mallisle's blog

What is love? There was a pop song by Howard Jones that asked the question, 'What is love, anyway? Does anybody love anybody anyway?' It is a question that I have had to grapple with as a Christian. In western culture, the word love tends to be associated with romantic love. In America, young women used to wear a T shirt saying, 'Jesus is my number one (boyfriend.)' If the love of God is simply understood as a romantic feeling, this is unhelpful...

What is revival? We often imagine revival coming to our country. I used to belong to a group of people called Intercessors for Britain who pray for this country for one hour every week. This was inspired by the Bible verse, 'If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from Heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land.' 2Chronicles 7:14. The...

When I was a teenager I said to one of my friends, "It must be great to have been a Christian for 50 years. Just think how deeply you would experience God's love. Just think how powerfully you would be able to pray. Just think how much you would know about the Bible." She replied, "Malcolm, some of those people have been Christians for 50 years and they are still babies." The Bible says that the Christians in the book of Hebrews needed milk, not...

Is the baptism of the Holy Spirit received at the moment of conversion? There are two processes involved in becoming a Christian, receiving Jesus as Saviour and being baptised in the Holy Spirit. Many Christians believe that these two processes occur at the same time. There are some Bible verses which seem to support this point of view. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ he does not belong to Christ. (Romans 8:9.) After hearing the...

The Bible says there will be terrible times in the last days before Jesus returns. People will be selfish, lovers of money, arrogant, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God and children will be disobedient to their parents. 2Timothy 3:1-5. Many people feel that there has been a moral decline in our society during our lifetime. Fifty years ago children didn't attack teachers. Fifty years ago drugs were something that happened in a small sub...

What is faith? Faith is trust in things hoped for and belief in things unseen. We live in a physical world but there is also an invisible realm. To have faith in God is to believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:1-6. God is an ever present help in times of trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even if the waters roar and foam and the mountains slip into the sea. There is a river that makes glad the city...

God keeps his promises. God is not a man that he should lie or a son of man that he should change his mind. If he says something he will do it. Numbers 23:19. God's word is settled forever in Heaven. Psalm 119:89. The grass withers and the flower fades but the word of God stands forever. Isaiah 40:6-8. Jesus said, 'Heaven and Earth will pass away, my words will never pass away.' Matthew 24:35. But we need to be receptive listeners. The Bible is...

For most people, their level of happiness will depend on the things happening to them. As Christians, we have an inner happiness and peace which is there all the time, independent of our circumstances. Many Christians endured years of suffering in communist prisons. They forgot what bright colours looked like. One of them said Dante's poems and all the medieval paintings about Hell could not compare to the horrors of a communist prison...

Is forgiveness an excuse for sin? If we continue to sin deliberately after coming to a knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sin is left but only a terrifying fire that will devour the enemies of God. We are insulting the sacrifice that Christ made for us on the cross and insulting the Spirit of God. The Bible warns strongly against this. It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of God. Hebrews 10:26-31. Forgiveness requires a...

The economy in Britain is doing quite well. We have spent the last few years at a growth rate of about 1 per cent. That's not excellent but it's not a recession. There is no shortage of people who can afford a car. Most of the problems that we have with parking restrictions or with traffic jams come with having too many cars on the road. I am 59 and can remember clearly back to 1971. When I was a child, half the people we knew had a phone and...