Category

After success, therefore, comes failure – and sin is at the heart of that failure. Indeed, in this case the importance of sin is highlighted at the very beginning as we are told that the people of Israel broke faith in respect of the things devoted to destruction at Jericho.... Read More →

Rahab shows absolute fidelity in how she deals with the spies, so perhaps it is not entirely appropriate to judge her on the basis of the Bible’s wider morality of truth-telling. She operates in a way that she believes enables her to show good faith to the spies and, because that... Read More →

Animosities between individuals and groups of people are a given in our world today. Just take a look at the headlines in any newspaper. In spite of how we may feel about certain individuals or groups of people in our society, God seeks out all human beings to offer them the gift... Read More →

Why is it so often that we refuse to repent and change our ways until we are “in the belly of the fish”? Now we will see the repentance of Jonah. Read More →

Don’t hit your sister! Sometimes it takes all the willpower we have as children to obey. As adults we may have an approach-avoidance response to God’s will for our lives. We may intentionally seek spiritual growth and fulfillment, yet withdraw or pull back when God’s call... Read More →

One of the great arts of Christian theology is to know how to tell the story: the story of the Old Testament, the story of Jesus as both the climax of the Old Testament and the foundation of all that was to come (not a random collection of useful preaching material with some... Read More →

Luke has already introduced several themes which will be important as his book progresses. Next he emphasizes the way in which the early church was living as the true people of God—not least, we may suspect, in order to highlight an emerging paradox. The temple authorities... Read More →

Again and again, in worship and sacrament, in reading the Scriptures, in Christian fellowship and prayer, we taste in advance just a little bit of the coming together of heaven and earth, the sense that this is what we were made for, the new world which we shall finally enjoy. It... Read More →

The opening paragraph of the book of Acts declares, clearly and solidly, that it is a sequel. There has been a previous book, and this one continues the story. It even suggests a kind of title: “The Deeds and Teachings of King Jesus, Part Two”. At first sight this is a strange... Read More →

The Bible is clear.  When a person repents of sin and turns toward God, he is a new creation… he has a new life. Our Creator gives us a new start in life when we trust in Him. As we start a new year, let us also think of what it means for all of us to have a new start in Jesus... Read More →