidence of youth, but that was tinged with the realization that I had a lot to learn. As I left the safety of my parental home and launched out into London to study medicine, God had a plan to teach me one of the most important lessons of my life—one which every now and then I am reminded that I still do not fully live in the light of.... Read more
I concluded the last section of my story by explaining that because of my father’s job relocation, we moved away from the church in which I had been so happy. For me, moving away from my friends and the church I had so loved was tough. Suddenly I discovered that there were churches that were different to the one in which I’d grown up. Well, to be fair, I had previously also been aware of the Anglican church that had... Read more
As a young child, one of my favourite verses was the following: Acts 10:47—“Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” My parents found themselves with no arguments left. I had received the Spirit just as they had. I was clearly a Christian. How could they stop me any longer from being baptized? I remember the day well. We had a temporary wooden baptistery with a plastic lining. I loved... Read more
I wonder if my father thought that what had happened the night I said I wanted to become a Christian had been real. I was so young; could I really understand it? Could this short conversation which ended in me praying really make such a difference to me? Could it be true that I had accepted Christ at such a young age? I do remember being in no doubt about it the next morning when I had an argument with... Read more
For the next couple of weeks I am disconnecting from the Internet as I usually do around this time of year. I have scheduled some posts for you which works through my testimony. One of the things about a blog is that it is, by its very nature, a very personal thing. You meet not just a set of ideas, but a person. A few years ago I set about sharing the brief story of my life with you. In... Read more
The launch of Hope Reborn – How to Become a Christian and Live for Jesus is just weeks away now. As the title suggests this short book aims to be a resource that you are going to want to give to people who want to become a Christian, or who need help to grow in their faith. But surely that includes ALL of us, as we never grow out of the gospel, and getting back to the basics is essential for us.... Read more
My live TV debate vs Pastor Mark Fitzpatrick, a cessationist, is now available to view online at Part One and Part Two. My opponent argued that in 1 Corinthians 13 Paul meant that gifts will cease when the Bible was complete. I disagreed, saying they continue until Jesus returns. We both agreed with the concept of Sola Scriptura, in other words the sufficiency and finality of revelation found in the Bible and point to 2 Timothy 3:15-17: The sacred writings, which are able... Read more
I thought I would share with you this summer my top twenty posts of all time (judged by traffic received since I moved to Patheos). What is striking is that six out of the top ten are all about controversies in the church. I suppose it is inevitable that such things will draw the traffic. But, isn’t it also a bit sad? I don’t regret anything I said in these posts. And I am sure there will always be debate and... Read more
Just a few bullet point thoughts for a Sunday afternoon for you: Those who stress only God’s love will always become liberals. Those who stress only His wrath will be angry, legalistic, fundamentalists. If you stress only God’s love will relate to him as a genial Father Christmas. If only his wrath you will fear him as an angry headmaster. When you see love and wrath together you will rejoice with trembling, love God but fear him, and take refuge... Read more
J.R.Briggs is joining me right here on the blog for a live web chat on his new book Fail: Finding Hope and Grace in the Midst of Ministry Failure. This is part of the sponsored Book Club feature here on Patheos. As the video trailer at the bottom of this post points out the statistics for the success of the USA pastoral ministry is devastating. Brigg’s book focusses on how we can cope with ministry failure personally, and we do discuss... Read more
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