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God is just. He punishes every sin exactly as it deserves. Not every sin is equally heinous, so not every judgement at the judgement day will be the same. God is just. And that is a wonderful truth.

There are lots of places in Scripture we could go to see this, but I've just found one I hadn't seen before, so I thought I'd share it.

And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)

I love discovering new hymns.

Like this one by Josiah Conder, entitled My Lord, I did not choose you.

I have huge respect for Christopher Idle. I love the hymns he writes. And he's a godly man with a wise, pastoral heart. I was searching for some of his hymns, when I found something rather different.

Doubtless, many readers of this will be familiar with Henry Scott Holland's poem Death is Nothing at all. For those who don't know it:

Death is nothing at all. It does not count.
I have only slipped away into the next room.
Nothing has happened.
Everything remains exactly as it was.
I am I, and you are you, and the old life

Leithart again:

Historically, a pastoral candidate’s desires often had little to do with the Church’s call to serve in pastoral office. Far from seeking out positions of leadership, the greatest of the church fathers resisted with all their strength.

Lovely quotation from Leithart in Against Christianity on what a Spirit-filled church looks like:

Christian myth and ritual shape the people of God, by the power of the Spirit, into conformity to Christ, creating within the Church a palpable aroma of love, peace, purity, joy, ministry, mission and forgiveness. That aroma spreads from the Church to the city around it.

Enjoying R T France’s commentary on Matthew yet again.

Reading him on Matthew 18:15-17.

I haven’t posted for ages – partly very busy, partly nothing to say.

But I thought I’d post briefly now, because this has encouraged me.

The parable of the weeds and the wheat in Matthew 13:24-30 shows (I think) that the world is a mixed place – it contains true disciples and it contains unbelievers. We need to wait until the end of the age to see truly who is who.

Does this mean that there will be a big and nasty surprise – many we thought were believers will turn out not to be?

At long last, I’m please to present a new piece of software, Bible Reading Plan Generator.

There is a page dedicated to it on this site: http://www.oakleys.org.uk/software/bibleplan.

Visit the software’s homepage for more information.

In essence, though, it’s free software that takes a list of Biblical books, and devises a reading plan for you over any number of days you want.

Why does Jesus spend forty days in the wilderness, confronting public enemy number 1 (Satan, the accuser of the people of God), immediately after he has been declared Son of God (echoing Psalm 2) at his baptism?

I know that one answer is that it relates to the 40 years Israel spent in the wilderness. Jesus must be faithful at the exact point at which they failed.

But could it also relate to 1 Samuel 17:16?

“For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening.”

Don’t know.

After Saul failed to follow the Lord’s instructions (to destroy Amalek totally, together with their livestock), the Lord rejected him as king. The incident is related in 1 Samuel 15.

Saul’s excuse was that they spared the livestock in order to offer sacrifices to God.

“But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.” (1 Samuel 15:21)

Samuel’s reply is: