“An eye for an eye” says Leviticus 24:17. We often fail to realise that this was a great gift from God to the Jewish people. In an age when food was scarce, when your enemies were plentiful, and when only the strong survived, it was typical for retribution to be much fiercer. For example, if someone from a neighbouring village stole a bit of corn from the fields, why not pillage and burn the whole village in response? God asked... Read more
This 20 minute interview with Martyn Lloyd-Jones is fascinating. It took place in 1970 and he explains his view of the gospel, and the way modern society views mankind. You see a very clear disagreement between the protagonists, but there is grace, and smiles on both sides. The humanity of The Doctor comes across very clearly. Already back then, “tolerance” was a key issue in the discussion. I have quoted and discussed Martyn Lloyd-Jones many times before on this blog. Read more
I love this quote from Spurgeon, and thanks to Michael Brown for citing a line from it that led me searching on my Logos Bible Software (follow link for 15% off!). This passage speaks to the vital place of excitement and emotion, but also puts limits around those things. I encourage you all to read this and read it carefully. I am pretty sure this passage is also cited almost unchanged in Spurgeon’s fantastic book The Soulwinner. "Religion without emotion... Read more
There is only so much that one person can take. Some people have a higher threshold than others, for sure. But no wonder that David would have felt the pressure as he was eing hunted from place to place, even while he still defended towns from Philistine assault. Then, sneaking out from the camp of David’s enemy comes the one man who can help him, Jonathan. The man who’s love for David is the stuff of legends. The man who... Read more
One of the marks of Saul’s leadership was that he attached himself to the strong. David, now an outlaw seems to have a very different approach. In 1 Samuel 21 and 22 we see him make good his escape and establish for himself a base in a cave. In some ways this former darling of the royal court makes a pitiful sight. He is described as “alone” as the small group of people with him in 1 Samuel 21 seems... Read more
Yesterday I appeared for the second time on Michael L Brown’s radio show. You can download the MP3 here. I have to say that meeting Dr Brown online has been one thing I’ve been very pleased came out of the Strange Fire discussion. He is a good man, as we discussed on his show he and I would probably disagree about a bunch of stuff, but what unites us far outweighs that which divides. I believe that a new effort... Read more
Now, where were we? Before the recent controversy intervened, I was ambling my way through 1 Samuel in a series looking at leadership lessons in the life of David and Saul. New readers may want to go back and look at some of those as we pick up where I left off in 1 Samuel 19 and 20. What is striking in these chapters is the extraordinary injustice of Saul’s reaction to David. He was once like David himself. A... Read more
Piper explains in this short video why he has written his latest short book on Calvinism. Whether you are a Calvinist or not, this little book will help you understand what this leading Reformed preacher believes, and why it has comforted him over the years. He is know dusty dry theologian, but a passionate pastor. “I do not begin as a Calvinist and defend a system. I begin as a Bible-believing Christian who wants to put the Bible above all... Read more
The human race excels at storytelling. It is how we transmit our values, it is how we make sense of who we are. Westerners sometimes like to pretend we are too sophisticated for stories. We say, “just give us the facts!” But our constant diet of movies, and TV entertainment demonstrates this is far from the truth. It is concerns me how we passively allow ourselves to be shaped by the stories unbelievers tell us. Meanwhile the greatest library of stories... Read more
At 9pm on Channel 5 the series that rocked America will hit our screens. This is not the time to nitpick at the inevitable artistic liberties that will have been taken. It is the time to celebrate the appearance on our screens of this series. I for one will be watching. There are also some useful resources for churches and Christians to take advantage of this. Once again lets surprise the media executives with just how much interest there still... Read more
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