RSS FeedTHE LURE OF THE GOLD
Whenever I looked out of my bedroom window in my childhood home I could see him. He was the silent sentinel, an ever-present reminder of the past. Exquisitely carved out of white marble, the Pioneer Memorial was a gold prospector, with a slouch hat on his head, his...
THE MEANING OF WORSHIP
On the Feast of the Epiphany (January 6), we remember the Magi, the wise men from Persia, who followed a star to Jerusalem, where they sought directions from King Herod and his religious advisors. They were pointed to Bethlehem. When they saw the baby Jesus, they...
GAINING A HEART OF WISDOM
At the end of a year we look back and see all the changes that have taken place in our lives and that of the world since twelve months ago. We have no guarantee that we shall see another year. But it is natural that we should wish to see our life fulfilled. We want to...
CHRISTMAS IN A HOTEL
Christmas is a time when we remember our childhood. We nostalgically return to our childhood homes in memory at this season. In what home do you have your fondest memories of Christmas? Some of us stayed in the same home all our childhood. Others moved from home to...
WHY OUR VALUES DEPEND UPON CHRISTIANITY
Tom Holland found himself in a dilemma. A popular historian, he had written several books on the classical world of Persia, Greece and Rome. Gradually he came to see that the values of that world were not his own. He was unsettled by the callousness and complete lack...
WHAT WOULD IT TAKE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE TO BECOME CHRISTIANS?
There has been much discussion recently on the growth of religious unbelief among young people. I have been asked what it would take for young people to become Christians. Here are some of my answers. A sense of guilt. The “requirements of the law are written on their...
MY READING LIST FOR 2019
As I review my reading over the past year I am aware of its variety and eclectic nature. Some books are old and some quite contemporary. Lots of history and biography. My central preoccupation has been with the works of my mentor John Stott. I have ploughed through...
ADVENT
The Book of Common Prayer, in which I was raised and guided my worship every Sunday, begins the Christian Year with the First Sunday in Advent. The prayer (Collect) for that day to be repeated every day until Christmas Eve is the following: Almighty God, give us grace...
THE PROBLEM OF THE APPEAL OF OUR MODERN, EASYGOING, TOLERANT GOD
What is common to the biblical concepts of the holiness and the wrath of God is the truth that they cannot coexist with sin. God’s holiness exposes sin; his wrath opposes it. So sin cannot approach God, and God cannot tolerate sin. Several vivid metaphors are used in...
THE THREE TRUTHS OF THE CROSS
The cross enforces three truths – about ourselves, about God, and about Jesus Christ. First, our sin must be extremely horrible. Nothing reveals the gravity of sin like the cross. For ultimately what sent Christ there was neither the greed of Judas, nor the envy o f...
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