The cultural ambition is to replicate the kingdom vision of the good life—a future world of human rights, dignity, freedom, love and equality—but all without Jesus at the centre. And, frustratingly for those among us who may wish to see the whole thing come crashing down in order to prove how right we are, this vision appears to be progressing quite well. At least on the surface.... continue reading
You don’t have to look too far on social media, or even mainstream media (or, closer to home, you don’t have to talk for long to colleagues, study partners or family members), to find people who, upon hearing you are a Christian, wrinkle up their noses as if they have caught a whiff of cod liver oil. ... continue reading
Our second blessing is adoption: the truth that not only were we chosen before the dawn of time, but we were chosen to be children of God. We could have been made only friends of God—and that would have been great. We would have been more than happy. But the Lord wanted more for us. He wanted us to be his children. He wanted to be our Father. And that is far, far better in so many ways. Here are four!... continue reading
Why is it so important for Christians today to delve back into the past and read the works of saints from a different era?... continue reading
We will never bottom out Christ’s boundless love. But we need to see more and more of his love. Every time we sin, we need to appreciate afresh this love that welcomes sinners. Every time we suffer, we need to appreciate afresh this love that mysteriously works all things for our good. Every time we face temptation, we need to appreciate afresh this love that captures our hearts.... continue reading
As some of our physical blessings are stripped away, let's encourage each other with the reality of this incredible spiritual blessing in the days that lie ahead of us, whatever they may hold. We are who we are in Christ because before the dawn of time, God chose us and set his affection on us. Which means we are incredibly special; we are part of an eternal story; and our future is absolutely secure.... continue reading
To help fix our gaze on Jesus, we are surrounded by “a great cloud of witnesses”. For the first readers of Hebrews, these witnesses were the saints of the Old Testament, whose faith in God’s promises had sustained them through troubling times and had enabled them to achieve great things in God’s name. But as readers today, we can add names from across the pages of church history to that crowd of cheering spectators.... continue reading
Indeed, you might think that such a sentence is bordering on blasphemy, or at the very least, it’s pushing the boundaries a little. But that kind of response reveals precisely the problem that many Christians have about sex. Married believers know sex is enjoyable, fun, intimate, delightful: but they can’t quite bring themselves to include it in a list of holy disciplines.... continue reading
In this episode of the podcast we talk to Carl Laferton about his new book The God Contest which uses the story of Mount Carmel to show kids how the God of the Bible proved himself to be the one true God.... continue reading
Fires on mountains. Warriors and battles. Lions not eating people and bears actually eating people. Queens and slave-girls speaking truth to power. The kids’ fiction shelves of your local bookstore (if it’s open) contain no stories more exciting than Old Testament narratives offer. Of course, these are not “just stories”—they’re true, they are part of the great overarching story of salvation, and they display God’s character—but they are also stories, and exciting ones.... continue reading
