Sermon notes, why and how?

Two things encourage me most as a preacher; one is seeing people get their heads stuck into Scripture and following along in the text as I preach and the second is seeing people take notes. If a Christian goes to church every Sunday of the year then they hear 52 sermons a year, if they go to a morning and evening service that jumps to 104 sermons. Times that by how many years you’ve been a Christian and the number will be quite significant. Now, imagine if we actively tried to remember, reflect on and implement each sermon, what would that look like? I think that we’d all grow in our love for the Lord, His Word, His people and the lost. I haven’t always taken notes during sermons, but for the last few years I’ve made sure that I’ve had the means with me to take notes during sermons because I’ve personally found it to be a helpful spiritual discipline. But why and how should we take sermon notes?Continue reading “Sermon notes, why and how?”

The most important weapon in your possession…

If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, or have ever spoken to me at all you’ll know that I read tons and tons of books. I enjoy devouring information and learning from the insights of many people who are much smarter than myself. But the most important weapon that any Christian can have in their possession isContinue reading “The most important weapon in your possession…”

The identity of every human being…

We live in a world where many people are searching for their identity. People are asking the question ‘who am I?’ People are searching for purpose and meaning in life. But many people don’t know where to look.

People are find a sense of identity in their jobs, social status, relationship status, likes on FaceBook, sexuality, country of origin and much more. But these are not the things that make us who we are. Continue reading “The identity of every human being…”

Who am I, what is my identity?

Who am I? What is my identity? These are two massive questions that our world seems to be wrestling with. As one would expect, the world tries to answer this question by looking within the individual, it’s the “I am who and what I want to be” kind of attitude. But the Bible presents a completely different idea,Continue reading “Who am I, what is my identity?”

Truth trumps experience…

We all have a different story, we all come from different back grounds and have different experiences. I was raised in a charismatic church, then went to a conservative evangelical church, then went to a Presbyterian church, now I’m back serving in an independent evangelical church. I was raised egalitarian and Arminian (I think), now I’m a complementarian and a Calvinist (don’t shoot me!). But all of these changes haven’t been brought about by me experiencing different things, they’ve been brought about by my wrestling with the Word of God.Continue reading “Truth trumps experience…”

Easter Readings and Giveaways for 2020…

Lent is an interesting thing. I wasn’t raised in what I would call a ‘liturgical family’, sure I remember hearing about lent because people give up chocolate or alcohol for a few weeks. But my understanding of lent didn’t really go beyond that. It’s only been in recent years as I’ve seen the incredible benefit of taking time to reflect on Jesus, who he is and what he did. There are two times of the year in the church calendar for this; lent and advent.

But if you’re like meContinue reading “Easter Readings and Giveaways for 2020…”

Stories and songs for all ages…

There are so many great resources out there and I have the privilege of receiving so many titles to review for free. The struggle is always to pick the things that I think will be most beneficial for all of you, my readers. Continue reading “Stories and songs for all ages…”

News books about old saints…

I was recently talking to a friend and I made the comment that, for a while now, I haven’t read many older books. I used to make a habit of making sure that at least one of the books I read a month was older. Sometimes it would be early church fathers, sometimes it would be from the reformation period and sometimes it would be the puritans. Although the books I’m about to review aren’t old, all of them were published in 2019, they are about people from the past. 4 different people (Spurgeon, Columba, Athanasius, Bruce), 3 different countries (Scotland, England, Egypt) but each of them pointing people to Jesus Christ.Continue reading “News books about old saints…”

What I read on holiday…

I was working over Christmas and New Year and had quite a busy time, but as 2020 came into being I had just over a week off. But don’t let the picture confuse you, I was not on a tropical beach. My wife, Sabine, and I enjoyed a week of holiday in our flat in Edinburgh, Scotland. The wind was blowing, it was raining, but at some points we did see the sun! We had a lovely week.

I can know how good a holiday was based on how many books I read, and by good I mean relaxing. Yes, I’m one of those weird people who relaxes by reading. This holiday was really good, in 8 days I read 12 books! I thought I’d give you a wee insight into my holiday reading at the beginning of 2020. Continue reading “What I read on holiday…”