The Pastor’s Pen

I encourage you to consider what the body of Christ looks like when rightly controlled The New Testament is loaded with descriptions of rightly controlled attitudes for the children of God. Paul’s teaching in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 fuels rightly controlled attitudes, which is a challenge for the entire body of Christ. “For the love of…

God the Son, Jesus Christ, “is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent” (Colossians 1:18). The body of Christ does not govern itself, nor does it exist for itself. Rather, it looks to its head who is Christ; preferring…

Any discussion on behaviour will engender emotions differing from person to person. Why, because your response to behaviour is always directly related to your attitude to relationships. Today, I wish to focus on the single most important relationship any human is capable of having, your relationship with Jesus Christ. The unavoidable implication of knowing Jesus…

The Church of Jesus Christ is in fact the body of Christ. It’s not a social club, it’s not simply a religious organisation and it’s far more than a team. This body belongs to Christ and is therefore more complex and diverse that any worldly association, and should not be thought of with worldly values.…

It’s all very well using words like ‘purposeful and integrity,’ but how can they translate into daily living which is meaningful to both God and you? Consider Paul’s brief benediction where he summarises the Lord to Timothy. He not only puts God’s character on display, but shows our responsibility. “To the King of the ages, immortal,…

God is the God of purpose, who does NOT randomly interact with mankind on a whim.  All that He is and does has design, reason and intent, and this includes you and I. No-one escapes the Lord’s attention, especially those who try to ignore or deny Him. Lives for thought The Lord speaking through Moses,…

Integrity, it’s not a word used much in today’s society; still, integrity is of the utmost importance to God. In the Hebrew language of the Old Testament, integrity carries the idea of completeness in moral innocence. Here is mankind’s deepest problem, even though it’s denied most of the time. Typically, we think of ourselves as…

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19 NIV). Simon and Andrew didn’t see this one coming. The brothers weren’t looking for a new religion or prophet to follow. No, they were quite happy without Jesus; dead in their spiritual blindness, but happy in their darkness. Through this simple…

Deep within human nature is the hedonist; being devoted to the pursuit of pleasure and self-gratification. When hedonism becomes the guiding belief which determines all other beliefs and behaviour, there can only be one outcome – idolatry. Why idolatry you ask? Because; to the hedonist “self” must dominate God. Therefore, everything and everyone is to…

Ramah would be remembered for the twist on idolatry that changed the nation. It was a straight forward request that many would have thought to be harmless. Possibly it made good sense to some. However, as Samuel explained to Israel, if he was to appoint “a king to judge us like all the nations” (1…