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‘The veil is rent in Christ alone’
In Charles Wesley’s theologically rich hymn Tis Finished! The messiah dies, there’s a curious phrase: “The veil is rent in Christ alone”. Great hymn, but that line seems like gobbledegook. To my parents’ generation, the meaning might have been obvious because it’s actually based on a quotation from the Authorised Version of the bible. It…
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What does it really mean to forgive someone?
When you’re a child, forgiveness seems really simple: someone says sorry, you say you forgive them, and then you return to the jelly and ice cream. But, as an adult, it’s a bit more complicated. How do I know that I’ve really forgiven someone? After all, it’s not just about saying “I forgive you”. Those…
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The bible’s radical requirement to forgive
There is one direction of travel in biblical teaching on forgiveness that’s incredibly radical, even today. First, we learn in Exodus 21 that society must be restrained in justice. It talks of an “eye for eye, tooth for tooth”. Often people assume that’s quite a vicious rule, one that’s in conflict with what Jesus later…
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Why Christians don’t need to feel guilty
Melody and Keith Green’s comforting song There is a Redeemer has been a enduring favourite in many churches in recent decades. In four short verses, it connects the “Precious Lamb of God” being slain for sinners with the consequence, which is Jesus can be “my Redeemer”. Ordinarily, people sin and prevent themselves from gaining eternal…
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Why the bible recalls Jesus feeding the multitude twice
Reading the bible when you’re young is a bit like being a tourist in London who travels by tube. You can get about but you don’t see how things are connected. You see the big name sights, like Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament but you might not see what’s between them. In Sunday…
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Cultural Christianity v real Christianity
They thought we were mad. When I was 11, my friend Daniel and I claimed that we were going to have eternal life. It was an idea our classmates thought was nuts. Despite being surrounded by cultural Christianity, the core tenets of the Christian faith were still alien to most in the classroom. Even the…
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The brilliance of The Lord’s Prayer
For years as a schoolboy, each morning my classmates and I all recited The Lord’s Prayer. In those school assemblies, I’m sure we all knew, or had a pretty good idea about, what the individual words meant, even weird ones like “trespasses”. But as a seven year old, praying the words straight after a hymn,…
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Why ‘O Come, O Come, Emmanuel’ is worth grappling with
Now that Advent, the start of the church’s liturgical year, has begun, we start to sing “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”. It’s the classic advent hymn, but the words can seem impenetrable. So what’s it all about? 1. Longing for the Messiah The central theme of this hymn is a longing for appearance of the…
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Why intercessions are a vital part of worship
Are intercessions the boring bit of the service detracting from the all-important live music and inspirational, bible-based sermon? In a modern understanding of our relationship with God, why do we need someone at the front of a church reading out their prepared prayers for people we don’t know? And, anyway, didn’t Jesus tell us not…
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Four principles for passing judgment
Let’s face it: we all judge other people. Sometimes that’s because we’re in a role that requires it, such as being a Justice of the Peace or sitting on an interview panel. But we also judge in our personal lives: do I trust this person? People judge when deciding on a spouse (good provider, loving,…
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The four loves of Harvest Festival
We’re not at the time of year where both Britain and America have celebrated their crops – in Britain, we had Harvest Festival in October, while America celebrated Thanksgiving this week. Thanksgiving is a much bigger affair, but Harvest Festival, nonetheless, gets a good airing in schools and churches. I think it’s important because it’s…
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The sign of Jonah
In Matthew 12, the Pharasees are trying to trap Jesus. They want him to give them a sign, after getting worked up by Jesus’s teaching and miracle making. But Jesus still has work to do before becoming a sacrifice on the cross. Cryptically, then, he tells them they will not receive a sign “except the sign…
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Abraham Bartimaeus Ben Witherington III Charles Wesley Handel Isaac Isaiah 6 James 1 James 2 James 3 James 4 James 5 John Wesley Justification King David King Solomon Magi Mark 8 Mark 10 Matthew 5 Moses N.T. Wright Nathan the Prophet Penal substitutional atonement Pharaoh Richard Dawkins Romans 8 Scot McKnight Sovereignty The Children's Society Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion Zacchaeus Zadok the Priest