Monthly Archives: May 2009

Answers to the 10 questions from kids

Posted on May 28, 2009 by

Here’s how I answered the questions put to me by five and six year olds at church last week. General stuff about the building: 1. Why do churches look like castles? Because, when you build with stone you need to … Continue reading →

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Assurance of faith and assurance of sense

Posted on May 27, 2009 by

I posted yesterday on baptism as “an outward sign of an external reality.” This extract from Joel Beeke’s introduction to the Beauties of Ebenezer Erskine really helpfully distinguishes between the assurance of faith and the assurance of sense. On what … Continue reading →

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Baptism, an outward sign of what?

Posted on May 26, 2009 by

There’s a phrase describing baptism which is used by lots of evangelicals: “baptism is an outward sign of an internal reality.” In other words, baptism is a signpost to the believer and to other believers that the person being baptised … Continue reading →

Posted in Means of Grace | Tagged , , , , , , | 11 Comments

10 questions for the vicar from 6 year olds

Posted on May 25, 2009 by

I had a bunch of five and six year old kids from our church school on a visit to the church on Thursday last week. The idea was, they’d ask me questions and I’d try to answer. I started by … Continue reading →

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Jesus, divorce and remarriage.

Posted on May 20, 2009 by

In my last two posts I have set out the way someone who is divorced might “remarry” (make Christian promises to another believing Christian) at Holy Trinity. In this post I’ll set out the teaching of Jesus from Mark’s gospel … Continue reading →

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Changing Church of England policy on divorce

Posted on May 19, 2009 by

I said yesterday that attitudes to Christian marriage have ebbed and flowed as times changed over the last two thousand years. How have things changed? In the early Christian era, marriage was largely a private matter, where consenting adults committed … Continue reading →

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How divorcees can “remarry” at Holy Trinity

Posted on May 18, 2009 by

Can divorcees remarry in church? The answer is, yes and no. I am starting a series of blog posts today in which I’ll explain how and why I will “marry” some divorcees at Holy Trinity. Attitudes to Christian marriage have … Continue reading →

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Antinomian, neonomian or pure gospel?

Posted on May 12, 2009 by

As a lapsed neonomian and a Scotsman, this extract from Joel Beeke’s introduction to The Beauties of Ebenezer Erskine, has given me the appetite to read on. Beeke writes: The beauties of Ebernezer Erkine offers the best portions of his … Continue reading →

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Hug a liberal?

Posted on May 11, 2009 by

How many evangelicals would hug a liberal? I don’t mean literally. Paul tells Titus to “rebuke them [the circumcision party] sharply, that they may be sound in the faith” [Titus 1:13] and it is easy to take that as a … Continue reading →

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Porn open season

Posted on May 7, 2009 by

Has anyone else noticed that the Christian press is writing openly and decisively about the problem of pornography? Christianity magazine ran an article titled Gagged and Bound in its February edition, asking why churches are silent on something which is … Continue reading →

Posted in Transforming lives | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments