Sunday at Portstewart Baptist Church

On Sunday morning I preached on the first half of Philippians 4.  The issues range from resolving disagreement (the story of Euodia and Synthyche), through rejoicing and refusing to be anxious, to thinking about what is good and excellent.  I summed it up by talking about what it means to live positively relationally (seeking agreement), [...]

A quote on leadership

…a superb talent for organisation and for getting the best possible results out of large groups of people who have a wide variety of talents. It’s called leadership…
From The Times, on Ireland’s tournament winning coach, Declan Kidney.  Coach class | Six Nations Rugby – Times Online 

Does God like Jazz?

I used the following quote from Richard Lenski’s Ephesians commentary in this morning’s message on singing.
Did not also Luther say that music drives the devil away?  He was, of course, not speaking of jazz.

I don’t imagine Luther even knew what jazz was.
How did Lenski know whether Luther would like jazz or not?
It’s funny to see [...]

The songs Christians sing

Show me a church’s songs and I’ll show you their theology.
(Gordon Fee).

The Incarnation

Charles Swindoll refers to Winston Churchill’s description of another nation as “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.”  Swindoll suggests that this would be an appropriate way to describe the incarnation.
Wayne Grudem writes this:
The fact that the infinite, omnipotent, eternal Son of God could become man and join himself to a human nature [...]

John Piper on Psalm 127

So don’t eat the bread of anxious toil, because no matter how hard you work to achieve anything, God has lifted off your back the final responsibility for its success, and God can accomplish more good for those who trust him while they sleep than they can accomplish with anxious labor while awake.
Don’t Eat the [...]

Gala dinner in Coleraine

Over the past five months, a number of the churches in our Portstewart – Coleraine – Portrush Triangle have been working with Crown Jesus Ministries in several special events.  Last night we had one of the biggest of the events in the series when we had a gala dinner in a local hotel.  Over 400 [...]

Children of God

“No short-cut that tries to bypass the patient unfolding of the true character of God, and our relationship to him as his children, can ever succeed in providing long-term spiritual therapy.
But the knowledge that the Father has bestowed his love on us, so that we are called children of God – and in fact are his children [...]

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to the readers (accidental or intentional) of this blog.  A couple of years ago I posted the text of the famous poem by Minnie Louise Harkins, made famous by its inclusion in the Christmas message of King George VI in 1939.
I said to the man who stood at the gate of the [...]

The glory of God

The glory of God is the difference between what we would naturally be or do and what we are enabled to do by God’s grace.
John C. Miller in Outgrowing the Ingrown Church.

Food for thought from Luther

Blessings at times come to us through our labors and at times without our labors, but never because of our labors.. For God always gives them because of His undeserved mercy.

Martin Luther
(From www.gracedagain.com)

Tim Keller on leadership

A few bloggers have noted a comment from Tim Keller on leadership. It’s taken from a talk he gave at the Evangelical Ministry Assembly earlier this year.
Most churches make the mistake of selecting as leaders the confident, the competent, and the successful. But what you most need in a leader is someone who has [...]

God’s grace and you

Have we understood the gospel?

Quote of the week

Ice-breaker