All Things Seen & Unseen

I have just finished reading John Pollock's biographies of John Wesley and John Newton (Kingsway Publications), an inspiring read but I was particularly touched, among other things, by the hymns in these accounts. Others have made the valid point that some contemporary hymns/songs lack the doctrinal weight of these old hymns. However, my object is to draw attention to the importance of singing in church. While singing is not all there is to worship, singing is notable as it sets Christians apart -interestingly, our society loves being entertained by singers but is not so keen on singing itself. This fact has been attributed to present Western joylessness- because singing is an expression of Holy Spirit joy . The Spirit and singing are strongly related in Eph 5:18-20 and the undercurrent of joy is not hard to detect in this same passage. Once I went with a group of Christians to a Anglican service/church influenced by the Toronto Blessing. Although I had been raised in the P...

Send "Fight the good fight with all thy might" Ringtone to your Cell Fight the good fight with all thy might! Christ is thy strength, and Christ thy right; Lay hold on life, and it shall be Thy joy and crown eternally. Run the straight race through God's good grace, Lift up thine eyes, and seek His face; Life with its way before us lies, Christ is the path, and Christ the prize. Cast care aside, lean on thy Guide; His boundless mercy will provide; Trust, and thy trusting soul shall prove Christ is its life, and Christ its love. Faint not nor fear, His arms are near, He changeth not, and thou art dear; Only believe, and thou shalt see That Christ is all in all to thee. end "Fight the good fight with all thy might" Ringtone to your Cell This old hymn was used at the Sunday morning service on June 28th as one of the readings came from St Paul's stirring farewell to Timothy summed up in his testimony that Paul had "fought the good fight". (I...

The Markan pericope found in 4.35-41 can be viewed as a story about the issue of faith. Probably that's the way it should be seen given that the disciples lack of faith is what Jesus focussed immediately upon after he stilled the waters and winds. But what is this lack of faith about? The disciples had seen Jesus do some mighty miracles and so they had faith in him to do such things. But their faith was being tested in a new arena, the arena in which some of them earned their living fishing, in the area of what is called "nature". Their fear took the form of chiding the sleeping Jesus with failing to show any care towards the danger of their perishing by drowning. They failed to understand that if Jesus was with them then nothing ultimately bad could befall them. The boat may even founder but they would be "saved" because he was their salvation. I choose to believe that as these disciples experienced Jesus as Lord of wind, water and storm, their faith in him...

Many believe that the resurrection accounts are merely "stories of faith". These phrase could simply mean that the gospel writers guided by the Spirit (2Tim 3:16) selected from the extant tradition elements that suited their particular purpose for writing. Furthermore, that the stories they present, view events from the perspective of faith (rather than simply recounting a historical record alone). These evangelists are believers and speak in terms of belief. However, the above phrase may have a meaning that is unacceptable to me at least. While I accept that differences are found among the accounts of the resurrection appearances, I don't accept that these differences mean that we can treat these versions as reducible to the whims and fancies of human writers. The scriptures are completely trustworthy in what they intend which is to make us "wise unto salvation" (2 Tim 3.15). One feature that NT Wright presented http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/apri...

All my life I have heard how Jesus was the Godforsaken One. And again, recently, a leader in a service said, that God the Father "turned His face away from the Son on the cross". This teaching is based on Jesus cry from the cross: 'My God, my God why hast thou forsaken me?' (Matt 27. But is that true? Was there some split in the Trinity that resulted in one Member turning away from another because of our sin? Remember, God the Father sent the Son to die for us; the Son came to fulfil the will of the Father (e.g., Jn 5.30), and the Spirit has been upon Jesus from the beginning (Matt 1.18; Lu 3.22; 4.1; etc). One treatment I have read on this matter is found at http://answers.org/theology/forsaken.html . One point made by this author is that these words are the opening words of a Messianic Psalm, Psalm 22. When so quoted, the terms of the whole psalm are being evoked. These words are the cry of the dying Messiah whose agony is fulfilling the Psalm as the true Mes...

At Belgrave Heights Convention on Good Friday, I was standing depressed in the morning service when the congregation sang, "When I survey the wondrous Cross" to a haunting melody. This band of evangelical Christians sang this hymn with such feeling and gusto that, caught up by the Spirit, I raised my hands . Now the raising of hands is relatively rare at this place and being a staid Anglican, I don't raise my hands often either but on this occasion I felt compelled. The tears pattered on my cheeks and my body shook; then I felt released. I have felt this type of release before but not for some time. The teaching given was excellent. I was challenged by it and probably enjoyed that more because of the healing work that had been done in my heart and soul. God had met me in this situation and relieved me from a pain that had been dogging me for some time. All glory to Him.

I was at a college graduation recently expecting it to be the normal thing although happy for the students I knew and their joy at finally reaching their goal of finishing their courses. However, as often happens, the Lord arrested my attention with his Word. One of the speakers given the task to bring greetings from an American University, talked about Psalm 121 and what a blessing this psalm had been to him. He indicated that the question in verse 1, "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from where does my help come?" is best understood as a reflection of the pagan worship that took place on the "high places" as in Jeremiah (3.23, "Surely the [idolatrous] commotion on the hills and mountains is a deception; surely in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel" http://www.ridgewaymethodist.org.uk/pdf/Psalm121Sermon.pdf ). Other commentators also believe it could relate to Jerusalem or Mt Zion in which case the psalmist is saying as he travels t...