James's Weblog
Run out of words to pray?
Thu, 04/03/2010 - 14:55 — JamesThen enjoy the wisdom of William Cowper, as found in two verses of his hymn What various hinderances we meet:
Have we no words? But think again;
words flow apace when we complain
and fill our fellow-creature’s ear
with the sad tale of all our care.Were half the breath thus vainly spent
to heaven in supplication sent,
our cheerful song would oftener be,
‘Hear what the Lord has done for me!’
Towards a doctrine of Scripture
Tue, 02/03/2010 - 15:50 — JamesThere is a danger in any area of Christian thought that we talk past one another, objecting to caricatures of what another Christian thinks, rather than to what they actually think. It is a tragedy whenever it happens, because it means that careful understanding (which is the grounds for charity) is replaced with a climate of suspicion. So we need to express what we think with great care, and that is as much about affirming what we do believe to be true as it is about denying what is not true.
… read more »The importance of the how
Tue, 02/03/2010 - 10:06 — JamesA very striking observation from Alec Motyer on James 3:13-14:
“James does not yet tell us anything that we must actually do, any course of conduct to follow. He offers us an ethic not of verbs (do this), nor of nouns (naming this or that item of good conduct), but of adverbs (about the sort of people we are to be whatever we do). Everything (his good life … his works) is to be done in the meekness of wisdom, or, to unwrap the phrase slightly, ‘in a wisdom which always bears the mark of meekness.’.” (Page 131)
What does the Bible really teach? Epilogue
Mon, 01/03/2010 - 15:18 — JamesI've just finished posting through the 19 chapters of the Jehovah's Witnesses primary study text, What does the Bible really teach? You'll find a table of contents for those blog posts in the post that opened the sequence of them: http://www.oakleys.org.uk/blog/2010/01/what_the_bible_really_teaches_int....
Now that I've finished, there are a few more things that need to be said.
… read more »Chapter 19: Remain in God’s love
Tue, 02/02/2010 - 10:10 — JamesThis post is part of a series of posts summarising chapters of the Jehovah Witnesses' booklet, "What does the Bible really Teach?", and seeking to evaluate those chapters against Scripture somewhat briefly. Those posts were introduced at the Introduction, and a contents page will be added to that entry once this run of posts has finished.
Chapter 19: Remain in God’s love
Life has many hard times, during which we need to keep ourselves in God’s love.
… read more »Chapter 18: Baptism and your relationship with God
Mon, 01/02/2010 - 10:00 — JamesThis post is part of a series of posts summarising chapters of the Jehovah Witnesses' booklet, "What does the Bible really Teach?", and seeking to evaluate those chapters against Scripture somewhat briefly. Those posts were introduced at the Introduction, and a contents page will be added to that entry once this run of posts has finished.
Chapter 18: Baptism and your relationship with God
… read more »Chapter 17: Draw close to God in prayer
Sun, 31/01/2010 - 10:00 — JamesThis post is part of a series of posts summarising chapters of the Jehovah Witnesses' booklet, "What does the Bible really Teach?", and seeking to evaluate those chapters against Scripture somewhat briefly. Those posts were introduced at the Introduction, and a contents page will be added to that entry once this run of posts has finished.
Chapter 17: Draw close to God in prayer
We are small, but God will draw near to us in prayer – if we pray in the way he approves.
… read more »Chapter 16: Take your stand for true worship
Sat, 30/01/2010 - 10:00 — JamesThis post is part of a series of posts summarising chapters of the Jehovah Witnesses' booklet, "What does the Bible really Teach?", and seeking to evaluate those chapters against Scripture somewhat briefly. Those posts were introduced at the Introduction, and a contents page will be added to that entry once this run of posts has finished.
Chapter 16: Take your stand for true worship
… read more »Chapter 15: Worship that God approves
Fri, 29/01/2010 - 10:00 — JamesThis post is part of a series of posts summarising chapters of the Jehovah Witnesses' booklet, "What does the Bible really Teach?", and seeking to evaluate those chapters against Scripture somewhat briefly. Those posts were introduced at the Introduction, and a contents page will be added to that entry once this run of posts has finished.
Chapter 15: Worship that God approves
… read more »Chapter 14: How to make your family happy
Thu, 28/01/2010 - 10:00 — JamesThis post is part of a series of posts summarising chapters of the Jehovah Witnesses' booklet, "What does the Bible really Teach?", and seeking to evaluate those chapters against Scripture somewhat briefly. Those posts were introduced at the Introduction, and a contents page will be added to that entry once this run of posts has finished.
Chapter 14: How to make your family happy
… read more »
