Almost Obedient?

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God’s grace should never cease to amaze us. We should never overestimate our complete lack of merit or underestimate our sinfulness. All good things come from God and we deserve none of them. Our very best does not reach God’s required standard of perfection. Our very best effort at earning salvation would still leave us … Read more

Christmas Journeys

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Travelling over the Christmas season is fraught with excitement, anticipation and sometimes problems. People travel all over the country and all over the world to spend time with family and friends. As I read Luke 2 I see several “Christmas” journeys. 1. Journeying to Bethlehem (Luke 2:1-5) In the first 5 verses we read about Joseph … Read more

Balancing On Your Bandwagon

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Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the … Read more

Getting a Burden for the Persecuted Church

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“Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.” – Hebrews 13:3 With no real benchmark for persecution in our personal lives, some Christians in the West believe they or others they know have suffered persecution. However, most Christians in the West … Read more

The Missionary Manifesto – G. Campbell Morgan

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The Missionary Manifesto, by G. Campbell Morgan, takes a detailed look at the commission given by Christ to believers to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. Morgan goes into great detail and covers aspects of the commission which have not been brought to my attention before. His book has 6 chapters: The … Read more

How Can We Pray for One Another?

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In 1 Thessalonians 5:23 Paul made this request, “Brethren, pray for us.” It is a simple request and one we desire for ourselves and one another. Sometimes we need some help to know how to pray for one another. Using the example of Scripture here are a few ideas. Pray for one other’s Sanctification – … Read more

Dealing with Difficult Texts

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We have all been there. While trying to share the Gospel an alleged contradiction or perceived error from the Bible gets thrown into the conversation to try and trip us up. Or, during our own reading of the Bible we find a passage that doesn’t make sense perhaps logically or measured against our own understanding … Read more

Shrinking from the Doctrine of Reward

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Principal Rainy (Robert Rainy 1826-1906), commenting on Philippians 4:15-19, writes,

“We are not to shrink from the doctrine of reward because it has been perverted. It is true the good works of a Christian cannot be the foundation of his title to life eternal. They proceed from the grace of God; they are imperfect and mixed at their best. Yet they are precious fruits of Christ’s death, and of God’s grace, arising through the faith and love of soul’s renewed and liberated.

When a penitent and believing man is found devoting to God what he is and has, doing so freely and lovingly, that is a blessed thing. God sets value on it. It is accepted as fruit which the man brings, as the offering which he yields. The heart of Christ rejoices over it.

Now it is fit that the value set on this fruit should be shown, and the way God takes to show it is to reward the service. Such a man “shall in no wise lose his reward.”

A Brief Catch Up

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It has been a very busy and blessed month so far. Quite often I have not had internet access and so I have been unable to update my site as I would have liked. My intention was to write of each church and trip as it happened, but lack of time online and lack of … Read more

Words and the English

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Jeremy Paxman in his book, “The English”, writes about the line of thought that explains the spiritual reformation that took place in Britain and its impact upon art and literature, politics and education. He explains the historical emphasis Britain had upon words, rather than images, and even the painters often focused on what was observed … Read more