It is always interesting to hear the first sermon a minister preaches in his parish, as this is often a key to what he regards as his most important message. And so it is of special interest to note what Jesus preached in his opening sermons.
Category Archives: Full-Text-Longing
Interchange: Christian men reply to Elle
Feedback on the controversial article ‘The Prince and the Porker’ (Briefing #293).
Candy or Depardieu?
If Ms McPhearson’s experience of her husband’s and her friend’s husband’s view of female bodies is true, she and her friend both have my deepest, male sympathies. But let’s be honest with ourselves! Is it only men that are guilty of this crime? As a “fat and ugly” (not my words) bachelor, I daily live with the fact that I won’t find a wife until I lose weight—a fact told to me not only by a Christian woman but by a Christian woman who is actually in full-time ministry teaching other Christian women!
Thinking theologically about glory and gospel ministry
An address given at the AIM ‘Thinking Theologically’ conference held at Moore Theological College in June 2002.
Thinking theologically
I take it that the reason you have paid good money to be at this conference is not because theology happens to be a hobby of yours, like birdwatching or classical music or stamp collecting. Instead, it is because you are involved in some way in the work of the gospel, in the pastoring of God’s people and in the evangelizing of Sydney and the world.
Philosophy helped my evangelism
I found myself a few weeks back visiting Tim (not his real name), doing Just for Starters. Tim was becoming a friend, now that we’d spent seven or so sessions together, looking at the Bible. First, we went through Simply Christianity—five studies from Luke’s Gospel. Now we were following up with the Just For Starters studies—seven basic Bible studies on key areas in the Christian life. Tim still wasn’t convinced that the Bible was true, but he’d accepted that Christ had died for sins and risen from the dead. We were having lively times of discussion.
Developing the Christian mind: An interview with Dr JP Moreland
In your book, Love Your God With All Your Mind, you criticize contemporary Western culture for being anti-intellectual and image-dominated. This is a fairly serious charge. What do you mean by it?
Christmas and the birth of Jesus: An interview with Dr Paul Barnett
Why do we celebrate Christmas on the 25th December each year? Do we know the exact date of Jesus birth?
To my knowledge, the exact date when Jesus was born is unknown. While we are on increasingly firm ground for the date of his death—early April 33—there’s no sure way of discovering the date of his birth.
The fear of God: Talking with Jerry Bridges
Jerry Bridges is the author of The Pursuit of Holiness, The Practice of Godliness, True Fellowship, Trusting God, Transforming Grace and The Joy of Fearing God. He has a close association with the ministry of The Navigators and lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA.
Did S11 make a difference?
It was the end of my first year at University. Having risen early to study, I turned on the radio and heard the news. I remember wondering whether to wake my parents and tell them, but it was such shocking news I decided that they had to know. So I went in and told them of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
The state of modern evangelicalism: An interview with Michael Horton
Michael Horton is the President of the American group, the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals.
Can you tell us something about yourself and how you came to be involved with the contemporary call to reformation in the Church?
An interview with John Stott
John Stott is spending July in Australia, lecturing and preaching in a number of cities. We posed these questions to him while he was still in London, preparing for the visit. Thanks to Wendy Toulmin and Langham Partnership Australia (Inc) for organizing this interview.
Make the elephant visible
I recently read with interest an article in The Sydney Morning Herald Good Weekend Magazine, entitled ‘Through Islamic Eyes’ (1 Dec 2001). It was a very enlightening article, but not in the way intended by the author. In fact, it shed little light on the nature of Islam but spoke volumes about life in today’s Australia.
The cross and Islam: An evangelistic starting point
In the slightly terrified new world after September 11, many of us have found that the time is ripe for Islamic evangelism—but not so much with Muslims as with our secular neighbours. The new prominence (and infamy) of Islam has brought the topic of religion and truth once again into everyday conversation with our friends and neighbours. Once again people are asking the big questions: Are all religions really the same? What do Muslims really believe? Are Islamic beliefs really consistent with our vision of a tolerant multicultural society? Is religion the real cause of war and conflict? And so on.
The secret meaning of Passover
As a Jewish Christian I have often been asked by churches at Easter to speak about the Jewish Passover or to perform a demonstration of one. Churches seem fascinated by it. It looks like it would be helpful background to understanding the Last Supper and therefore Jesus’ death.
FAQs on the resurrection
Why do you think the resurrection is important?
Without the resurrection the only thing that lies ahead of us is death. What’s more, it would mean that Jesus, whom we believe to be God, is also dead. Small wonder that Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15: “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith”.
Fantasy literature and Christian readers
Chuck Colson’s website, BreakPoint online, ran an interview with the author Connie Neal, who has written a book called What’s A Christian to Do with Harry Potter? (discussed below). Soon afterwards, he published a disclaimer, saying that he did not “encourage Christian parents to encourage their children to see the movie or read the books” because “there is much better literature available for children with less potential to lead people into the occult”. This seemed to run counter to an earlier piece by Colson (se p.14 of Neal’s book) which spoke positively of the books’ value for children.