Matthew 18:15-20, the sinning brother, in context
See my earlier post weighing the textual options for Matthew 18:15.
Blog Category:
Christian Life
Hymn: Prevenient Grace
I love discovering new hymns.
Like this one by Josiah Conder, entitled My Lord, I did not choose you.
My Lord, I did not choose you,
for that could never be;
this heart would still refuse you
had you not chosen me:
you took the sin that stained me.
you cleansed and made me new;
for you of old ordained me
that I should live to you.
Blog Category:
Death is not nothing
Image Credit: Mark Faviell
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
Death is Nothing at all
Blog Category:
The sober responsibility of pastoral ministry
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.
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The Spirit-filled church
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.
blockquote
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Matthew 18 - about church discipline?
Enjoying R T France’s commentary on Matthew
Reading him on Matthew 18:15-17.
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The world will be better than you'd think if you look at it now
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.
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Bible Reading Plan Generator
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.
Blog Category:
40 days in the wilderness
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.
1 Samuel 15 on pragmatism
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.
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