Some blogging encouragement

I checked my spam the other day and found great encouragement:
Well I think you are a genius and the post is marvelous.
Brightened my day no end.  The fact that it came from a man calling himself “Penis Enlargement” is neither here nor there.  I have instructed my filter to allow all such positive comments in [...]

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He saved my life and I don’t even know his name

Anyone else sick of the whole ‘Christ in the OT’ debate?  Man… some people just go on and on.
I’m announcing a new hobby horse – Christ in the NT.  In fact I think this is where you really see a preacher’s Christ-centredness.  We’ve had the rule drummed into us by now – Thou shalt ‘bridge [...]

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Free to follow

Not sure it ever happened (happy to be contradicted), but what a good illustration as heard in this morning’s sermon by Neil Green (my vicar).
Abraham Lincoln was once at a slave auction.  A young girl was being sold, naked but for her shackles.  Lincoln was so distressed by the thought of her being bought by [...]

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Who the man?

So what are these parables about?
Matthew 13:44-46: “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, [...]

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Blog Gold Dust

He doesn’t blog as often as some, but when he does he’s up there with my absolute favourites.  Andy Mason is consistently thought-provoking, Christ-centred, biblical, pastoral and stuffed full of grace through and through.  He’s been blogging more than usual this month – check it out!
On the subject – what golden nuggets am I missing [...]

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Barcode Gun or Magnum?

In this post I’ve been thinking about how we tend to pray before evangelistic efforts. 
Often the prayers we say will sound something like:
‘Lord, open hearts in advance of your gospel. Prepare people now so that later we will come across those upon whom your Spirit has worked.’ 
If this is how we think then we’re basically conceiving [...]

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No worries

From this sermon on Luke 12:1-12…
What is the most common command in the Scriptures? 
Fear not.  Do not be afraid. Hundreds of times in the whole bible – the message is repeatedly given “Don’t worry.” 
But we do.  All the time.  About everything.
I bet if I asked you to make a list of things you were worried [...]

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Blood, blood, we cry

Check out this poem by D. Gwenallt, translated by Rowan williams – h/t Ben Myers
It’s called “Sin”
Take off the business suit, the old-school tie,
The gown, the cap, drop the reviews, awards,
Certificates, stand naked in your sty,
A little carnivore, clothed in dried turds.
The snot that slowly fills our passages
Seeps up from hollows where the dead beasts [...]

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The State of Israel

Bobby has moved to blogspot.  He describes himself as pre-mill but “a half-step away from being a committed amillenialist.”  He’s asked the question about how a-millers view the modern state of Israel. 
I gave an ill-considered half answer.  What about others?  Dan Hames I’m looking in your direction?  Or post-mills?  I’d love to hear other views on [...]

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Where is the power?

We’re in the middle of a mission at the moment (prayers always welcome!).  One of the things we’re doing is door-knocking our neighbourhood and we’ve seen people turn to the Lord even on the door-step.  Praise God!
In our morning meetings there seems to be one kind of prayer that recurs more than any others – [...]

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Seeing the Doctor 1

Do you ever wonder, like this blogger, if Jesus would actually like you?  Not whether some abstract principle of grace covers you.  But the question, How would the radical Jesus of the bible deal with you?
I mean the Guy’s fierce.  Totally uncompromising, pure.  No double-standards, no tolerance for double-standards.  He sees you to the bottom.  [...]

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Please Pray

UPDATE 15 October 2008: News from Barnabas Fund
UPDATE:  A letter from Orissa
UPDATE:  Go here for more news on the persecution of Indian Christians
UPDATE: The latest from Gospel for Asia
I got this by text on Thursday night:
“Please pray for Pastor Paul Thangaia (I think it’s spelt Paul Thangiah – Pastor of Bangalore’s largest church – 12 000 [...]

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Jesus is the same

The other night I was talking to someone about my latest hobby horse (personality types).  To my shame I found myself using the past tense about Jesus. 
Now there are many appropriate ways of doing that: e.g. “Christ died for sins, once for all.”  But when we’re talking about Christ’s character, how horrible to find yourself describing Him merely [...]

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Personality, temperament, gifts, huh?

Codepoke made this comment on my last post on “personality types“
Still conflicted. :-)
If the Spirit has gifted you as a pastor and you torture yourself trying to prophecy, you have not benefited anyone. Some are eyes and some are feet. When the eye tries to do its part in the body by being walked on, [...]

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Tearing down the idol of my personality

In talking about ‘personality types’ and how they play out in the day-to-day, I’ve been particularly interested in how aspirational these really are.  “Out-going, big-picture, laid-back, last-minute” is not simply how I’m hard-wired (although there is something to that).  But much more, it’s a fantasy construct that I’ve hit upon – an ideal persona in which [...]

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I am not…

Here’s an example of how we shape our own “personality types” which then shape us.
I went to bible college saying very strongly both outwardly and inwardly “I’m not a linguist.” Why would I say such a thing? Well not on the basis of terrible school grades or any nightmare disputes with snooty French maitre d’s. [...]

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Faith is the opposite of self-regarding

From the ridiculous to the sublime.
I’ve posted quite a few long-winded reflections on faith in the past.  (And how we shouldn’t reflect too much on it!)  Here, here, here and here. 
 But they’re all summed up and vastly surpassed by one paragraph of Stott’s Romans commentary:
“Further it is vital to affirm that there is nothing meritorious about [...]

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Worship to honour the Lord

Perhaps most ironic of all is the worship leader’s opening prayer – a desire to honour the Lord.
Suggestions please for the absolute worst aspect of these ten minutes.  There’ll be some competition I tell ya.

 
“Jack Black’s” hair-do
The sock spinning
“Everybody!  You’re not spinning anything!”
The song!
“Hands in the air like you just don’t [...]

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What do you give the person who has everything?

Penicillin.
arf arf.
But seriously folks… Nick Cornell, fellow Eastbourne curate, asked us last night at our joint prayer meeting: What do you give to a people who already have everything?
Because Ephesians 1:3 says we are that people.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual [...]

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Personality types?

Part of my ordination training involved doing the Myers-Briggs personality test.  Now I realise that this is not strictly mandated by the Pastoral Epistles, but on the other hand it was a good old giggle. (See mildly amusing prayers for the 16 personality types here.) 
I came out quite strongly as ENFP which means I’m an inveterate procrastinator, big-picture, [...]

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Fig leaves and thorns

These are not the outskirts of Eden.  **
Yet my defaut mode is to think exactly this.  I wake every morning with peace in the land, money in the bank, food in the cupboard.  I shower in clean drinking water, go to my rewarding job, drink coffee from the other side of the world.  I’ve lost none [...]

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Go and preach the gospel…

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… TO OTHER CHRISTIANS!
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Here’s my ill-considered overstatement of the issue:  Our problem is not that we aren’t telling the gospel to our pagan friends.  It’s that we don’t tell the gospel to our Christian friends! 
When’s the last time you looked another Christian in the eye and said ‘Mate you’re a sinner.  I know you have struggles, [...]

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Do not worry about what you will say…

The post is about something else, but I liked this from NT professor Ben Witherington.
[A] student… came up to class one day frustrated and said “I don’t know why I need to do all this research, and writing and studying of the NT. Why I can just get up into the pulpit and the Spirit will give [...]

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Faith seeking understanding

Are we really post-modern after all?  Actually isn’t the West incurably modernist?  Isn’t post-modernism just ultra-modernism anyway?  And who gives a flying rip?  All these thoughts jostled for prominence as I read the first five pages of the Times this afternoon.  I’ll let you guess which thought won.
Here’s what brought on this A-level philosophizing.  On page 2 the [...]

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Spike our Teacher

Must remember this Spike Milligan quote next time I preach from Ecclesiastes:
“All I ask is the chance to prove that money can’t make me happy.” (Spike Milligan)
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Love is the greatest thing… or is it?

Ok, another little example of engaging with non-Christian world-views.  This is from a wedding sermon I gave a few weeks ago.  The great majority of the congregation were not Christians. The couple asked me to speak from 1 John 4:7-12.  I’ll quote a part of the sermon and then make some comments.  (Just so you know [...]

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Trivial pursuits

Here’s an evangelistic talk I gave last year.  I’m giving a version of it again in a fortnight so any critique would be gratefully received (especially in light of our recent discussions).  It was given at the half-way point of a pub quiz…
……………………………………………………
I don’t really think this quiz is fair.  I’m not doing half as [...]

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The truth that is in Jesus

Ok, so we’ve noted the danger of fiting Jesus into a pre-fab system of truth. We don’t want to do that.  But Missy has asked the $64 000 question.  It’s basically this: What do we do when speaking to a non-Christian - isn’t it desirable at least sometimes to bring Christ to them according to their preferred programme?? 
I’m not going [...]

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