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Published on 1 Comment on The Trinitarian Old Testament

It is sometimes claimed that the Hebrew Bible's doctrine of God is essentially unitarian. It seems to me that anyone who makes such a claim is out of touch with how the church has always read the Scriptures and they have clearly not been paying attention to the Bible itself.

In this post I will simply (and very briefly) draw attention to 24 passages in which we see plainly a multi-Personal revelation.

My point is not that the OT betrays hints, shapes and shadows of triune structure.

My point is not that NT eyes can see trinitarian themes in the OT.

My point is not that we go back as Christians and now retrospectively read the trinity into the OT.

My point is not that the OT gives us partial suggestions of trinitarian life that are then developed by NT fulfillment.

My point is that these texts read on their own terms and in their own context (as the Jewish, Hebrew Scriptures that they are) demand to be understood as the revelation of a multi-Personal God. The only proper way to understand these texts is as trinitarian revelation. These texts are either to be understood triunely or they are mis-understood – on their own terms or any others!

Ok. Here we go – 24 Scriptures to consider:

  • Genesis 1. Verse 1: “In the beginning Elohiym… ” Here is the God to Whom we’re introduced. A plural noun! One that takes a singular verb. The grammatical oddity is meant to make us sit up and take notice. Our plural God acts as one. And His plural counsel (v26) “Let us…” gives rise to a united creation of a plural humanity – male and female to image His own life.
  • Genesis 3. The Voice of the LORD God (v8) who comes to walk with Adam and Eve is also the LORD God (v9)
  • Genesis 16. The Angel of the LORD (v9) is also LORD and God (v13)
  • Genesis 18&19. The LORD who appears to Abraham (18:1) is Judge of all the earth (18:25), yet He excercises His divine prerogative in union with “the LORD out of the heavens.” (19:24)
  • Genesis 32. Jacob wrestles with the Man (v24) who is the Angel (Hosea 12:4) who is God (Gen 32:28,30)
  • Genesis 48. The God who is God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who is Shepherd and the source of blessing (v15) is the Angel of God (v16).
  • Exodus 3. The God of the burning bush is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (v6) and the great I AM (v14). He is also the Angel of the LORD (v2) and will bring the people to worship Godon the mountain (v12).
  • Exodus 19. The LORD on the mountain (v10) warns Moses that in three days the LORD will come to the mountain (v11) and things will be very different then. Sure enough, three days later, the LORD descends on the mountain (v18) and then the LORD descends on the mountain (v20)!
  • Exodus 33. Moses meets face to face with the LORD in the tent of meeting (v11) but the LORD on the top of the mountain he must never see (v20-22).
  • Joshua 5&6. The Commander of the LORD’s army (5:14) who fights for Israel to deliver her is also the LORD who is worthy of worship (5:15; 6:2)
  • Judges 2. The Angel of the LORD brought them out of Egypt and established His covenant with them. (v1-4)
  • Judges 6. The Angel of the LORD (v11-12) brings the LORD’s blessing (one who is Sovereign LORD, v22). Yet the Angel, as another Person is Himself the LORD (v14) with the same divine majesty (v22-24).
  • Judges 13. God sends the Angel of the LORD (e.g. v9) who is Himself God (e.g. v22). And the Spirit fills Samson (v25)
  • Psalm 2. The Son Whom we are to kiss and find refuge in (v12) is the Anointed Son of the Father through Whom is exercised all divine rule and authority.
  • Psalm 45. The most excellent of men who rules the nations as Champion and King is called ‘Lord’ by His bride and ‘God‘ by His God. (v6,7)
  • Psalm 110. David knows two Lords who converse in their rule of the nations. There is the LORD and there is the Kingly Priest who is David’s Lord.
  • Proverbs. The Wisdom of God who creates (8:30) and gives new life (8:35) through granting the Spirit (1:23) is also possessed by the LORD (8:22)
  • Isaiah 9. The government of God’s righteous kingdom will be on the shoulders of the Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (v6). Yet He is One who is born and through Whom the zeal of the LORD will accomplish His work (v7)
  • Isaiah 48. The great I AM, the first and the last who created the heavens and the earth and who called Israel (v12,13) is One who is sent from the Lord GOD along with His Spirit (v16)
  • Isaiah 63. The Saviour sends the Angel to save, yet they grieve His Holy Spirit (v9-10)
  • Ezekiel 34. The Shepherd of Ezekiel’s prophesy will be the LORD Himself (v12-22), yet this loving, kingly rule is exercised through the Prince, His Servant David (v23-24) who does all that the LORD is said to do as Shepherd and who rules for the LORD.
  • Daniel 7. The Possessor and rightful Ruler of the Kingdom that shall never pass away is the Son of Man (v13,14) who inherits the kingdom from the Ancient of Days (v9-12).
  • Micah 2. The Shepherd who will gather the remnant of Israel is the LORD (v12) who will set at their head a King who is also called ‘LORD’ (v13)
  • Zechariah 2. The One Sent from the LORD Almighty (v7,9,11) is the LORD Himself to live among the Israelites as the gentle, righteous, saving King of 9:9 (compare with 2:10)!

In all this my argument is not that these are hints of trinity but that they are texts that can only ever be understood from the perspective of a multi-Personal God. When two Persons called LORD are interacting in the text (when we see plainly “true God from true God”) then an understanding of God as uni-Personal is just dead wrong. It must always have been dead wrong for it could never account for the Hebrew Scriptures as written.

The only God there is is trinitarian and His revelation has always been such.

For more on Trinity in the Old Testament, see this series.

 

Published on Leave a comment on It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Sermon Prep…

It's time for preachers to think about the Carols services, Christingles, Nativity plays, etc.

It's also a time to miss a golden opportunity.  The golden opportunity is to preach a theology of incarnation. But, year in and year out, this chance is missed in evangelical churches.

Our mentions of incarnation boil down to the Abrupt, the Apologetic or the Anselmian.

The Abrupt:

“God in skin. Weird huh? Anyway…”

The Apologetic:

“Jesus shows up in time and space which means that we can verify the truth through historical methods, and really the New Testament documents are very reliable don’t you know…”

The Anselmian:

“God basically wants to acquit his elect and so needs a Scapegoat to take the fall. And there he is the manger. Weird huh?  Anyway…”

My twitter feed is full of encouragements to preachers to 'get beyond the manger'. Many people seem worried that preachers might focus on the wonder of the incarnation itself. At Christmas! The very idea.

I completely agree that crib and cross go together, but if that's true, where are all the Easter encouragements: "Hey preachers! Don't forget the incarnation on Good Friday!" The answer is nowhere. Which is a problem.

I'd love to hear three different 'A's this Christmas. I'd love for preachers to bring out the Athanasian, Atoning, and Abasing themes.

The Athanasian Incarnation:

“In this marvellous exchange, He becomes what we are, that we might become what He is”?

The Atoning Incarnation:

"Here is God-With-Us, come to make us at-one in His very Person!"

The Abasing Incarnation:

"My God is so small, so weak and so helpless, there's nothing that He will not do... for you!"

I wonder if we shy away from the Athanasian incarnation because we don't want to get into (or don't properly understand) the trinitarian theology that makes sense of it.

I wonder if we shy away from the Atoning incarnation because ontology has no place in our thinking about atonement. This is also why our Easter sermons contain no theology of resurrection - only a 'proof that the cross worked'.

I wonder if we shy away from the Abasing incarnation because we default to a theology of glory and are uncomfortable with the little LORD Jesus.

If any of these guesses are anywhere near the mark, let me suggest a remedy.  Read Athanasius' On the Incarnation and hear the kind of Christmas message that has warmed the hearts of millions down through the ages.  Get started here as you listen to Mike Reeves read extracts.

And for what they're worth, here are three of my own posts on incarnation:

Incarnation and Trinity

Incarnation and Creation

Incarnation and Salvation

(For good measure here’s a paper on Athanasius and Irenaeus)

These are some talks in which I've tried to preach this theology...

 

Christmas is God laying hold of us - Hebrews 2:14-18

Evangelistic carols service – Four Approaches to Christmas (and to Life) Isaiah 9:2-7

Christmas is for Dark Places

 The Coming King - Psalm 72

In the beginning… – John 1:1-2

The Word became flesh – John 1:14

Christmas brings a crisis – John 1:15-18

Student Carols – Isaiah 9  (different to the other Isaiah 9)

Luke 1:26-38

All-age: Christmas turns slaves to sons – Galatians 4:4-7

All-age Carols Talk: Christmas is weird – Phil 2:5-11

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Here are some all-age songs on the same theme and our Christmas videos

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What resources have you found helpful?  Please share the wealth in comments...

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Published on 1 Comment on Jesus, our Risen Sun

For Halloween / Hallelujah / Light Parties:

DOWNLOAD DEMO

WORDS

I've updated these slightly from those that are on the audio file...

Have you ever turned the darkness on?
Have you flicked a switch and the blackness shone?
Have you ever lit a lamp at night?
The darkness flees before the light!

Jesus please be my Light.
Shine into our darkest night
Jesus, our Risen Sun.
We thank you Lord that your light has won.

Have you ever seen the sunrise fail?
When it shines above can the night prevail?
Can the shadows push against the light?
Or gloom defeat the blazing bright?

Jesus please be my Light.
Shine into our darkest night
Jesus, our Risen Sun.
We thank you Lord that your light has won.

Have you ever been afraid of the dark?
The gloom departs with a single spark.
The night-time gets chased away
While the Sun is up it's always Day.

Jesus please be my Light.
Shine into our darkest night
Jesus, our Risen Sun.
We thank you Lord that your light has won

 

WORDS AND TAB

Am                       Dm       Am
Have you ever turned the darkness on?

C                                 G         C
Have you flicked a switch and the blackness shone?

Am                  Dm      Am
Have you ever lit a lamp at night?

C                  G          C
The darkness flees before the light!

 

F            G     Am
Jesus please be my Light.

C              G       C
Shine into our darkest night

F          G     Am
Jesus, our Risen Sun.

C                           G         C
We thank you Lord that your light has won.

 

Published on Leave a comment on Little Children or Promising Applicants? Who does the Kingdom belong to?

Heaven's gates are as wide as the arms of Jesus or as narrow as the eye of a needle. It depends on how we approach Him: as little children or as promising applicants.

A sermon I preached at a thanksgiving for children.

(I had to re-record the ending at a later time.)

READ

LISTEN

Published on Leave a comment on How Can God Forgive Paedophiles?

The OICCU asked me to speak last week on this title: Perverse Justice - How Can God Forgive Paedophiles?

Really it's about how God's justice relates to His forgiveness.

(Don't worry, the sound rights itself after about 30 seconds)

DOWNLOAD

NOTES

7

Published on 7 Comments on The Trinity – An Introduction for Jehovah’s Witnesses

I've been meaning to do this for ages but I've now met the excellent Chris the Witness online and our conversation has prompted me to write a short introduction to the Trinity with Jehovah's Witnesses in mind:

The Good News That God is Trinity:

Here's a 5 minute gospel explanation where the Trinity is front and centre:

It's Not So Strange, Really It Isn't

I hope from this video you can see that God's "THREE-ness" is not weird. It's good news. God is an eternal Father forever loving His Son in the communion of the Spirit. If that sounds strange, consider four sets of Scriptural evidence:

How God existed before the world began: There are many verses that speak of God's pre-creation life and they always describe a lively interplay of Persons (e.g. Ephesians 1:4; 1 Peter 1:20; Revelation 13:8). Before the world began the Father was loving and choosing and speaking to His Son in the joy of the Holy Spirit (see for example John 17:5, 24).

How God presents Himself to us now: Jesus is constantly presented as "the Christ, the Son of God" (Mark 1:1; John 20:31). In other words, He's the One anointed by the Spirit beyond measure, who is also the Son of the Father. To know Jesus is to be introduced to the THREE. But these THREE are clearly ONE. These Persons are united together in the closest possible love relationship. e.g. Jesus speaks of the Father being IN Him and He is IN the Father, and it all happens IN the Spirit (John 14:10, 16-18, 23). You simply cannot understand the Gospels at all without doing business with this united three-ness to God.

How we know God: The Bible is clear about how we know God. Jesus is the Way to the Father. The Father is known only through His Son (Matthew 11:25-27; John 14:6; 2 Corinthians 4:4-6). This true spiritual knowledge can only happen by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:13-16; 12:3). Therefore God is known as a Father revealed in the face of His Son and by the power of the Holy Spirit.

How we are saved by God:  The Bible is even more clear about how we are saved. God the Father gave us His Son by the Spirit. If we receive His Son (i.e. believe in Jesus) then we get filled with His Spirit and brought before His Father. According to the Bible, believers are adopted into the very life of God (see John 1:12-13; 2 Peter 1:4).

These shouldn't be controversial points - it's basic Christianity. And the shape of it all is triune. When Christians articulate the doctrine of the Trinity they are not trying to impose an alien structure on the gospel but simply to explain the contours of that gospel.

Why don't I find the word 'Trinity' in my Bible?

The word "Trinity" is simply a convenient label to describe the truths above. In both Old and New Testaments God is described in terms of THREE-ness as well as ONE-ness. The word Trinity is trying to communicate this. God is a UNITY of THREE - a TRI-UNITY - a TRINITY.

No-one needs to use the word "Trinity" - it would be fine to drop it from our vocabulary. It's just that we'd soon end up wanting another word to describe what we find in the Bible. If we read the Spirit-breathed Scriptures, we meet the Father in the face of Jesus Christ. This united THREE-ness is foundational to our Christianity.

Deity, Difference and Oneness

As we read the Bible it becomes clear that the Three Persons exhibit deity, difference and unity.

Deity: Each Person is God. (cf John 17:3; Romans 9:5; 2 Corinthians 3:17)

Difference: The Persons are distinct from one another. (cf Matthew 3:16-17)

Unity: The Persons are so united that they are "in" one another (cf John 14:10, 16-18, 23)

This last point should be obvious - there cannot be a Father without Him having a Son and the Spirit of the Son cannot be without the Son (cf Galatians 4:4-6). The Three do not simply get on well with one another - they constitute one another and have done so eternally.

One devastating problem for the Jehovah's Witness account of God is that, for them, Jehovah is not fundamentally Father. If Jehovah has not eternally had his Son then he is not eternally a Father. But for the Christian, God has always been life-giving because He has always had His Son; He has always been communicative because He has always had His Word (John 1:1); He has always been wise because He has always had His Wisdom (1 Cor 1:31); He has always been radiant because He has always had His Light (Hebrews 1:3). As an orthodox Christian I cannot help but think that Jehovah, according to the Watchtower, is life-less, mute, thoughtless and dark.

Roles, Authority and Being

From Scripture it's plain that there is a flow to God's life. The Father sends the Son. The Son never sends the Father. The Son obeys the Father. The Father never obeys the Son. Jesus can say things like "The Father is greater than I" (John 14:28). Paul can say things like "God is the head of Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:3). Trinitarian Christians have never denied or been threatened by these verses - we rejoice in them. They speak of the flow of God: from the Father, through the Son and by the Spirit. The Persons take on different roles and there is clearly authority within the Trinity. We can speak rightly of a First, Second and Third Person of the Trinity. All this is perfectly straightforward. The problem comes when anti-trinitarians imagine a completely unwarranted conclusion: namely that such an authority structure makes the Son or the Spirit lesser beings than the Father. That would be a bizarre conclusion for two main reasons:

First, we know in every walk of life that roles and being are very different. If I told you "My boss is greater than I" you'd know exactly what I meant: he has authority over me. You would not conclude that my boss was a greater being than I, I hope! Similarly with the headship point in 1 Corinthians 11. The parallel is with marriage - husbands are the heads of wives as the Father is the head of Christ.

A JW once told me that 1 Corinthians 11:3 was Paul "completely ruling out the doctrine of the Trinity." I asked him if he thought this verse meant God was a greater being than Christ. He said "Yes." I asked him if, by parallel, I was a greater being than my wife. He paused and then said "Yes." Flabbergasted I asked for clarification. He said "Well you call the shots." I told him he clearly didn't know my marriage. At this point his female partner was so outraged that he had to pull her away from the door-step and down the street. I yelled after her: "You know that woman are equal in being to men... AND CHRIST IS EQUAL IN BEING TO THE FATHER!!" (They haven't been back).

It's obvious that roles and being are different. That's reason number one that the roles in the Trinity do not make the being of the Son or Spirit lesser. But there's a second, more fundamental, reason why we can't conclude that the being of the Son or Spirit is lesser...

Second, the Persons are completely and indivisibly united. We can't think of the Father without the Son, or the Spirit without the Father. There is no "being" of God underneath or besides the three Persons. The being of God is the one, unified life of love which the Father, Son and Spirit share. And so of course they all share in that life together. There isn't a separate or separable being of the Father and another of the Son. The Father-Son-Spirit relationship constitutes the unified being of God. There can be no "greater" or "lesser" when it comes to this being, because the Father, Son and Spirit in their life together are the being of God.

Some Objections

Chris tweeted me some verses to consider. I think that what I've said already will explain them:

In Revelation 3:12, Jesus calls the Father "my God." Very good. I should hope so. The Son has always looked to His Father in the Trinity's united life of worship and joy.

In Colossians 1:15, the Son is called the Firstborn. Does this make Him the first creature? Clearly not, because by Him all things were made so this very verse teaches that Christ is Creator and not creature. "Firstborn" in the Bible is about inheritance - David was the "firstborn" even though, physically, he was the eighthborn! (Psalm 89:20,27).

In 1 Corinthians 11:3 Paul calls God the head of Christ. Absolutely. In the same breath he says that husbands are heads of wives. If you think the role of headship entails a greater being then you blaspheme Christ and denigrate all women.

In Matthew 24:36 Jesus says the Father knows the hour of His return but He, as Son, does not. Again, within the flow of the life of God this is exactly what we would expect. The Father sends the Son. Jesus does not do anything of His own initiative. He entrusts all things to His Father and will go when sent. This does not undermine His divine identity but expresses it as the Sent One of the Father.

A Question of My Own

If you are a Jehovah's Witness, allow me to challenge you on your doctrine of God assumptions. Perhaps you think that unitarianism is an obvious or default doctrine of God. If you do, I suggest that this assumption comes from Aristotle and not from Scripture. I contend that Moses' doctrine of God is not and never was the Watchtower's. Moses and the Prophets spoke of a unified but multi-Personal revelation of God, from Genesis 1 onwards.

If you are a JW I challenge you to study these 24 Old Testament passages and see how a unitarian doctrine of God cannot handle the Scriptures - even the New World Translation. There has always been more than one Person called Jehovah - therefore the question is: to which Jehovah are you witnessing? Jesus is the eternal Son - whose eternal nature has always been to be Jehovah. Jesus is LORD!

In Conclusion

Last year I preached on John chapter 1. A JW who was 30 years in the Watchtower came to me in tears at the beauty of the Trinity. He'd never been taught the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity, only the Watchtower straw-man version. I said to him "If Jesus is only a servant of Jehovah then all he can do is bring you into his own slavery." He said "That's exactly what it's felt like: slavery." I continued... "But if Jesus is the eternal Son, then He's come to share with you His life of love in the family of God." We prayed gratefully to the Father and that man was liberated from slavery into the freedom of the children of God.

I pray that you too will know this freedom.

 

Published on Leave a comment on Two Poems from my Youth

It's National Poetry Day apparently, so here are a couple from my teenage years. The first was written just after arriving in the UK from Australia (aged 14)

Yoh-ghurt, Vite-amins, Sconns (to be performed)

Yoh-ghurt, Vite-amins, Sconns,
Yoh-ghurt, Vite-amins, Sconns,
The ways of saying these words are obeying
Rules of expanding your cultural standing.
You're making a case for social debase,
By cruelly denouncing the ways of pronouncing,
Yoggurt, Vittamins, Scoanes.

 

Big Issue

Big Issue, Big Issue,
A tool to accrue street cred,
As I tread down the no-through lane,
Diplayin' my copy for all the world,
My lips smugly curled at the end,
As I pretend to have read it.
I haven't.
Instead it's there to combat the stare
of the next vendor as I pass,
Upholding the farce of my middle-class trauma.
"No thanks!" says I, "Already read it." I lie,
And sell mine on round the corner.

2

Published on 2 Comments on Three All Age Songs and a Talk for Harvest

 

 

 

Notes for a Harvest Supper talk given recently

How many people grow their own food? (What do you grow? How much of what you eat is grown on your own land?)

By and large the way I get food is to buy it. I go to the supermarket, I pay a certain amount of money and I get what I pay for. My sustenance comes from commercial relationships. Tit for tat.

It is interesting that atheism is overwhelmingly found in urbanized, industrialized, technologized settings. We might think it’s the norm but of course atheism is shrinking globally. And the only places it clings on really are urbanized, industrialized, technologized cultures – places that are far removed from the harvest.

But as soon as you start thinking of harvest you are taken away from those kinds of thoughts. Because harvest is something near magical isn’t it? Scattering seed into soil – what on earth?! How is that going to do anything? And yet, a few months later, up it sprouts – this bountiful harvest – so much more than you ever invested just bursts out of the ground to feed us.  Atheism might be for city dwellers but those who live around harvests are much less atheistic.

Christians say that Harvest tells us about the nature of God. He’s an overflowing God of generosity. He's not a mercantile force of "tit-for-tat." He's a Niagara Falls of blessing.

1 John 4:8 God is love.

He doesn’t dole out blessings with a teaspoon but has always been overflowing.

Christians say “Grace” because they recognise that everything is undeserved mercy. Life is about gratitude.

We recognise this when it comes to children – for urbanised people the maternity wing of the hospital is about our only  contact with the bounty of creation. And it completely takes us off guard. But this is what reality is like according to the Bible. A near magical reality of new life bursting forth - seemingly from nowhere. And the whole thing speaks to us of God's nature. Think about it...

Kids come into the world needy and we shower them with blessings. And when they get to age 18, do we open up the books and demand repayment for two decades of food, shelter, clothing and taxi service? No. But hopefully they then stand on their own two feet and pass it on to the next generation. Grace flows downhill.

Here's how it works spiritually...

Verse 9-10:

 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Jesus gives us His life and takes from us our death. This is what love does – it pays the cost to draw near. This is how God's love flows to us. And now...

Verse 11: Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

 We pass it on. Grace runs downhill. No wonder at harvest we seek to share our bounty with those less fortunate. The whole thing reflects the very character of God.

Harvest puts us in touch with a deep reality. God is a God of bounty, a God of love. He has overflowed to us in Jesus and life is about gratefully receiving Jesus and flowing out to the world, to bless those who are without.

This church is a great place to explore these truths more. Please join us...

 

 

Published on Leave a comment on Tweety Pies

CH Spurgeon on Psalm 88: The mind can descend far lower than the body, for it there are bottomless pits... ...The flesh can bear only a certain number of wounds and no more, but the soul can bleed in ten thousand ways and die over and over again each hour... Under the influence of certain disorders everything will wear a sombre aspect and the heart will dive into the profoundest deeps of misery... It's all very well for those in robust health and full of spirits 2 blame those whose lives are sicklied over with the pale cast of melancholy... but the evil is as real as a gaping wound, and all the more hard to bear because it lies so much in the region of the soul... Reader, never ridicule the [depressed], their pain is real. Though much of the evil lies in the imagination, it is not imaginary."

Preacher: the Bible is not a reservoir to bring us back to, it's a river already flowing. Preaching is part of the Bible's dynamic movement.

Faith is never described in the Bible as a response to evidence per se. It's a response to the word /the gospel /preaching /Christ crucified

“God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars.” Martin Luther

“Prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance. It is laying hold of His willingness.” Luther

Israel was chosen in light of the Seed and for the sake of the nations. God's people are those who are "in Christ" and "for the world".

What is the Bible? The users manual? Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth? No. Most fundamentally it's the Spirit's testimony to the Son.

What is Bible reading? Your pious offering to God? No, His personal offering to you: "Behold my Son!"

"You are designed to be a burden to me and I... to you. [Our life] should be one of 'mutual burdensomeness.'" John Stott

What did you expect? This is the Lamb's world.

Some thoughts for preachers: "The preacher's movement does not consist so much in going towards the congregation as in coming from Christ."

"Preaching is `God's own Word', that is to say, through the activity of preaching, God himself speaks." (Barth, Prayer & Preaching)

[More Barth] Preaching is "announcement" more than "description" (P&P). This is because the Bible is already "proclamation in writing" (I/1

The purpose of Judgement Day is not to inject uncertainty into our future.
Judgement is God's way of securing our future from all evil.

"I will give my life" - the pig-sty'd prodigal.
"I will find my boy" - the running father.
One resolve intends slavery, the other: sonship

Eastbourne has many gleaming saints who've learnt the secret of contentment and many grumbling souls who have not. *Old age* does not mature

Athanasius (on Psalms): "He suffered for us and bore in Himself the wrath that was the penalty of our transgression." Early Church PSA.

How did Jesus go about "breathing on His disciples" in John 20:22? Dunno, but He's given us the Bible so He can keep doing it (2Tim3:16)

The Lamb unlocks the scroll.

The median date for the folios is 4 yrs b4 Muhammed received his revelations. The latest is 5 yrs b4 the Quran was supposedly written down. Imagine finding a copy of the sermon on the mount dating to Jesus' infancy. That's the problem 4 this 'oldest Quran' (LINK)

"Wherever you are, be all there." Jim Elliot. (I think it was Jim Elliot, I heard it on a podcast while doing admin).

"Be the place the violence ends". <- Francis Spufford's excellent summary of "turn the other cheek". We're through the worst of it. (Romans 13:12) Earth's heaven is heaven's hell. Heaven's heaven is earth's hell. Virtue signalling: the essence of Pharisaism (Matthew 6); the engine of social media. If you're struggling it's very likely that friends will "say the wrong thing". But it's also very likely that you will hear the wrong thing. "Now that I have washed your feet, you should wash mine"? No grace runs downhill. "God does not need your good works, but your neighbor does." Martin Luther Just had a Great chat w a Muslim using Jay Smith's conversation starter: "I think Jesus is God & the Bible is God's word do u have an opinion?" It's not just that God condescends to reveal Himself. Incredibly His condescension reveals *Himself* Whatever else is said about Pharaoh's hardening, understand that he is not a random individual but the head of the house of the wicked. The "exclusivity of Christ" is the good news that God is *none other* than the One who died for the world. What is ultimate reality? The one: monotone. The many: cacophony. The Three: harmony. Salvation is not a taxi, it's a free bus.You neither drive nor pay. You find yourself with others on the bumpy road to a sure destination. Trinity is not a problem to solve, it's the answer. It's a unitarian god who really makes no sense. How can an eternal monad ever break free from the prison of their own transcendence? The Bible doesn't tell us to *reach* Israel so much as to *be* Israel in reaching the world. Forgiveness does not abolish the need for good behaviour. Forgiveness assumes those ethical expectations and then establishes them truly

Just used the self-checkout or "mirror" as I call it

Babies smell incredibly good considering they spend their days marinating in urine.

Well done England. You have won the Worst Ashes Ever.

Well done bowlers. You've thrashed the batsmen 5-0 in this #Ashes #bbccricket

Well done Australia - you outgunned England with both bat and ball - AUS: 2565/80 versus ENG: 2365/81

This hasn't been a great game for the neutrals #ENGvSWI

At the Chick Pea Speedway, we get pulses racing.

Try my inflatable crystal ball. It's clearbuoyant

I hated being School Superintendant. I should have quit while I was a head

Don’t be taken in by conspiracy theories. They're all just government plots to discredit their enemies.

I’m allergic to placebos but thankfully my doctor says she’s got just the sugar pill to cure me.

My therapist just doesn't get my underlying motivation. Shame

I invited Usain Bolt to play the lead in my Robert Louis Stevenson play. Unfortunately he can run but he can't Hyde

[Smiling actor turns to camera]
"Here at Spines For You..."
[Extreme close up}
"... We've got your back."
[BAFTAS all round]

I'm sorry I called you emotionally stunted. No hard feelings?

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