Hard Talk

Is there any point in praying? ‘Of course there is’ most will answer – and to doubt it would lead to calls of ‘heretic’ – at least in most evangelical and charismatic circles! But I am not so sure. Not sure in this sense – that the relevance of prayer, never mind its effectiveness in not unconditional. Hold on to that for a moment and we will come back to it.

Some years ago a revivalist from another culture visited a village on the Isle of Skye where I live. He whipped up the local christians to meet in the early hours of the morning for revival prayer meetings. Most of those attending went to work after these early morning vigils – while the revivalist returned to his bed. Eventually the man moved on with no visibly change having taken place. I remember asking a close christian friend and working man who had attended, what the meetings had done for him. He replied – “Made me very tired”. Continue Reading

You don’t have to go very far sometimes to find them. And they are not where you might expect – so don’t go looking in the pubs, clubs or houses of ill repute – they would not be found dead in such places!

That’s what makes them so dangerous – because on the outside they look respectable, religious, pious and plausible. But inside they are rotten, filthy, corrupt and deceitful. They are agents of Satan – representatives of his hellish empire. And they are out to make you and I into their sons and daughters – children of hell. Continue Reading

The very term “Outsider” speaks of exclusion. To be considered and treated as an outsider is very uncomfortable. I suppose we have all experienced this to some degree or another – I know I have – especially, sad to say, in religious circles. Continue Reading

No one likes to be labeled as a loser – especially in life. Yet many are and as a result pay a very heavy emotional and psychological price. Continue Reading

In our last post we saw that Bera, King of Sodom was representative of his city and culture – while Abraham was a friend and representative of God – one who stood apart from the prevailing culture of his day, sometimes to his extreme cost.

But in the narrative another person appears – one who is as mysterious as he is significant – “Melchizedek” – “King of Salem” and “Priest of God”.  Continue Reading