Author Archives: Tree of Life Church

Do not be lazy, be a follower (Hebrews 6.12) That verse is a very specific instruction for us to be followers of others. To copy others. We spoke in our first post that the foundation of discipleship is to copy others. The Bible has loads of examples of people copying others, and we can copyContinue reading “Initial Steps to Discipleship 02: How to Be a Good Copier”

Jesus told us that we need to both be disciples and make disciples. I see a lot of people today doing a lot of activity, but not doing the main thing – being and making disciples. So, in the next few posts I want to go right back to the basic, initial steps of discipleship.Continue reading “Initial Steps to Discipleship 01: Learning to Copy”

In Luke 10.25-37, Jesus tells what might be the most famous parable in the Bible, the parable of the good Samaritan. The reason the parable is so popular is that it teaches us such a powerful lesson – we need to care about others. We need to go and do likewise – we need toContinue reading “Get Beyond the End of Your Nose 06: Be the Good Samaritan”

There are good angels. That is where I want to start this series. There are good angels. It seems that charismatics know so much about demons but not much about angels, but two-thirds of the angels stayed good and stayed on God’s side and those angels can freely move from earth to heaven. Did youContinue reading “Angels of God 01: There are Good Angels!”

One of the things that we see whenever we look at the life of Jesus is that he loved others. He loved people different from himself, he loved people not like him, he loved people who hated him. Anyone can love their wife, their children, their husband, their parents. Some people love their gran andContinue reading “Get Beyond the End of Your Nose 05: Even Tax Collectors Love Themselves!”

We can get so obsessed with the benefits of the gospel – we travel far and pay a lot of money to preachers to tell us we are blessed, healed, righteous – and we are all those things, but the church must exist for the lost. Pastors need to lead the way in this –Continue reading “Get Beyond the End of Your Nose 04: Lost Lives Matter!”

One of the main reasons Jesus did not go immediately to the cross when he came to earth was to hang around and train and teach us how to treat other people. The basic default of humanity is to love yourself. But we need to love our neighbour too, and one of the best wayContinue reading “Get Beyond the End of Your Nose 03: Be More Like Jesus!”

Jesus told us that to follow Him we would have to deny ourselves. It amazes me how much selfish ambition that still exists in Christians, how much they want to promote themselves above the message, above the Word, above their precious brothers and sisters in Christ. They live on roller-coaster bouncing from envy to strifeContinue reading “Get Beyond the End of Your Nose 02: Do Not Promote Yourself!”

General Booth once sent a telegram to every captain in the Salvation Army. He insisted everyone come together in the churches to hear this telegram, and be there when it is read. Salvation Armies across the UK and further afield gathered to read this powerful telegram, sitting in their church halls with expectation for thisContinue reading “Get Beyond the End of Your Nose 01: It’s Not All About You”

When I start talking about the fact that God is not the Judge any more, that all that God’s justice does is subsumed by love and God’s work of justice in the world is to lay all our sin on Christ so that we can now be made as just, as righteous as He is,Continue reading “Natural Disasters and the Will of God 12: End of Days”