Planted by Water

Generally speaking as I read about what Christians are saying in relation to world issues or cultural concerns they fall into two camps. Many evangelicals take a very cerebral and intellectual approach. Because they try to be informed and are actually thinking the issues through, they have some insights; but you seldom feel that a prophet of God is speaking, or that the Spirit is in it.  Then you get many charismatics-pentecostals who don’t think the issues through enough, often taking a knee-jerk reaction, or just concerned with personal life …

I am doing some reading at the moment about the Kingdom and how its influence is to be extended in the world, so I got round to reading a book I have been meaning to get round to for a number of years. It was written nearly 20 years ago but many of its themes are still relevant. It is Kingdoms in Conflict, by Charles Colson, the aide to President Nixon, who got caught up in …

I thought we’d have a slightly political reflection today, for a change!

So the Tories have rejected Ken Clarke. Are they mad? They have booted out the most experienced, able, affable and popular politician they have, and the one that the government front benches would have been most afraid of. I remember thinking when they first rejected Ken in 1997, and even more so in 2001, that they were consigning themselves to the political wilderness in doing so - he was their …

Apologies for not posting them when I had originally planned, but here are the remainder of the gems from Rivers of Living Water by T.Austin-Sparks. I love his emphasis on ’spirit and life’ and the work of the Cross as the means of bringing life - resurrection life!

The test of the value of everything - the test of our Bible knowledge, the test of all the wealth that we have derived from Bible study, the test of all our association with Christian things, the test of all the work that we …

I referred in an earlier posting to a writer who is not well-known across the Christian mainstream but who has been a big influence on what many of us have come into in the so-called ‘restorationist movement’ - T.Austin-Sparks. I feel that he is an amazing prophetic and teaching ministry and that he has awesome insights into the Bible and the things of God. It is true that his writing is rather awkward and old-fashioned and it …

Just thinking back to some of my posts last week concerning truth and life, and the importance of the Spirit over the mind, I was reminded of an email I received a couple of weeks ago from Jon Dumville (Jon is from the Huddersfield church and, with his wife Alison, is down at the School of the Word in Cardiff). I am posting it, with his permission, as it shows the importance of engaging our spirit as well as our mind in order to really receive revelation from God (it …