How are you?

How do you answer that question?  You’re going through the mill all week, sipping a cuppa after the service, and someone asks cheerily ‘How are you?’  What do you say?
We’ve had experience of chronic illness for many years now.  I confess that when people ask about it we don’t really know what to say.  I [...]

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Golden-Blogger does it again

They called the early church’s greatest preacher John ‘Chrysostom’ meaning ’John Golden Mouth’.  He reigned supreme in the style of preaching from that era which involved weaving together a rich tapestry of biblical images.  These preachers simply inhabited and spoke the language of the Scriptures, fitting together themes from all corners of the canon.
Friends, Golden-Blogger is [...]

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Gonna mess you up

There are two things that will really mess you up in life.  Getting married and becoming a Christian.  You can poodle along quite contentedly before either of these states.  But once you enter marriage, or once Christ enters you – life as you know it is over.
I know a good number of people who have [...]

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Ten words on the preached word

Just some fairly random thoughts on what I’d like to see more of in my own preaching and the preaching of others…
 

Thou shalt worship Christ from the pulpit.  The priestly task of declaring the gospel of God (Rom 15:16) entaileth a twofold direction to the sermon.  The preacher not only standeth before a congregation to [...]

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99 Balloons

I’m absolutely blown away by this.

What gets me is the combination of sadness without any self-pity.
It’s utterly tragic but not told as a tragedy.  Somehow the whole thing is a celebration shot through with praise, thanksgiving and gospel hope.
Praise Jesus.
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The fruit of the Spirit as works of the flesh

For years I prayed for the fruit of the Spirit every day.  (Galatians 5:22f)  Yet, looking back, I prayed for the fruit in an altogether fleshly way.
How so?  Well basically my prayers were petitions for the moral character of ‘love, joy, peace…’ as abstract qualities. I would judge my own spiritual walk that week by how loving, [...]

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Eat Dirt Man Eater!

Satan must eat dust all his days (Gen 3:14)
Man is dust (Gen 3:19)
Satan is a maneater (1 Pet 5:8)
Yet Christ will join man to crush the maneater (Gen 3:15)
He does this by being Man eaten (John 6:51)
Only in this way does He swallow His enemies (1 Cor 15:54)
Those who don’t eat (with) Christ get eaten [...]

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Fake Purse Ninjas

Happy Friday

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1 Corinthians 13 sermon

 
How do you think of 1 Corinthians 13?  Is it a warm, relaxing bubble bath?  Does it make you forget your cares and give you the warm fuzzies?
 
 

I’m here to tell you, this chapter is not a bubble bath.  It’s a scalding hot bath full of antiseptic!
And we are covered in cuts and bruises and [...]

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The context is key. The context is mission.

In preaching through 1 Corinthians recently I listened to a lot of sermons on chapters 9 and 10.   Two themes in particular were hammered home by preachers. 
In chapter 9 there’s the olympic training regimes (v24-27).  In chapter 10 there’s ‘glorifying God’ in all circumstances (v31).  But so often the context of these verses is ignored.
So [...]

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All in the mind?

What’s wrong with solo sex?
Here CCEF has an 11 minute podcast on masturbation.  While there are some good points (like husbands prefering solo-sex to talking to their wives about the bedroom), it takes that age-old evangelical line: the problem’s all in the mind.
Have you ever heard the line, “If you can do it thinking about [...]

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Paul Blackham on the Sermon on the Mount

Having thought a bit about preaching this week, here is the preacher who has helped me see the nature of true preaching more than anyone. 

 
Here Blackham is at his best unpacking the Sermon on the Mount at Tarleton Farm Fellowship.  (Also see the “Other Sermons” tab above for some brilliant All Souls sermons from him).
 
Matthew 5:1-12 – [...]

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Chicklit is not porn for women

Chicklit and chick flicks are not pornography for women, pornography is pornography for women.
Ros Clarke writes on the two-fold error of saying popular romance functions as porn for women. 
A) One in three visitors to porn sites are women.
B) Stop dissing romance – it’s at the very heart of the gospel!
She says it much better though – [...]

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A theology of preaching – part 6 (final part)

Christ must be proclaimed biblically.
Nothing has been said yet about the character of the preacher.  This has been deliberate.  It’s not the character of the preacher but the character of the word that is determinative.  It’s not ultimately the skills, gifts or even godliness of the preacher that will bring the word home to hearers.  [...]

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I wish I never sinned

“I wish I never sinned” said the Israelite at the head of the queue.
The others waiting to make their sacrifices nodded.
The priest narrowed his gaze.  “Why do you wish you never sinned?”
The Israelite was amazed that the priest would ask.  The answer was so obvious it hardly needed saying.  “So I don’t have to keep [...]

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A theology of preaching – part 5

Christ must be proclaimed biblically
Hopefully it is not a new thought that Christ is the Word of God.  Perhaps, though, it is a new thought to consider preaching as the word of God.  Therefore some may wonder whether we have lost the vital importance of Scripture as the word of God.
Absolutely not.  Without Scripture we [...]

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Happy Friday

Telemarketers beware

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A theology of preaching – part 4

Go to theology network for the full paper on preaching.  I’ll post it here in chunks.  Be great to talk about it if you want to comment.
 
We’ve made the claim that preaching is God’s word when Christ is proclaimed biblically.  Now we will tease out some implications of this central conviction:
 
Christ must be proclaimed biblically.
We [...]

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A theology of preaching – part 3

Go to theology network for the full paper on preaching.  I’ll post it here in chunks.  Be great to talk about it if you want to comment.
The Word of God
In saying that preaching is itself the word of God, it should be made clear that the bible has a vital role.  The law and the [...]

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How to put on a pre-evangelistic event

Follow my simple scheme:
STEP 1:  Ask yourself this question.  What is more attractive than Jesus?  Let’s call this thing X.
STEP 2:  Lift X high.  Be loud.  Be proud. 
STEP 3:  Celebrate a job well done when unbelievers agree that X really is better than Jesus.
 
Presto!
 
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Evangelistic talk for youth

Stef Liston preaching to youth in an evangelistic meeting last month.  It was part of Bible by the Beach 2009.
 
It was an absolute pleasure to be there.  I’m glad I stumbled on the blog link this week given I’m blogging on preaching.  This is a great example of holding out the word of life. 
 
It’s called “One kind [...]

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A theology of preaching – part 2

Go to theology network for the full paper on preaching.  I’ll post it here in chunks.  Be great to talk about it if you want to comment.
The Speaking God
Let’s begin at the beginning.  Our God is the Speaking God.  The eternal life of Father, Son and Spirit has ever been an out-going, communicative life.  Because [...]

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A theology of preaching – part 1

Go to theology network for my paper on preaching in full.  Here I’ll post it in chunks.  Be good to talk about it if you want to comment… 
Introduction
It is often said that the real issue in preaching is not ‘How to?’ but ‘How can?’  How can a preacher stand before a congregation and dare to [...]

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Thick skin, open heart

In his commentary on 1 Corinthians, David Prior speaks of prophets as having thick skin and open hearts.  I think that’s a good definition.  And quite apt given our recent discussions on personality etc.
Think of Jesus, the Servant:
4 The Sovereign LORD has given me an instructed tongue,
       to know the word that sustains the weary.
       [...]

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Friday Fun

Growing up, Friday used to mean John Clarke and Bryan Dawe doing their 3 minute spoof interviews at the end of current affairs programme The 730 Report.
Good example of Australian humour.  Hope you enjoy them.
Front Fell Off

 
 
Iraq

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Does the gospel create homogenous personalities?

Here’s a question Rich Owen asked me.  I’ve included my answer, but I thought it would be great to get your opinions too.  This is the question:
To what extent does the gospel require a homogenisation of personality?
 
I’m thinking about bearing with one another, rebuking one another, kindness… the hard edge of graciousness and integrity…  but [...]

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“Because we’re supposed to”

I just finished a preaching group where a fine preacher gave a fine talk on Judges 14.  At the end he included a sentence about ‘another Saviour who came to deliver His people eternally’.  That sort of thing.   He didn’t make anything of the point and he didn’t mention the name ‘Jesus’, but he included [...]

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An imagined discussion on the trinity

‘Now, now Glen we need balance.  It’s not just about the Three, we also must remember the One.’  They say.
‘Oh’ I say, concerned.  ‘You don’t think I speak about the One?’ 
‘Well perhaps not as much as you should.  You’re always going on about the Trinity see.  Which is great.  Hey, I’m all for Trinity.  But [...]

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Wisdom on ministry

Some wonderful words of wisdom from Eugene Peterson.
And this on servant leadership.
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Can I eat this kebab?

 
That’s the question Paul is answering from 1 Corinthians 8-10.
If you ate meat in Corinth, chances are it had already been used in ritual sacrifice to a false god.  So the question among the Corinthian Christians was ‘Can I eat this kebab?’ 
It’s a question that goes to the heart of the issue - How much of [...]

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Reflecting the Lord’s glory

What’s this verse about?
And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory…  (2 Cor 3:18)
Is it about enjoying private devotional experiences with Jesus so that we become like Him?   That’s a popular interpretation.  And it’s half right.  But it’s really not the full story.
The [...]

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Spend 40 hours learning Hebrew

I think Hebrew is cool. 
I’ve also voiced the opinion that bible teachers can and, if possible, should learn some.   At that point I said a hundred hours would not be an unreasonable investment of time.
Well here’s a 40 hour course.  Twenty lessons, one hour of homework a week.
It uses this textbook which has a CD-ROM [...]

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A good infection

Have you ever heard or ever spoken about Christ’s cleansing of lepers?  Have you ever heard it said that, in the OT, you never got a good infection, only a bad one?  In other words the teaching says – holiness and cleanness never travels to the unholy/unclean thing.  Instead it’s always the unholy/unclean thing that [...]

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Are you a bible nut??

Take the Christ the Truth patented quiz:
What is your response to the following Scriptures?
 
Scripture 1: Josh 10:12-15 - the sun stays up for a whole extra day
A) What a rich and enigmatic text! The main thing we glean is that the LORD can be trusted in difficult circumstances.
B) [Muffled] I suppose something quite strange happened here.  [...]

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