Thoughtful Reflections on Faith and Life
Mark 5:1-20 Introduction What does Jesus want us to do? Jesus wants us to follow him. Jesus wants us to love God, neighbours and each other. God wants us to work for justice, especially among the marginalized, and Jesus wants us to grow as disciples. All of that would seem to be plenty and I … Read More “Growing the Kingdom” »
The Christian Church has been involved in many things, from establishing hospitals to killing “infidels” and “heretics.” Obviously some of the things that the Church has done has been closer to the teachings of Jesus than others. I see three things as that which the Church must do. I don’t mean that in the sense … Read More “3 Things the Church Must Do” »
The reason that I am a Christian is because of Jesus. There are many other interesting religions and some wise religious and philosophical teachings but Jesus is unique. I try to focus on Jesus as much as I can. Some people seem to think that the only message we need is “Believe that Jesus died … Read More “5 Things About Jesus That We Need to Emphasize” »
Acts 3 Introduction At some point in 2019, just a few people contracted a virus that we now call COVID-19. At the time it probably looked like a small thing. I don’t even know how sick those first people got. I am sure that if you could go back and explain to them all that … Read More “Blowing the World to Kingdom Come” »
I had another conversation with some Jehovah’s Witnesses, once again concerning the kingdom of God. I do consider the kingdom of God to be an essential topic (unlike attitudes toward birthdays or the shape of the cross). We had agreed to disagree about whether the kingdom began to appear during Jesus’ ministry. I know of … Read More “Conversations With Jehovah’s Witnesses – Part Six” »
I once more had a conversation with a Jehovah’s Witness (and a new partner) focused largely (but not completely) on the kingdom of God. After numerous conversations on the kingdom of God, it is clear that we just don’t agree. I believe the kingdom has always been in heaven, began to appear on earth during … Read More “Conversations With Jehovah’s Witnesses – Part Five” »
As I write this, it is the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings at Normandy. I have great interest in this as a student of military history. But this is not my Second World War blog, so why am I talking about this here? I actually find a helpful image in this for understanding the … Read More “D-Day and the Kingdom of God” »
It has been quite a few weeks, but I finally had another opportunity to visit with a pair of Jehovah’s witnesses again. Once again, our conversation revolved around the nature of the kingdom of God. It is clear that we have a fundamentally different understanding of the kingdom. For example, they brought me to Daniel … Read More “Conversations With Jehovah’s Witnesses – Part Four” »
This morning I had my third meeting with some Jehovah’s Witnesses. It has been the same lead person each of the three visits, but a different helper each time. I had mentioned last time that I was interested in how they got 1914 as the year of the establishment of the kingdom of God in … Read More “Conversations With Jehovah’s Witnesses – Part Three” »
Although the Kingdom of God is not often talked about in churches today, it was the main topic of Jesus’ preaching. I believe that an understanding of the Kingdom is essential for Christians. Some people think the kingdom just doing good things now or heaven when we die or something Jesus will start when he … Read More “What is the Kingdom of God?” »
The first part of our conversation was about the Tetragrammaton in the New Testament. While there is some rhetorical effect here, it is not an essential goal for my conversation with Jehovah’s Witnesses. That is why we switched directions to the kingdom of God. The Jehovah’s Witnesses wanted to focus on Old Testament mentions of … Read More “Conversations With Jehovah’s Witnesses – Part Two B” »
I have started meeting with some Jehovah’s Witnesses. My plan is to share how our conversations go after each meeting. Today we talked about two topics. Much of our conversation was about the kingdom of God. They began by discussing Old Testament statements of the kingdom. They tried to focus on the kingdom as a … Read More “Conversations With Jehovah’s Witnesses – Part One” »
A sermon based on Matthew 6:25-34, preached at Queen Street Baptist Church. Introduction Futurists, a number of decades ago, had some predictions about what life would be like now. The hope was that advances in technology would allow us to work less and live less stressful lives. We would be able to sit back, relax … Read More “What is the Kingdom of God?” »
The kingdom of God is arguably the most important topic in the Gospels. It definitely was the core of Jesus’ preaching. But what is the kingdom of God? Scot McKnight tackles this important topic in his book, Kingdom Conspiracy. McKnight observes two ways of looking at the spectrum that he cleverly calls the skinny jeans … Read More “Kingdom Conspiracy – Review” »
You can’t argue people into the kingdom of God. This is one of the most common reasons why people do not want to get involved in apologetics. I would want to ask what is meant by an argument. If you mean yelling and screaming because someone has a different opinion, I would be the first … Read More “The Non-Arguing Argument” »
Jesus was born in the manger not just to give us a beautiful picture of peace that we could celebrate once a year. When Jesus began his public ministry, we are told that he came preaching the Gospel (Mark 1:14). What is the Gospel? That should be a basic thing that all Christians should know. … Read More “Advent Two: The Gospel” »
“Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way … Read More “Early Ministry” »
