Pete's Blog

 “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight”.  1 John 3:22 When we read the Bible, when we hear from God, we need to put it into practice . It is the concept behind the words that are important. Words can come to us in a variety of different media. We can hear them being spoken. We can listen to them on our iPod as we go jogging. We could read them printed on paper, we can read them on a Kindle or even our mobile phone. The words can come in all different shapes, sizes, colors but these words have meaning behind them and if the meaning of the words comes from God then they can have an impact on our life but they’ll only have an impact if we do what they say, otherwise, it is like God casting his pearls before swine. We are simply not throwing back the riches that we’re being offered. “Do not give dogs what is highly valued and do not throw pearls before swine, lest they trample them on the...

John Chrysostom was around at the turn of the 5th century AD, he  lived and died preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ. His preaching led to his posthumously assigned surname, Chrysostom: "golden mouth." The same preaching also exiled him twice, the second exile being three years under armed guard which would lead to his death.    He became known as "John the golden-mouthed" because of his anointed preaching. It was said that  Preaching improves me,” he once told his congregation. “When I begin to speak, weariness disappears; when I begin to teach, fatigue too disappears. Thus neither sickness itself nor indeed any other obstacle is able to separate me from your love... for just as you are hungry to listen to me, so too I am hungry to preach to you.” And people loved to hear him preach, historical records of his preaching say:  "As he advanced from exposition to illustration, from Scripture to practical appeals, his delivery became gradually more rapid, his...

God is great at logistics, what ever he plans to do he provides the means to do it. Jonathan was Saul’s son who became a devoted friend of David, who later be a great king of Israel.  While  the Israelites were suffering from poor planning and poor logistics with no proper weapons for war, Jonathan received a vision from God which faithfully. “Jonathan said to his young armour-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men. Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.” (1 Samuel 14:6 NIV) Consider Jonathan and follow his example here, when God gives you a vision step forward in faith.  If the vision is from God there will be provision of resources to carry it out. In my daily internet radio show, Daily Devotional Preaching episode 11 ,  I show how Moses was able to provide resources for 3 million people in the desert.  Whatever the vision, if it's of God, the resources...

 The Bible does not teach us to ask individuals in heaven for their prayers. Why do many Catholics pray to saints in heaven and request their prayers? Catholics view these saints as "intercessors" before God. They believe that a saint, who is glorified in Heaven, has more "direct access" to God than we do. Therefore, if a saint delivers a prayer to God, it is more effective than us praying to God directly. However,  Hebrews 4:16 tells us that we, believers here on earth, can "approach the throne of grace with confidence." "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." (1 Timothy 2:5.  There is no one else that can mediate with God for us. If Jesus is the only mediator, that means that the saints cannot mediate our prayer requests to God. Further, the Bible tells us that Jesus Christ Himself is interceding for us before the Father: "Therefore He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him...

The Good News at its heart is a declaration that Jesus Christ is in charge, he is Lord of all.  The resurrection of Jesus was a vindication of his claims to have "all authority" and that he had a special relationship to God the Father (I and the Father are one).  Jesus's death was in obedience to God the Father and in it he accomplished his great victor over sin and death.  The Good News is that Jesus in in charge, the Good News is also that Jesus in his death has wind for us the victory over sin and death.  This latter victory means that those who recognise him as Lord and choose to follow him get to receive the blessing of eternal life that he brings.  This receiving of eternal life as a free victory gift  from Jesus is also called being "born again".  This is all so well known even Wiki gets it right, as we discussed on The Good News Show recently.  But it needs to be appropriated personally to be effective, that is, each person needs to not o...