Who is the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is the ruach of YHWH. Ruach means breath and, in the ancient world, the breath of something was the very essence of its life or being. The Holy Spirit is the very essence of who YHWH is. In the Greek, the word is pneuma and the concept is the same. “Come […]
Protestants make up 40% of the church of Jesus Christ today. Evangelicals make up 22% of the church today Conservative Evangelicals make up around 11% of the church today. By this I mean, broadly, those who would hold, among others things, these views: Literal seven-day creation. God made the world in seven 24 hours periods and […]
I am reading Brad Jersak’s book, “A More Christlike God” and this quote really struck me. It is from Bill Maher, who is a satirist from the US and very much not a Christian, which is why it seemed very powerful to me: “If you’re a Christian that supports killing your enemy and torture, you […]
Does baptism matter? Is it important? What is baptism? Baptism is symbolic of our death to an old way of life and being reborn into a new one. Like many things in our “postmodern” era, we have tended to individualise this and make this about my new life, but for the New Testament church it […]
As you probably know, I waterski. I love it. Actually, I “slalom”. This involves going round six buoys on the “slalom course” at a set speed then increasing the speed by 2mph and doing it again. Eventually, when you get to 36mph (or, if you are old, like me, 34mph) you shorten the rope from […]
If you were there on Sunday then you saw this clip. If not, sit down, get out some tissues and watch it now. When you have, read on… I first saw this about three years ago and it made me cry. This is particularly significant because, up until last year, the only time I had […]
I was chatting to a friend today about the disasters of the last week or so. He was talking to me about the helicopter crash in London. I said that it was incredible how only two were killed. He told me that the traffic lights had jammed on red and so the cars were all […]
Every day I wake up and I realise that it’s true. She really is not there anymore. The deep feeling of blackness seems to fill my heart. Then, one of the boys comes in and the day begins at 100mph in three different directions at the same time and I can almost forget the blackness. […]
I have been reading “The Shack” – again. Good book. Very good book. There are some seriously thought-provoking things in there. If you only read one book this year, read the Bible, but if you have not already, read the Shack second. It’s not the Bible, but you should read it One thing struck me […]
When I first encountered Jesus, I was overwhelmed with love. In the words of Depeche Mode I, “found new life, fell in love with everything.” I think that is the way that it is meant to be. Isn’t it? I remember the excitement that I felt over meeting brothers and sisters from all over the […]