My mum must have been an impressive woman when I was born. I reckon she gave birth to me as she ran because I find it hard to slow down. As I recovered from my throat surgery last month I felt that there was too much to do to stop. But the more I look at life I realise I did not…

One of the dangers we face as God’s people is that we read his word like we would any “guide book”. We listen to what we like the sound of and reject what we do not like the sound of. Of course we would not put it that crudely but in reality we are often happy to accept Jesus forgiveness but we…

When I went into full time ministry I thought most of my time would be spent encouraging and being encouraged by God’s people as we discovered what God’s word was saying together and as we put it into practice. I thought the remainder of my time would be spent speaking to people who did not follow God about why it would be…

Imagine being a relatively small minority in a big world. Imagine you had huge and volatile armies all around that dwarfed yours. Who would you look to for security? The challenge Judah faces is a stark one. They, the people of Judah, are the people of the Covenant. Who will they ultimately put their trust in? It is a question that is…

Last week I raised two ways in which we can apply the book of Isaiah in a very similar way to the original hearers. God in Isaiah’s time is exactly the same in his character and nature as he is today. Unfortunately the other thing that is still the same is us – our character and nature. In these first two ways…

One of the tasks we all need to do when we read and apply God’s word is to first of all understand what God’s word is saying to the original hearers. We need to look at what God’s word was saying to their context before we can move with confidence and integrity to apply it to our own very different situation. For…

It is a little daunting to read a big book of the bible – when I do I often feel like the fish Dory in the movie ‘Finding Nemo’. I read a page and promptly forget what it says. Now when the book is 66 chapters long I can feel overwhelmed. Which makes it pretty hard to preach on a long book…

Come and see what God has done, how awesome his works in man’s behalf! He turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the waters on foot – come, let us rejoice in him. He rules forever by his power, his eyes watch the nations – let not the rebellious rise up against him. Praise our God, O peoples, let the…

Our world does not believe in the Christian message, or in a biblically shaped hope of heaven and so this mantra actually is what many are trying to do, live out their lives day by day… till they die. But how many of us have thought what if the Christian message is a lie. What have you given up for Christ –…

And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. Never again will…