I am a pastor of a Presbyterian church. Every church tradition has its strengths and its weaknesses. The tradition I serve in values careful theology, reverent worship, and simple church services, all things that are very important. Yet I also know that Presbyterians are not known for their vibrancy and passion! We are known for …
Jesus was approached by the Sadducees in Matthew 22:23-33 with a ridiculous question about marriage in heaven. They described a situation where a woman had been married to a series of brothers (one at a time) after following the Old Testament law. Jesus was asked whose wife she was in heaven since she had been …
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 …
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 …
What would Jesus do? It has turned up on bracelets now for decades, and many Christians find it a helpful thing to consider. After all, Jesus was without sin, and if we want to live a life that pleases God, surely Jesus is a useful example! And yes, of course we see aspects of Jesus’ …
I have the privilege of serving in a church that is always talking about the gospel. You will hear Jesus talked about in every sermon. In all our Bible studies, our English class devotions, and in our sacraments, we love to talk about Jesus. For some people, that seems kind of odd. After all, the …
It is Easter week. Churches all around the world will be gathering to worship, probably on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. This catches the attention of the media in many places who ask local church leaders what they will be preaching about at Easter time. Unfortunately, many of the church leaders in my city give …
Good Bible teaching has to be clear and easy to understand. That’s always true, whoever the teaching is for. You need to be clear when explaining something to small children, and you need to be clear when teaching theological students. Yet, too often, I come across Bible teaching that is unnecessarily complicated! A little thought …
Not everyone is like you. I hope that doesn’t come as a surprise! Sure, they might look like you. They might have the same number of arms and legs. Yet other people see the world in a wildly different way to what you do. That is due to all kinds of factors, including culture, age, …
If you’ve grown up in the West, honour and shame are probably not things that impact you very much. Westerners are not known for feeling shame deeply. If you do something embarrassing, that’s unfortunate but not that bad. If it’s funny, it may well end up on YouTube! Those who have grown up in the …