but in your hearts honour Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defence to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect 1 Pet 3:15 ESV The text is clear that believers are to be ready with a “defence” (apologia) for the hope that is within them. They are called to be “apologists”, that is, one who can … [Read more...]
Anointing the New Order
How long will you mourn for Saul...Fill your horn with oil and be on your way ... 1 Samuel 16:1 Many are currently networking the old instead of anointing the new. Let me explain: because of his unbroken inner life the kingdom had just been taken from Saul and promised to one better than he—to David (1 Sam 15:28). His days on the throne were now numbered. But Samuel mourns … [Read more...]
Scandalised by Extravagant Love
Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and rock of offense ... Romans 9:33 The school of the Spirit is pre-eminently a ‘school for scandal’. Whenever God visits the earth he does it contrary to our patterns and expectations. He does not fit our preconceived notions of who we think he is and of how he should do it. Even though he is the God that never changes, he … [Read more...]
The Distracted Bride
… I betrothed you to one husband…to Christ…But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:2-3 NASB The warfare of worship The Holy Spirit is calling out a bride for the Son in this generation. But once we respond to this `wooing’ of the Spirit we … [Read more...]
The Fool on the Hill
In 1967 the Beatles released a Lennon-McCartney song called The Fool on the Hill. I'm showing my vintage here, but it struck me as a genuinely prophetic statement then, and still does. The lyrics go: Day after day, alone on a hill, the man with a foolish grin is perfectly still But nobody wants to know him, they can see that he's just a fool as he never gives an … [Read more...]
