December 2016 – CHRIS MACLEAVY

Wednesdays on the Web (27/12)

Published by Chris MacLeavy on December 27, 2016

So it’s that unusual time of the year between Christmas coming to an end and the new year having not quite begun. That time of year where I’m not really sure where I am, or what to call it, or what I should be doing. I haven’t found much time for technology in general (which, of course is a good thing in many respects). Here’s this week’s round-up. Christmas (and Shopping) for Others Jessica at Wondering Fair shares some wonderful reflections. While Jesus’ birth announces the coming of a kingdom of peace and justice, the coming of that kingdom is also a new proclamation of war against the brokenness, suffering and evil that so frequently characterize the world. Dealing with Darkness at Christmas A beautiful…

Your Family Needs Your Theology

Your Family Needs Your Theology

Published by Chris MacLeavy on December 27, 2016

Perhaps something strange was said in a sermon. Maybe a curious question was raised by a friend over a coffee or at school. Maybe sinful nature and doubt will simply get the better of them some days when things seem too hard to handle. Whatever the situation husband, your family will be subjected to dialog, doubts, and deceptions that will often run contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ with near-daily frequency. If you’re a Christian, I’m sure you’ve met people in church (perhaps even in your own church) who hold firmly to the “I don’t ‘do’ theology, I just love Jesus” line. These are the type of people who will look down their noses at the “thinkers” of the Myers-Briggs personality type; claiming that theology is unnecessary…

Wednesdays on the Web (21/12)

Wednesdays on the Web (21/12)

Published by Chris MacLeavy on December 20, 2016

A Tip for Husbands Erik Raymond offers this über-practical, easy, fast tip for husbands who are looking for another way to show their wife they love and care for them. Personally, I’m on board. What Does the X in Xmas Mean? I see this pop up year after year on social media. The Christian community is exclusively concerned with this apparently critical issue; with often polarising outcomes. Read as R. C. Sproul gives a logical, level-headed take on the scandalous X. A Must for Christmas Reading I’ve only recently come across Kim’s blog, but I’m loving her style (I mostly love it because it’s different to mine). Having read the book she’s recommending earlier this year myself, I wholeheartedly agree, and I love that she’s…

Love: The Fourth Sunday of Advent

Love: The Fourth Sunday of Advent

Published by Chris MacLeavy on December 17, 2016

Having re-lit the candles of hope, peace, and joy, we take this fourth Sunday of Advent to reflect on the coming of love. In God taking on humanity to seek and save humanity, we see clearly the greatest loving act that the world has ever known. This transcendent God – who himself made everything that was made – loved broken humanity so much that he humbled himself to take the form of a man and lived among us. The arrival of God incarnated in human flesh was itself a wondrous, supernatural, history-changing event; yet the Bible tells us that he had no great status, handsome features, or charismatic personality with which to draw a crowd. But come the crowds did. This Jesus, born in a…

Wednesdays on the Web (14/12)

Wednesdays on the Web (14/12)

Published by Chris MacLeavy on December 13, 2016

14 Words of Advice for Guest Preachers Sam Bierig offers these punchy pointers for the times when you may be extended an invitation to preach at a church other than your own. Adhere to these, and you just might get asked to come back again. Don’t Take Your Religion So Seriously “I have no religious beliefs. None…. There’s a better word for what I am: an apatheist. It’s a neologism that fuses ‘apathy’ and ‘theism.’ It means someone who has absolutely no interest in the question of a god’s (or gods’) existence, and is just as uninterested in telling anyone else what to believe.” Ryan Dueck from Wondering Fair ponders the plausibility of this statement by a Canadian journalist offering apathy as an alternative religious worldview.…

Joy: The Third Sunday of Advent

Joy: The Third Sunday of Advent

Published by Ben Smith on December 10, 2016

Having spent the last two weeks considering that Jesus is both our hope and our peace, we come to the third Sunday of Advent and remember that Jesus is our joy. We live in a society that is pulled between two poles when it comes to joy. Either life and the world pull us down so much that we have no joy or we find our joy in our life and the world. To both of these positions Christmas reminds us that Christ is our joy. For many people this year has been tough; it seems like everything has gone wrong and to top it off the world around us is becoming increasingly unstable. Culturally the Church has become largely irrelevant at best and hated…

Review: The Mission of God (C. H. Wright)

Review: The Mission of God (C. H. Wright)

Published by Chris MacLeavy on December 9, 2016

The mission of Israel was to live as God’s people in God’s land for God’s glory. But what of the Christian living in the twenty-first century under the New Covenant? How should the story of Old Testament Israel influence our reading of Scripture, and by application transform how we live? In clarifying his missional hermeneutic for the whole bible, Wright begins with a definition of terms. Most crucial is the acknowledgement that mission is not ours; mission is God’s. For Wright, a Christian worldview asserting that there is one God at work in human history and that (from the point of view of humanity) ‘mission’ means our committed participation in his purposes for the redemption of his creation is essential. Using this as the basis…

Peace: The Second Sunday of Advent

Peace: The Second Sunday of Advent

Published by Chris MacLeavy on December 4, 2016

Having lit the candle of hope last Sunday, we take time this week to remember that as well as being the hope of the world, Jesus is also our peace. In the busyness of the Christmas season, it’s easy to get carried away with the pressures and anxieties that society places on us through the expectations of the season (or, what we in the West have imposed on it). But God desires that those who place their trust in him should not live as ones who are characterized by stressfully straining to succeed with the perfect presents or the most magnificent meal. Rather, we remember that after God created the heavens and the earth he rested (Gen 2:2), that Jesus taught us seek to peace…

Month: December 2016