march 20, 2009 01:08pm

New Bible Ref Script

Hi folks,

we have just created a new bible ref script that should
mean anywhere you see a bible ref on the site you will be
able to hover over it and see the text, so this is a test!

John 3:16

Posted By: Jim Coyle

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march 18, 2009 08:58am

What is Biblical Preaching?

Good question! I recently read a short booklet in which Eric Alexander set about answering that very question in a concise and yet profound way. Eric Alexander is an internationally renowned minister of the Church of Scotland who has been a gift from God to the Church IN Scotland for almost half a century.

Mr. Alexander organises his material under the following 8 propositions:

Biblical Preaching is Fundamental in Its Importance

"It seems to me that the fundamental place of preaching in the church is simply a corollary of the fundamental place of scripture in the church. If you erode the latter, you will certainly erode the former. Church history has consistently demonstrated this." P7

Biblical Preaching is Spiritual in its Essence

"It is possible to be homiletically brilliant, verbally fluent, theologically profound, biblically accurate and orthodox, and spiritually useless. That frightens me. I hope it frightens you too." P12

Biblical Preaching is Didactic in its Nature

"Our ultimate concern, of course, is to reach the heart and the will, but the scriptural route to the heart and to the will is through the mind." P13

Biblical Preaching is Expository in its Form

"the quarry in which we work and from which we dig is the quarry of Holy Scripture. There is no other quarry from which we may find the gold of God's truth." P15

Biblical Preaching is Systematic in its Pattern

"I have found again and again that as I have come to a particular passage or chapter, I could not have begun to think of anything more relevant for a current situation in the congregation at that time." P23

Biblical Preaching is Pastoral in its Concern

"It is by faithful ministry of the Word of God that true pastoral care comes. We are to pastor biblically and preach pastorally" P24

Biblical Preaching is Clear in its Structure

"If we truly care for people, we will want to break the bread of God down in such a way that they will find no unnecessary obstacles in digesting it."P25

Biblical Preaching is Relevant in its Application

"I think the secret of applicatory preaching is that we must apply to ourselves the Word of God while we are meditating upon it, while we are studying it. We must do this before we ever begin to think about applying it to other people."

This refreshing little booklet is part of the "Basics of the Reformed Faith Series" and is published by P&R Publishing. If you preach, even occasionally, it is essential reading and if you listen to preaching (even occasionally) it is well worth the read.

Posted By: Alan McKnight

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march 16, 2009 09:20am

Jade Goody - A Search for Significance

Unless you have been living on a planet other than earth over the past few years (well at least outside of the UK) you can't help but have heard of Jade Goody. Jade has been on a search for significance through the medium of reality TV for the past few years. Beginning her TV career as a â ˜Big Brother" contestant she burst onto our screens, newspapers and radio stations in a typically loud and in your face fashion. A working class girl with a troubled and chaotic background she charted her climb to TV fame through one reality show after another. Just as it seemed that her success was secured, her ˜shoot from the hip™ style back fired on her when she was essentially axed from the TV schedules because of racist comments made to Shilpa Shetty an Indian Bollywood star and fellow contestant in a ˜Celebrity Big Brother" show.

The irrepressible Jade made a comeback by travelling to India to take part in an Indian version of Big Brother as an effort to redeem herself and demonstrate that she was not a racist. It was on this show, live on television, that Jade was told she had cervical cancer. She has battled this condition in the glare of publicity with the express aim of making enough money to support her sons after her death. In recent days she has been married, baptised along with her children and has apparently been consulting a ˜white witch" all as a means of preparation for her impending death.

It seems that Jades public life has been a search for significance, a search for meaning and it is likely that her greatest significance will be the way in which her plight has raised the issue of cervical cancer to the top of the agenda for women in the UK.

When you strip away all the veneer of polite society most of us are quite like Jade. We crave significance, we crave meaning. Perhaps we don't search for it in reality TV, but we do search for it, in careers, in families, in relationships, in material possessions and a million and one other places! But the big problem is that significance isn't found in any of these things, ultimately no enduring satisfaction is found in any of these things.

In John 6 Jesus pointed the way to true significance, true satisfaction and true meaning. He said, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

Jesus is the bread of life. True significance, true satisfaction is found only in him. Whereas reality TV stardom leaves you unsatisfied and careers and materialism leave you ultimately unfulfilled, Jesus satisfies completely! Jesus says that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. Spare a prayer for Jade today, that she might look to the Son, believe and have eternal life.

Posted By: Alan McKnight

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march 06, 2009 05:30pm

Means Of Grace

You know, over the last couple of weeks I have not been able to shake off one phrase and that phrase is "Means Of Grace".  This phrase traditionally means prayer, The Word, Communion and Baptism.  However, what has been playing on my mind is the realisation that these things, in particular prayer, The Word and  Communion are the "MEANS" God uses to pour His grace in to our lives.  If I am running on empty or grumpy or don't want to serve my family or church family, is it perhaps that I am not using the means of Grace?  Although this might seem obvious to some, what I have found helpful about all this is how I now approach The Word, prayer and The Lord's Table, no longer as something I want to do as it is a good thing to do or any other reason for that matter, but so that I might partake and open the door to God's Grace in my life!!  As always, John Piper says it better than me:

God has given us means of grace. If we do not use them to their fullest advantage, our complaints against him will not stick. If we don't eat, we starve. If we don't drink, we get dehydrated. If we don't exercise a muscle, it atrophies. If we don't breathe, we suffocate. And just as there are physical means of life, there are spiritual means of grace.

So I hope that like myself, the Holy Spirit might ignite a new vision within you, that you might approach these "Means Of Grace" as the very things that help you breath Spiritually.

Keywords:Christian Living

Posted By: Jim Coyle

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october 27, 2008 02:41pm

10 Rules For Writting Bad Worship Songs

Here is a list put together by Bob Kauflin

over at Worhip Matters:

1. Aim to write the next worldwide worship hit.
2. Spend all your time working on the music, not the words.
3. Spend all your time working on the words, not the music.
4. Don't consider the range and capabilities of the average human voice.
5. Never let anyone alter the way God originally gave your song to you.
6. Make sure the majority of your songs talk about what we do and feel rather than who God is and what he's done.
7. Try to use as many Scriptural phrases as you can, and don't worry about how they fit together.
8. Cover as many themes as possible.
9. Use phrases and words that are included in 95% of all worship songs.
10. Forget about Jesus and what he accomplished at the cross.

Ok it is a little tongue in cheek, however you can see where he is coming from I think!

Posted By: Jim Coyle

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