Would you like to hold a grudge with God’s blessing? I mean, wouldn’t it be great to know exactly how much of the same guff you had to take from someone until you no longer had to forgive? The problem with forgiving is that the debt is real. Your parents neglected or even abused you. […]
Read MoreTag Archives: Romans
Unwise Cracks
“There are no exceptions to the rule that everybody likes to be an exception to the rule.” This quip seems especially true for exceptional individuals. Take Solomon for example. God told him, “I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor shall one […]
Read MoreDoes God Care about Our Suffering?
Agonizing in prayer over a difficult leader who was causing conflict in my church, I asked God to remove him and to protect my family and me. As senior pastor, I became the target for a few disgruntled people that this man had secretly poisoned against me. Eventually they demanded my resignation, threatening to disrupt […]
Read MoreThe Resurrection Changes Things
It was a beautiful English late summer’s afternoon. Dappled sunlight gently warmed the skin. A delicate breeze made the nearby leaves sway. Birds twittered their song. The smell of the freshly mown grass lingered. And a group of people gathered. We gathered to bury a baby. Four weeks old. The parents shared memories of her […]
Read MoreStill Living: Grieving after Suicide
Disclaimer: If you are thinking about hurting yourself or believe someone you know may be, call the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90 now. When I was a teenager, one of my youth group peers committed suicide. He was about 18 years old. Later, I served in a church where two youths killed themselves. In […]
Read MorePlaying with the Box
It’s been a while now, but I can still remember the worst Christmas present I ever gave my wife. What was I thinking? Idiot! So don’t worry, this isn’t going to be one of those pieces about finding that perfect gift for the one you love. If you had been there on that fateful morning, […]
Read MoreTransformed!
When my children were little, a new kind of toy hit the market. A car or a lorry or some other vehicle that could – with a few deft twists – be transformed into a robot or a plane or a rocket-ship. What fun! Except that only six-year-olds could work them. The kids would sigh […]
Read MorePharisee? Me?
God gave the sacrificial system to the Israelites. In Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy we are introduced to what Paul would later call “the tutor.” (Galatians 3:24). The Law was intended to lead us to Christ, to teach about the necessity of sacrifice, and to anticipate the “fullness of time” when Christ’s sacrifice would ultimately […]
Read MoreIn Living Colour
There used to be a cinema by the bridge in Windsor called the ABC Playhouse. It’s long gone now, but it was a special place to me. As a boy I saw Mary Poppins there, the first feature length film I had seen that incorporated cartoon animation with live actors. Penguins for waiters – what […]
Read MoreFrom Victory unto Victory
Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win – Sun Tzu This quote comes from China at about the time when Babylon had already crushed Jerusalem and led the best and brightest of Israel into captivity. The Chinese were far beyond the […]
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