-

NEW YEAR'S GREETING


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

-
Image
We Are Entering A New Age Of Christian Persecution. By David Woodbury The spectre of the cross is beginning to cast its dark shadow once again over 21 st century Christianity. The halcyon days where the majority of the population accepted and, in some ways, loved Christianity and the Christian church are drawing to a close. The invitation of Jesus to take up our cross daily, with all its suffering, humiliation and persecution, may well turn out to be a current reality. The recent Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has highlighted deficiencies within the church and the opposition of many churches to the recent Marriage Equality debate have significantly impacted the influence of the church. However, two events have highlighted the current situation: Biased media commentary on Christchurch and Sri Lanka massacres The sacking of Christian Rugby Union player, Israel Folua. Biased media reporting Leading media commentators...
Read more
-
Image
THE CONDITIONS FOR SALVATION Romans 10:1-13 By David Woodbury In the deepest recesses of his heart, Paul yearns for his fellow Jews to come to the place of understanding that salvation and being put right with God is a matter purely of faith. He acknowledges that they have a zeal for God which is misdirected by trying to gain righteousness before God by their own merit and achievement. They felt that they could get right with God by their own efforts; that they could earn a right standing and accumulate enough credits with God, and because of that God owed them salvation. 1Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved. 2 I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal. 3 For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. 4...
Read more

The Power of Belief

-
Image
The Power of Belief By David Woodbury In western culture today The Salvation Army may well be a pale imitation of what it once was. True, it may appear successful, effective and relational, but the reality is that it lacks the potent energy that once fuelled the early Salvation Army. Somewhere, along the timeline of our existence, some vital dynamic went missing. Perhaps we became too sophisticated, too influenced by other religious organisations that surrounded us, or we allowed too much of the influence of an unchristian culture to seep into our organisational thinking and structure. Perhaps it is this very situation Paul had in mind when he wrote to Timothy: They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. (2 Timothy 3:5 – NLT)  In a previous post I explored the impact that early Salvation Army song writers had on the mindset of the organisation and its soldiers: What are we to make of their literary and music sentiments? Som...
Read more