The Heidelberg Catechism - The Foundations Of Our Faith

Counselling as a profession was only really established in the UK in the 1960’s.  By 1970 there were a few hundred.  At the turn of the century, it was around 20,000.  But today it is estimated that there between 80-100,000.  In Australia the number is 40,000 – a doubling in the past 15 years.  It seems that counselling is in vogue.   We are a counsel culture.    One of the reasons for the increase is that the number of issues we can receive counselling for keeps increasing.    We have moved from counselling for the trauma of death, horrific accidents and terrible abuse, to counselling for hurt feelings, ‘harmful’ words and even political results.  When Trump was elected in 2016, some school districts in the US offered professional counselling to their students (it is unlikely they would have done so if Hillary Clinton had been elected). I suspect that if Pauline Hanson spoke at Sydney University, counselling could be ...

Philippians 3:17-21 ESV Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. [18] For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. [19] Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. [20] But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, [21] who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. Paul has struggled with his detractors.  Some years ago my daughters gave me a little sign for my office door that I could not put up.   “Do not disturb: I am already disturbed enough!” I was in a struggle with detractors that included: A pedophile network that expressed anger at my refusal to participate in fellowship activities with them.  Denomina...

translation philosophy and the underlying Greek text should be taken seriously. Those are two distinct questions, and they are often conflated in popular discussions. First, while Wilbur Pickering is certainly a respected advocate for the Byzantine or Majority Text tradition, his position remains a minority one within contemporary textual criticism. That does not make him wrong, of course, but neither should his conclusions be presented as though they represent scholarly consensus. There are thoughtful evangelical scholars on both sides of the discussion who share a high view of Scripture yet arrive at different conclusions regarding the transmission of the New Testament text. Second, I would hesitate to frame the debate as one between those who believe God preserved his Word and those who do not. Most evangelical textual critics working with the Nestle-Aland or UBS critical text affirm both the inspiration of Scripture and God’s providential preservation of it. Their disagreem...

Philippians 3 The Other Enemies Of The Gospel Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern.18 For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are  the enemies of the cross of Christ:19 whose end is  destruction, whose god is their  belly, and whose glory is  in their shame --- who set their mind on earthly things.20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,21 who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.   The Dogs, The Evil Workers The Mutilation The Earthly Minded the enemies of the cross of Christ:19 whose end is  destruction, whose god is their  belly, and whose  glory is  in their shame --- who set their mind on earthly things. The Prosperity ...

“To me the biggest fool is not the man who says ‘There is no God’, but the man who says ‘There is a God’ and then lives like there is no God.” ~ Dr. Adrian Rogers (1931-2005)

Acts 5:1-11 ESV But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, [2] and with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet. [3] But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? [4] While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God." [5] When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. [6] The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him. [7] After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. [8] And Peter said to her, "Tell me whether you sold the land for so much." And she said...

YOUR RELIGION IS DEAD IF: 1. Outward appearance is more important than inner purity (37-41)  God says: These people say, “Stand by yourself, do not come near to me; for I AM HOLIER  THAN YOU.” These people are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burns all day.” Isaiah 65:5 NKJV “The Lord does not look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” I Samuel  16:7 2. Ritual acts are more important than a personal relationship with God (42)  “He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly  and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8 3. Being seen by others is more important than serving God (43-44)  “Be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you  will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce  it with trumpets a...

Responding to Trouble The most important thing about suffering is not why it happens, but how we respond to it. Attitudes, not answers, are the keys to triumphant living. We like to focus on why. But to know why suffering comes does not ease the pain or heal the hurt. If we respond to it correctly, it can make us better regardless of its cause. We do not get to choose our experiences in life. And we may never understand why they come to us, but we can choose our response to them. We determine how they will affect our lives. There are at least five responses we can make to suffering: 1. We can become bitter.  We can follow the advice that Job’s wife gave to him in his suffering. We can “curse God and die” (Job 2:9). We can blame God for everything that happens to us and become resentful, skeptical, and unbelieving. 2. We can sink into self-pity.  We ca...

Philippians 3:7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is  through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do,  forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,14 I pres...

I gather that the issue is the temporal sense of the periphrastic ἔσται δεδεμένον/λελυμένον from Matthew 16:19. I was taught that the voice of the participle determines the voice of the periphrastic construct. Here, δεδεμένον/λελυμένον is in the middle voice, suggesting that the thing being bound/loosed plays a part in its own binding/loosing. The perfect tenseform of the participle has a stative aspect and brings the participle (verb) into the foreground. Porter's "Fundamentals of New Testament Greek" (chapter 28) lists the future equative + perfect participle as equivalent to the future perfect indicative of the participle's finite verb, here "will have been bound/loosed". The temporal sense of the periphrastic construct is future. Putting these together suggests that the binding/loosing on earth plays a part in the equivalent binding/loosing in heaven, with the 'foreground' emphasis on the thing that happens in heaven and 'background...

Have you ever wondered why certain words or phrases seem to be missing in some Bible translations? Take Romans 8:1 as an example: Modern translations (ESV, NASB, NIV, CSB, etc.): “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” King James Version (and NKJV): “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” What accounts for this difference? The Short Answer (emphasis on the word short) The New Testament text is preserved in two main Greek manuscript traditions. Since the New Testament was originally written in Greek, our English Bibles are translated from these Greek manuscripts. 1. The Byzantine Tradition (or Majority Text) This text form arose within the Byzantine Empire (centered in Constantinople) and became the standard Greek text used by the Eastern Church for over a thousand years. The King James Version (KJV) was translated from th...

John Newton The Lord Will Provide Though troubles assail And dangers affright, Though friends should all fail And foes all unite; Yet one thing secures us, Whatever betide, The scripture assures us, The Lord will provide. The birds without barn Or storehouse are fed, From them let us learn To trust for our bread: His saints, what is fitting, Shall ne'er he denied, So long as 'tis written, The Lord will provide. We may, like the ships, By tempest be tossed On perilous deeps, But cannot be lost. Though Satan enrages The wind and the tide, The promise engages, The Lord will provide. His call we obey Like Abram of old, Not knowing our way, But faith makes us bold; For though we are strangers We have a good Guide, And trust in all dangers, The Lord will provide. When Satan appears To stop up our path, And fill us with fears, We triumph by faith; He cannot take from us, Though oft he has tried, This heart-cheering promise, The Lord wi...

Our young pastor told us a few months ago that he had created the true translation of a passage and every Bible translation has had it wrong for the last 700 years.  On Sunday September 7th 2025 Pastor told us that every minister and every translator of the Greek New Testament got it wrong for the last 2000 years when translating or interpreting Matthew 16. He then stated that he had consulted the Greek New Testament and he alone now has translated it correctly. Here is the passage: ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτῷ· Μακάριος εἶ, Σίμων Βαριωνᾶ, ὅτι σὰρξ καὶ αἷμα οὐκ ἀπεκάλυψέν σοι ἀλλ’ ὁ πατήρ μου ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς· κἀγὼ δέ σοι λέγω ὅτι σὺ εἶ Πέτρος, καὶ ἐπὶ ταύτῃ τῇ πέτρᾳ οἰκοδομήσω μου τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, καὶ πύλαι ᾅδου οὐ κατισχύσουσιν αὐτῆς· δώσω σοι τὰς κλεῖδας τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν, καὶ ὃ ἐὰν δήσῃς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἔσται δεδεμένον ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, καὶ ὃ ἐὰν λύσῃς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἔσται λελυμένον ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. τότε διεστείλατο τοῖς μαθηταῖς ἵνα μηδενὶ εἴ...