Author: Simon van Bruchem

Diet, exercise, and Christian service

Diet, exercise, and Christian service

Diet and exercise are hot topics today. Many of the best-selling books and highest profile online companies are those who offer help either with what we eat or how we move. Yet Christians don’t often think of the connection between diet and exercise and our faith. There are two extreme positions here that we need …

+ Read More

We need to sing more than songs of praise

We need to sing more than songs of praise

The collection of songs typically sung in Christian churches are heavily weighted towards praise songs. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. It is a fundamental truth that Christians will want to thank God for what He has done! It is great to be given thoughtful words to sing that express our thankfulness to the One …

+ Read More

Why do we sing in church?

Why do we sing in church?

One of the strangest things for newcomers to church to grapple with is a group of people singing aloud together. If you’ve been a churchgoer for a long time, maybe that doesn’t strike you as unusual. It is just something churches do. But think about it: where else in our cultures do groups of people …

+ Read More

Avoiding the disaster of hyper-Calvinism

Avoiding the disaster of hyper-Calvinism

God is in complete control of the world. Yes, complete control. There are no surprises to God. Everything He wants to happen does happen, just the way He wants it to. We see this in all kinds of places in the Bible, including: Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every …

+ Read More

Strategic planning in the local church

Strategic planning in the local church

Some people like to plan for the future; others just seem to deal with whatever might happen to them. I am a planner. I like to make lists. I like to know what my diary is likely to look like next week, and what major events are planned next month. I realise that not everyone …

+ Read More

Training in godliness

Training in godliness

In the past few months, I have become more regular with working on my physical fitness. I have managed to fit a few different exercise sessions in each week as part of my everyday routines. At the start, it didn’t seem like much had changed. Starting something new meant that my muscles that were used …

+ Read More