God's sovereingty

I think Sundays sermon about God's sovereignty went well although a number of people where quite upset by it and in time, as they read, reflect and pray over it, they will come to see the glorious, magnificent and all powerful God whom we worship!

The one part of the doctrine that I did not tackle was how God's sovereignty relates to salvation, and I will address it in a few weeks time. This part is called predestination and it is a topic of conversation that should be avoided around the dinner table unless you want to lose friends! Mnay people don't like it but fail to see how clearly the scriptures tell the story in so many places. This is a clear doctrine of teaching from the scriptures and cannot be avoided if one is honest with the text. Augustine, Luther and Calvin held to this and are of the greatest influence over time in this regard. However humanistic thinking has allowed us to elevate humanity and our 'free' will to unbiblical proportions.

As with many things, the scriptures do not paint a picture that is as clear as us western minded people would like it to be. As with many truths in the scriptures, there are a number of passages that hold ideas in tension. In this case God's will vs human responsibility.

This article is really helpful and provides some information on the variety of views but is written from a Calvinistic (that means biblical :) ) view. It is really well written and will prove helpful for those who desire to unpack this most important but contentious issue.

Children's Bibles

Many Children's bibles are well illustrated but the content often lacks detail that is really important. Like the central character of the Bible - Jesus!

We've been reading our kids the Jesus Storybook Bible on the Kindle. It is simply brilliant and every story in it points to Jesus. I really recommend this to anyone with kids 4 and up. For those to whom the name might seem familiar Sally is NOT related to the famous theologian and preacher  D Martyn Lloyd Jones :)

Mercy Always Comes Running

Mercy Always Comes Running

God's Sovreignty

Three weeks back we listened to an outstanding sermon on Sunday from John Piper called 'skeptical grumbling and sovereign grace' you can listen to it here if you missed it. It certainly raised some eyebrows and I hope it got people thinking, reflecting and reading God's word so that we might know him better.

John Piper has posted a useful and short note about the two wills of God. Have a read:

I would like to help you distinguish between God’s moral will and his sovereign will. This will help you make sense of the apparent contradiction between these two statements:

1. God does all things according to his will (sovereign will).

“He does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand” (Daniel 4:35).

“Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases” (Psalms 115:3).

2. Some things happen that are not God’s will (moral will).

“Whoever does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:17)—implying some don’t.

“The Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9)—yet some do perish.

In other words, the Bible makes a distinction between God’s will, understood as his purpose that is never frustrated in any event; and God’s will, understood as his moral command to act a certain way.

One of the clearest evidences of the difference between God’s sovereign will and his moral will is the fact that God morally forbids murder:

“Do not kill the innocent” (Exodus 23:7).

And yet he willed the murder of his Son:

“Truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place” (Acts 4:27–28).

One of the high and holy truths about God that we embrace in submitting to biblical truth is that God does not sin in willing that sin be. This is crucial, because the design of God in the cross hangs on it.

God’s ways and will are pure. He has his holy purposes in ordaining all that comes to pass.

“He works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Ephesians 1:11).

“All his works are right and his ways are just” (Daniel 4:37).

Let us worship and bow down.

The School of Prayer: Alone with God

Hi Team, from now on you will get occasional postings from our prayer team via Inge. These are meant to encourage you in your prayer life....enjoy! Brent


What is God’s heart for us?

His Word tells us through Paul in 1 Cor 1:9 “ God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” He has given us His Son and the gift of the Holy Spirit so that we may have an intimate relationship with Him. If we miss this we have failed the calling God has for our lives.

How do we do this?

Matt 6:6 “ But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

Jesus teaches His first public teaching in the Sermon on the Mount that we should pray not to be seen or heard by others, but that we should pray to meet with our Father alone in secret.

When we want to spend a special evening on a date with the one we love, how intimate is our conversation when it is just the two of you versus the whole family? And yet we love our family, but we also need these special times alone to nurture our relationship. This is exactly what Jesus was teaching his disciples on the mount: spend time ‘dating’, getting to know Jesus in prayer.

If you set aside a little time each day somewhere special, He will meet you there & He will make Himself known to you - Jesus teaches that.