Nothing is too trivial for me to pray about, from the common cold to parking spots. But I often forget to ask for things that really matter, from big things like the growth of God’s kingdom to little things like daily help with my anxieties and ungodliness.
Important reads on Aboriginal evangelists, the pitfalls and positives of pastoring a small church, temptations when discipling, music and discernment, and liberalism.
Passports are really important. You can’t enter the kingdom of heaven with the wrong one. You can’t use anybody else’s passport. You have to have your own. It must be current. It must not be a fake or forgery. It must be recognised by the government. Without the right passport there is no entry into God’s kingdom.
If we are people of God’s word, and if all Scripture is profitable for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that God’s people are equipped to do good work, then surely the leader is driven by biblical ideals and high expectations.
Studies the psalms that reflect on God’s king, David, but that also look forward to the promised King. (9 studies)
Amidst all the sound and fury about same-sex marriage, it’s often hard to find a straight-forward, clear, thoughtful Christian defence of what marriage is. Sandy Grant has had a crack, and a very good one, in this recent public lecture at St Michael’s Wollongong.
I am a reluctant convert to the Swedish Method for Bible study. I read the Briefing article all of those years ago and decided to try it out in a couple of Bible study groups. It didn’t work! It didn’t seem to make group members think deeply enough about the passage, and it seemed to promote surface-level easy answers.
A collection of things worth reading from around the web in the last week.
Bible reading with ready ears and an open heart is engaging and fruitful. There’s something fresh about letting God speak for himself, especially when you search the Bible yourself, making the effort to hear.
Sympathy cards address the sadness death causes, but few acknowledge the rage. Yet that rage is real. It should be: death is the very opposite of God and all that he has created. We should hate it. Christ did.