Category Archives: Glossary – Christian Words and their Meanings
Articles looking at the meanings of words, and how those meanings might have become obscured over time.
… and this just in: News from the Streets of Ipswich. Issue 23
The Word on the Street The Dalai Lama of Ipswich? So many amazing and fascinating things go on in Ipswich, as I move around on the streets making friends with people. There are lots of stories I can’t share, for various reasons, but I find there are many that I can. I hope this series […]
Read MoreWhat Happens When We Die, and Where are my Loved Ones?
The Afterlife: It’s probably not what you think. Jesus is something of an authority on death, and life. He’s that guy who said that he was going to die, and going to be resurrected, and then it all happened just as he said. For questions about death and life, he is an indispensable source. Unfortunately […]
Read MoreIf it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you – Matt 12:28
Do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven – Luke 10:20 I received a phone call from a friend of mine, asking for help. His friend was unable to go to his own home because it was haunted by a dark spiritual power. Both of them […]
Read MoreAre we “Born of God”, or “Adopted”? It can’t be both.
Does the Bible say we are adopted by God? I am quite certain that the Bible does not say we are adopted by God. It does say that we are born of God. Many commentators seem awfully confused about this, but that’s because they are reading an English translation of a Greek document, written in a […]
Read MoreThe Veil Torn, the Earthquake, and the Resurrection of the Dead – Matthew 27:51-54
A dramatic account, but does it make sense? In Matthew 27, an orderly account of the process of Jesus’ arrest, interrogation, and crucifixion is proceeding along nicely, when all of a sudden there is a dramatic change. It is a change in style, and in content. No sooner does it begin, it is finished! But […]
Read MoreThe Kingdom of Heaven is like Yeast
Yeast: Bad… or good? Often in the Bible, yeast is a metaphor for things that are bad. So why did Jesus say that the Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast (Matthew 13:33)? Listen in, and find out!
Be ye Baptized
Be Baptized Every One Of You Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are […]
Read MoreIn the Beginning was the Word, and the Word was gone…?
Lost in Translation So I was reading the New Testament in Tetum, the language of East Timor. I started to discover some interesting things that happen in translation. I thought I would blog about them, both to make notes, and to aid my fledgling comprehension of Tetum. The Tetum New Testament I am reading is […]
Read MoreCome, let us reason together. To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom!
Plumbing the Mysteries of God In modern English when we describe something as a “Mystery”, we mean it has not been “solved”. Either we can get enough information and can solve it, or we can’t and it remains a mystery. But that’s not what the word means when you read it in the Bible. In the Bible […]
Read More… and this just in: News from the Streets of Ipswich. Issue 17
The Word on the Street THE FEAR OF THE LORD IS THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM So many amazing and fascinating things go on in Ipswich, as I move around on the streets making friends with people. There are lots of stories I can’t share, for various reasons, but I find there are many that I […]
… and this just in: News from the Streets of Ipswich. Issue 16
The Word on the Street Freedom So many amazing and fascinating things go on in Ipswich, as I move around on the streets making friends with people. There are lots of stories I can’t share, for various reasons, but I find there are many that I can. I hope this series gives a colourful insight […]
A Parable to Explain Jesus’ Claim to be “Son of God”
The Kingdom of God is like a Furniture Maker… When people think about how Jesus’ can claim to be the “Son of God”, they most often think in terms of the Virgin Birth: Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy […]
John 20:19-31 – The Honoured Guests and Their Servant Leaders
Blessed are those who have not seen… Ever wonder why some people got a “bolt from the blue” encounter from God, and you didn’t? Jesus says that you are the one who is blessed, not them. How does that work…? I preached this message on Sunday, April 12 2015.
Read More“Zealot” – Reza Aslan’s Implausible Jesus Story
Not the Greatest Story Ever Told: Aslan agrees that the Gospels are “The Greatest Story Ever Told”, in his Author’s Note. His own version is… not. Aslan is a masterful storyteller (he should be, because he’s a professor of creative writing!), but the story he is telling has some serious problems. Aslan is not an historian, nor […]
Was Luther wrong about “Justification by Faith”?
Justified by Faith Luther made axiomatic the claim that the believer is “Justified by Faith”. He was right, of course, but did he understand what that phrase meant to the author of it, and to the original audience?
The Beauty of Manhood
Manhood is beautiful It feels odd, even risky, using those words, “Manhood is beautiful”, doesn’t it? Beauty has come to mean firstly something visual, and secondly something, or just about anything, other than manhood. But manhood is beautiful, and the realisation of that is profoundly important. Particularly for men.
The Fundamentals of Christianity, as encoded in the Writings of Moses
The core of the Christian/Jewish polemic: What was Moses trying to say? At the very core of the ministry of Jesus, and the teachings of his apostles, is a fundamental claim about what Moses was saying in the first five books of the Bible. Either he was saying that the Covenant struck at Mt Sinai […]
Read MoreBiblical Election: It’s not a Democracy
Is God a Voter, and each of us a Politician? Since at least the Middle Ages, the Biblical concept called “Election” has been thought of in terms roughly equivalent to the democratic process. The democratic process uses the same word. But that’s not what it means in the Bible. In the Bible the word has […]
To God, There are no Dead Men – Luke 20:38
The Words of Life I met a mentally unstable, completely homeless, suicidal man. He had planned to commit suicide by drug overdose in just a few days’ time, on his birthday. He insisted that he had no reason to go on living. Many would probably look at his situation and agree.
Recent Posts
- Addiction: How to Help
- … and this just in: News from the Streets of Ipswich. Issue 23
- What Happens When We Die, and Where are my Loved Ones?
- Seeking the Kingdom
- If it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you – Matt 12:28
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Addiction: How to Help
“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” – Jeremiah 17:9 Human beings seem universally to be able to imagine the loftiest moral ideals, but just as universally seem incapable of actually living according to them. This conundrum lies deep at the heart of the human condition. Are we required to just “live […]
- May 22, 2016
- / Category Commentary, Conversion, Fall (of mankind), Flesh, Forgiveness, Freedom, Holiness, Jeremiah 17, John 1, Marketplace Evangelism, Ministry, Original Sin, Romans 8, Sin, Sinner, Spirit, Total Depravity
- / Posted By Kevin Bennett
- / No Comments.
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