I've been thinking a lot about emotions recently. This, of course, may be precisely my problem. I shouldn't be thinking about emotions; I should just be feeling them.

At least that's what people tell me. Emotions, I am assured, are an important part of who we are as humans created by God, and so Christian faith should also be emotional in some way. It's not enough just to think and to do; there's something a bit wrong with us if we don't also feel.

It's hard to argue with this, and so I have begun to rummage around in my soul to see if I can rustle up some emotions. And you'll be glad to know that I've managed to find some.

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Today is the last part in our series reminding us of Broughton Knox's teaching on prayer. It ends as simply and profoundly as it began.

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Just over a year ago, I started a blog. I was full of enthusiasm and daring—the kind of enthusiasm that only comes from an almost complete ignorance of the project you're about to embark upon. I guessed it would be a great opportunity for ministry. What I didn't anticipate is how God would use this new ministry to perform surgery on my heart.

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I have been thinking about the nature of Christian truth recently—in particular, what it means to live the Christian life. And I keep coming across these poles to avoid: one the one hand, legalism, and on the other hand, licentiousness.

But what would happen if you tried to drive your car down the middle of the freeway by adopting this strategy—whatever you do, avoid the right hand and left hand edges of the road? (The golfers all know the answer to this question already: “Don't hit it left, don't hit it left ... Doh!”).

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Following Gordon's excellent little post on the place of confession in our gatherings, Michael Johnson asked an equally excellent question in the comments: “I realize it's not directly related to this post's topic, but might you briefly elaborate on how you would describe why you gather with God's people on Sunday mornings (or whatever time you meet)?”

The only thing wrong with this question, Michael, is your opening disclaimer. It's a very related question, so thanks for asking it!

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There are rumours afoot that the key thing to think about when it comes to theological students is how much work they are not doing. A very strange shift has taken place somewhere, and it makes you wonder.

It is not unusual in our world-that-is-running-madly-after-Mammon to concentrate on (that is, be anxious about) busy-ness. Didn't Jesus himself say that it takes a lot of crazy running around to make sure you get enough of the good things God wanted you to have anyway? You would hate to miss out on those, so get up early, steamroll your way to work, overload your timetable, pressurize your body and relationships—you know the drill.

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Apologies to everyone who's been trying to comment since Saturday. Our webhost moved us to a machine, which meant Ben and I spent our Saturday evening trying to find a workaround for a particular problem (resulting from the move) and updating the settings to reflect the changes. Unfortunately we missed the one for the CAPTCHAs. That's now been fixed, so please comment away.

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I was recently reminded of my approaching middle age while teaching a Scripture class to a bunch of 12-year-olds. We were learning about the kings of Israel and Judah. At one point in the lesson, I told them that many of these kings were wicked, and therefore God's judgement came upon Israel and Judah. My pronouncement was met with a set of puzzled stares. What was confusing about this seemingly straightforward statement?

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Broughton Knox challenges us in today's excerpt to be joyful in prayer. We're not to be foolishly, slap-happily joyful, but deeply and profoundly joyful. We are to pray with a joy shaped by the sovereign goodness of God.

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Okay, so we Australian footballing types (that is, men) need to improve our sexual behaviour by learning to respect women. But it makes you wonder whether the non-footballing types (that is, women) also need to respect other non-footballing types. Would that improve their sexual behaviour too?

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