tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68521692905695143512012-01-22T22:27:07.648ZScott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.comBlogger2191100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-23975358105970220572012-01-21T22:15:00.000Z2012-01-21T22:15:43.318Z

Some great CS Lewis quotes from the chapter on friendship in his book, 'The Four Loves': Friendship is - in a sense not at all derogatory to it - the least natural of loves; the least instinctive, organic, biological, gregarious and necessary. It has least commerce with our nerves; there is nothing throaty about it... Without Eros none of us would have been begotten and without Affection none

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-54985784967921948622012-01-18T17:07:00.000Z2012-01-18T17:07:07.932Z

On Sunday Evenings I get together with some of the students and we occasionally think through a topic. This week, we're looking at friendship, and I've just finished listening to a very good sermon from Tim Keller, that I think is well worth a listen to. Here's the link: http://sermons2.redeemer.com/sermons/friendship

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-33122255515562016042011-12-01T15:07:00.001Z2011-12-01T15:21:44.224Z

Hello all! I'm coming to the end of a really busy spell, which provides much to give thanks for and much to pray for too. This Sunday I'm preaching at our evening service on Daniel 12. I've had a very busy week, and am currently feeling a bit underprepared - please pray for effective and efficient working, for me to get a good grasp of the text and to know how to effectively communicate and

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-62419543750250721052011-11-03T14:09:00.000Z2011-11-03T14:09:16.029Z

It's incredible to think that another month has already past. It feels like life is really flying past at the moment. Life is in many ways a real joy at the moment. Cathy and I are loving marriage, ministry is generally a real joy, and we feel we're growing leaps and bounds in knowledge of and love for God. So there's much to praise God for! There are a few things in particular that you could

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-6345086336028292752011-10-30T17:27:00.004Z2011-10-30T17:27:40.096Z

Here's the sermon that I preached last Sunday on Daniel 5. Feel free to have a listen, and give me some useful feedback!

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-40285931601880561982011-10-06T10:05:00.003+01:002011-10-06T17:27:09.980+01:00

There are few people who have had as much influence on culture in the last couple of decades as Steve Jobs. Last night he died. Jobs was co-founder and, for a time, chief executive of the widely loved technology company, Apple. The significance of his death is clear to see, with Barack Obama leading the long line of illustrious tributes. In 2005 Jobs made a commencement address at Stanford

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-40994572058084054882011-10-05T09:42:00.000+01:002011-10-05T09:43:10.819+01:00

For any of you that get chance to preach, I wonder if you share this with me? Sometimes preaching seems to go really well, whereas at other times it's not great, and it almost seems independent of how you think preparation has gone or how well you've got to grips with the passage. Last Sunday I preached on Daniel 3. Through my preparation, I felt I'd understood what the writer was saying and

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-35167813907201881322011-09-22T11:35:00.000+01:002011-09-22T11:35:05.581+01:00

It feels like a long time since I last wrote one of these, and lots has happened in the interim! A wedding, honeymoon, Oak Hall trip, family service, Formation conference and evangelistic weekend are just some of the things that I've been up to. I couldn't possibly tell you about them all now, but if you're interested to find out about any of them, feel free to drop me an email or give me a ring

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-67440277360403691522011-07-05T20:47:00.002+01:002011-07-05T21:26:48.397+01:00

Life has stepped to a whole new level of busyness for me at the moment. It's all nice things, but cumulatively has made me a little stressed - that's partly why I didn't write a prayer update last month. I'm aware, however, that with everything going on in the next few months I am more in need than ever (if you can be more in need than totally) of God's gracious provision and work over this time,

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-57160309621787311652011-05-28T19:39:00.001+01:002011-05-28T19:41:11.046+01:00

Have a read of this recent thought-provoking article by Roger Carswell which I (naturally, the content being what it is) loved!

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-12635883156648922352011-05-15T14:30:00.001+01:002011-05-15T14:33:48.669+01:00

A married couple live in an unchanging closeness of union, but are not always in conversation. They are husband and wife at all times, and every moment of every day is defined by their loving commitment to one another– but they don't constantly express this to one another. There are moments when the ordinary passage of the union is gathered up into special expressions of relationship. In the same

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-24817491117409888542011-05-13T22:47:00.001+01:002011-05-13T22:48:42.949+01:00

Imagine for a moment that you've taken a step of bravery and decided to give to your friend a copy of a gospel. You've had some conversations with them in the past, and you think it's time that they read the Bible for themselves.You give them the gospel and they say to you 'I'm not into reading – why should I bother reading the Bible?'. What do you say?There are a few options for what you could

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-86859147527196669962011-05-03T20:32:00.003+01:002011-05-04T10:40:38.761+01:00

As you'll know from my last prayer update, April was an unusual month!The month was spent mainly out of England. Two weeks were spent in Kenya (click here for some reflections on that trip), and then I had a week's holiday in Belfast with Cathy, which was really fun and very relaxing. Thanks for your prayers for both of these trips, and there's much to give thanks for on the back of them.May is

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-28446833243123500482011-04-22T17:01:00.004+01:002011-04-22T21:03:01.889+01:00

On Tuesday I returned from a short but hugely challenging and encouraging trip to Kenya. For those of you praying, I thought it might be helpful to post a few reflections on my time there. I may post more as I reflect on different aspects of the trip.The situation in KenyaOn the face of it, the church situation in Kenya looks very positive. Statistically, something like 70% or 80% of the country

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-9467571456024213132011-04-05T17:29:00.002+01:002011-04-06T15:10:06.719+01:00

This past month has been fairly busy and i've had a bit of a cold throughout which hasn't helped matters (and of course this wasn't just a cold - it was probably life threatening. I am a man, after all!). In the midst of all the busyness, however, I've had a really encouraging month, in which i've done lots and learnt lots. So thanks again for your prayers throughout.April is going to be a very

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-70291610945251176762011-03-25T09:00:00.000Z2011-03-25T09:00:13.612Z

Is there any hope for our society and world with it's brokenness, division and hostility?I think Ephesians 2:11-18 has some answers. Here's my attempt to help us see them and so praise God from last Sunday evening.

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-84248100370995201852011-03-23T09:00:00.000Z2011-03-23T09:00:15.105Z

Think about the people you are trying to reach with the gospel or would like to start reaching. Identify ideas (often very ordinary ideas) for building relationships with them, sharing the gospel message and introducing them to the network of believing relationships [this is the three-strand model of evangelism]. Introductions might involve nothing more sophisticated than inviting both Christian

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-68971435768787124112011-03-21T15:25:00.003Z2011-03-21T15:37:17.718Z

We should be teaching one another the Bible as we are out walking, driving in the car or washing the dishes. People should learn the truth of justification not only in an exposition of Romans 5, but as they see us resting on Christ's finished work instead of anxiously trying to justify ourselves. They should understand the nature of Christian hope not only as they listen to a talk on Romans 8,

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-1820889849071268432011-03-14T15:35:00.001Z2011-03-14T15:35:30.251Z

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-27222138186349225342011-03-13T09:00:00.002Z2011-03-13T09:02:51.446Z

Great quote from John Piper's 'This Momentary Marriage':... husbands, sink your roots by faith into Christ through the gospel until you become more lowly and humble... The gospel of Christ's painful death on our behalf has a way of breaking our pride and our sense of rightful demands and our frustration at not getting our way. It works lowliness into our souls. Then we treat each other with

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-29007909650225284022011-03-12T09:00:00.000Z2011-03-12T09:00:04.958Z

When looking at Jonah 4, Steve Casey was challenging us to look for the 'worms' in our life. Stick with me on this one!Jonah had stubbornly refused to obey the call of God to preach to the Ninevites, trying to run away. But God didn't give up on him: he relentlessly pursued him until eventually he went to the Ninevites, preached the gospel and the whole city was saved - 120,000 people!Imagine if

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-65817191336813871362011-03-11T09:41:00.003Z2011-03-11T09:56:22.446Z

I got back yesterday from a hugely encouraging and challenging 'Formation' conference. In one of the sessions Steve Casey was speaking from Jonah 4. The title of his talk was 'Keeping hearts on fire'. In it, he quoted a couple of things - a quote from George Muller which I've heard before, and a poem by John Newton which I haven't. I loved them both so thought them both worth sharing again. One

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-23776714317133145772011-03-04T13:11:00.003Z2011-03-04T14:22:19.452Z

As my previous post suggested, I'm currently thinking about the roles of men and woman in church. As part of this I'm reading 'Rediscovering Biblical womanhood and manhood' by Piper and Grudem. Here's a great quote:...develop a wartime mentality and lifestyle; that you never forget that life is short, that billions of people hang in the balance of heaven and hell every day, that the love of money

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-84597456195051942972011-03-04T10:20:00.001Z2011-03-04T10:21:55.035Z

I'm currently trying to think through the issue of the roles of men and women in church. Do you know of any helpful articles that I could read, from whatever perspective?

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-47291454109896486772011-03-02T12:25:00.002Z2011-03-02T13:13:06.247Z

Let me start my prayer update this month by saying a huge thank you to all of you who sent encouraging emails to me after my last (somewhat depressing!) update. To be reminded of truths was exactly what was needed. It reminded me to look not in to myself, my works and my heart for feelings of worth, adequacy and for justification, but instead to look to Christ, and his truths as revealed in the

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-45680389785156976732011-02-28T11:35:00.003Z2011-02-28T11:41:50.713Z

Here's my latest attempt to preach on the AMAZING book of Ephesians. Have a listen - any constructive feedback is always helpful!

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-62065391635816741562011-02-17T10:16:00.002Z2011-02-17T10:26:07.186Z

At SCMTC this week we learnt a new song, by Michael Morrow. I love it! It's called 'This Life I Live' - amazing lyrics and not a bad tune either! Win! You can buy a copy of the song on iTunes, or at the emu music website. Here are the lyrics:This life I live is not my ownFor my Redeemer paid the priceHe took it to be his aloneTo be his treasure and his prizeThe things of earth I leave behindTo

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-82925274290517752262011-02-16T22:08:00.003Z2011-02-16T22:16:38.258Z

"The time has come!"A phrase I use a lot, but for some reason this evening it recalled the amazing Lewis Carroll poem 'The Walrus and the Carpenter', which lead me to look it up. I thought i'd share the joy.I don't think I ever really understood the story that Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee told to Alice in the Disney adaptation - I just liked the pictures! Now I do - poor, naive oysters! Here it is

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-47725398175755340212011-02-14T18:25:00.003Z2011-02-14T18:37:54.905Z

I've heard a lot about the book 'Total Church' by Steve Timmis and Tim Chester, but until now I've never actually got round to reading it.From what I've heard, I've always expected it to be a book that I love. So far, I'm not disappointed!I thought I'd share a quote about mission being for the whole of life - something that I'm often trying to say (and doing so badly), and trying to live (and

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-59992373334665018652011-02-07T18:08:00.003Z2011-02-07T19:43:25.490Z

Many apologies about how late my prayer update is this month.Writing a prayer letter is a useful way to reflect on how God is working in my life. In many ways, January was a humbling month. It's been a month in which there have been many ups and downs with my levels of happiness. And it's been a month in which I've come face-to-face with my need to depend on God. It's a lesson I'm trying to learn

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-41543080614103012242011-01-31T14:23:00.002Z2011-01-31T14:28:09.630Z

Here's my latest attempt to preach the gospel by prayerfully expounding the Bible to the people God has given me to love (as Jensen would say!). The first 11ish minutes is an overview of Ephesians that I did, so if you don't want to listen to that bit then feel free to skip to around the 11 minute mark. As always, any feedback is much appreciated!Here's the link

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-68879135829569019152011-01-19T11:37:00.005Z2011-01-19T11:47:23.705Z

What's right? One space or two?Here's the definitive answer.P.S. I wanted to write a witty little paragraph using both options, however blogger.com has spoken, and removes all double spaces. Stifling my brilliant wit - shocking! Or maybe not...

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-75471083597172601592011-01-17T09:00:00.005Z2011-01-19T11:40:54.378Z

This is the last post in my engaging with popular culture series (try to not be too sad!). In these last few posts we've been thinking about some (hopefully!) helpful questions to ask of pop culture to enable us to think about how it interacts with Christianity. So here's the final thing to think about:How does the gospel apply? It's here that we need to make sure were not thinking of the gospel

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-12989030388285893072011-01-16T09:00:00.002Z2011-01-16T09:00:01.193Z

When someone expresses their interpretation or understanding of the way they perceive the world, as mentioned in the previous post, it is likely that they will perceive some (if not a lot of) truth. So yes, there will be good in what they say. But there will also be things that are ugly or a perversion of good, and we need to recognise these things too. As we get to know God better, as we align

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-30839911558560847812011-01-15T09:00:00.002Z2011-01-15T09:00:07.599Z

Another question that is helpful to ask of popular culture is 'What has the creator of this pop culture correctly percieved about the world?'. You're asking 'what is true and good here?' You'll find that in most things, there are truths and good things to be found. As mentioned earlier in the series, in creating popular culture people are making an interpretation of the world around them. In his

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-65923399058309225392011-01-14T09:00:00.000Z2011-01-14T09:00:06.075Z

The second thing that I think it's helpful to do when engaging with popular culture is to try to figure out what sort of world we've stepped in to. Questions like:'What are the values of the world that's represented here?''What major themes dominate in this work?''What symbols, metaphors, connections are used?''What makes relationships work/not work in this world?''What does this world say that

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-11324868602666906922011-01-12T18:23:00.003Z2011-01-12T18:50:04.627Z

After a long break over a busy Christmas, I thought I'd finally get back to this series to conclude it.The first part of the series, over 3 posts, looked at the question 'what is popular culture?' (1, 2, 3). I then went on to think a little bit about why I think it is important to engage with popular culture (1, 2, 3, 4). In this last mini-series i'm going to write a little bit about how we go

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-83966652836965360562011-01-04T08:30:00.007Z2011-01-15T21:51:38.381Z

Thanks again to all who have been praying for me over the last month - God is a gracious God who is worthy of praise because of who he is, and who has generously provided much to give thanks for in December.I'm aware that there are some who have been added to this prayer list over the last few months who won't know exactly what I'm up to in Oxford. To make that clear again I'll end this prayer

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-52501131947734066972011-01-03T11:05:00.003Z2011-01-15T21:52:23.983Z

Click here to read John Piper's report of his recent eight-month leave from his ministry responsibilities.I found it a very encouraging read. John Piper gets grace, and he models it amazingly. He's got grace, and so he can show his weakness and failure. He doesn't need to project a 'sorted' front, pretending he's perfect, because that's not the reality, and that's not what Christianity's about.I

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-63379537787134562742010-12-24T09:00:00.002Z2011-01-15T21:53:00.990Z

The final post in this section of my 'engaging with popular culture' series looks at the last reason why I think doing this is important.We should engage with popular culture because it also influences us. Whether we realise it or not, as we watch films, as we read books, as we engage with culture then unless we're careful, we could be picking up values and ideas that are contrary to what we

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-69618520013994601222010-12-23T09:00:00.003Z2011-01-15T21:53:33.802Z

Why engage with popular culture? The third reason I think it's useful is because it's useful in evangelism. I think it's useful in at least two ways. Firstly it provides opportunities for evangelism. If we get used to not just absorbing pop culture but examining it and thinking it through, then we can do that not only on our own but with other people. When we've watched a film with a friend, for

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-59356776818546872222010-12-22T09:00:00.000Z2010-12-22T09:00:07.686Z

In the last post I argued that we should engage with popular culture because Paul sets a precedent for it.The second reason why I think we should engage with popular culture because it helps us to understand the people around us better. In pop culture we get to see a snapshot of the human heart – we get to see what people around us today are thinking. People look at the world and interpret it and

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-47068835455766164572010-12-21T16:04:00.004Z2010-12-21T16:23:55.084Z

In the first 3 posts of this series (1, 2, 3) I looked at a bit of a theology of what popular culture is.Let's now spend a bit of time looking at why I think it is helpful and important for us to engage with pop culture.In some ways you might argue that we are to be different and separate from the world, strangers in a foreign land and all that, and so you could use that argument to say that we

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-50892856963556501132010-12-20T14:13:00.004Z2010-12-20T14:33:32.841Z

I thought I'd take a brief break from the 'engaging with popular culture' series that I've been posting on recently.I was meant to be heading home to Hartlepool last night but due to the slightly chilly(!) weather conditions I've decided to stay here. As a result I'm doing a few extra days work, and this morning was spent reading the excellent book 'The Trellis and the Vine' by Colin Marshall and

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-58933144860534452682010-12-18T09:00:00.002Z2011-01-15T21:54:28.182Z

The first post in this series began to consider a theology of popular culture by thinking about it is a natural product of people made in the image of God. Yesterday's post looked at how the fall has spoiled it.But that's not the end of the story is it? God didn't just leave the world grasping after worthless idols but he chose to reveal himself. He chose to leave testimonies of his goodness all

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-65244601869037384552010-12-17T09:00:00.002Z2010-12-17T09:00:02.618Z

FallenIn the previous post, we began to think about a theology of popular culture, looking at how being made in the image of God means that we're designed to creatively relate to and worship God.But people are fallen. The FallSince the fall, we still have a religious orientation. However, that orientation is warped. We still have a sense of wanting to worship something greater than us, we still

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-60752891543846852582010-12-16T11:15:00.005Z2010-12-16T11:47:25.526Z

I've mentioned previously on my blog that one of the things that we do in the student gathering at Woody Road is attempt to get better at engaging with popular culture.Before we started attempting to engage with culture from a Christian perspective I did a short session giving some thoughts about why and how we should do this.I thought I'd re-work the material a little bit for a short series of

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-7371455617764142862010-12-14T22:37:00.004Z2011-01-15T21:54:45.076Z

'What do we do with Santa?' is an interesting question that those with children need to ask at some point or other. That's not a position i'm in quite yet (!), but it's still something that's interesting to think about.Have a read of this article by Mark Driscoll, in which he discusses his approach to the issue. I think I like it!

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-26017768546397630032010-12-13T10:21:00.003Z2011-01-15T21:55:05.530Z

Yesterday evening I preached for the second time at Woody Road, this time on Luke 1:26-38. It really is a remarkable passage with some amazing claims! Click on the link below to have a listen.Luke 1:26-38

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-17605755573900287582010-12-10T14:03:00.004Z2011-01-15T21:55:32.902Z

This video has been flagged up on a couple of different blogs, but it's absolutely fascinating so I thought I'd give it a mention too, incase you haven't seen it yet. It's a brilliantly presented explanation of the way that countries across the world have developed over the last two hundred years, with respect to both life expectancy and average income. Well worth a watch!

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-27898345806829084822010-12-08T09:00:00.001Z2011-01-15T21:56:20.404Z

What a quote from J I Packer:If Jesus had been no more than a very remarkable, godly man, the difficulties in believing what the New Testament tells us about his life and work would be truly mountainous. But if Jesus was the same person as the eternal Word, the Father's agent in creation, 'through whom also he made the worlds' (Heb 1:2 RV), it is no wonder if fresh acts of creative power marked

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-49720011205591204402010-12-07T09:00:00.002Z2011-01-15T21:56:35.619Z

The final (and I think my favourite) bit of Old Testament prophecy which points forward to the eternal King in the line of David that I'm going to quote is from Jeremiah 23:5-6.“The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-8383430444636353532010-12-06T09:00:00.002Z2011-01-15T21:56:41.361Z

Isaiah 9:6-7For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-30033477487082589492010-12-05T09:00:00.001Z2011-01-15T21:56:47.303Z

Psalm 132A song of ascents.LORD, remember David and all his self-denial.He swore an oath to the LORD, he made a vow to the Mighty One of Jacob: “I will not enter my house or go to my bed, I will allow no sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, till I find a place for the LORD, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.” We heard it in Ephrathah, we came upon it in the fields of

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-73585707262616458662010-12-04T09:00:00.000Z2010-12-04T09:00:03.269Z

Psalm 89A maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite. I will sing of the LORD’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations. I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself. You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant, ‘I will establish your

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-57749777991829455462010-12-03T09:00:00.002Z2010-12-03T11:09:33.646Z

In a couple of weeks I'm going to be preaching on Luke 1:26-38 - a passage I've discovered is AMAZING!One of the things that's amazing about it is the description of Jesus that it contains. I thought I'd do a few blog posts over the next couple of days quoting some of the OT prophecies about Jesus!2 Samuel 7:5-16 “Now then, tell my servant David, ‘This is what the LORD Almighty says: I took you

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-88339866953192471752010-12-02T12:17:00.002Z2010-12-02T12:22:25.545Z

Another month! Life's absolutely flying by these days, as you may have gathered from the smaller number of blog posts. This is mainly due to things becoming much busier of late. In the midst of all the busyness, there's lots that you can be praying about for me, if you'd be so kind!Firstly, thank you all for your prayers for one-to-ones: things have really progressed on that front. I'm now

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-79863717377106441282010-11-18T09:59:00.004Z2010-11-18T10:13:45.240Z

Another quote from the excellent 'Instruments in the Redeemer's hands', by Paul David Tripp:Let's say I have an apple tree in my backyard. Each year its apples are dry, wrinkled, brown and pulpy. After several seasons my wife says, "It doesn't make any sense to have this huge tree and never be able to eat any apples. Can't you do something?" One day my wife looks out the window to see me in the

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-49496610789578349062010-11-14T18:30:00.003Z2011-01-13T17:46:21.955Z

In our student gathering after church on Sunday we did some engaging with popular culture (by popular, I really mean culture that I like!), looking at the song 'Smoke' by Ben Folds. This is the first time we've done this so I thought we'd look at something that we can really get our teeth into to get us in the mood for doing this more often! Here are some of the reflections that I've had in

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-17823573686738365312010-11-10T13:25:00.000Z2010-11-10T13:25:41.082Z

There are a few people who I love, who I probably shouldn't.Here's one (click through to see the video!):Dawn French

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-13334812796628462312010-11-02T17:23:00.003Z2010-11-02T17:33:33.447Z

The staff team at Woody Road meet one afternoon a week to study together. For the next month or so we're alternating between being taught (by each other or someone coming in) some issue of doctrine or church history or the like with reading and discussing a section of a book by Paul Tripp. The book is entitled 'Instruments in the Redeemer's hands' - it's a book aimed at 'people in need of change

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-80392129634315666692010-10-31T17:16:00.001Z2010-10-31T17:18:13.200Z

Thank you again to all of you who have been praying for me over this last month – I really do appreciate it a lot!By God's grace I've had a busy but exciting month. Students from both of the universities are back now, and we've been blessed to have several join us, which has meant that the student work has grown quite a lot. Students are still looking around at different churches at this stage of

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-69187406750434520362010-10-20T14:34:00.001+01:002010-10-20T14:34:00.616+01:00

As part of my Monday evening philosophy course we have to write a couple of hundred words each week in response to the week's lecture. It can be just a restatement of what we've learnt, reflections on what we've learnt, what it's made us think about or whatever really. I thought it might be good to kill two birds with one stone and to do it as a blog post. So here are my thoughts on last week.The

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-76223227862961362942010-10-18T10:13:00.002+01:002010-10-18T10:18:52.184+01:00

I constantly struggle with the desire to prove myself to people. I want to achieve something that proves my worth, my wisdom, my character, my giftedness, or whatever. What this is changes through life - in education, I feel I need to get the best in my year to prove I'm clever. And so on.I am a son of the living God. What could I possibly achieve that would give me something greater than that

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-84855543124767989422010-10-14T23:14:00.002+01:002010-10-14T23:16:58.095+01:00

Not a great video, but great audio.What do you think?The examples he gives are obviously about Jesus, as is lots of the Old Testament and it's wonderful to think about! But is it all about him? Dale Ralph Davies, if I understand correctly, wouldn't say so. What do you reckon?

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-68152608459122273942010-10-11T10:36:00.003+01:002010-10-11T10:43:16.408+01:00

I preached my first sermon at my new church, Woody Road, yesterday. An easy one to start with (ha!), on Amos chapters 7 + 8.As always, I found that in preparing I learnt a huge amount - far more than anyone who listened to the sermon would have. These chapters, on first reading, appeared so bleak and hopeless. But it was exciting to see as I studied them how, in the midst of the hard things,

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-50345059787288533702010-10-10T09:00:00.000+01:002010-10-10T09:00:05.702+01:00

At homegroup this week we were thinking a little bit about what should be our motivation in evangelism.In discussing evangelism, more often than not there is someone in the group who honestly admits 'I'm afraid I just won't know what to say.'It's a concern probably most of us have - yet it something that most of us never actually do anything about.Here's a simple suggestion from UCCF on how to

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-21422713522574714682010-10-09T09:00:00.000+01:002010-10-09T09:00:00.671+01:00

Take a look at this absolutely fascinating and incredibly insightful interview of Russell Brand by Jeremy Paxman. It's about 20 mins long, over two parts, but I think it is definitely worth a watch. Particular highlights are his thoughts on the cult of celebrity, and on God.Part 1Part 2

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-29177741630348200552010-10-08T12:22:00.003+01:002010-10-08T12:31:30.742+01:00

I can't remember if I've posted this quote before - it's certainly something I've heard and loved before. I'm reading 'The Screwtape Letters' by C S Lewis at the moment (when in Oxford...), and I came across this quote again.Screwtape is a senior devil and he is writing to his nephew, Wormwood, a junior demon with advice on how to secure the soul for their Father (the devil) of a man who has

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-21290207884662299522010-10-06T09:00:00.001+01:002010-10-06T09:00:00.701+01:00

At Formation, I spent a bit of time over coffee chatting to Mo McCracken about evangelism.It's true, I think, that for many of us evangelism is something that simply terrifies us. We look at our circle of friends, and we realise that they're basically all Christians. Or the non-Christian acquaintances that we have we couldn't really call friends - we sit at the next desk from them at work, but

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-77135421890819912592010-10-05T17:10:00.003+01:002010-10-05T17:19:11.002+01:00

An ironic quote from 'One, two, buckle my shoe', by Agatha Christie, which I'm reading at the moment. The character is talking about the UK:"We're a very tiresome people in this country. We're conservative, you know, conservative to the backbone. We grumble a lot, but we don't really want to smash our democratic government and try new-fangled experiments. That's what's so heart-breaking to the

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-59418418882032120802010-10-04T09:53:00.002+01:002010-10-04T10:27:01.410+01:00

Thanks so much to all of you who've been praying for me over this last month - it's been a really encouraging month in which I've been learning a lot.Here are some highlights to give thanks for: I led the Sunday morning service earlier in September, which didn't end in disaster! It seemed to go OK I think and a few people were encouraging afterwards. I've began to get to know some of the youth in

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-60143142857925998262010-10-01T17:52:00.002+01:002010-10-01T20:28:53.223+01:00

At church a couple of weeks ago we looked at Amos 4, and I spent some time afterwards chatting about the chapter with a few friends. I guess the fundamental question we were thinking about in our discussion was 'is the God of Amos 4 a God that we can praise?' Is God, as revealed in Amos 4, good?Why did we have that dilemma? Well look at Amos 4 and you see a side of God that we often don't think

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-59419680034795763722010-09-22T09:49:00.001+01:002010-09-22T11:04:09.081+01:00

Character is foundational to everything. You can be a gifted person, a talented leader, a natural enthusiast, an amazing speaker, but without godly character it all falls apart.That's the basis of the fourth part of James Lawrence's book, 'Growing Leaders'.It's almost always the case that we'd rather follow a less competent leader who we can trust than an highly competent leader who we don't

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-38654925474863730242010-09-21T11:53:00.002+01:002010-09-21T13:13:46.751+01:00

Part 3 of 'Growing Leaders' by James Lawrence is entitled 'Growing leaders discern God's call'.In my opinion this part of the book was a bit of a mixed bag - see my comments later in the post for some thoughts on this. Lawrence made some helpful points but I think he probably needed to say more (which he might go on to do).Here's the gist of what he was saying:Those in leadership positions often

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-61429369998137762432010-09-15T16:12:00.002+01:002010-09-15T16:45:27.686+01:00

How many times have you heard someone say that, or variations on the theme? "You don't have to go to church to be a Christian""I like Jesus but I don't like church - it's too messed up; too much religion"And on it goes - you know the argument.Perhaps we sometimes feel like that too? Well if we do, we need to regain perspective.The church, to Jesus, is too important to be something that we can

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-52650566407399685612010-09-14T13:44:00.006+01:002010-09-15T09:10:37.521+01:00

Here's something you hear around churches a lot:"When I first became a Christian everything was fresh and exciting. I loved Jesus, wanted to live for him and serve him and felt like I was really growing. Now things no longer feel as fresh, I do things more out of duty than delight, and the Christian life seems like more of a struggle."It's said in such a way as to say that this "progression" in

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-1225278115748151712010-09-13T17:29:00.003+01:002010-09-13T18:10:25.956+01:00

The first chapter of Part 1 looked at what is Christian leadership, thinking about what leadership is, and what makes Christian leadership distinctive. Click here to read my (rather long!) summary of the chapter.The second part of Part 1 (chapter two) looked at 'The Leadership Challenge'.We live in an age where lots of people have lots of things to say about leadership. This comes in the context

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-17246964223130107412010-09-10T19:11:00.002+01:002010-09-10T19:51:34.031+01:00

It's been a very busy week so I haven't had much time to read. The middle of the week was spent at the Living Leadership conference, 'Formation', which was excellent - watch this space for some reflections!For now though, here is a brief overview and some thoughts on Part 1 of the book 'Growing Leaders', by James Lawrence.Part 1, 'Leadership Today' was answering two questions; what is Christian

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-69137743759593031262010-09-03T16:25:00.002+01:002010-09-03T16:27:54.617+01:00

So where did the universe come from? Stephen Hawking's claim this week is that there's no need to introduce God into the equation for how the universe came in to being. Professor John Lennox, scientist (and Christian) seems to disagree. Check out his article here.

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-33406716035737931432010-09-03T11:06:00.002+01:002010-09-03T11:19:38.415+01:00

My first mission (should I choose to accept it... which I did) as an apprentice at Woody Road is to read the book 'Growing Leaders', by James Lawrence. I'm very bad at remembering what I've read in a book so I thought I'd post some reflections and maybe quotes on here as I go along. The book is conveniently (how thoughtful!) split into 6 parts, so after each part I'll write a little summary/few

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-40587468233733326742010-09-03T10:37:00.000+01:002010-09-03T10:37:52.523+01:00

Wednesday marked the beginning of a new ginger era in my life with a move to Oxford and the start of a new job. I'm now working at Woodstock Road Baptist Church as a Ministry Trainee/Apprentice/whatever-you'd-like-to-call-it.This summer has been a busy one, hence the lack of bloggage, but I intend to blog with a vengeance from now. I've been, amongst other things, in a mission team to

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-81705154448016743502010-08-12T18:34:00.001+01:002010-08-12T18:34:53.878+01:00

I've been involved in a couple of missions over the last few weeks - first the UCCF mission to Hartlepool that I've mentioned previously on my blog, and more recently Oxford International Outreach with Friends International. God is wonderfully kind and gracious. He has worked in amazing ways over this last month and it's been a privilege to be be part of displaying, proclaiming and winning people

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-78160766329786606502010-07-05T19:10:00.004+01:002010-07-05T19:28:38.124+01:00

Over this next fortnight my home church has a UCCF summer team serving with us.The team is made up of students from various CUs across the North East of England. The aim (I think!) is to give them a taste of ministry in a non-middle class, non-student setting.I think this is a great initiative from UCCF. The church in the UK is very middle class. It's great that we are making in roads with the

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-10903626881280315532010-06-24T22:02:00.003+01:002010-06-25T08:21:46.621+01:00

It's an exciting time at the moment if, like me, you're a tennis fan. Wimbledon for most is the highlight of the tennis year and British prospects, though limited to a single hope, look strong in Andy Murray... could we finally have a British champion again after such a long wait?If you didn't see it then you'll have probably at least heard in the news of the epic match over the last few days

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-44870716441958047182010-06-18T19:17:00.001+01:002010-06-18T19:18:34.047+01:00

Click here to listen to my recent sermon on Philippians 1:1-11 (though it was really v3-7).Any feedback, as always, is greatly appreciated.

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-47896351749031081202010-06-16T23:27:00.002+01:002010-06-16T23:30:45.254+01:00

Just a quick shout out:If you're a fan of Shakespeare or a fan of theatre (or both), check out this 3 part series on BBC iPlayer. Two schools in Coventry - one from the suburbs and one from the inner city make up the cast of a one-off production of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The series covers the journey from casting the parts to the final production and it's a great watch! Get in quick

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-70349092970107816152010-06-05T19:28:00.003+01:002010-06-05T19:44:14.931+01:00

Last weekend marked the 157th anniversary of my home church, Browning Avenue Baptist Church, being planted. Over the weekend we had David Rushbrook (pastor of Sudbourne and Tunstall Baptist Church) come to speak to us, looking at some of the word pictures that the Bible uses for the church.On Sunday evening we looked at the church as an army, and David made a point which i've been thinking a bit

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-2592393823120710922010-06-03T21:35:00.001+01:002010-06-03T22:12:30.472+01:00

After plugging the Reaching the Unreached conference, I then didn't attend it! But I was excited to see that videos of the sessions are now available on the website here. Check them out!

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-71697929340332424392010-06-01T17:59:00.002+01:002010-06-03T21:02:19.165+01:00

Apologies for my inexcusable silent spell! Here's a brief thought to break the silence.My girlfriend Cathy was studying for a history exam in Queen's University's CS Lewis reading room. On the wall in the room is this quote:"A single second of time lived contains more than can be recorded; therefore we know next to nothing about history."Quite a timely little reminder when studying for a history

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-80436168302777132702010-05-12T19:43:00.002+01:002010-05-13T22:54:23.409+01:00

Some more thoughts on Philippians 1:1-11- Their partnership, or fellowship is more than just tea and coffee - they're striving together with a purpose, but this purpose is important. It's partnership in the gospel. What is it that binds my congregation together? What is it that ties the group within my church that I do most work with together? Is it a similar social background? Is it a shared

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-12043171412171150872010-05-06T18:08:00.004+01:002010-05-06T23:07:03.467+01:00

Some thoughts from Philippians 1:1-11:- Paul is writing a thank you letter to the church in Philippi for their partnership in the gospel (1:5, 4:14-19) - they've partnered by supporting him financially in hardship (4:14-19, 2 Cor 8:1-3) so that he can continue his gospel work. It's a thank you for being a partner, and he encourages them to carry on in the way they're going, living and speaking

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-74588964988023511562010-05-02T23:28:00.002+01:002010-05-02T23:29:39.024+01:00

Can anyone recommend a good, shortish, sermon series on Philippians or Colossians that I could download to listen to with my one-to-one partner?

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-28650094545774395662010-04-28T18:06:00.002+01:002010-04-28T18:50:36.853+01:00

At church on Sunday morning, and then at housegroup on Tuesday we were thinking a little bit about the fresh start that is offered by Jesus.Life is full of fresh starts. We make new year resolutions to turn over a new leaf. We lie in bed thinking how tomorrow we'll do better at something. We move to a new area or a new job with great hopes of creating a new impression of ourselves (minus the bits

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-58054253782864141522010-04-25T09:53:00.002+01:002010-04-25T10:20:15.401+01:00

At #nwa10 this year I was really encouraged to hear an update from the leaders of Speke Baptist Church about the work going on there.One of the things that I think Christians across Britain are slowly beginning to realise is the desperate need to be reaching out to council estates and disadvantaged communities in the UK. In many/most parts of the UK, the church is demographically very middle

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-70637752132602689552010-04-24T18:43:00.005+01:002010-04-24T20:49:20.214+01:00

The previous post in this series from #nwa10 looked at an answer to the question 'Isn't it intolerant to claim that Jesus is the only way to God?' Another objection that we looked at at New Word Alive is "Isn't it arrogant for Christians to claim that Jesus is the only way to God?"You may have heard a story to illustrate this claim - it goes like this: In a room is an elephant and five blind

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-72711452913950833372010-04-23T21:15:00.002+01:002010-04-23T22:04:05.183+01:00

If you were at #nwa10 you might remember seeing this video. I came across it again today and I really like it. Take a look:

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-71956652880511454142010-04-23T10:10:00.005+01:002010-04-23T16:29:19.627+01:00

At Amy Orr-Ewing's series at #nwa10 we looked at the answer to the question 'Isn't it intolerant to claim that Jesus is the only way to God?'It seems that in British society today, tolerance is one of the most highly prized virtues. It's something that all seem to aspire to - anyone who seems to not be tolerant, any claim that seems intolerant leads to rejection and a lack of respect for what

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-34524076324676647592010-04-22T23:56:00.002+01:002010-04-23T00:00:34.585+01:00

A brilliant quote from Desiring God, by John Piper:...disintested benevolence toward God is evil. C.S. Lewis put it well: "It would be a bold and silly creature that came before is Creator with the boast, 'I'm no beggar. I love you disinterestedly.'" If you come to God dutifully offering Him the reward of your fellowship instead of thirsting after the reward of His fellowship, then you exalt

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6852169290569514351.post-68021539359201337832010-04-19T21:35:00.004+01:002010-04-19T21:41:35.166+01:00

At #nwa10 I was challenged again to keep in my mind the fact that Jesus is coming. The depressing thing is that at New Word Alive last year I was also challenged about the exact same thing.Last year I went to the 'The Shape Of Things To Come' talks by Graham Beynon, which were brilliant (get hold of them here). One of the things he suggested that we do, so we don't slip into forgetting again, is

Scott Thomsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04662966032325484211noreply@blogger.com0