Is your Church a Religious cushion?
I came across this post Is your Church a Religious cushion by Scott Thomas, Director of the Acts 29 Network. To Quote the article directly, Jack Miller was the director of World Harvest Mission and pastor of New Life Presbyterian Church near Philadelphia and professor at Westminster. In his book, Outgrowing the Ingrown Church (one of the best books I have read in a while), Jack described the church as a â€

Michael Jacksons This is it
Last night my wife and I went to watch “This is it”. The movie started with interviews of men and women who were selected to dance along side Michael Jackson in his upcoming concert. One of the guys interviewed trying to hold back the tears said : “Life is so hard, and I suppose I have been searching for something greater. And I think I’ve finally found something to believe in. This is it!&

Pauls balance between culture and counter culture
What amazes me about Paul is his balance between culture and counter culture. In Ephesians 5:21-33 on marriage, Pauls structure is one that follows in thread and grain of the cultural houshold codes of the day. Paul acknowledges the structure of the codes and retains what is good while at the same time identifying the pitfalls in the cultural norms and expectations. He maintains that woman should respect their husbands which in Greco Roman culture was a generally accepted standard while at the same time he pushes the boundaries by explaining that only within a gospel framework can true submission really work and function. What he is doing well is contextualising

Free Tim Keller Sermons
Have to make it known that there are now 150 free sermons available at the redeemer sermon store. Tim Keller is a pastor in New York City. He has probably been one of the most influential Christian leaders in shaping my thinking about the gospel. I have benefited from listening to many hours of his preaching and hope to benefit from more time spent listening to his sermons on my

Blood and Water
One image I have not been able to remove from my mind this last week has been Jesus Christs dead body hanging on the cross. One of the last snapshots in the gospels is of a Roman Centurion inserting his spear just below Jesus rib. Out flowed water and blood. Charles Spurgeon reminded me in his book “All of Grace” that it is a picture of Christs blood sacrificed for us along with the cleansing by water of our hearts through faith. A picture for me of the two doctrines that are so precious to me. Justification and sanctification. Justification being the public declaration by a just God that a sinner like me is blameless and accepted by the God of all the univ