Tag: Lutheran
-
People’s Opinions Don’t Define You (The Prayer of Jabez)
Other people have incredible power over things that matter to you. They can physically hurt your body. They can discourage and distract your soul from looking at Jesus. They can steal and take your possessions. And they can also slander and libel you to destroy your reputation. I’ve spent a lot of time reading Luther’s…
-
Why Should I Believe in Jesus?
Many people expect the answer to be: because the evidence is strong, because Christianity makes sense, because the Church says so, or because faith will improve your life. But none of these things give faith. The Bible gives a deeper answer, with two parts. It says you should believe in Jesus because God tells you…
-
Without Forgiveness Relationships Die
I talk to a lot of people about relationships. Marriages, parents and children, boyfriends and girlfriends, in workplaces, families and friendship groups. So many people are struggling with relationships here in Manchester and elsewhere. One massive reason is this: So often people don’t want the relationship to get better—they want to get even. The Bible…
-
Calvin’s Confusion about Predestination: 8 The Olive Tree
God genuinely wants all people to hear the Gospel. He genuinely gives salvation to all who believe the Gospel, so the Gospel is the Christian’s certain and only basis for confidence. All who believe the Gospel do so only because of God’s grace in electing them. All who don’t believe it do so only because…
-
Calvin’s Confusion about Predestination: 7 Don’t Climb into Heaven
How do I know God has chosen me? In the apostle Paul’s clearest discussion of predestination, the middle chapter is all about preaching the Gospel. But in John Calvin’s key chapter on predestination, he barely mentions proclamation at all. This contrast is crucial for understanding Calvin’s confusion about predestination. This is part seven of a…
-
Calvin’s Confusion about Predestination: 1 Defining Predestination
John Calvin was confused about predestination. As a result, many Christians today are also confused about it, and believe God predestined some people for damnation. This is serious. Because that idea is terrifying. It would mean Jesus didn’t die for everyone. It would mean the most important thing in your life is not to look…
-
The Tyranny of Visible Fruit
The reality of life is that people implicitly assess Christian ministry through visible fruit, institutional momentum, relational success, and perceived stability. Even when they explicitly deny that—they do it. Even Christians who highly value the Bible do it. Because, as much as people may say that faithfulness is measured by the Bible: when pressure is…
-
Even Manchester’s Mayor Wants a Job in London
You are drawn to success. We all want comfort, success, glory, prestige. And temporal kingdoms offer that. Throughout history there have been “great cities,” climbing to the sky, offering a tower to commune with greatness: Babel, Nineveh, Babylon, Rome. And, of course, here in the UK—London. Andy Burnham once said: “[politics] has been too London-centric…
-
Promises for a Ruined Reputation
You may be reading this because you know the huge pain of a ruined reputation. The Bible doesn’t shy away from how difficult this experience is: Reproaches have broken my heart, so that I am in despair. I looked for pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none. (Psalm 69:20) Here,…
-
Why hasn’t the church collapsed?
The church is full of rubbish people. People making mistakes.People struggling with doubt.People who behave badly. How on earth is it still here? That is the question that Mark answers at the end of his Gospel. I was taught my whole life that the end of Mark’s Gospel is not original. Because the ending is…