It’s worth saying again that in as much as you think you’ve counted the cost there are always emerging factors that muddies the waters. Committing to follow Jesus Christ can appear a wonderful and beautiful thing at first. He has rescued us from sin and by His Spirit He lives within. We have newfound joy. […]
Read More Recounting the CostPeople didn’t always understand Jesus. It didn’t always bother him that they didn’t. In fact He knew a lot of the time they wouldn’t understand Him. But they did connect with Him. There was something about what He said that caused them to react in one way or another. It wasn’t just the signs He […]
Read More Making ConnectionsIt’s interesting. People love the concept of freedom, but don’t like the thought of surrender. People would welcome peace and justice, but wouldn’t necessarily be as warm towards submission. Yet Jesus who brought freedom and showed the way of peace is the chief example of someone who submitted and displayed a willingness to surrender that […]
Read More Complete SurrenderYou ever hear some statements that make you sit up and pay attention? One of those statements goes as follows: you can take the boy out of the town, but you can’t get the town out of the boy. That’s a brilliant sentiment. It speaks of how deeply embedded familiar values are in the ‘boy’ […]
Read More You Can Take The Son Out Of The Kingdom …Someone must have thought it would be a good idea for me to take a stroll along memory lane, recently. First there was the issue about remembering where I was ten years ago and the impact of a great expression of brotherly love. I recently had the great pleasure of seeing a former work colleague […]
Read More Another Difference After All These YearsTrue story. Last December – that’s right less than four months ago – I did an Emergency First Aid at Work course. This was a one day course that covered some aspects of First Aid at a basic level. Among other elements we learnt in the session was CPR and how to put someone in […]
Read More Qualities FadeBaptisms. I love ’em. For the sake of the argument I am referring to believer’s baptism rather than infant baptism. True story: I have not seen an infant baptism in real life. Anyway, I love baptisms. It’s brilliant seeing people make a public declaration of allegiance with Jesus Christ. On a number of occasions those […]
Read More What Have You Got Yourself Into?I sometimes wonder why He keeps them. He’s beaten death, He’s defeated the grave, the final opposition to life and the Kingdom has been vanquished in the death, burial and resurrection. He is triumphant over all His foes. He is now the hope of the world and those who believe in Him can live eternally. […]
Read More Scarred As A Reminder That You Are VictoriousThere is a need to focus on the need for Jesus. I recognise how easy it is to get distracted. The problem of being distracted is that even if you’re doing noble things, they miss the point. There are a lot of noble things going in the world that miss the point. That point chiefly […]
Read More What Matters After The DistractionsSomething I enjoy about studying in a group is the opportunity to get different perspectives and experiences. When we’re sharing in that kind of environment and people open up their lives and we get to see beyond the dress up and the show, it’s really illuminating. I come out of sessions like that motivated to […]
Read More The Price You Pay: Relationships
