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.
"Do we have to forgive people who aren't sorry?" How would you respond? Our instinct can be to rush in with some kind of ‘yes/no’ answer. What we may fail to do is consider whether or not answering the question as asked is the most helpful response.
Charleston, forgiveness and safety, the idolatry of guns, making disciples, serving in your local church without going under, the conversion of the wallet, the Proverbs 31 man, how the church can help gay young people, how to be a welcoming and biblical church, and the GoThereFor 2.0 launch.
When we teach on some passages, such as God’s good design for human sexuality and the role of men and women, our initial gut reaction is often anything but positive.
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.
Giving someone a Bible when they don’t know Jesus (yet) is a great idea, but by itself it may not be as effective at saving souls as we’d think.
The traditional Christian view of the Bible is that it is God’s word. Some churches recognize this by finishing each Bible reading with “This is the word of the Lord”. What does it mean for how we read the Bible?
Yes, I’ve watched The Lego Movie... Its famous song touches on something that we know intuitively to be true: working together, being part of a team, having someone to rely on and trust, is a good thing.
The Lord is equally in control in both the times when he provides many material comforts and those when he tells us to make do.