Reading Time: 5 minutesQuestion 04030 When people ask about the Spirit’s work in the Old Testament compared with the New, they often assume the Holy Spirit was absent before Pentecost and only arrived when the church was born. That is not the case. The Spirit’s work runs from the first verses of Genesis to the last pages of…
Reading Time: 6 minutesQuestion 1010 Special revelation is the particular, saving self-disclosure of God given through his mighty acts, his spoken word, the written Scriptures, and supremely through his Son Jesus, by which we come to know not only that God is but who he is and how a sinner may be reconciled to him. Where the witness…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 04200 Before a person can receive the gospel, something must happen to them. The good news of forgiveness is only recognisable as good news to someone who knows they need it, and that recognition, the deep, personal awareness of sin before a holy God, does not arise naturally in human beings. It is the…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 12015 The Bible does not mention contraception directly. There is no verse that says “thou shalt not use contraception” and no verse that says “family planning is commended.” This means the question must be approached through broader biblical principles rather than proof texts. Christians who hold strong convictions on both sides of this question…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 12016 In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a deeply personal and often painful subject. Many couples who pursue it have experienced years of heartbreak through infertility, and the desire for a child is one of the most natural and God-given longings a human being can have. The Bible does not address IVF directly, since the…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 12019 The question of transgenderism is one of the most pressing cultural and pastoral challenges facing the church today. It touches on some of the deepest questions human beings can ask: Who am I? What does it mean to be male or female? Is my body part of who I am, or is it…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 11026 A pastor who stops reading is a pastor who stops growing, and a pastor who stops growing will eventually stop feeding his congregation well. The ministry demands constant study, reflection, and the sharpening that comes from engaging with minds greater than your own. What follows is not an exhaustive list but a carefully…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion12013 Few pastoral questions arise with more emotional weight than what to do with the body of a loved one who has died. For centuries, burial was the standard Christian practice, and many believers today feel instinctively that cremation is wrong. Others see no issue with it at all. The question touches on deeply held…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 12024 Sexual purity is a concept that the surrounding culture regards as outdated, repressive, and unnecessary. The assumption in much of Western society is that sexual expression is a private matter to be governed by consent and personal preference, with no reference to any standard beyond the individual. Scripture takes a fundamentally different view….
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 12023 Pornography is one of the most pervasive and destructive forces operating in contemporary culture, and the church is not immune. The scale of the problem is staggering: internet pornography has made what was once difficult to access freely available on every smartphone, and its consumption cuts across every demographic, including professing Christians. This…