… Dear children, continue in him …
1 Jn 2

… The one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.
Jas 1

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel - which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse!
Gal 1

You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace … You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth?
Gal 5

Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me … If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. Jn 15 ⦿ For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.
2 Cor 1

NIV 2011

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Five Examples of Cultural Christianity

Road Trip to Truth - 8 minutes

I’m very aware that so-called Cultural Christianity is a hot topic state-side at the moment, and that it is a uniquely American phenomenon in the early Twenty-First Century. Even so it has been an issue on the european side of the Atlantic too.

During my childhood in the UK I remember older Christians secretly sneering at the “nominal Christians” who came to church every week, just because they’d always done that. We almost wanted those people to go away if they weren’t going to take Jesus seriously.

But these days, half a century later, we’d give our eye teeth to have some of those nominal Christians back! We long to have more people coming through our doors. We long for people to sense the aroma of Christ … and be curious.

For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task?

2 Cor 2

NIV (UK) 1984

“… You always hear me …”
Jn 11

Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.” Jn 11 ⦿ “Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” Jn 12 ⦿ “I have come to do your will, my God.” Heb 10 ⦿ “… Yet not my will, but yours be done.”
Lk 22

In this world we are like Jesus. 1 Jn 4 ⦿ This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 1 Jn 5 ⦿ … And receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.
1 Jn 3

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Heb 11 ⦿ … He always lives to intercede for them. Heb 7 ⦿ … We have an advocate with the Father - Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
1 Jn 2

NIV 2011

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The Irish Blessing: Be Thou My Vision (etc!)

The Irish Blessing 2020 - 8 minutes

Covid was the catalyst for several “Blessing” videos from various countries, often with reference to Numbers 6:24-26 … “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you …”. I particularly like this video from Ireland.

Covid was a bewildering and fearful time for many people, and perhaps it has permanently changed much of what we took for granted. Our world seems to be an increasingly fragile and frenetic place to be - although there are exciting Covid consequences too. We are made in God’s image - to innovate and endure.

In all of this we are the people who lean on God for our ultimate safety and security - and rightly so.

NIV (UK) 1984

“Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.’
Ps 55

When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.”
Jonah 4

… Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. He said: “May the day of my birth perish, and the night that said, ‘A boy is conceived!’ … Why is light given to those in misery, and life to the bitter of soul, to those who long for death that does not come, who search for it more than for hidden treasure … ?” Job 3 ⦿ The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all …
Ps 34

“Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour?’” Jn 12 ⦿ For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Heb 2

NIV 2011

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Jews & Jesus don’t mix (!?)

So Be It - 10 minutes

Why would you want to watch this? Well, it’s important for Christians to have some understanding of where the gospel leaves the Jewish people. We have so much in common - an amazing shared inheritance.

For me this video gave a clear sense of how “scales” can stick to the eyes of those we would expect to be seeing clearly. But it’s not just the Jews, because understanding the gospel is always unexpected, miraculous and supernatural.

I am greatly inspired by the courage of those Jews who dare to challenge their compatriots. But I am faced with a remarkably similar situation in my own village.

NIV (UK) 1984

Run in such a way as to get the prize.
1 Cor 9

The sluggard says, “There’s a lion outside!” Prov 22 ⦿ … Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. Heb 12 ⦿ … Let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.
2 Cor 7

I press on toward the goal … Phil 3 ⦿ Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
1 Cor 9

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I would like you to be free from concern.
1 Cor 7

… He cares for you. 1 Pet 5 ⦿ “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”
2 Chron 16

Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. … The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. Ps 34 ⦿ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” Mt 6 ⦿ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Phil 4

NIV 2011

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Christian Astronauts

Answers in Genesis - 16 Minutes

It’s tough being a Christian in a very secular world. But I’d say it’s even tougher being a Christian astronaut in some respects. These three men are exactly that, and it’s a joy to hear their unstinting corroboration of gospel and biblical truths, having walked on the Moon itself, and in space.

Christians can easily develop a bunker mentality, but Charlie, Butch and Jeffrey have disregarded the risks of a sneering world. In doing so they boost my own confidence, and I thank God for their testimony.

NIV (UK) 1984

The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.
Rev 21

“… I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions … “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’“ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied.” Acts 26 ⦿ … Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.
Mt 17

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… The Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire …
Rev 2

“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” Jer 17 ⦿ You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. Ps 90 ⦿ The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him … And he went outside and wept bitterly.
Lk 22

But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person. Jn 2 ⦿ … For he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. Ps 103 ⦿ A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. Is 42 ⦿ “The Lord knows those who are his …”
2 Tim 2

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me … My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.”
Jn 10

NIV 2011

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What Is The Lord’s Supper?

Crossway - 3 Minutes

Communion or The Lord’s Supper is something we so easy take for granted. It becomes a ritual, rather than the refreshment J I Packer would suggest we see it as.

When I hear Mr Packer speak the way he does here it makes perfect sense.

NIV (UK) 1984

“Then I will return to my lair until they have borne their guilt and seek my face …”
Hos 5

But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidde…

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That night the king could not sleep …
Est 6

You kept my eyes from closing … Ps 77 ⦿ Who is like the Lord our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to l…

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… The Spirit helps us in our weakness.
Rom 8

“… The Advocate, the Holy Spirit …” Jn 14 ⦿ Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you,…

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“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and e…

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Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
Jn 20

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.” Is 43 ⦿ … “The sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out … and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.”
Jn 10

“See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.”
Is 49

… God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his …” 2 Tim 2 ⦿ … We have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God …
Heb 4

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… Partnership in the gospel …
Phil 1

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body - whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free - and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
1 Cor 12

God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 Cor 1 ⦿ We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
1 Jn 1

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Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Gal 5

And he (Gideon) said, “I do have one request, that each of you give me an earring from your share of the plunder.” (It was the custom of the Ishmaelites to wear gold earrings.) They answered, “We’ll be glad to give them.” So they spread out a garment, and each of them threw a ring from his plunder onto it … Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family.
Jdgs 8

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“I have raised up a young man from among the people.”
Ps 89

For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason he had to be made like…

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I will praise the Lord, who counsels me …
Ps 16

And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God … Is 9 ⦿ Counsel and sound judgment are mine; I have insight, I hav…

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And God raised us up with Christ …
Eph 2

“Do not be afraid … I am the Living One …” Rev 1 ⦿ “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am …”
Jn 17

… For we are me…

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They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb …
Rev 12

Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifi…

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My heart pounds, my strength fails me …
Ps 38

Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to you …
Ps 61

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Cor 12

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Scorn has broken my heart …
Ps 69

“Isn’t this the carpenter’s son?” Mt 13 ⦿ ‘“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Jn 1 ⦿“Aren’t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?” Jn 8 ⦿ “It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons.” Mt 9 ⦿ “We know this man is a sinner.” Jn 9 ⦿ “No, he deceives the people.” Jn 7 ⦿ “This fellow is blaspheming!” Mt 9 ⦿ “Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.”
Mt 11

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