God speaks to us without video, audio, diagrams, emojis, or musical notation: we simply have his Word. But because it’s exhaled and made understandable by his Spirit, (2 Tim. 3:16, 17; 1 Cor. 2:13, 14), it has an incomparable communicative power (Heb. 4:12). In my three guest articles I’m meditating on that thought by…
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As the Prime Minister’s press conference ended, it was clear that life was going to be very different for the next few weeks, possibly months, possibly longer. Severe social distancing measures were announced in the next attempt to combat COVID-19. It was not long before my phone began to ring, text messages, emails looking…
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Maybe there have been times in your Christian walk when you have known the nearness of the Lord and glimpsed something of his glory and beauty in the Word. It may have been in your personal devotions or when you were gathered with the Lord’s people. But sadly, it is likely we have also…
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Not long after my wife and I were married, we moved to Cornwall and the house we rented had a great open fire. I soon realised there was an art to building a fire that lasts with the right materials. It is important to put the coal, kindling, scrunched paper, and logs in good…
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In the last two columns I’ve tried to show that old age doesn’t mean the end of your Christian usefulness. Older saints are particularly well positioned to glorify God, through your trials and through your prayers. In this final instalment we’ll think about how you can do so through your legacy — and I’m…
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When you can’t be involved in Christian service as actively as you once were, you can find yourself standing on the sidelines of church life, feeling like a spare part. But the church is a body, with no dispensable members (1 Corinthians 12:12-25). There are important roles which only older believers can fulfil. In…
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Pastoring a largely elderly congregation has shown me how old age can bring new challenges for the Christian. When your physical and mental strength are waning you can feel frustrated and even depressed about not being able to serve the Saviour as actively as you did before. Take heart! You remain a soldier of…
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Like a swift flowing river, progressive culture seems to surge forward, sweeping all with it. Like dead branches, liberal churches are caught up in the stream. Sometimes evangelicals feel battered by the torrent, barely clinging to the bank. We need renewed confidence in the Spirit’s power. GK Chesterton stated ‘a dead thing can go…
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Last month we contrasted who we are (God’s image bearers) with how we are (scarred by original sin). Rather than defining ourselves and others by the (often sinful) strongest urges we experience, we must embrace the gospel hope of the master restorer. The Spirit of God patiently restores fallen image-bearers to the glorious original:…
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Struggling for the right words, the prop forward tried to answer the question. Talking about his feelings obviously didn’t come easily. ‘I really loved my wife and children’ he said, ‘but then I started to have these urges – and I had to be true to my urges’. The BBC interviewer obviously approved –…
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In different ways the Christian has been set free. Supremely, we are free in relation to sin. Sin made us debtors to divine justice, but Christ has paid the price. Sin made us incapable of godly behaviour, but Christ has renewed our hearts. This liberation from sin is the heart of the gospel. But…
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Different parts of the Bible affect us in different ways. Reading Isaiah 6, we tremble before the majesty of the transcendent Lord. Studying the New Testament passion narratives, we are moved by the sight of our suffering Saviour. Poring over the book of Revelation, our minds reel at this kaleidoscope of lurid imagery. But…
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