Teaching

STILL GATHERING AT THE CROSS – OR MOVING ON?

(March 08, 2024) Dr Richard Winter reflects on Calvary’s cross…

At school we were required to understand the atlas, and remember continents, countries, capital cities, major rivers and  mountains. And we learned that before it was understood that the world is a globe, men who drew maps believed it was flat like a saucer and spun round a centre post. Interestingly, their central post was the cross of Calvary.

Now although such cartography belief was faulty, its central point belief was the pivot point of all Christian theology – the whole Christian world revolves round the cross of Christ!

In every nation, people of different races, colours, cultures, education, social and economic circumstances still believe Christ’s cross is the centre piece of their theology and eschatology.

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HEART ENCOURAGEMENTS

(February 27, 2024) Brian Bell shares…

This is the last in a short series of articles I’ve been sharing from the book of Hebrews.

In this meditation I draw our attention to the concluding chapter, Hebrews 13:15-25NLT and share five brief thoughts to encourage our hearts…

1. Live
I see these as the emphasis of verses 15 and 16…  ‘Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to His name. And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.’ 

Notice that the text indicates that we should –

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ROADBLOCK

(February 05, 2024) Dr Jim McClure challenges…

I have been reflecting lately on the unexpected journey my life has taken over the years and I would never have guessed the direction it would take. It truly has been an amazing journey of discovery on roads that have been generally unplanned.  

Life can be compared to a journey. Sometimes the road resembles a journey down a 6-lane motorway and sometimes it is more like travelling down an unsealed, pot-holed lane.

In my last article, A Road Untravelled, we considered the account of the miraculous crossing of the Jordan river by the Israelites who were leaving their wilderness wandering of 40 years to begin the challenge of a new life in Canaan.

Of course, their journey did not end when they entered Canaan – they had many other roads ahead of them as they settled in, such as this one… 

Shortly after they had entered the Promised Land, they encountered their first roadblock in the form of the city of Jericho.

Considered to be one of the oldest cities in the world, it was rich in resources and its location was strategically important as it controlled the routes between north, south, east and west. Jericho was also one of the world’s first walled cities.  And what walls they were!

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WHY? WHY? WHY?

February 2, 2024) Richard Winter questions and challenges …

I was in the 9th Grade Science Class… it was a new year, a new class. We were going to learn about experiments, how to find truth and how to test a hypothesis. And we were given directions –
(I’m sure you’ll remember something like this…)

  • Define a question to investigate.
  • Conduct research, make observations and collect data.
  • Based on research and observations, come up with a hypothesis.
  • Gather and analyse data, draw conclusions, make predictions.
  • If you feel to, ask more ‘Why?’s.

Why?
To summarise this process you could say it’s a case of many Why? Why? Why? enquiries to make you wiser with each step until you finally get the truth in a repeatable way.

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FINDING ENCOURAGEMENT IN HEBREWS

(January 28, 2024) Brian Bell shares…

I’ve been reading my way through the book (letter) to the Hebrews, and in my previous article shared some encouraging thoughts from chapter 12 to take us into 2024.

While Hebrews’ author is not identified, many believe it originates with Paul (a view I hold myself) while Bible teacher and author Robert M. Solomon (without suggesting a name) proposes it is very likely written by a Jewish Christian believer possibly before the Roman army destroyed Jerusalem in AD70.

The context of the book was to help those Jewish believers in the face of persecution, because while Jews were exempted from worship of the Roman emperor (who saw themselves as being a god), this exemption did not apply to Christians.

I am sure you’re familiar with the type and measure of persecution faced by Christian believers living in the days of the Roman Empire. Many were cruelly and brutally treated, tortured and killed in places such as the Colosseum in Rome.

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LET’S NOT TWIST AGAIN!

(January 14, 2024) Dr Richard Winter shares about Jesus’ second temptation…

Music changed when I was a young person –

  • Country became R & B.
  • R & B became Rock and Roll.
  • New music and new names came quickly to us.

New dances were invented – you may remember The Mashed Potato, The Watusi, The Freddie. Come on… I know you remember these dances. And nobody will ever forget The Twist.

Remember Chubby Checker and how we were all invited to ‘Twist again… Round and round and up and down we go…’

That may not be a dance today but twisting actually happens with many people when they misuse God’s word –

  • Twisting it!
  • Turning it around!
  • Moving it in many directions!

When I lived in Missouri we knew we lived in the Tornado Alley – tornadoes would tear through the Midwest. TV and radio would quickly inform you of coming danger, to get under cover quickly!

So today while others may be twisting merrily to music, some Christians are living in some ‘spiritual Tornado Alley’ and I would like to give some warnings about God’s word being tornadoed.

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A ROAD UNTRAVELLED

(January 07, 2024) Dr Jim McClure encourages Christians to confidently follow the Lord this new year… 

Welcome to 2024! Where did last year go?

I was reflecting on how much the world has changed in my lifetime. I was born when German bombs were being dropped on Belfast. But following the end of the war, despite various hardships, life was pretty good. I have come to the conclusion that I have been privileged to live in a time of unparalleled discovery and achievement in the world.

Following the Second World War who would have guessed that someone would walk on the moon? Who would have speculated that our old radio would be largely replaced by a colour television? Who would have considered that one day you could carry a phone in your pocket without trailing a telephone wire? Who would have anticipated that something called a computer would be invented that would give you instant answers to many of your questions on many subjects? Who would have predicted the amazing advances in medicine and surgery?

Of course, not everything over the years has been good or positive – I do not need to list some of the negatives and tragedies that have also been part of those years… although the Covid pandemic which, directly or indirectly, wreaked havoc in the lives of countless millions of people throughout the world, was one of those stressful times.

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MARY – HEART OF AN UNLIKELY HERO!

(December 20, 2023) Richard Winter challenges…

You can be anywhere in the world and know the essentials of the Christmas story. The basics are –

  • Mary, merely a young girl engaged to be married to Joseph, is pregnant.
  • Her explanation? It’s a miracle from God.
  • Trouble explodes! Joseph wants out and plans a quiet divorce.
  • God sends an angel to Joseph revealing it’s all OK – so go ahead with the marriage.
  • This baby is His and will be the Saviour of Israel and the world!

Thought: Aren’t you impressed with those ‘Christmas-centred’ angelic messengers? Boy, were they busy! There was Mary, visited by the archangel Gabriel (Luke 1:26-35), Joseph (Matthew 1:20), and the astounded shepherds (Luke 2:8-15).

But let’s think about Mary… though she has always been considered one of the heroes of the Christian faith, I think it’s safe to say she was an unlikely hero. She just doesn’t exactly fit a hero profile. Why unlikely? you might ask.

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THE LIGHT HAS COME!

(Sunday December 03, 2023) Dr Jim McClure shares … 

Today is the first day of the season called Advent which many churches observe throughout the world. Often associated with Advent is the lighting of a candle each Sunday with a final one being lit on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.

The lighting of the candles is not just a decorative novelty – but symbolic of light that banishes darkness.

One of the values of Advent is that it encourages us to –

  • Reflect on Christmas’ spiritual significance in the midst of so many distractions and anxieties in the world.
  • Remember that Christmas really has nothing to do with Santa Clause but has everything to do with the birth of Jesus.
  • Read afresh John’s summary of 2000 years ago: ‘The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognise him’ (John 1:9-10).
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WHAT’S THE BEST ENGLISH BIBLE TRANSLATION?

(November 06, 2023) Dr Jim McClure, esteemed theologian, responds to the following often asked question…

‘Can you please tell me which is the best English version of the Bible?  A friend told me that the best is the KJV (King James Version), but I find it difficult to read.  Is it okay if I read a more modern version?’

Firstly, all the earliest manuscripts we have today are copies of the originals – we do not have one original handwritten copy – or even a small portion – of any of the books of the Old or New Testaments. 

Faithfully copied handwritten copies
We do, however, have a number of excellent copies that faithful men have hand-written over many centuries. There are some minor variations in many of those copies, but none that in any way changes the message of the Bible.

Our English versions are ‘translations’ from the original Hebrew (and Aramaic) Old Testament and Greek New Testament.  It must always be remembered that even the ‘best’ translation is, at best, only a translation!

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