In my last post, I mentioned that I cry a lot at the minute. Not every day, but most. It ranges from the stoic kind of crying, with a single tear rolling down my cheek to the violent, shaking, uncontrollable, snotty blubbering kind. I resonate a little with the Psalmist who wrote ‘My tears have […]
What a presumptuous title for a blog post! It sounds like I, Dave Criddle, think I’ve cracked it and have the how-to guide on how to share the good news. Far from it!! This week, I preached on 1 Thessalonians 1:2-10. In it Paul describes how he shared the gospel with non-believers in Thessalonica. I was deeply challenged by his evangelistic method(s) and […]
Yesterday our dog Mika did something which was just beautiful. I want to tell that story for two reasons. First, it’s a great story, and who doesn’t love cute dog stories? Second, it encapsulates something of the beauty of what Jesus has done. (And I guess third, it’s a story about limping, so how could I not?) […]
As I continue responding to the discussions on my post about Ricky Gervais, I now come to the second of three challenges I made to Christians (first here). It’s to do with the message we have to offer. I said we often begin explaining our faith with “You’re going to hell”, before carrying on with […]
This is the final part of my ‘Advent Series’ looking at the openings of the four Gospels. Matthew had a Christmas list, Mark forgot about Christmas and Luke reminded us we have to say yes to Christmas. Now, what about John? John is very different indeed, and gets to the real meaning of Christmas. Behind […]
This is the second part of my Advent series. I’m looking at the opening of each Gospel and how they each handle the arrival of Jesus in a different way. Last week was Matthew, who starts with a long list of names. Today, we are doing the next Gospel, Mark. It’s like it never happened […]
It’s Advent, and I have a plan. Each Sunday in Advent, I’ll post some thoughts on the beginnings of the four Gospels. Each Gospel introduces the arrival of Jesus in strikingly different ways, and it’s worth a look! Today, Matthew! What a way to start a book… Have a look at the opening verses of Matthew’s […]
A few weeks ago I missed an opportunity, I think. I was preaching, and the sermon was on Jesus as our ‘great high priest’ from the book of Hebrews (4:14–5:10 if you must know). As part of it, I said this: “Jesus is the perfect high priest because he entered into the grittiness and the […]
The last few posts on being Christlike have been quite long and wordy. I want to take this forward a little, but to do so I think I need to summarise. I shall allow myself only six bullet points. If being Christlike is all about embodying the overarching story of Jesus – His incarnation, crucifixion […]
Last Thursday, I posted some thoughts on what it means to be Christlike. I suggested it may have less to do with copying what Jesus did in certain situations, and more to do with embodying the fundamental life of Jesus, as displayed in His incarnation, crucifixion and resurrection. The post can be found by clicking […]