Watch this video for five minutes of pure delight. The Kimyal people of Papua, Indonesia, celebrate the arrival of the complete New Testament in their own language for the first time in March 2010. If the video is jumpy, click on the HD symbol at the bottom to switch out of high definition.
The first hard copies of Scripture
We are familiar with electronic and hard copies of documents, the former being stored as electronic medium and the latter being the physical tangible version. What and where is the first hard copy of Scripture? Moses wrote the Pentateuch on manuscript and copies were made from it. In Deu 17:18 we read that the king …
My righteous Servant
It is common for the Jews to interpret the Lord's Servant in the prophecy of Isaiah as either king Hezekiah or the Jewish nation itself. It is just as common for Christian expositors to use the term "the suffering Servant" in Isa 52:13-53:12. The latter term has arisen because Isa 53 is about suffering, but …
Bible Word Cloud
An interesting Word Cloud of the 66 books of the Bible gives the following list of the most frequent words in each book of the Bible as they appear to me. There are some very interesting combinations, particularly the Gospel of John. Gen Lord God Jacob father Joseph Abraham land son sons Now Ex Lord …
Fat cats in the public’s eye – what is fairness?
Fairness was catapaulted to the top of the agenda in the last General Election campaign. Since then the debate is on - what is fairness in our society? "It's not fair!" announces the youngest child with all the authority of a top judge. Where did the child learn this judicial skill? In 2010 Wayne Rooney …
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Relevance – the So What? factor
We cannot simply say things and expect others to understand their relevance. It is a teacher's task to make things relevant. I teach advanced driving. To improve observational skills, the driver under training is expected to comment on what he sees. It is not enough to say that he sees a vehicle, pedestrians, animals and …
The Religious Affections
A Treatise concerning the Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards is an excellent book for helping with self-examination. Edwards lived in the time of the First Great Awakening in America (1725-50) and saw revival on a great scale. In God's providence, America's foremost theologian was on hand to witness and analyse these events. He saw many …
Book reviews
Young Christians need guidance on many things in order to witness for Christ in a hostile world. Those who have access to wise and judicious senior Christians to guide them are privileged. Those who have effective preaching in a supportive congregation are in the environment encouraged by Scripture. Yet many people do not have either …
Lecture on Christianity and politics available for download
My lecture on Christianity and politics is available for download. Today's legal verdict in favour of a homosexual couple, awarding them damages against the Christian owners of a hotel in Penzance, shows the need for Christians to change the law - and the only legitimate way to do so is through politics. This is explained …
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How to stay updated with your favourite blogs
I've just begun using Google Reader. [Google has now disabled this Reader; see below] At the top left of the page, click on "Add a subscription" and type the blog or URL which interests you, for example: http://www.christian.org.uk/ for the Christian Institute. If you repeat this for your favourite blogs, then you will be able …
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Donald's Thoughts 