Christians are to be fully devoted to God, with changed minds and new ways of living in this world. This does not only influence how we live in our workplaces and our families; it also influences how we think about church. We see this in Romans 12:4-8: 4 For as in one body we have …
Christians are those who are living sacrifices, giving our lives to the service of God. We are to be different from the world around us, as we read in Romans 12:2-3: 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what …
The gospel is far more than information that we understand, it has all kinds of practical implications. Paul explores this in Romans 12, which teaches that it is logical and reasonable to devote our whole lives as sacrifices to God. He then goes on to explain what this looks like in practice in v2: Do …
Romans 12:1 encourages us to be living sacrifices (expanded upon in the previous blog post here). That’s not all this verse teaches; let’s look at it again: I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual …
When the apostle Paul moves from his explanation of the gospel to drawing out the practical implications in Romans, he starts with this: I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. (Rom. 12:1 ESV) …
In Malachi chapter 1, God pointed out a major problem with the worship that the people of God were bringing to him. The people of Judah had returned to their homeland after many years in exile. They had rebuilt the temple and the walls of Jerusalem and had resumed the worship required in the law …
There is a line in a famous Christmas carol, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, that says that Jesus is “risen with healing in his wings”. You’ve probably sung that line countless times and never really understood what you have been singing. Wings? I don’t remember that bit in the Christmas story! Charles Wesley, who wrote …
I’ve just finished reading a thorough and very interesting historical account of China’s Great Leap Forward in 1958-62. The book is called ‘Mao’s Great Famine: The History of China’s Most Devastating Catastrophe’ by Frank Dikotter. It’s a harrowing read at times. In an attempt to bring China’s industrial output in line with the developed countries …
The local church should be a radically united group of people, the kind of community that cannot be found anywhere else. We have such unity because of Jesus that this should flow into real unity between diverse people in our churches. It is not always like this. The Galatian church was deeply divided. It was …
One of the wonderful benefits we have as Christians is to be sons of God. Trusting in Jesus is not only a matter of having our sins forgiven, though it certainly includes that. It also means that we are adopted as sons of God. We are in God’s family, loved, secure, and with a certain …