This month's most popular posts

  • Sheep and Shepherds Preparing for next Sunday's Video talk, which we're filming later today, I found a great deal of interesting detail from this source, reproduced at www.baptistbiblebelievers.com Manner And Customs of Bible Lands by Fred H. Wight Copyright @ 1953 CHAPTER EIGHTEEN - Shepherd ... posted on December 10, 2013
  • Why Paul told Timothy he was so FOR women leading, and I want to be too! Why would Paul name two men getting it wrong then apparently write ‘so the answer is don’t let women teach?’ Writing something which for 2000 years since has been used - by men - to clobber women into submission at ... posted on March 19, 2021
  • Curses and Blessings, Balaam & Barak It's not just the strange tale of a talking donkey. Numbers 22 has a lot to tell us about blessings and curses and how words work God's way. posted on February 11, 2023

Follow Your Star! Bob Ekblad speaking at @wtctheology residential

Bob Ekbald. At @wtctheology Residential Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: “‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,     are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler     who will shepherd my people Israel.’” Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that […]

2014 in review of my blog

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 26,000 times in 2014. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 10 sold-out performances for that many people to see it. Click here to see the complete report.

What Wise People Do At New Year

The story can tell us a lot about the company we keep and how that can make or break us, it can warn us about who we should listen to as we head into our future, too.

But as the year closes out and a new one gets ready to start, I’m thinking about various wise people I know and those I have read about and how they finish an old year really well, to start a New Year better – and what they do and say lines up well with what these wise guys did too.

Pray & Go. Luke 12::4-12 @debrajgreen

Debra co-wrote City Changing Prayer with her husband Frank. Prayer changes things! Lk 12:12 shows how a person who is plugged into God will react differently because their life will be a prayer that overflows in every situation. In the workplace where it’s tough the Holy Spirit can give you the words at that time. We won’t need to be anxious then. When we live on mission we will get the message we need. Philippians 4:5-7 Be anxious for nothing – pray! And then you will get the peace. People ask ‘How does God’s guidance work?’ Well it’s peace that directs us and leads us. Einstein ‘Only those who see the invisible can attempt the impossible.’ Go somewhere to seek God, wait on him, listen to him, find his will. People who don’t have a relationship with God just ask him for things. We pray to develop the relationship we have with God. Prayer works but we have to work it. How much has our city changed because of prayer?! Matt 7:7-8 talks about persistent prayer. Praying in the face […]

Don’t ‘Share Your Faith,’ Introduce Jesus

Here’s the video talk we showed at all sites last week at www.ivychurch.org Lots of laughs from the guys doing door to door with various degrees of success, but the point at the back of it is one I want to challenge you with if you are a Jesus follower. A lot of evangelism I have seen (and done) treats Jesus as a proposition to be argued for, rather than a person to be known. The main point Christianity differs from every other religion or philosophy on is OUR GUY IS ALIVE and you can know him and meet him and he still answers prayer. This video and its 3 questions just scratches the surface of what we are going to look at in the weeks ahead in our new series PRAYER, CARE, SHARE but please remember, if you’re a Christ follower already Jesus sent people ahead of him to the places he was going to go, and then sent us where he promises to be with us always. And if you don’t know him yet, where you are right […]

Don’t Forget Where You Were Sent. Ben Jeffery @bmjeffery @IvyChurchHub

How do you see the world? A baby’s life just revolves around itself. When did you first realise the world was broken? And think ‘somebody has to do something about this.’ When you hear about ‘unreached people groups’ what about that? Or that crowd you are in – somebody must tell them about Jesus. But something gets in the way of it being me. What gets in the way for you? Too busy Afraid Costly Not wanting to impose Luke 10:1-3 The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few There’s no harvest problem It’s a worker problem. Remember Jesus was talking to ordinary young guys. Peter the up & down fisherman not ‘St Peter’ not great orators or even examples, at times not even great fishermen! But he will make them more than they are by using who they are – fishers of men. The worker problem is an identity problem now, they were not fishing for men. The workers were not working It’s an identity issue. ‘As the Father sent me I am sending you.’ What does sent […]

THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE HISTORY OF IVY CHURCH

I spent a little time this evening looking through a little piece of the history of our church, as I read extracts from the Minute Book of “Ivy Cottage” Mission Hall. It started as a record of the ‘Womens’ Bible Class,’ then was unused from 1913 to the 50s. There are some fascinating insights into how Ivy saw itself as a MISSION from its inception, church planting, evangelism, and then that movement became a church as it formalized and hired Pastors to lead it (I’m in danger of doing myself out of a job here) and then started looking at various rules and regulations; and when that happened the pioneering and evangelistic work of women was also truncated. The record speaks for itself and there are some funny things to note along the way. Many of you will know Ivy started as a men’s Bible study group meeting in a house in 1893. I’ll have to look at their records some time too! Oct 5th 1908 – Women’s Bible Class held monthly business meetings and had 218 registered members who […]