Today, in the church’s liturgical calendar, we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the universal church. Pentecost is a unique historic gospel event, arguably as central to the mission of the church as is the resurrection of Jesus. British Anglican pastor-theologian John Stott observes that Without the Holy Spirit, Christian discipleship …
How to become a nice person
It’s easy to shake our heads in disbelief at the apparent failure of world leaders to contribute to measures aimed at world peace. It’s also easy to shrug our shoulders at our own inability to negotiate peace within our family or faith community. The good news is that the Bible has a plan for world …
Prayer for preaching and teaching Scripture
Our Father in heaven,We bow in your presence.Open our hearts and minds to you.May your Word be our rule,Your Spirit our teacher,And your greater glory our supreme concern.We ask this in the strong nameof Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Adapted from a prayer by John R. W. Stott. Image source: JohnStott.org
John Stott’s prayer before preaching
John Stott's prayer before preaching was a concise and powerful expression of dependence on God and a desire for God's glory to be revealed. He would typically pray: Heavenly Father, we bow in your presence. May your word be our rule, Your Spirit our teacher, and your greater glory our supreme concern. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Image source: …
On contrition and compassion
Alasdair MacIntyre, one of the world’s great twentieth-century philosophers, died on Wednesday. He is best known for reintroducing virtue ethics as a viable alternative to consequentialism. He also saw his faith and his philosophy as mutually enriching. Reading the obituaries, I was reminded of this quotation from one of MacIntyre’s twenty books: Man is in …
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