Author: nickjones2011

What has happened to gentleness? I think it’s something that today’s world would benefit from greatly! There are plenty of people who are polite on the surface, but cross them and they explode! What has happened to gentleness? We are supposed to be a tolerant society, but try disagreeing with those who say we should…

We’re just over half way through the year, a good time to remember any New Year resolutions you made! How did you get on? Why is change so hard? Why do we keep making the same mistakes? In Titus 2, Paul tells us the secret to self-controlled, godly lives. The secret is not found in…

Solomon’s sin of ignoring what God said about sex and marriage led him into idol worship. This in turn resulted in a tragic split in the kingdom. We were told it would happen in 1 Kings 11 and now in 1 Kings 12 and 2 Chronicles 10-11 we are told what happened. It happens after…

What’s the point? Why keep going? Solomon wrestled with these questions 3000 years ago as he wrote “vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” As we have seen this means life is like a vapour or mist that disappears, if you try and grab hold of it, it just disappears faster. How can we make sense…

“Times have changed” someone might say, “the Bible is out of date with our culture.” What would you say? Yesterday we heard the need to guard our steps as we come to worship, the need to listen to God (Ecclesiastes 5). Today we fast-forward 1000 years and discover the Apostle Paul makes a similar warning…

My wife hates bananas! If I decided I wanted to show Dorothy how much I love her, I wouldn’t buy her a bunch of bananas! If I did, it would show that either I didn’t know her or just didn’t care what she thought. Sometimes when it comes to worship, people don’t think about what…

Time flies! When you realise this, and that you can’t slow it down what do you do? Do you try and cram in as much as you can? Try and fit in as many experiences as you can, try and get to the top of your career, make a name for yourself? The book of…

Solomon had everything, yet here in 1 Kings 11, we see it wasn’t enough. His striving for more and more led him to turn away from God, and tragically that led to a split in the kingdom as we’ll see as we read on in 1 Kings. The apostle Paul began his letter to Timothy…

What impresses God is not our achievements but our integrity. Solomon was an impressive man by the time we reach 1 Kings 9. Israel has become wealthy, Solomon has overseen the building of the temple and his own impressive palace. He has dedicated the temple and prayed that it would be a place of blessing…