Isaiah 28:15,17.  [They said] “we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood we have hidden ourselves”. . . . . [But the Lord says] “I will make justice the measuring line, and righteousness the plummet; the hail will sweep away the refuge of lies”.

The teaching here is clear enough. All lies will eventually be unmasked, and truth will win the day. But why should the Lord speak of using HAIL to bring this about?  See how it appears in Rev.16:21 – “And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent. Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great.”  Literal hail this size falling on people would kill them instantly, but here we are told that it only produced blasphemy – they were hiding under whopping great lies and cursed God for being found out! [Read more…]

Have you ever felt like John the Baptist when confronted with the task of baptising Jesus? How could the Son of God ask such a thing? It doesn’t make sense.

Let’s investigate.  Why was John baptising people?  We read about repentance. We read about remission of sins. Yes, ordinary humans, born in sin, need to repent and be washed clean from their sins. But not Jesus. [Read more…]

“Into all our lives, in many simple, familiar, homely ways, God infuses this element of joy from the surprises of life, which unexpectedly brighten our days and fill our eyes with light. He drops this added sweetness into His children’s cup, and makes it to run over. The success we were not counting on, the blessing we were not trying after, the strain of music in the midst of drudgery, the beautiful morning picture or sunset glory thrown in as we pass to or from our daily business, the unsought word of encouragement or expression of sympathy, the sentence that meant for us more than the writer or speaker thought, – these and a hundred others that everyone’s experience can supply are instances of what I mean. You may call it accident or chance – it often is; you may call it human goodness – it often is; but always, always call it God’s love, for that is always in it. These are the overflowing riches of His grace, these are His free gifts.” [Read more…]

If God is Love, He is by definition, something more than mere kindness. And it appears, from all the records, that though He has often rebuked us and condemned us, He has never regarded us with contempt. He has paid us the intolerable compliment of loving us, in the deepest, most tragic, most inexorable sense. . . . When Christianity says that God loves man, it means that God loves man: not that He has some “disinterested”, because really indifferent, concern for our welfare, but that, in awful and surprising truth, we are the objects of His love. You asked for a loving God: you have one. The great spirit you so lightly invoked, the “lord of terrible aspect”, is present: not a senile benevolence that drowsily wishes you to be happy in your own way, not the cold philanthropy of a conscientious magistrate, nor the care of a host who feels responsible for the comfort of his guests, but the consuming fire Himself, the Love that made the worlds. [Read more…]

Today!  What is it?  About 8 hours sleep and 16 hours activity. Let us concentrate on the hours of activity.

Time – how shall we describe it?  Like a railroad track. The sleepers mark off successive days. But there is another railroad track, invisible to us, but just as real. Think of it as intersecting with our track, but vertical. This track is used by God, and He tells us a little about it. He says “One of my days is like 1000 years of yours, and 1000 years of my days could be like one day on your track, or even just the 4 hours of a nightwatch.” [Read more…]

Try putting “snake in the apple tree” in Google, and go to Images. It’s quite amazing just how many pictures have been drawn or painted over the years to depict the sad event in the Garden of Eden.

But what is even sadder is this pictorial image. It may seem to be true according to the AV Bible (and many other versions) but it in no way captures the true scene in Eden. [Read more…]

Prayer One

“Lord, I never miss Church unless I’m ill. I’m always there twice every Lord’s Day. And I always attend the weekly Bible Study and Prayer meetings. I pray every day for my friends and family, the fellowship, and all Christians. I have a regular morning hour of Bible reading, and always pray before going to bed. I put aside a tithe of my income and this helps the Church to run, and goes towards a stipend for the Pastor. I keep my home clean and tidy and open to welcome all who come. I never fail to point people to Jesus. And I’m always encouraging others in the Church to be equally conscientious and committed, as I believe you would have us to be. To God be the glory. Amen”

Prayer Two

“Thank you Lord for your beautiful creation. Thank you for eyes to appreciate these things. Thank you for my health and strength, your upholding hand in difficult times, and knowledge of your presence when I’m unwell. Thank you for giving me a roof over my head, and sufficicient income to supply my daily needs. Thank you for sending me those who need help and sustenance. Thank you for loving friends and family, and their untiring love shown to me. Thank you for those in the Church who minister the word of God faithfully each week. Please uphold them and inspire them in their ministry. Above all, Lord, I thank you for your sacrifice at Calvary, because I’m ever aware of my sinful nature, and know how much you suffered to bring me salvation and eternal life. May the Holy Spirit bring this wonderful message to all, that your loving heart may be joyfully satisfied. Thank you for all your lovingkindness, in Jesus’ Name.”

Kenneth Bailey has this to say –

“In His parables Jesus often adopts an Old Testament theme and develops it. The parable of the Good Shepherd in Luke 15 can best be understood as a retelling of Psalm 23. The parable of the prodigal son contains fifty-one points of similarity and contrast to the story of Jacob in Genesis 27 – 36. The parable of the Two Builders in Luke 6 is profoundly related to Isaiah 28:14-18. In like manner the parable of Pharisee and the Tax Collector can be seen as having its roots in Isaiah 66:1-6. . . . . Such comparisons allow us to see Jesus as an extremely intelligent, metaphorical theologian who was a master of the Hebrew Scriptures and who developed significant aspects of His theology from the roots of His own tradition.”  [Read more…]

I have just finished my second reading of Kenneth Bailey’s amazing book. Having spent more than forty years in the Middle East, and having witnessed the cultural life of Jews, Arabs, Bedouins, and other minorities, he saw that in order to understand the Gospels one had to enter the mind-set of first century Palestine otherwise Jesus’ doctrines could be significantly misunderstood. [Read more…]

“Behold the goodness and severity of God.” (Rom.11:22)

The parabolic teaching of Jesus contains warnings of great severity. Let’s have a quick overview. [Read more…]