John James

There is an inherit tension within the Pentecostal and charismatic tradition between finished work theology and revivalist and prophetic aspiration. Finished work points the Covenant people to all that is freely available in Christ. Prophetic and revivalist aspirations tend to focus on what is not realised in experience. There is a danger that overemphasis on one can lead to either complacency (misapplication of finished work) or legalism (unhealthy focus on desired spiritual outcomes that are beyond our control). A true grasp of the finished work should be reviving at the individual level. When we see Jesus, our souls are revived.

First run in a few days. Huge temperature drop compared to before we headed off to Spain. Struggled to do 3k. First run with thermals. Legs just not in the game. Forgot what hills were as my Spanish route was really flat. Yet we keep going…

Thinking about cowardice. When I was a young and new believer, I struggled to understand why cowardice was listed with what seemed like other more obviously serious and disqualifying sins. “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” Rev 21:8 However the Caleb Flynn trial has brought home to me the reality of how fatal a flaw cowardice actually is. The adultery, the lies, the murder, and the cover uk attempt are all entangled in cowardice. Caleb was a coward. Cowards are dangerous. He was scared to admit his adultery because his high income was tied to his wife’s family. He was scared to get a divorce because he was scared to lose everything. So in a cowardly way, he shotbhis wife in the back of the head whilst she slept in her own bed. Cowards have the potential to wreak destruction. Judas was a coward. Look at the damage he did. I now understand why cowards are listed with other heinous offenders and that’s because cowardice rarely lives alone. Cowardice gives birth to many other evils. It’s one thing to sin and to sin badly, but cowardice will take you lower and keep you there. Cowardice will keep you from taking responsibility. The word coward has its roots in the word fear: “Old French: Became coue or coe ("tail"), which formed the Old French word couard or coart (one who "turns tail" or tucks their tail between their legs like a frightened animal).” Lord, let us never be cowards.

AI graphic software has had an interesting effect on ministry promotional materials. Everything has become both more professional looking yet predictably bland looking all at once. It’s kinda like what clip art was in the 90s. Originally cool. Quickly became outdated and overused. I shudder to think of the impact upon graphic designers. If video killed the radio star, AI has dropped a nuke on all genuine creative art.

Official pic from @GreatScotRun

“Even in the darkest story of our lives, there’s still the cross, there’s still the resurrection, and there’s still the hope of heaven.” Kayla Keyt This is one of the most powerful things you will ever hear! This is the victim statement from the murdered Ashley Flynn’s sister, Kayla, on behalf of herself, Ashley’s daughters and the whole family. Ashley was murdered by her husband, an American Idol contestant and worship “pastor”. Evidence suggests he shot his wife in the back of the head whilst she slept and whilst his two young daughters slept in the next room. Evidence suggested he did this in order to avoid having to divorce his wife to be with his mistress as this would cause him to lose his 200k a year job working for his wife’s dad. I’ve been sickened to my gut with this. Asking, “how can this happen?” Then reflecting and understanding exactly how it can happen, when sin is allowed to take root in a person’s life. Ashley’s sister drops a bomb in this impact statement. In the court, in front of cameras, for the watching world to see, she preaches Jesus Christ Crucified and risen from the dead. She presents the reality of the gospel not as an escape from suffering, but as hope for those who are suffering. And she extends forgiveness to the man who has destroyed a family. This is light shining in the darkness. This is God at work in the midst of evil. Ashley’s sister, Kayla Keyt says it perfectly. “Even in the darkest story of our lives, there’s still the cross, there’s still the resurrection, and there’s still the hope of heaven.” Kayla Keyt This clip is nothing less than true Christianity put to the test. Lord, let your kingdom come… #AshleyFlynnJustice

Amazing amount raised for @Street_Connect ! Can we hit the 2k before the fundraiser closes at the end of the week? gofund.me/3d0147130

Thank you so much to all who have supported this! Managed to get a Sub2! (1.59.28) pushed myself to my limit. Thanks for all your support! £1890 raised for @Street_Connect so far gofund.me/ba7bc4891

Let’s go! Glasgow Half Marathon! gofund.me/8d124c009

The evangelical shift away from penal substitution and propitiation has had far reaching effects. In attempt to airbrush the gospel and give the face of God a filter, the outcome is generations of professing believers who have little to no experience of the Spirit’s convicting work; a clean break with the world; nor a depth of repentance and faith that leads to an equally deep assurance of salvation. It’s impossible to have an assurance of salvation when you don’t realise that conversion to Christ is actually a matter of salvation (being saved). Ultimately we are seeing the fruit of decades of cross-less Christianity. This approach to mission is counterproductive because it is the cross that is the power of God.

Comprehension and close reading skills have been in decline for many years. The development of the Smart Phone and AI have only compounded the issue. From a discipleship perspective we need to ask: how has this affected individual, congregational and ministerial engagement with the scriptures? The next time you are in Church, pay attention to what the text says and then reflect on what the preacher says and ask yourself: how much of what is being said is an accurate interpretation of the passage? There is a temptation in preaching, because of cultural challenges, to wrap the text up in so much cultural application that the text is smothered in contemporary wrapping paper. Before we go to application we need to build a solid interpretation. Too much cultural contextualising muddies the original interpretation. We need to let the voice of the Spirit be heard through faithful expounding of the texts.

One of the reasons why believers are being affected by present day political division is because we’ve lost gospel unity. The gospel alone has the power to unite the people of God. It is the gospel that brings a person into the unity of the Spirit and the Spirit brings us into gospel unity. Two of Paul’s team were falling out. We don’t know what they were falling out over. We do know Paul calls them not to agree with each other, but to agree in the Lord and to remember the gospel for which they once laboured. Philippians 4:2-3 Exhortation, Encouragement, and Prayer [2] I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. [3] Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

A question for pastors: Do your people know the gospel and are they living in the assurance of it? A question for believers: Do you know the gospel and are you living in the assurance of it? I recently was involved in a Bible study with some guys from a prison background. These were guys who had all professed faith. All had responded to the call to follow Jesus. Yet all of them had the same problem: they had no assurance of salvation. Their understanding of salvation was mixed in with works. As we dug deeper into the study, it became clear they did not really understand the Bible’s teaching on original sin; the nature of the judgement to come or the atoning work of Christ and salvation by grace alone through faith alone. I suspect this group of guys were not unique. I suspect that many churches would yield the same results if the same questions were asked. What brought this to the surface? A simple phrase found in Paul’s letter to Phillipians. Philippians 4:3 … and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. After establishing what the book of life is, the question was asked “do you know that your name is written in it?” All four of them replied in a similar way but ultimately the answer was “no.” What about you? Do you KNOW your name is written in the book of life? Do you know how serious it is if it isn’t? (Eternal separation from God). Do you know how you can have assurance? Only Jesus. Jesus has paid the price in full. We are saved by grace alone through faith alone: Romans 6:23 [23] For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Salvation is a free gift. Over the last few months I’ve become burdened about the fact that gospel experience is very low in our churches because gospel literacy is very low. This is even true amongst Christians who are active in evangelism. I recently heard a Christian evangelist say, when asked what the heart of the Christian message is: Love God; Love people. That’s just not true. That’s NOT the GOOD NEWS. In fact it’s BAD NEWS because none of us can do that. Loving God and people is the fruit of the gospel, not the message of the gospel. The gospel is the good news that all who have failed these two commandments (all of us) can be saved by the cross of Jesus. Only when we are born again can we even begin to love God and love people. More than ever the church needs to lay aside the contemporary theologians and just get into the scriptures. Study what the scriptures say about salvation. Stop filtering the scriptures through the narrative that’s being fed to us through media. That’s a godless narrative that will make you dull of hearing to the voice of God. Switch off the BBC and simply open the scriptures and read the NT letters. The letters are for the church. The letters expose our darkened thinking. We need to return to the details of the gospel.

Big brand, big band, and programs seems to be the new liturgy of churches of various kinds. For hundreds of years, what the Eucharist has been unable to do (unite the church) marketing has achieved. You can now visit your local Pentecostal or Presbyterian or Baptist (etc) church and you will see no difference. The shop window is the exact same. The churches that will win the battle for butts on pews (or soft conference chairs)? The churches that pull it off better than the others. The brand, band and program are all said to serve the mission; but we need to ask the question; what does this new liturgy mean for evangelism and discipleship? How has the emergence of the concert as the main staple of Lord’s day worship affected the centrality of the breaking of bread; the priesthood of all believers; collective prayer; the manifestation of the gifts of the Spirit (beyond the contrived 30 seconds of congregational prayer permitted by the worship leader); the teaching of the Bible and (dare I say) the doctrinal distinctives of your church? You can now attend a Pentecostal church and not find much of Pentecost; a Wesleyan church and hear nothing of entire sanctification; a ‘brethren’ church and not sit round the table; and a reformed church and not hear the psalter sung— yet you will get the same contemporary songs, highly polished musical performance and motivational talk that you could get at any other denominational congregation that has bought into the same liturgy. The God-Father of contemporary worship, Matt Redman, saw the pitfalls in his prime. That’s why he penned the words: When the music fades, and all is stripped away, and I simply come… I’m sorry Lord for thing I’ve made it, when it’s all about you, it’s all about you, Jesus…