tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37137059693991556472011-09-19T07:31:56.595-07:00"Looking for peace in a chaotic world" OR "The hopefully coherent musings of an amatuer pastoral theologian!"Peter Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04363959537019358857noreply@blogger.comBlogger151100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713705969399155647.post-35600346957586133172011-08-18T00:16:00.000-07:002011-08-18T00:32:48.634-07:00

Matthew's Gospel, Chapter 7, Verses 15-23. 15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree

Peter Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04363959537019358857noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713705969399155647.post-40680504646066027612011-05-23T23:36:00.000-07:002011-05-23T23:42:46.577-07:00

You’re not worthyYou don’t deserve God’s loveWhilst you might be a touch surprised to be hearing this from me, you’re probably not surprised by the statement itself. You have heard it over and over and over again, and most likely you agree with it.But are we really unworthy or is that just what we have been taught to believe? It’s certainly what I have been taught by every Church I’ve been in.

Peter Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04363959537019358857noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713705969399155647.post-3013225992495337212010-12-09T23:05:00.000-08:002010-12-09T23:08:53.031-08:00

If you click the title to this blog post, it will take you to the full article written by Rick Lannoye.Here's a quote;"You see, that’s the problem with the whole lame-brain notion of Hell. Once you buy into it (or more fairly, once people infuse the fear of Hell in the depths of your emotions while you were too young to know any better), the only way you can claim that Hell is “scriptural” is to

Peter Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04363959537019358857noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713705969399155647.post-54441286865739557532010-05-31T17:38:00.000-07:002010-05-31T17:46:26.887-07:00

You can't touch it, but it affects how you feel. You can't see it, but it's there when you look at yourself in the mirror. You can't hear it, but it's there every time you talk about yourself. What is this important but mysterious thing? It's your self-esteem!We hear a lot in our culture today about self esteem, self image, self confidence, self worth etc. All of these things are really just

Peter Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04363959537019358857noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713705969399155647.post-23889544023275019702010-02-07T13:26:00.000-08:002010-02-07T13:35:08.465-08:00

Shalom, be at peace, I love you.This is the message that God is speaking to you. In the midst of your pain, in the middle of your heartaches and burdens, as you turn your back on Him, He says "I understand, I never expected you to be perfect, I care only that you are here. Be at peace, you are loved."This is the theme of a sermon I gave in 2003 which I have now popped up on you tube. It is

Peter Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04363959537019358857noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713705969399155647.post-34205411636254475492009-12-27T01:15:00.000-08:002009-12-27T01:18:07.574-08:00

Sometimes, you just find something you want to share - just as it is :)Christmas blessings to all,Petehttp://poserorprophet.livejournal.com/133982.html?view=819806#t819806

Peter Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04363959537019358857noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713705969399155647.post-81055236845707587012009-10-10T16:18:00.000-07:002009-10-10T16:27:00.670-07:00

The interpretation of ‘repent and believe’ that has been most common, is the belief that to repent is one thing, and to believe is another. Traditionally, to repent is to turn your back on sin, and turn to face God and walk in His ways. To believe is to put your faith in Jesus Christ. It is true, of course, that traditional teaching has not isolated these two things from one another. Repentance

Peter Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04363959537019358857noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713705969399155647.post-7849099164888339562009-06-16T18:01:00.000-07:002009-06-16T18:36:24.612-07:00

Woo Hoo! Well here it is - the moment you've all been waiting for. OK, maybe not. But it is the moment that I've been waiting for - for 4 years! This project began in 2005 and is finally complete. My new book "The Triumph of Grace: The Work of God in Christ for the Salvation of Humanity" is now in print. Copies are $30 and just send me an email if you want one: peterjgray@gmail.comBelow is the

Peter Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04363959537019358857noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713705969399155647.post-77556870977358394862009-04-13T22:42:00.001-07:002009-04-13T22:43:36.116-07:00

1CO 11:23-25 ….. The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me."I was thinking about communion a while ago, preparing

Peter Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04363959537019358857noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713705969399155647.post-35239851881190528922009-03-26T21:43:00.000-07:002009-03-26T22:07:06.139-07:00

Over the course of my theological studies, I have encountered many a fine article. One such article is this one, an excerpt from a book by the late French theologian, Jacques Ellul, What I Believe (Eerdmans, 1989, pp.188-192).Rather than re-write it, which is rather like re-inventing the wheel, I thought I would just post it in it's entirety, and let you enjoy it in whole!Hope you like it, Pete.I

Peter Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04363959537019358857noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713705969399155647.post-63107637642911055472009-02-18T00:16:00.000-08:002009-02-18T00:40:05.471-08:00

God had been chipping away at my understanding of hell for quite some time. I had been wrestling theologically for years but one night, several years ago at a bonfire on a friend’s country property, it hit me experientially. The bonfire was very large. It measured close to 4 metres across and when it was lit, the flames stretched several metres in the air. I sat, with my wife, my children and my

Peter Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04363959537019358857noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713705969399155647.post-80691272156177716822008-10-08T00:03:00.000-07:002008-10-08T00:13:54.544-07:00

I was browsing several internet sites today and I came across this little image that I just had to re-post here and discuss, albeit in brief!What message does this send to folks? You must get it just right in order to avoid hell - that's the message! You might go to hell because you have fallen in to the ways of the world. You might go to hell because despite being a good, moral and religious

Peter Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04363959537019358857noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713705969399155647.post-26808122566865463162008-09-19T00:29:00.000-07:002008-09-20T21:26:23.918-07:00

Sometimes a teacher or a preacher must go to extraordinary lengths in order to make his or her point. I read the story recently of one such occasion. It is the story of Dr. Christianson, a teacher of Christianity. I won't go into the story in depth here, but if you want to read it in full just click here. (This is just one of many websites featuring the story or a version of it.) None of the

Peter Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04363959537019358857noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713705969399155647.post-21908903775584413342008-09-17T23:26:00.000-07:002008-09-19T02:29:37.525-07:00

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is Good News. It is not bad news followed by good news, or even worse, bad news followed by the possibility of good news if only you can get your act together. It is Good News from start to finish. The Gospel does not begin with how bad we are, it begins with how good God is. It begins with the eternal purpose of the Gracious God as stated by Paul in Ephesians 1, and

Peter Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04363959537019358857noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713705969399155647.post-86741369004141227412008-09-15T23:26:00.000-07:002008-09-20T21:02:49.952-07:00

"Until They Are Found: The Story of a Relentless and His Rogue Sheep" is my first book. It examines the text of Luke chapter 15; the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son.Over the years, the Parable of the Prodigal Son has become one the most famous and well loved of all of Jesus' parables, yet we have often become so focused on the son, that we have overlooked the father -

Peter Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04363959537019358857noreply@blogger.com1