Category Archives: Godliness

Is anyone righteous?

Life, Sola Panel

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This is a postscript to my biblical word power series, responding to an excellent question from a bloke at my previous church:

Ecclesiastes 7:20 states that there is not a righteous man on earth. Psalm 14 states that there is no one righteous. So why does the Bible say that Noah, David and others were righteous? It seems to be a contradiction.

This is a very deep question, and a complete answer would be much too long! Nevertheless, I think that the definition of righteousness that I’ve provided so far in my series can go a long way to help us answer this question. We saw that:

Righteousness = being in line with a standard.

Which standard are we talking about? Well, it depends. What does it depend on? You guessed it: on the context!

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Should theodicy be at the heart of preaching?

Pastoral Ministry

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Theodicy is the defence of God’s justice and goodness. It is something that we naturally think about, and yet, more often than not, it drives our preaching. You reach a difficult teaching of Jesus about hell, or a confronting passage of Paul’s about the role of men and women in the church, or even about the uniqueness of Christ, and instead of listening to the passage, you start arguing with it. And sometimes God’s word seems to magically come around to your point of view.

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Miraculous godliness

Up front

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I was part of a group recently when a wonderful, faithful, godly older pastor told us about something that had happened in his church. During an important public meeting, a man had risen to his feet and started shouting abuse at him. It was a tirade full of invective and malice and hatred. How would you have responded? (more…)

A practical guide to fending off non-Christian men

Interchange

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Thank you for the excellent article in Briefing #368 on fending off non-Christian men. The anonymous author left out one important heading from the 10 she listed: tell him. Unless you tell him the real reason, he will assume all sorts of incorrect ones. (more…)

A practical guide to fending off non-Christian men

Interchange

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Thank you for the articles in the May Briefing on singleness and fending off non-Christian men. Both were incredibly encouraging for me. I am one whose singleness has been chosen for me, and it gets harder as I get older. One of the hardest things is the feeling of not being pretty enough or godly enough to be chosen by a Christian man. Yes, there are more Christian women than Christian men. But there are still some Christian men, and none of them want to marry me. I know this is under God’s sovereign control, but I still feel ugly and, well, not chosen. It is a battle in my head and, as I get older and remain unchosen for longer, the wrong voices are the ones that shout the loudest. (more…)

An offensive God

Thought, Sola Panel

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Why does the second half of Isaiah 30 have to be so offensive? It starts with God marching out to war against Israel’s enemies, his face furious with anger, his sleeves rolled up for battle, his breath a stream of sulfurous fire. This is challenging enough in a primitive-wrathful-deity-of-the-Old-Testament kind of way. You’ve heard these objections. You might even have made them in your own heart.

But Isaiah then adds a detail that is even more objectionable.

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Ageing beauty

Up front, Sola Panel

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I’m sitting outside a cafe at a wobbly iron table, my pen moving lazily and messily across my notebook as I dream and write, dream and write. I sip from my mug-sized chai latte. A European wasp hovers hungrily above the frothed milk. (more…)

No use crying

Up front, Sola Panel

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I have a reputation both at home and at work for being affable—imperturbable—phlegmatic, even. However, like most people of serene disposition, there are some events guaranteed to perturb my phlegm—three-putting from ten feet, for example, or spillages at the dinner table—particularly those involving milk. (more…)

Faithfulness, big and small

Life, Sola Panel

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Late last year, Gavin wrote about the importance of being faithful in the small things. I’ve been pondering Gav’s insights, and I’d like to offer a couple of further comments.

Jesus himself directly teaches the importance of faithfulness in small things:

Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, “You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.” But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply “Yes” or “No”; anything more than this comes from evil. (Matt 5:33-37)

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Happy 21st, Briefing! (A birthday card)

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To The Briefing on the occasion of your 21st birthday:

I think I was about 21 when I first met you. I was at a conference up at Merroo (the centre where the showers alternated between scalding hot and freezing cold, and the hall was large enough to house a small aeroplane). You were introduced to me and 500 other Christian university students by your founder, Phillip Jensen, who spoke highly of you as very good reading material—for when you’re on the toilet. (more…)