Imagine a Christian sitting down with their Bible. They reach a difficult passage. Perhaps something in Romans about predestination, or a confusing section of Revelation. Instead of speaking to their pastor, opening a commentary or spending time wrestling with the text, they reach for their phone. “ChatGPT, what does this verse mean?” Or insert anyContinue reading “Can AI Be Your Bible Teacher? The Danger of Outsourcing Your Spiritual Growth”
Tag Archives: Theology
The Happiness We Were Made For
Everybody wants to be happy. We spend our lives pursuing it. We look for it in relationships, careers, possessions, achievements, and experiences. We convince ourselves that if we could just change a few circumstances, we’d finally be happy. But what if we’ve misunderstood happiness altogether? What if we’re looking for it in the wrong places?Continue reading “The Happiness We Were Made For”
Stop Trying to Discover Your Spiritual Gift. Start Serving the Church.
Somewhere along the way, we’ve managed to turn spiritual gifts into something they’re not supposed to be. What God intended for the building up of his church, we’ve turned into an exercise in self-discovery. What was meant to draw attention to the generosity of the Holy Spirit has become another opportunity to focus on ourselves.Continue reading “Stop Trying to Discover Your Spiritual Gift. Start Serving the Church.”
Don’t Just Explain the Text: Why Preachers Must Apply It Specifically
There is a sentence that can sound wonderfully spiritual at the end of a sermon “Now go and apply this to your life.” The problem is that it may mean almost nothing. A congregation can hear thirty minutes of careful exegesis, understand the structure of the passage, appreciate the historical background, admire the preacher’s theologicalContinue reading “Don’t Just Explain the Text: Why Preachers Must Apply It Specifically”
Saturday Snippets
As well as reading a lot of books, I also read a ton of articles every week. Here are some of the articles that I’ve read recently and have found interesting, helpful, challenging and encouraging. I hope that they will be the same for you, my dear readers.
Should Christians Eat Halal Meat? What 1 Corinthians Teaches Us About Food, Freedom and Conscience
Can Christians eat halal meat? It sounds like a fairly modern question. Walk into a supermarket, order food from a takeaway, or eat in certain restaurants in Britain and you may discover that the meat being served is halal. For some Christians that barely registers. For others it raises an immediate concern: Has this meat beenContinue reading “Should Christians Eat Halal Meat? What 1 Corinthians Teaches Us About Food, Freedom and Conscience”
A Heart Aflame for God
The phrase spiritual formation can make some conservative evangelicals slightly uneasy. It can sometimes be associated with mystical practices, vague spirituality or disciplines borrowed uncritically from Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions. Yet the Bible clearly calls Christians to pursue spiritual maturity – to keep our hearts diligently, to work out our salvation with fear and trembling,Continue reading “A Heart Aflame for God”
Chosen by Grace – Why Predestination Should Give You Confidence, Not Fear
Predestination. For some Christians, the very word brings comfort. For others, it brings confusion. And for many, it raises questions they have wrestled with for years. “Did God really choose people before the foundation of the world?” “If that’s true, do our choices matter?” “Can I know that I’m one of the elect?” And perhapsContinue reading “Chosen by Grace – Why Predestination Should Give You Confidence, Not Fear “
Saturday Snippets (July 11)
As well as reading a lot of books, I also read a ton of articles every week. Here are some of the articles that I’ve read recently and have found interesting, helpful, challenging and encouraging. I hope that they will be the same for you, my dear readers.
Could Your Devotional Material Be Hindering Your Spiritual Growth?
There is a quiet irony in much of modern Christian publishing. We have more devotional material available to us than almost any generation in church history, and yet many Christians know their Bibles less well than previous generations did. That is not because devotional books are bad. Far from it. Many are rich, faithful, Christ-centred,Continue reading “Could Your Devotional Material Be Hindering Your Spiritual Growth?”
