Category: Bible

God will bring justice for every believer

God will bring justice for every believer

Ahab and Jezebel and their family ruled Israel as tyrants; we read of their exploits in the latter part of the book of 1 Kings. They were not satisfied with setting up an alternative religion to Baal instead of worshipping the true God. They went much further than this, seeking out God’s prophets to kill …

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Compelling evidence for the reality of God

Compelling evidence for the reality of God

Have you ever tried to convince a sceptic that God is real and that Christianity is true? You can end up with all kinds of deep philosophical points. You can look at the complexity of the world, our internal need for purpose, or natural law. Yet there is one piece of evidence that has been …

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Doing something with critical information

Doing something with critical information

How much information do you receive every day? If you are anything like me, it is a lot. Much of it is kind of incidental; we learn things from speaking with people and going about our day. We absorb information from social media and the news; far more information than people of most previous generations …

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God is not only the God of Christians

God is not only the God of Christians

We often think of God as the one who saves his people and works on their behalf. But the Biblical view of God is much wider than this. Consider this verse, for example: Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because …

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Naaman’s dilemma and our engagement with the world

Naaman’s dilemma and our engagement with the world

2 Kings 5 introduces us to a Syrian general named Naaman. He travelled to Israel to be healed of his leprosy after hearing that a prophet named Elisha could heal him. After his remarkable healing, this powerful man was changed in deep ways. He showed humility that wasn’t evident before and he confessed that the …

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The danger of getting too used to the true God

The danger of getting too used to the true God

When Elisha healed the foreign army general Naaman from leprosy, he left to return home a changed man. That is where we might expect the story to finish, but the writer of 2 Kings includes the actions of Naaman’s servant Gehazi as well. Gehazi was upset that Naaman had brought such a lot of money …

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The lasting legacy of ordinary believers

The lasting legacy of ordinary believers

It is easy to be impressed by the giants of the Christian faith. We read in the Bible of people like Elijah who stood up to evil kings, of Moses who stood before Pharaoh, and of Paul who testified before rulers and hostile Jewish governments. We know of people like Martin Luther and John Knox …

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The comfort of being elect exiles in this world

The comfort of being elect exiles in this world

We all want to belong somewhere. There is something comforting about being with the people we love in a place where we know we are welcome. There is something special about home. The apostle Peter wrote his first letter to Christians scattered through the world. Peter described his readers as “elect exiles”. To be elect …

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Jesus has time for everyone

Jesus has time for everyone

All of will wonder at some time or other if God might have more important things to do than to pay attention to us. There are always big problems in the world. Right now it might be COVID and the Ukraine; next year it will be something else. And who are we? Small people with …

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Preaching that shows confidence in the Bible

Preaching that shows confidence in the Bible

What makes a sermon a good sermon? Everyone will have a different personal opinion. Some like loud, enthusiastic preachers who call for ‘Amens’ and ‘Praise the Lords’ at regular intervals. Others like careful, logical, well-thought out dense sermons. Many have a favourite preacher. But how might we assess preaching in a Biblical way? The basic …

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