The usefulness of Christians is paramount. It is not enough to listen to sermons and to worship God, but God expects us to be useful. "Faith without works is dead." James 2:20,26 Jesus' Sermon on the Mount – Matthew, Chapter 5 Immediately after the Beatitudes Mat 5:3-11, in which Jesus documents the characteristics of godly …
Category: Personal religion
Old heads on young shoulders
There are many adages from a by-gone era that need to be resurrected for the benefit of today's youth. One is that "you cannot put an old head on young shoulders". The cult of youth and the pandering to youth and their opinions, on the principle that they are the leaders of tomorrow, has a …
How does God speak to us?
God is speaking to us all the time in a variety of ways, but we are not good at listening. The Bible is not the only way God speaks to us. Each morning we awaken to consciousness, noticing the world around us. We have come into a visual reality from an unconscious or dreamlike one. …
The usefulness of Bible exegesis
This is the second blogpost in my current series on Bible exegesis for beginners. You may want to begin at the beginning. The first blogpost was to help you load an essential Bible tool on to your computer, which you can consult at anytime even when you are not on the internet. I plan to …
Bible Exegesis for Beginners
A Happy New Year to all my readers. Last New Year I posted Do you know the Doorman? This is a very important question and your answer is even more important. January is the door to the New Year and Jesus Christ is the Door to heaven and a new life. We learn from Him …
Don’t preach to me
Very many people object to being preached at. Indeed! Good training should teach preachers not to preach at people, nor beyond people, nor above people's heads, nor beating around the bush, but to people in a manner designed to engage their attention. However, many people do not want even this. So they cannot complain if …
Impoverished conversation and free speech
Misunderstanding is common in conversation, but what really impoverishes speech nowadays is the subjects that are off-limits. Political correctness has made everyone aware that some topics are off-limits and even particular words have now been banned. Free speech is under attack but let us notice that it began long ago with the supposed rule for …
Failings in the Christian church
Thankfully, the Christian church acts as salt and light throughout the world but it could be more effective. The primary failure is in its leadership Eph 4:11-16, which fails primarily because of the lack of exegetical preaching. Nationally: the failure to witness to the nation Isa 56:10. The national churches have failed the UK nations. …
Searching for Jesus Christ
Some people find Jesus Christ easily and others have a more circuitous route involving a lot of difficulty. Professor Jordan Peterson seems to fall into the latter category. In truth, Jesus Christ finds us, as the Good Shepherd looking for His lost sheep, but our experience is that we find Christ. We do so because …
Do you know the Doorman?
January is the door to a New Year. Jesus is the door to a new life, not just a new year. Jesus said: “I am the door – by Me if anyone enters in, he shall be saved.”John 10:9 Jesus makes every day new, with new opportunities – "It is of the LORD'S mercies that …
Donald's Thoughts 