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On the Feast of the Nativity, a sermon by Leo the Great

In the days leading up to Christmas, I wanted to share a sermon from a man known as Leo the Great (aka Pope Leo I), who was a Pope from 440-61 AD. He was one of the most significant and important men in Christian antiquity, as he tried to combat the heresies which seriously threatened church unity in the West, such as Pelagianism. This sermon of his about the incarnation of Christ and what it means for us has always stuck with me since I first read it last April when writing my own book on the Early Church Fathers. It's not that long, so take the time to read it through and let the words sink in as we prepare for Christmas to remember and celebrate the birth...

Will the Real Heretics Please Stand Up (Book Review)

...ts former glory. Bercot seems to believe so if only the Church would return to simplicity of holiness and pick up its cross and revolutionary banners again “from where the early martyrs left them”. This book is definitely a call to arms in the holiest sense; a call for us all to re-examine ourselves and our churches to see if what were living, believing and practicing is still in line with the New Testament church which the early Christmas bore witness to. Well worth the read for anyone who takes their faith seriously. Buy the book here. Bonus: Francis Chan's "Letters to the Church" Letters to the Church I've also just finished reading this book by...

Creedal Christians: The Nicene Creed

...gain with glory Matthew 26:64; Mark 13:26; Jn 14:3; 1 Thess. 4:17 to judge both the living and the dead. to judge both the living and the dead. Acts 10:42; Matthew 3:12; 16:27; 2 Cor 5:10; 2 Tim 4:1; 1 Peter 4:5   Whose kingdom shall have no end. Heb 1:8; 2 Peter 1:11 And in the Holy Ghost. And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life Acts 1:8; John 6:63; 2 Cor 3:6   Who proceeds from the Father, John 15:26   and the Son; (Latin: filioque) John 16:7   Who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, 2 Corinthians 13:14; Ephe...

Should Christians get tattoos, and is it Biblical?

...r God’s glory and worship should cause no one to feel like they have sinned as the intent and focus is not what Leviticus etc. was forbidding. But to caution, and similar to how Paul taught about eating food sacrificed to idols, we should be careful to not cause others to stumble (1 Cor 8:11–13), and to just think long and hard before committing to getting tattooed yourself. If getting a tattoo goes against your conscience, then no one should try and violate that; but equally, since it’s not a clear or direct command in Scripture for or against, others shouldn’t make you feel like it’s a sin either (Romans 14:12–15). This should be one of those thin...

Lent, Lament and Lockdown

...one is my glory, and all that I had hoped for from the LORD.”   Hope in the face of darkness As we look forward to the end of this pandemic with hope like a light at the end of a tunnel, in the meantime we just learn to live in the darkness as the Apostles did on those gloomy days between the crucifixion and the resurrection; when their world ended but was then reborn better than ever expected! They only had to wait a couple of days to see their hope realised, whereas we have no idea how long this will last. How long will we go without seeing friends and family, meeting up at restaurants or going to church again? Only time will tell, but in the midst o...

What are the Seraphim, and was the devil one of them?

...ll of his glory.” As we see from Isaiah’s description of the seraphim, they have wings, faces and feet, and in verses six and seven, they must have hands of some sort to be able to hold tongues and give coal to Isaiah. We don’t really hear from the seraphim again until we get an inference in John’s Revelation, where they are called “living creatures” in a similar scene that Isaiah saw, described very much in the same way, except with the terrifying visual addition that they are covered in eyes: Revelation 4:8And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and inside. Day and night without ceasing they sing,...