Never Yours, Soul
Dear Sin, I thought of not engaging you at all, but decided it would be more profitable to respond—not for your sake, but for mine. It will be refreshing for me to review how wrong you are on every single point.
Dear Sin, I thought of not engaging you at all, but decided it would be more profitable to respond—not for your sake, but for mine. It will be refreshing for me to review how wrong you are on every single point.
When I was a younger Christian, I used to be captivated by God’s dramatic work through Bible heroes: his call to Noah to build an ark to save the world from judgement; his behind-the-scenes work through Queen Esther to save God’s people. I thought of Jonah emerging from the great fish: such dramatic flair! What a way to demonstrate God’s hand in motion. I used to translate these expectations into my daily life, making them the standard for my life and service. I’d ask myself, how will God use me to achieve His purposes? Will he call me away from...
Sanctification and Sin John Newton was famously familiar with grace. As a slave-trader turned clergyman, he was a living depiction of his much-beloved hymn, Amazing Grace. However, Newton’s experience of grace did not climax at conversion. In a less remembered hymn, I Asked the Lord that I Might Grow, Newton captures the tension which lies at the heart of every Christian life: sanctification and sin. Accepting Jesus as Lord and Saviour demands a whole-hearted and life changing pursuit of righteousness. The Bible commands us to flee from sin and God promises to mould us into the image of Christ. How...
When I was growing up I thought that TV ratings (G, PG, M, MA15+, R18+) indicated age suitability. I thought that the MA rating meant ‘this is good and healthy for people who are 15 or older’. It was only natural that I should look forward to being of the age when ‘MA’ and ‘R’ rated movies would be good and healthy things for me to watch. But that’s not what those ratings mean. At least, that’s not how Christians can possibly view them. Growing up means recognising that a lot of things are not good or healthy for anyone...