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 …
Category: Personal religion
Black swans and the resurrection of Jesus Christ
A black swan is a term used in financial markets. It refers to an unexpected and dramatic event. The coronavirus pandemic is a black swan. No-one expected it, at least at this time, and it has resulted in the third fastest fall in world markets since 1975 when the FTSE began as a measure of …
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2020 and 20/20 Vision
20/20 vision indicates excellent eyesight, so we may hope that 2020 will be a year of Vision for the UK having left the European Union. My first 20 years Roughly, the first 18 years of my life were spent in the UK outside the European Economic Community (EEC) and the remaining 47 years were spent …
Unbelief: the default position
Unbelief is the default position for human beings. Fake news drowns out the truth, and when the truth is discovered it may not be believed because of the inbred scepticism in our ungodly society. For every truth, there are many untruths set against it. As there is more falsehood than truth, there is more unbelief …
A summary of the New Testament in the Christian Bible
I recently summarised examples of Jesus’ extraordinary conversation in the Gospel of John. I hope it will be helpful to have a brief summary of the New Testament. Background – language and layout The New Testament was written after the Lord Jesus Christ appeared on Earth. In contrast, the Old Testament was written before He …
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Jesus’ conversational topics
"Jesus answered and said: ..."The Synoptic Gospels How often do we read this comment in the Gospels! Well – 34 times in the King James Version to be exact, and many more times in various combinations – but what I meant was – look how common it is! It is so common that one might …
Christian excuses
You know the phenomenon – someone promises you that they will do something and they don't. After a while you realise that it will not be done, possibly after several enquiries and further promises. First, there are the lame excuses, and then there is the justification, which does not stand up to examination. It would …
Gather up the fragments that remain
Jesus said to His disciples: "Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost."John 6:12 Jesus said this after feeding 5,000 people on the Galilean hillside. He was teaching His disciples about more than being tidy. In this same chapter Jesus taught "I am the Bread of Life" Jn 6:35,48,51 and gave extensive teaching …
Learning basic Exegesis
There are some basics in exegesis that Christians can learn and develop to improve their personal Bible study and their discussion at collective Bible studies. Drawing out of (ex-egesis) the Scripture will feed the soul. Which is the most significant word in the following sentence? "The red car went down the hill." You may say …
What constitutes a ‘good’ minister?
Not so long ago I discussed the subjective nature of a 'good' sermon. A good minister is not so subjective to assess as a sermon because the apostle Paul discusses it in his letters and he gives advice about a good minister 1Tim 4:6 and evangelist 2Tim 4:5 when writing to Timothy. Ministers and preachers …
