We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the just and the unjust—the unjust to judgment and eternal conscious punishment in hell, as our Lord himself taught, and the just to eternal blessedness in the presence of him who sits on the throne and of the Lamb, in the new heaven and the new earth, the home of righteousness.
Bethel Church in Redding, California, is becoming increasingly influential amongst churches in Australia. This is partly due to its promotion by Hillsong and also because of its influential music label. So I’ve set myself the task of reading through some of Bethel’s books in order to understand their theology. The first book I’ve chosen is The Physics of Heaven: Exploring God’s Mysteries of Sound, Light, Energy, Vibrations, and Quantum Physics (ed. Judy Franklin & Ellyn Davis; Shippensburg, PA; Destiny Image: 2012). The contributors to the book are associated in various ways with Bethel Church, and there are key contributions by Bill and Beni...
As the church calendar rolls around to Pentecost it is good to take a moment to consider the significance of the events of that day. Pentecost was a Jewish pilgrim harvest festival that saw crowds flocking to Jerusalem to celebrate God’s goodness towards them in the present harvest. It also looked back as they recalled the blessing of God in granting the people of Israel entry to the Promised Land. It fell seven weeks after Passover, hence the alternative name, “Feast of Weeks” and it was also known by the Greek name “Pentecost”, signifying the 50 days that had elapsed...
Published out of order, Mark Baddeley marks the penultimate post in our series on The Apostles’ Creed with an examination of the spiritual implications of the incarnation. We have before us one of the lines of the creed that has received one of the more paradoxical receptions in recent centuries. It has been at ground zero for struggles to uphold classical Biblical teaching on the supernatural dimension of the Christian faith, and so has witnessed a multitude of attempts to defend it against secular scepticism. At the same time, however, that defensiveness has inhibited deep reflection about its implications for...
Neil Chambers continues our Apostles’ Creed series … Two years ago, while preaching through Deuteronomy and the instruction given there for Israel’s calendar, I was convicted of the usefulness of having times in our church year, where we remember God’s great saving acts and rejoice before him—celebrating his kindness to us in Christ. It would give a pattern to our year and make prominent what was core in our confession of Christ, and would help us remember, and not forget, that we are the Lord’s people, saved by His grace to live for Him. ‘I believe in the Holy Spirit,’ is...
