Blog Search Results

Fasting: A spiritual and physical discipline

...ghout the book of Acts we can see that the early church fasted regular and often, especially when they sought direction from God. If it were not for the church fasting and praying in Acts 13:1-4, they may not have heard from the Holy Spirit about sending Paul out on his first missionary journey, and if he had not done that, the faith may never have spread as far and fast as it did, nor would we have the majority of our New Testament! Fasting is a vital church discipline, I believe. Similar, history changing events, also happened from prayer and fasting in 2 Chronicles 20, and the post-Acts early church. Here’s a quick quote from Tertullian (c.198) and Irenae...

The Relationship Between Jesus and Sophia

...thor, and book, called, She Who Is, by Elizabeth A. Johnson, where this idea seemed to have originated in some form. In fact, the majority of the comments were wanting to explore this idea in more depth. So, I think maybe there’s something to be said there for the lack of female representation in the Church if it garnered this type of response, but I also thought if people are this taken by the idea, I wanted to write something to offer some Biblical and historical views on this “Sophia”, as she isn’t a new concept at all. The caption under the Instagram post sounds nice, but it’s ever so slightly off-kilter that it misrepresents everything. Let’s l...

The Deity of Christ in the Gospel of Matthew - Part 2

...Matthew's theme - The divine presence of Jesus This is a guest post by “KingsServant”, see Part 1 here. Having covered Matthew’s introduction to his gospel in his nativity account, we will now consider the way Matthew “bookends” the gospel by beginning his work with the promise of God dwelling with his people (fulfilled in the incarnation) and ending it in the same way with Jesus’ comforting promise never to leave his followers. This theme of Matthew begins with his quotation of Isaiah 7:14, which we have already analysed in the previous article with regard to how it reveals Matthew’s teaching that Jesus is God. As noted before, in Matthew...

Is The Rapture Biblical?

...es in his book Jesus And the Victory of God (p.345), “Had Jesus wished to introduce so strange and unJewish an idea to them he would have had a very difficult task.” Modern rapture theories completely divorce the original context from the text and wrangle in other, new ideas. This isn’t just something which has been recognised by scholars and commentaries in modern times either, if we go back to the fifth century we can see that the respected early church father, John Chrysostom wrote about this meaning in his commentary on 1 Thess. 4:17. If he is about to descend, on what account shall we be caught up? For the sake of honour. For when a king drives...

Lent 2018: The Temptations of Jesus

...Lent is just around the corner, and so this year I've decided to write a short series over the next 40 days looking at the forty days that Jesus spent in the wilderness, and the temptations he faced. I'll post a new blog each Sunday of Lent looking at each temptation, and then finish the series just before Easter Sunday looking at “how was Jesus a sacrifice?”. Series outline: Temptation one: Pride (1st Sunday of Lent, February 18, 2018) Temptation two: Worship and Glory (2nd Sunday of Lent, February 25, 2018) Temptation three: Testing God (3rd Sunday of Lent, March 4, 2018) Temptation four: Complacency (4th Sunday of Lent, March 11, 2018) Topical: W...

Unveiling the Trinity: Exploring the Nature of Jesus and the Incarnation

...d, in the book of Daniel, we encounter Messianic visions that describe the Son of Man, who is granted authority and a kingdom similar to God's own. This foreshadows the incarnation and the fulfilment of Daniel's vision. Daniel 7:13-14 "I continued watching in the night visions, and I saw One like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was escorted before Him. He was given authority to rule, and glory, and a kingdom; so that those of every people, nation, and language should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will not be destroyed."...