Forget the Channel

Category: Bible books

  • The Bible doesn’t say

    A few weeks ago, Bobby died. It happened quite quickly. On Thursday, he was sitting merrily on his perch. On Friday, he was shivering and looking pretty unimpressed with life. On Saturday morning, he was standing on the floor of the cage with his eyes half open, rocking back and forth. At lunchtime, when the…

  • Faithfulness, Big and Small

    My post on the Sola Panel today: 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…

  • Is God Green #1: God, the World and Us

    A shorter version of this article will soon be posted on webSalt, a publication of the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students. Is God Green? Part 1 The View from Above More than 40 years ago, the Apollo space missions to the moon sent pictures of the earth back home. For the first time ever, humanity…

  • The problem with Galatians

    I thought this was too good to pass over: If Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians was Published in Christianity Today Thanks Joel Riley for the link.

  • Kings of Israel and Judah

    Grant Mackay, who’s currently studying the Moore College Introduction to the Bible course with us at church, has produced this nifty timeline of the kings of Israel and Judah. Great for having beside you when you read through the books of 1 & 2 Kings.

  • The second commandment

    Church as we know it can sometimes be a bit weird and jarring. A few weeks ago at church, we heard an encouraging sermon on the second commandment (Exod 20:4-6). We heard that God cannot and must not be represented by or worshipped through images because images can only ever distort and misrepresent God. Yet…

  • The enemy of the best

    One of the most confronting sayings by Jesus can be found in Luke 9:57-62: As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to…

  • Comfort in good times and bad

    Comfort in good times and bad

    Only the promises of God will stand forever. And so only the hope of everlasting life—of forgiveness—will give us comfort in our suffering.

  • The greater judgement

    I’ve often been intrigued by James 3:1. Here is a rather literal translation of the verse from the New King James version: My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. (Jas 3:1 NKJV) The question that intrigues me is this: who are the ‘we’ who shall…

  • Nowism

    There is an insidious and dangerous teaching that I’ve noticed creeping into my church, threatening my Christian hope, and stifling my evangelistic effectiveness. Up to this point, it hasn’t had a catchy title.1 But I want to correct that. I’m going to call this teaching ‘nowism’, from the English word ‘now’, meaning ‘the present age’.…

  • What makes you angry?

    What makes you angry?

    There was a surprising level of anger in our Bible study group the other night.

  • The wisdom of the minister

    Part 3 in the series “Being Ministers of God: Reflections on the Servant concept in Isaiah.” Moore College 2nd Year 2008 Houseparty, Wollongong Surf Leisure Resort, Fairy Meadow, 23-24 February 2008. Power point file with visual aids also available.

  • The Suffering and Joy of the Minister

    Part 2 in the series “Being Ministers of God: Reflections on the Servant concept in Isaiah.” Moore College 2nd Year 2008 Houseparty, Wollongong Surf Leisure Resort, Fairy Meadow, 23-24 February 2008. Power point file with visual aids also available.

  • The Minister and the Ministers

    Part 1 in the series “Being Ministers of God: Reflections on the Servant concept in Isaiah.” Moore College 2nd Year 2008 Houseparty, Wollongong Surf Leisure Resort, Fairy Meadow, 23-24 February 2008. Power point file with visual aids also available.

  • Address at the Funeral of C. Lionel Windsor (28 Nov 1916 – 18 Feb 2008)

    Address at the Funeral of C. Lionel Windsor 28 Nov 1916 – 18 Feb 2008 Based on Psalm 46 Lionel Windsor Jnr, 21 June 2008 St Stephen’s Anglican Church Kurrajong As far as I can tell, I am now the only remaining Lionel Windsor in Australia, and I am so proud to own the name…

  • Addiction and Romans 6

    In response to my sermon last night, I had a helpful comment that I thought it would be good to share. In my sermon, I said: When we talk about these things [i.e. alcohol, prostitutes, cravings to be beautiful, immoral fantasies, pornography, food binges], we often use the word ‘addiction’, don’t we? That word can…

  • New Heavens and New Earth (Revelation 21:1)

    What does ‘New heavens and New Earth’ mean? The “New Heavens and New Earth” is a way of saying a “whole new creation”. It’s not trying to draw a distinction between Heavens and Earth; rather it’s trying to say “a new everything”. The phrase “Heavens and earth” by itself are the Bible’s way of saying…

  • Overpopulation

    “With regard to ‘filling the earth and subduing it’, do you think that Christians also have a responsibility to the earth and its strained resources? I.e. is it possible for Christians to have ‘too many’ kids? (Is the earth overpopulated and strained; how much should we consider this?)” The answer to this question is ‘yes’…

  • The fulfilment of Isaiah 6

    Mike Cowie is leading a Bible study that’s working through the book of Isaiah. Having just studied Isaiah chapter 6, he had a question. He wrote: We discussed the purpose in Isaiah’s message. Why would God want to harden people to prevent them from repenting? – reminiscent of God’s work in Pharaoh prior to the…

  • Philippians 3:12-4:1

    Here are the answers to some questions from my recent sermon on Philippians 3:12-4:1. Question 1 It kind of seemed like you were implying that there are people here at church who are better than others – “Better Christians”. Who are these growing people? It’s important to remember that all Christians have equal status in…

  • Malachi 2:10-16 and the ‘Offspring of God’

    I think this is one example of where biblical theology is really important in understanding a Bible passage. Did you notice that in the passage, the idea of the ‘covenant’ crops up twice – once in verse 10 (the ‘covenant of our fathers’) and once in verse 14, referring to the marriage covenant between a…

  • Do you have to be baptised to be saved?

    Probably the best place to go to talk about the relationship between (water) baptism and salvation is 1 Peter 3:21-22: 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22…

  • Women Preaching to Mixed Adult Congregations: A detailed reading of 1 Timothy 2:8-15 in reply to John Stott’s position

    The issue of women preaching to mixed adult congregations is one that has caused a lot of consternation in ‘evangelical circles’ in recent times. There is a common argument that women should preach to mixed adult congregations that proceeds along the following lines: Different scholars and respected authorities disagree on the interpretation of the relevant…

  • Desire: reconnected (Song of Songs 7-8)

    A Sermon on Song of Songs 7-8 Lionel Windsor, 18 July 2004 Desire … disconnected We seem to live in a world where sexual desire is everywhere, but means almost nothing. Turn on the TV, and you’ll soon find sexual desire in the ads, in the movies, on the sitcoms. Take a drive, and there…

  • Paul’s Apostolic Ministry as Presented in the Book of Acts

    Lionel Windsor (2002) ‘In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach’, writes Luke, at the beginning of his second volume (Acts 1:1, emphasis mine). The implication is that Jesus continued to act and to teach after his ascension (So Köstenberger and O’Brien 2001, 128). So Paul,…