I think we sometimes understand our Christian faith as a battle rather than a relationship. Our language and songs often emphasise our ongoing battle against temptation, to overcome sin, and to fight onwards to reach our destination. But sometimes, we emphasise the combative elements of our faith at the expense of the roots of our…
A question that Christians have been asking for two thousand years is to what degree a Christian must obey the government. There has not been a consistent answer, and there is still a broad disagreement over the question. But of course, like everything in life, the question itself is not actually as simple as it…
The main problem is that Jehovah isn’t actually in the Bible. It is a mistake of translation that ended up being used in songs, translations of the Bible, and common parlance. Let’s see how it happened. How Was the Old Testament Written? To start with, we need to understand how the Jewish people wrote and…
Was Christmas originally pagan? The short answer is… No! Here’s the longer answer. There is a fairly common claim that Christmas was originally a pagan celebration that Christians co-opted during the first four centuries to undermine and destroy pagan religion. This has been repeated in ‘books’ (I use the word book quite loosely here) such…
Spiritual Warfare is one of those topics that gets people either all hot and bothered or makes them scoff and turn their noses up. But I think the reality of spiritual warfare is not ghost-busting or fighting demons like a Marvel character. In this piece I’m going to try and give another dimension to what…
Why did Jesus get baptised? Was it to mark the start of his ministry? Was it because he needed his sins wiped away? Was it when Jesus became God? Was it a cultural thing? These are all answers that have been suggested for why Jesus got baptised. I don’t think they are all quite right….
The Salvation Army is a holiness movement. It’s radical commitment to sanctification as the privilege of every believer has impacted it’s emphasis on the Priesthood of all Believers. Introduction and Context The Salvation Army has historically understood itself as a movement of saved and sanctified people committed to a world war against evil to usher…
What does it mean to listen to God when we can’t hear God? How can we follow Christ during times of spiritual dryness? There is a silence at the heart of Christian life — and learning to sit in it may be one of the most important things we ever do. The Heart of the…