Gluttony is perhaps the strangest and least likely of the Seven Deadly Sins; if we had to cull the list to six, it would be the first to go. Food is something that is good and to be enjoyed -who wants to label the Christmas roast the most sinful activity of the year? Furthermore Jesus loved a good banquet; his very first…
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If there was to be a prize for the greatest of the ‘Seven Deadly Sins’, then pride would surely win the day. One only has to look inward for a moment to discover it alive and well, thirsting for another opportunity to self-glorify. It is the master of disguise, with any number of faces, that sneaks up when you are least expecting…
Of the Seven Deadly Sins, it is envy that is the most widely condemned by society. Lust, gluttony and slothfulness all have an appeal in the moment, anger also allows for a release of pent up frustration and pride means that you are feeling good about yourself. It’s easy for us to see why people fall into those sins; they promise fulfilment…
On a recent camp for high-school kids we did a seminar for boys on pornography. At the beginning we ran an anonymous survey; the first question was ‘have you ever seen pornography?’ The results came in – 100% had. The second question in the survey was, ‘have you ever actively searched for pornography?’ This time the result was slightly less – 98%.…
Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind. This line from the 1987 film Wall Street aptly characterises our society’s attitude towards greed.…
Over the next seven weeks we will be looking at the ‘Seven Deadly Sins’: Greed, Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Anger, Pride and Slothfulness, exploring their relevance in today’s society and for our lives. For most of us though, the concept of the Seven Deadly Sins seems old and out-dated, something to be caricatured and laughed at or used as a marketing tool to…
In Galatians 5 we read what the spiritual life of a follower of Jesus will look like. In Gal 5:16 there is the command to “walk/live by the Spirit”. This is not something that we do from time to time – we are commanded to keep on doing it… in fact it is to be our ongoing experience as God’s people. The…
In Romans 8 there is an extensive piece of scripture that deals with the person and work of the Holy Spirit. There is lots of great stuff in this chapter but I wanted us to look at Romans 8 to discover 6 characteristics of someone who is led by the Spirit. The spiritual life is intimately related to the saving work of…
In the New Testament being spiritual is all about being indwelt by the Spirit of God. So from a biblical point of view only those people who have the Spirit can really be described as spiritual. Thus the outworking of the Spirit in the lives of followers of Jesus is what could be referred to as ‘biblical spirituality’. And yet are all…
So much of today’s “Christian spirituality” is mystical in essence and whilst we do not have the time to delve into this in detail the Christian mystic’s ‘search for the spiritual’ often contradicts what the Bible says true spirituality is all about. Let me give you just one example. Brother Lawrence the author of “The practice of the presence of God” says…