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...