If God wants someone to be overwhelmed with the sense of His presence, then He can lay the man (woman) on the ground; not the preacher! Let God be God! Let the Spirit do the work! Anything else is a deceitful work of man that brings the integrity of the Gospel into question.

The real know-it-alls are twenty-first century materialists because we all know that miracles just can’t happen, or do we?

Tertullian was so entirely caught up in the dynamism of God’s Spirit that some have dubbed him as the church’s first authentically ‘Pentecostal’ theologian (although it’s a blatant anachronism, a bit like calling Augustine a ‘Calvinist’). Tertullian loved the Holy Spirit.

Here are four reasons that preaching is losing much of its prestige amongst us.

I used to think it was a smashing piece of pithy advice that managed to express so much in so few words. The original proponent of this practical theology is thought to be Francis of Assisi who quipped (1182-1226), “Preach the Gospel at all times and if necessary, use words”. Who couldn’t agree with such a wonderful statement?

Here’s a short list of the people the Bible mentions who thanked God for Jesus’ birth: the wise men from the East, Mary, the shepherds, the angels, Elizabeth, Zechariah and old brother Simeon. Only God knows how many folk praised Him for Jesus’ birth and nowhere does the Bible say that God rebuked them for doing so.