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Gentle Wisdom Thoughts on life from Peter Kirk Search Main menu Skip to primary content Skip to secondary content Home Sample Page Search Results We British need not have bad teeth: The American way What “qaya” means Follow Jesus: The Basics Why should I follow Jesus? How can I become a follower of Jesus? I have started to follow Jesus. What next? Life Today About Gentle Wisdom Welcome to qaya.org! A Response to the Global Warming Threat Some Facts on Global Warming and Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere Air Quality Action For Army & Navy? Free Weddings at Holy Trinity About Peter Kirk Privacy Policy Store (UK) Store (US) Contact Gentle Wisdom Post navigation ← Older posts Christmas Village For Sale Posted on November 20, 2017 by Peter Kirk 2 One-time regular Gentle Wisdom readers: I am considering restarting regular blogging here. But this is not it. I am just using a convenient place to post this For Sale notice. FOR SALE Christmas Village Set Dillards “Winter Glen” $500 (USD) or best offer for the set Set consists of 14 buildings, 3 other large items, and 9 sets of figurines etc. Click on images below to view enlarged slide show. Buildings Bailey’s Christmas Shoppe (1 of 2) Bailey’s Christmas Shoppe (2 of 2) Bennington’s Bistro (no box) Blue Bird Elementary Clayborne Antiques East Village Police Precinct (no box) Fire Department Holy Trinity Cathedral Renaissance Square Clock Tower St Michael’s Cathedral Street Row Houses William’s Pharmacy and Dentist Winter Glen Hotel Winter Glen Town Hall Other Large Items Set of 17 Christmas Tree In Park Skating Pond Water Fountain, set of 12 Sets of Figurines etc Set of 10 Antique Shop Figurines Set of 10 Bistro Figurines Set of 8 Carolers Set of 3 Carriage Figurines Set of 7 Christmas Shoppe Figurines Set of 3 Hemlock Trees Set of 6 Pharmacy Figurines Set of 9 Policeman Figurines Set of 3 White Pine Trees All items are in good condition but some may have some very minor damage. All are in full original packaging, except for two buildings which have their inner polystyrene packaging but no outer box. Some items come with lights and other electrical parts, which have not all been tested. This set is for collection from our home in Woodstock, VA 22664, USA, or we can deliver up to two hours’ drive from home (cost depends on distance). As these items are fragile and hard to pack, we prefer not to ship them. We can accept cash, check with verified ID, or credit card through PayPal. If you would like to view this set at our home, or for other questions, please email peter@qaya.org or call +1 540-233-1092 , or I can respond to comments below. Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Replies @JohnPiper, your hope is God, not the Bible Posted on September 27, 2014 by Peter Kirk 22 John Piper, the well known pastor, confuses me. Adrian Warnock , who is attending Piper’s current conference, quotes him as saying “Your God is whatever you find most joy in” and “We deserve to go to hell for not preferring God above all things”. Great! But on the same day Piper tweets “My only hope is The Book” – note the capitals. (To be precise, the tweet is from Piper’s ministry, quoting Piper.) Does this mean that the Bible is Piper’s God? Does it mean that he deserves hell for preferring the Bible to God? He certainly doesn’t deserve my respect as a teacher for this kind of heretical teaching. John Piper preaching today – how many feet above contradiction? Sadly this kind of confusion is all too common in more-or-less evangelical churches, where the Bible is treated as God. We read in it that “the Word was God” (John 1:1), but forget that for John the Word or Logos was Jesus Christ, not the Bible. In fact nowhere in the Bible does the word “word” clearly refer to the written Scriptures, although sometimes it does refer to the gospel message or other teaching from God which is written in the Scriptures. So let’s stop thinking and behaving as if the Bible is God. It is a book of words from God, and of words of men inspired by God. (I don’t want to get into a discussion here of exactly what that means.) Yes, we can find our hope in this book, but our hope is not the book, it is the God whose good news for us is written in the book. John Piper, you need to remember this, and preach it. Posted in Evangelicalism , John Piper | 22 Replies The Evangelical Alliance rejects Oasis, and me? Posted on May 2, 2014 by Peter Kirk 35 I was sad to read this today: the Evangelical Alliance have discontinued the membership of Oasis Trust. The stated reason for this refers to “what has been perceived by some as a campaign to change the Church’s historic view on human sexuality”. Oasis UK, which was founded by Steve Chalke, has responded to this; see also Adrian Warnock’s blog post . This parting of ways brings back memories for me from many years ago. In 1986 I attended the Spring Harvest Christian conference for the first time, at Prestatyn in North Wales. Graham Kendrick led the worship, highlighting his “Make Way” Carnival of Praise (“Shine, Jesus, Shine!” was the theme song the next year). Among the Christian leaders prominent at the event were Clive Calver, then General Secretary of the Evangelical Alliance, and a young Baptist pastor Steve Chalke. Clive Calver enthused the crowds that week with his vision for evangelical Christians putting aside differences over secondary matters to work together for the Gospel. He approached me personally, while I was browsing the book sale area, and signed me up as a personal member of the Alliance. I was happy to accept its vision, and its Basis of Faith. After 28 years, I am still a member and still happy to accept the (slightly revised) Basis of Faith . I note some things which are omitted from this document: any statement that the Bible is inerrant, and any mention of sexuality or sexual ethics. Over the next few years Steve Chalke became a prominent figure in the British church, as he built up his now global Oasis network of community based projects. Among other projects, Oasis UK runs a number of Oasis Academies , Christian primary and secondary schools working within the state education system. Meanwhile Chalke has become a controversial figure among evangelicals. As I reported here in 2007 , his infamous words about “cosmic child abuse”, taken out of context by his critics, led to a split in the Spring Harvest movement. In the last few months he has caused renewed controversy with an article Restoring Confidence in the Bible , in which he questions, but does not reject, the historical accuracy of parts of the Old Testament, for example writing concerning Numbers 15:32-36: Did God order this death or did Moses mishear him? The Evangelical Alliance raised concerns about the “cosmic child abuse” controversy, but allowed Chalke and Oasis to remain Alliance members. However, they seem to have taken more serious issue with his 2013 paper A MATTER OF INTEGRITY: The Church, sexuality, inclusion and an open conversation , in which he takes on the thorny issue of the church accepting people in homosexual relationships. He writes: Too often, those who seek to enter an exclusive, same-sex relationship have found themselves stigmatised and excluded by the Church. I have come to believe this is an injustice and out of step with God’s character as seen through Christ. He seeks to justify his position with a detailed study of the relevant Bible passages – not by rejecting them as no longer applicable, as a non-evangelical would. His exegesis is of course controversial and not convincing to all. Nevertheless, the article is an attempt from within the evangelical tradition to apply biblical principles to a pressing pastoral issue. As reported by Oasis , this article led to an on-going conversation with the Evangelical Alliance. At their request, we have made several changes to our online content and believed that we had reached a point where both parties could be satisfied that our relationship would continue. We are, therefore, dis...