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That depends on which God you are talking about.

People who embrace a set of views known as “open theism” like to say that God does not know the future (either his own, or that of his world, or both – there are different versions).

I’m reading Isaiah 41-44 again, and am freshly struck by what is here. God sets out one test or characteristic that will distinguish him, the true God, from an idol or false God.

God can tell you what is going to happen; an idol cannot

Here is the test, for example, in 44:7

“Who is like me? Let him proclaim it.

In Luke 20:1-21:4 we have a section characterised by

• Geographical location of Jerusalem

• Conflict stories between Jesus and the religious hierarchy.

The section is framed by:

• Jesus arrival in Jerusalem on the first Palm Sunday (19:28-48). The crowds’ cheering has not even died down before he weeps in public over what will happen to the city. The explanation given here for Jerusalem’s fate is her failure to recognise that God has come to visit. He then prophetically enacts this by driving out those who are misusing the temple.

As I start to do some work on Luke 21, I remind myself of where we are in Luke.

I don’t know.

But it must be something to do with this:

Mark 1:2-8 leaves us with two expectations of what God is about to do. From Mark 1:2-3 (quoting Isaiah 40), God is about to bring his people back through the wilderness to the promised land; he is about to remake his people. From Mark 1:7, he is “the stronger one than John” who will operate on his people’s hearts by his Spirit to bring about true repentance. There is no clear indication from Mark 1:2-8 that either “the Lord” or “the stronger one” is anyone other than God himself. We’re not looking for a human being (yet).

I’ve been doing some work on Mark chapter 1, and what I’ve found is really exciting!

Mark records in 1:10 that Jesus saw “the heavens opening” as he came out of the water. That is a bland translation. The word for “open” is the word for “rip”. It is used of ripped clothing in Jesus’ parable in Luke 5, and of the decision not to tear Jesus’ clothes at the crucifixion in John 19. It is used of Peter’s fishing net that did not tear even with 153 fish in John 21.

Hello everyone!

Some of you may have wondered why I took a two week break from posting as I didn’t let on much. Others will have seen the issues clearly. Personally, I’ve valued having a couple of weeks to give serious thought to some of the issues that were raised with me. It’s easily to be cheaply dismissive or (equally easily) blown here and there by everything everyone says. I wanted to be neither, but to listen and think with care.

I’ll be taking a 2 week break from posting on this site from now.

Comments still welcome of course – especially in response to this post. I had a really useful conversation with two good friends yesterday about the tensions of blogging. Specifically, what we were talking about was how blogging sits with serving the church in pastoral ministry.

• Is it wise for a minister of a local church to blog?

• How is that changed if I am, more precisely, an assistant minister?

Fascinating post on Doug Wilson’s site, entitled “The Christian Future of Great Britain” about what needs to happen if / when Britain is to become a Christian country once again.

I’m preaching a series of 3 sermons on Luke chapter 21 in November. They make a series, but numbers 1 and 3 are 30-minute sermons to adults, whilst number 2 needs to stand alone as it is a 10 minute talk on Remembrance Day with all-ages still in church.

I could give sermon number 2 a title: “The war to end all wars”.

But that’s about as far as I’ve got with any of it.

What I’m really looking for at this point is some help. What should / could I read that would help me get the broad direction right. And the details. And the contemporary applications. Books. Papers. Articles. Blog posts. ... all those are welcome.

Suggestions please!

The discerning sets his face toward wisdom, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth. (Proverbs 17:24 )

Ends of the earth becomes a messianic / new covenant church ambition in Isaiah and Acts. We are to set our eyes on the ends of the earth. Yet here, the fool does this, whereas the discerning sets his face towards wisdom. Wisdom trumps ambition. God’s pathway through life wins over strategy. We forget this to our peril. We will take God’s salvation to the ends of the earth only in his way.