Preaching topically scares me. It should be easy, right? The whole of the Bible to pick texts from, less pressure to take any one verse down to it’s sub-atomic level, and yet as I sat down last week to prepare a topical sermon on ‘Revive us, Lord, through Small Groups’ I felt lost. Lost because, … More Christian Community
I’ve never seen that many guys from our church in a room at the same time – we had about 65 men come out this last Sunday for part 3 of ‘33 – The Series‘ from the ‘Authentic Manhood‘ stable. Why do I love it? Let me count the ways: 1.) Doing discipleship together Did … More Authentic Manhood
Singing’s not my thing. Sure, I joined the school choir when I was 12 and had a lot of fun hanging out with a bunch of other kids and getting to skip lessons to go to rehearsals – what’s not to like about that? We did a concert or two which was great fun, including … More What’s With All the Singing?
“…you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made…” (Psalm 139:13-14) Frankly, I think the build quality is suspect. OK, some of it is down to user error – my ankle surgery was necessitated by multiple injuries caused primarily by playing … More Fearfully and Wonderfully Made
I had the privilege of preaching this Sunday on Romans 12:1 – “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship”. It was the first of a series that five of us are doing entitled, … More Living Sacrifices
A good friend of mine runs a restaurant at a local hotel, and keeps his beady eye on TripAdvisor for the latest feedback. I wouldn’t have thought keeping close tabs on that web-site to be a good use of his time, except that my wife pretty much refuses to go anywhere ranked lower than #3 … More Keeping God out of the…well, everything…
The Christian Institute reported today that “Gloucestershire County Council has removed all references to God in its council ‘prayer’”, after 3 of 63 councillors objected to prayer following the government writing to all councils to confirm that they were allowed to pray at meetings. This is not, in the grand scheme of things, a big … More The Art of God-free Prayer
I was interested to see an interview with the author of this book about Christianity in China, as my grandparents were missionaries there, with Grandad serving from 1933 until 1951 when they were kicked out by the new Mao regime. One sentence from the interview leapt out at me: “From what I have seen so … More God’s Work, God’s Timing
“When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from … More Why Pray? 10: When we are being disciplined
“For this reason [your faith and love], since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding…in order that you may a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every … More Why Pray? 9: To be filled with the knowledge of His will
Paul T Reynolds 