Someone I respect once said: ‘If you want to know which direction your life is going in, look at the things you do every day’. You know when a single sentence cuts through all the noise and speaks straight to your heart? It was one of those moments, reframing the whole concept of personal discipline as empowerment rather than an obligation. I’m not a naturally disciplined person. I have a creative mind, tend towards pleasure, and like... Read more
The most important judgement any of us will ever make is about the intentions of God – his very nature and the purposes of his heart. This judgement in and of itself shapes the rest of our walk of faith. If we judge God to be angry and vengeful, we will not feel safe in his presence and will steer clear of spiritual intimacy; if we judge him to be merciful and gracious, we can discover the most incredible, tangible... Read more
In the first article of this series on judgement, I established several foundational ideas: Judgement was the Original Sin, as seen in the creation account, and is the basis of all human brokenness. Judgement means elevating ourselves as gods, assuming we know the motives of the heart. Only God can judge, and we should never step on that sacred ground. Accurate self-judgement is impossible. Today I’m looking at judgement of the self, which is the assumption of... Read more
The Bible warns us about indulging in judgement, but why would that be? In my view, judgement is not just another area of sin, alongside other behaviours that harm ourselves and other people; it is the foundation of all brokenness. This will be the first in a short series of articles on the subject in which I’ll be looking at judgement from four different viewpoints – judging others, judging ourselves, judging God and God’s righteous judgement. Today the focus... Read more
My granddad was a ‘conscientious objector’ in WW2, meaning he refused to be conscripted for religious reasons, believing it is always wrong to kill. He was harassed and ostracised for it but he held to his pacifist beliefs, whatever the personal cost. I admire his conviction and courage but am not convinced that pacifism is innately Christian. Don’t get me wrong – Jesus was not a violent man. When the authorities came to arrest him in Gethsemane, Peter attacked... Read more
Guilt and more guilt I was brought up with a model that will be familiar to most readers: Don’t have sex. Sex before marriage is bad. Don’t touch yourself either, it’s bad. You’ve found someone you think you love? Don’t have sex. Sex is only for marriage. Before marriage, sex is bad. Always bad. You got engaged? Great. Don’t have sex. Sex before marriage is bad. And don’t touch each other either. That’s bad too. You just got... Read more
Universalism is often cast aside without consideration in the Evangelical movement, rejected as heretical or unsound without proper examination. Personally, I have found universalism to be demonstrably Biblical, a solution to an array of theological problems, and an acknowledgement of what all believers know deep down – that God is good. We know it in our bones when we worship, but our thinking can be much less clear. In this post, I’m going to show how universalism can be... Read more
Have you ever noticed that Christianity can sometimes feel like a bit of an indoor religion? Rows of seats in custom-built auditoriums, platforms and baptistry tanks, and cups of tea in comfortable living rooms? Years ago, a close friend of mine got married in a forest, and I can still remember the awkwardness of the ceremony, which had not been altered in any way to match the venue. In the acoustics of the woodland, the guitar sounded tinny, the singing... Read more
I hear a lot of talk about cancel culture these days, especially in church, spoken of in hyped-up, defensive tones, but the warning doesn’t ring true in my ears. The fear seems to be that the liberals are coming for the church, to ban Christians from saying what some believe about homosexuality. In the fever-heat of perceived threat, it is easy to imagine this embargo on religious views being extended to belief in general, evoking fear of creeping persecution. If... Read more
It seems like everything is being put to the question these days. It is tempting for Western, modern Christianity to reshape itself according to its cultural context, and to some degree that is a good thing. Faith should always be relevant to the people it’s meant to help, and it’s bizarre to ask new believers to abandon all scientific knowledge and think like someone who lived 2000 years ago. That said, Westerners sometimes live with the conceit that their... Read more
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