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Lent, Lament and Lockdown

...er of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)...

8 Most Controversial Topics In The Church Today

...nding the Holy Spirit. Other Christians include Spiritual gifts items or even inspire congregants or church staffers to take Spiritual gifts present checks to look wherein they may be finely prepared to serve. 6. Baptism Although almost all churches observe baptism, baptism rites differ not only in practice but also in theory. For generations, the church has been divided over whether the Bible encourages baby baptism or just believer baptism. More liturgical churches even create the idea that baptism is required for salvation, but others don't appear to place much emphasis on it. Some churches baptize newborns as well, although not as evidence of salvation,...

Lent: Day 5 - Ignatius to the Ephesians

...Day Five: St. Ignatius of Antioch: Letter to the Ephesians (full text) Who: Ignatius converted at a young age and later became Bishop of Antioch. A friend of Polycarp and fellow disciple of John, there is a long standing tradition that Ignatius was the child that Jesus held in his arms and blessed in Mark 10:13-16 What: The letter has a strong call to and for unity within the church, along with respect for their bishop. Why: Ignatius wrote a series of letters to the churches in Asia Minor whilst en route to Rome to face martyrdom by wild beasts in the Colosseum around 108 AD. When: Around 107-108 AD There is a strong theme to this letter from the outset, an...

The Problem of Suffering and How We Approach it

...The topic of human suffering is a subject many Christians struggle with, and is an issue many theologians have written about over the centuries — so it's definitely not something I can fully address in a single blog post! But there are some general principles we can find in Scripture that many Christians can/do accept, which should act as a starting point to addressing this subject, such as: We live in a fallen world due to sin (Gen 3), and so things aren’t perfect and neither are people, therefore suffering can happen from illness, nature, and human action (or inaction). Not all suffering is necessarily “bad”, from a Christian perspective. For exam...

What did Jesus actually sacrifice?

...Sometimes the question, or accusation/criticism maybe, is posed by atheists and critics of Christianity that Jesus didn’t really sacrifice anything because he is God and also because he got his life back three days later. So where’s the sacrifice if you know that what you give up will be given back, and given back even better than you previously had it? It’s an interesting question, and one that should cause us to stop and think about what we, as Christians, say to non-believers in case the question is ever given to us. Most people will say Jesus  gave up his life for us – but is that such a big deal if he knew he’d have it back in three days; and th...

Spiritual Disciplines of the Early Church: Ancient Practices for the 21st Century

...I was asked not so long ago what kinds of things Christians did in the Early Church (first to fourth century) as a form of Spiritual discipline, on a personal level as well as a corporate one. Though the concept of an individual “personal Spiritual life” would have been quite foreign to first century believers as faith and Church was very much a corporate venture that had personal implications, rather than the other way around as it can often appear to be thought of today. Much of what made Christianity structured, disciplined and set apart from society, has largely been lost in practice, or forgotten and relegated to the annals of history by many practicin...