God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished – he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. Romans 3:25-26 NIV (1984) Easter 3 – Easter and the Victory for Justice One of my favourite modern hymns is “O Church Arise”, but there’s one line I would gladly change. Stuart Townend writes, “Come see the cross, where love...
April 28, 2014November 12, 2018
Easter 2 – Easter and the Servant’s Example
“He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” 1 Peter 2:22-24 Easter 2 – Easter and the Servant’s Example The legal profession is marked by a strong work ethic, and Christian lawyers are in some ways no different. But it is a relatively...
April 24, 2014November 12, 2018
Easter 1 – Easter and the Passover Lamb
A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. … For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” John 19:29; 36. (ESV) Easter 1 – Easter and the Passover Lamb Moments of crisis put the stress of everyday working life into perspective. Imagine being an Israelite slave in...
March 26, 2014November 12, 2018
Wisdom from a man smoking weed….
Matthew 7:5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye No, I haven’t taken up recreational pot. Though the senior pastor of a London church did once tell me that, if they legalised cannabis, he wanted to be the first man to smoke a joint in his church’s pulpit to test if his congregation really believed in freedom in Christ! The man in question was walking along the pavement towards me, whilst I was running with the dog this afternoon. As I passed him...
March 15, 2014November 12, 2018
Taking on the Taliban in my T-Shirt!
Ephesians 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. I think life should be easy. We’ve been taken in by all those adverts. So as long as we drive a Volkswagen Golf, all our journeys will be peaceful. As long as we get the right pension, in retirement we’ll look like that perfectly healthy couple, who are just a bit grey, but run marathons for fun. We’ve been conned into thinking life is like a stroll round Ambleside on a sunny...
March 11, 2014November 12, 2018
“Does it?”
Revelation 22:18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. 19 And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. My friend David Gibb is very irritating. This for two reasons. Firstly he is usually right. And secondly he points this out to me by asking me two word questions. Here’s an...
March 7, 2014November 12, 2018
Wardrobe worries?
Galatians 3: 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. As I write this I’m sitting in Tesco’s café. At the table next to mine is a woman with more holes in her than our colander! Now this isn’t going to be an anti-piercings rant. I’m trying to keep an open mind on piercings as far as my children go, whilst being very glad that ears are all that have been done so far! It’s just that this woman has reminded me how our culture is obsessed with...
March 4, 2014November 12, 2018
Stop moaning and start groaning!
Romans 8:23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. We all love to have a good moan from time to time. Mine are usually based round the topic: “It’s not fair!” Once again life will have dealt me a blow I didn’t deserve. It might be my battle with Samsung to fix my handset, which has been rendered inoperative by their update! Or it might be the way that others just don’t seem to always agree I’m right....
March 3, 2014November 12, 2018
The Blessing of Washing Up.
Ephesians 4:11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fulness of Christ. I found myself in the kitchen on Sunday evening helping with the washing up after our 7pm café service (This being the North it’s...
March 1, 2014November 12, 2018
When is norp not norp?
Ephesians 5:3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. This isn’t a post about norp. You’ll have to do the anagram. It’s just if I used the real word them I think our website host would block my blog. Though we might get about a million more hits! Which wouldn’t be a bad thing, especially when you consider the state of people looking for internet norp. The thing is I have been shocked by two articles in...