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In Leviticus 10 we read the tragic story of two priests who were literally playing with fire – and not just ordinary fire! The occasion was the first ordination of Aaron and his sons into God’s priesthood. Everything had been done according to God’s command. The ordinands were anointed with oil, the animals were slain, the blood sprinkled, and the sacrifice laid out on the altar. As Aaron pronounced God’s blessing over the people God revealed his glory and sent fire from heaven to consume the offering (9:24). Then Nadab and Abihu start offering incense that God has not commanded – and the fire from heaven consumed them too (10:2).   Why did they act like this? Was there a presumptuous bravado in their position as priests? Did they think they had already ‘arrived’? Did they think their special priestly status put them above the people and above the law?   It should have been an occasion of great hope. God had separated his people from the pagan world of ancient Egypt in order...

The light of the gospel had not been removed or allowed to go out at the Church of Laodicea (cf. Revelation 2:5). She could still be represented by a ‘lamp stand’ with a bright light or ‘star’ (Revelation 1:20). She is still the object of the Lord’s devoted attention (Revelation 1:10-14). The Church at Laodicea had a ‘preacher’. This is the best way to understand the word ‘angel’ or ‘messenger’. The ‘messenger’ was the person who would receive Christ’s letter (Revelation 3:14) and proclaim its corporate message to the Church. The Christians were obviously still meeting together in such a way that this letter could be read to everybody. In material terms, it seems that the Church at Laodicea was fairly affluent. They were rich. They had no sense of being in need (Rev 3:17). They may have celebrated this as a measure of God’s blessing and favour. In contemporary terms, they would probably be the kind of Church with modern buildings and technology, a high proportion of graduates and w...

This side of eternity there are no absolute blessings or judgments. We are far from perfect and this life continues to be plagued by the realities of sin, suffering, and evil. God’s blessings and judgments fall both on believers in the church and unbelievers in the world but with different purposes. The Lord, who is ruling all things for the good of those “ who love Him and are called according to His purpose ” shakes up a perfect cocktail of encouragements and rebukes, designed to provoke unbelievers in to seeking Him and train Christians in preparation for heaven. We do not derive maximum benefit from the Lord’s rebukes and judgments by denying their reality with a gospel of “‘ Peace! Peace!’ - when there is no peace ”. Rather we grow spiritually when we “humble ourselves under the Lord’s mighty hand”, receiving the gracious blows of Providence as coming from the hand of a loving Father and praying that the Holy Spirit would use them to make us more like Jesus. Read Part 1 here . L...

“ You can tell what God thinks of money by the kind of people He gives it to! ” This is typical wit from the 19th Century Baptist preacher, Charles Haddon Spurgeon. We could probably say the same thing about fame, power, and many talents and abilities which enable people to get on in the world. The things by which we measure success frequently come at a great cost to character. As the old adage puts it “power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. The pursuit of worldly riches often advances at a great expense to the soul. But not always. There are examples of people who have used their wealth and power sacrificially and with tremendous generosity for the benefit of others. There are also poor people who are bitter and selfish. So are wealth, power, and gifting a blessing or a curse? The truth of the matter is that there are no absolute blessings or absolute judgments in this world. Absolute blessing and absolute curse are reserved for eternity, for heaven and fo...

Separating time and space is the stuff of science fiction. Marty McFly can stay in the same place, Hill Valley, California, but travel backward and forward in time. The Star Trek transporter can move people from one location to another in an instant. I am not a physicist but as I understand it, one of the implications of the Theory of Relativity is that space and time are inter-connected. As well as  knowing where different objects are, you need to know when they were there. So the Captain’s Log doesn’t just begin with the ‘stardate’ it also records the location or intended destination of the USS Enterprise. Many churches that are holding online communion services have opted to approach it using password-restricted ‘Zoom’ meetings. They see this as necessary for at least two reasons. Firstly, it recognises the need to maintain some level of eldership oversight. Those taking part need an ‘invitation’, and are typically members or at least regular adherents of the local church. Sec...

B.M. Palmer was a well-respected Presbyterian minister who preached the Christian Gospel in New Orleans in the 1800’s. His excellent Theology of Prayer is not the easiest book to find but is full of helpful insights and is well worth the effort of working through its antiquated style and comprehensive arguments. One of the topics he explores is the relationship of the Sovereign will of God and our human will, which we voice in our prayers. He stresses that prayer is not a means by which we rub the divine genie lamp. Prayer is the channel by which God gives us blessings which He has pre-planned.  True prayer has to be answered because it involves asking for the things which God already intends to give us when we pray . “The scriptural principle is, not that favours are by our importunity wrung from the reluctance of the Divine Being, but that they antedate the prayer in the determinations of his sovereign and gracious will”. How do we know what God intends to give? Objectively...