Pete's Blog

On the eve of his death in Gethsemane, Jesus was "greatly distressed and troubled" (Mark 14:33) and said to his disciples, "My soul is very sorrowful, even unto death" (Mark 14:34). For Jesus, death was not a great friend but a dreadful enemy, because it would separate Him from His Father. He did not face death with the composure of Socrates who met death peacefully as a friend. When confronted with the reality of death, Jesus cried to God saying: "Father, all things are possible to you; remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what you will" (Mark 14:36). The Bible speaks of the decomposition of the body. When Adam and Eve sinned, they were deprived of the tree of life and hence of physical immortality (Gen. 3:22; Rom. 5:12). It is, therefore, man’s lot to return to the dust of the ground (Gen. 3:19; Ecclesiastes 12:7). Paul speaks of the earthly house of our tabernacle being “dissolved” by death (2 Cor. 5:1). The Greek term for “dissolve...

Britain is becoming a more religious country, historian Simon Shama has said. After years being relegated to the sidelines, religion has once again become part of mainstream life, he told Radio Times. The 69 year old, whose most recent documentary was The Story of the Jews, said: "My generation grew up thinking that religion was completely marginal to British life, which, as for the rest of the world, has been proved more and more wrong. "We were arrogantly isolated from that, thinking religion was just an ornamental part of Britishness. Now look at the success of the Alpha Evangelicals, how important Christianity has been to the community of West Indians, the huge place of Islam. Britain is becoming a more religious place, not less". A few years ago I produced a short Youtube video to introduce the idea of Britain being post-Christian but I think we need to revisit this idea.

 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...

“Daily devotional” is a phrase used to describe having a daily time of Bible reading and instruction.  It could include reading a commentary or Bible notes or listening to a Bible reading and sermon on podcast . It's really important to spend time with God daily.  “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” 2 Corinthians 4:6 ).  A wise man once said “The gospel brings man to God; daily devotions keep him close to God.” Echoing the Scripture: “Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded” (James 4:8 ).  

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...