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The one time professional cricketer turned missionary to China and Africa, Charles T Studd once declared, “If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for him“. Total surrender is a richly understood necessity for those who engage Christ as saviour, but it is never without its struggles. Compromise continues to irritate and frustrate at every level.

The church at Thyatira was no exception. Commended for their love, faith, service and patient perseverance, they were nevertheless tolerating the festering influence of Jezebel and all that came with it. In the midst of an impressive dedication to Christ there resided a gaping hole of compromise.

This week the Curious team take a look at the contradiction that was Thyatira. How Jesus dealt with a church that could be both impressively committed in some areas whilst remaining mysteriously lapsed in others. Tune in this week as the team seek to unravel this perplexing yet all too common facet of the Christian’s experience.

Further Reading

We’ve listed some views below for you to read and ponder;

What Does Revelation Teach Us about the Church at Thyatira? - Christianity.com

Poisonous Tolerance - DesiringGod.org

The Letter to the Church at Thyatira - Ligonier.org

What We’re Reading

As a feature to our notes, we are adding the book or books that we’ve been browsing and reading as part of this episode. So here goes. We’ve been getting stuck into the following;

Jeffrey A Weima — The Sermons to the Seven Churches of Revelation (A Commentary and Guide)

Send your questions or thoughts to: theologyforthecurious@gmail.com

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One of the recurring problems that Israel faced in the subsequent immediate years following their Exodus from Egypt, was the infiltration of thoughts and ideas from non-Israelites travelling within their company. Sometimes they would encourage them to murmur and grumble. In later years, as that foreign element increased, they would be tempted to look elsewhere for other gods and forms of worship.

Compromise is always a dangerous element within any group, but especially within the church of God. The church at Pergamum was facing a very similar threat. Despite having those who were faithful and held fast to the truth, even to the point of death, as Antipas; yet there was a number among them who held to beliefs, ideas and convictions that were foreign to Christ and truth.

This week the Curious Team take a look at the strengths and weaknesses of the Pergamum Church. They examine the great strength of holding fast and persevering; whilst also unpacking the real danger of rooted compromise. Tune in this week as the team uncover the good and bad of church life


Further Reading
We’ve listed some views below for you to read and ponder…
The Letter to the Church in Pergamum - Ligonier.org
Pergamos: The Compromised Church - LineageJourney.com

What we’re reading?
As a feature to our notes, we are adding the book or books that we’ve been browsing and reading as part of this episode. So here goes. We’ve been getting stuck into the following;

Jeffrey A D Weima—
The Sermons To The Seven Churches of Revelation (A Commentary and Guide)

Send your questions or thoughts to: theologyforthecurious@gmail.com

Support us on Instagram @theologyforthecurious
Find us on TikTok: @theologyforthecurious

It can be very easy to speak in terms of God‘s sovereignty and control over all things. Even when we see very difficult times inflicted on the world and others, it is not a huge stretch of faith to maintain the conviction of God‘s control of world events. However, when that suffering and pain impacts on our own personal lives and on the lives of those we love, it is considerably harder at that point to maintain a stubborn insistence on the sovereignty and governance of God over the events of life. The temptation is to rethink our understanding. To doubt that God is either all powerful or all good.

In this second episode of our new series ‘Seven Churches Speak’, Pete and the Curious team take a look at the Church in Smyrna. The Smyrnaean believers were being maligned and slandered, blasphemed and persecuted. And rather than being met with good news that their difficulties and pain was about to come to an end; they are told by John that persecution will not only continue but increase!

This week the Curious Team take a look at how this particular church in Smyrna managed not only to endure, but to thrive and grow in the most hostile of environments. Tune in this week as the team uncover some wonderful lessons from the church in Smyrna.


Further Reading
We’ve listed some views below for you to read and ponder…
What does God say about the Church at Smyrna? - Christianity.com

The Letter to the Church in Smyrna - Ligonier.org

What we’re reading?
As a feature to our notes, we are adding the book(s) that we’ve been browsing and reading as part of this episode. So here goes. We’ve been getting stuck into the following;

Jeffrey A D Weima—
The Sermons To The Seven Churches of Revelation (A Commentary and Guide)

Send your questions or thoughts to: theologyforthecurious@gmail.com

Support us on Instagram @theologyforthecurious
Find us on TikTok: @theologyforthecurious

Is it possible to be doctrinally astute, theologically correct, scripturally protective, and yet be displeasing to God? Is it possible that we can become so focused on making sure we are saying and believing the right thing that we become dislocated from doing the right thing? Is what we think always inevitably tied to what we do, or can we find ourselves believing one thing and doing another?

In this first episode of our new series ‘Seven Churches Speak’, Pete and the Curious team take a look at the Church in Ephesus. Ephesus was a church commended by Jesus for their dedication and commitment to orthodoxy. They guarded their pulpit with an impressive zeal. However, even amidst such pious and particular orthodoxy; these Ephesian believers let slip the most fundamental of necessities; the need to love God and loved one another

This week the Curious Team take a look at how this particular Ephesian problem can be an often is a universal church problem here in the 21st-century. Tune in this week as the team take a deeper look into the church Ephesus.



Further Reading
We’ve listed some views below for you to read and ponder…

The Letter to the Church in Ephesus - WSCal.edu

What is the Significance of the Church of Ephesus in the Bible? - Christianity.com

What we’re reading?
As a feature to our notes, we are adding the book or books that we’ve been browsing and reading as part of this episode. So here goes. We’ve been getting stuck into the following;

Jeffrey A D Weima — The Sermons To The Seven Churches of Revelation (A Commentary and Guide)

Send your questions or thoughts to: theologyforthecurious@gmail.com

Support us on Instagram @theologyforthecurious
Find us on TikTok: @theologyforthecurious

What could seven churches, situated across Asia Minor, some 2,000 years ago, possibly have to say to individuals and the church in today’s twenty-first century? Why were they there, what did Jesus have to say to them, what can we learn former their successes, how do they serve as cautions to us?

Over the next seven episodes the Curious team will unpack the seven churches seeking to discover their meaning in the first century, and their relevance for today.

In this opening episode of our new series ‘Seven Churches Speak’, Pete and the Curious team interview writer and New Testament professor Jeffrey Weima over his book ‘The Sermons To The Seven Churches of Revelation’. In this episode Jeff provides a broad introduction to the context and purpose of the seven sermons and what their overall message included.


Further Reading
We’ve listed some views below for you to read and ponder…

What is the Significance of the Seven Churches in Revelation? - BibleStudyTools.com

What do the Seven Churches in Revelation Represent? - Christianity.com


What we’re reading?

Jeffrey A D Weima — The Sermons To The Seven Churches of Revelation (A Commentary and Guide)

Send your questions or thoughts to: theologyforthecurious@gmail.com

Support us on Instagram @theologyforthecurious
Find us on TikTok: @theologyforthecurious

When many people look at all the evil, difficulty and suffering in the world, they almost instinctively ask; “where is God?” Another way of asking that question is to insist, how involved is God in this world? Is he an absent landlord, who only turns up very occasionally when there’s a serious problem? Or is he aware of what’s happening and remains in complete control and has a plan in spite of the fact we’re not always aware of it? Or is he aware but not in control and sits as a heavenly observer hoping that humankind will gets its act together?

How is divine providence relevant to all these dilemmas? What do we mean when we talk about divine providence? Is it that God sustains the earth and everything in it? Or is it that he not only sustains it, but orders and governs it? Does God macro-manage, or does scripture reflect more a micro-managing of the world and its course?

In this eighth and final episode of our series ‘Take Another Look’, Pete and the Curious team take a look at the classic understanding of divine providence. What was once a staple throughout the reformation years, has become something of a long lost cousin in todays culture with few if any pulpits teaching anything of divine providence. Tune in this week as the team debate and discuss the significance and impact of this expansive subject


Further Reading
We’ve listed some views below for you to read and ponder…

The Providence of God - DesiringGod.org

What is Providence? - Ligonier.org

God's Providence Over All - ModernReformation.org


What we’re reading?

R C Sproul — The Invisible Hand
Paul Helm — The Providence of God
John Piper — Providence

Send your questions or thoughts to: theologyforthecurious@gmail.com

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When it comes to the sin against the Holy Spirit, there has remained a great deal of confusion within some elements of the church. Some believe it is a sin impossible for a Christian to commit. Some confine it to the era in which it was written i.e: first century Palestine. Others believe it to be another form of apostasy. Whilst still others, even Christians, like Bunyan’s man in the iron cage, fear they may have committed it and are thereby bereft of any hope of repentance or salvation.

How are we to understand the sin against the Holy Spirit that we read of in Mark 3, Matthew 12 and Luke 12? Is it a sin that Jesus died for? Is it the only sin to be beyond redemption? Can a Christian actually commit it? And what is so unique about it that makes it so singularly condemning?

In this seventh episode of our series ‘Take Another Look’, Pete and the Curious team attempt to tease open this rather sensitive and controversial issue. They’ll be asking how have we traditionally understood it? What did Jesus mean by it within the context in which he said it? How are we to understand it today? Tune in this week as the team debate and discuss the significance and impact of this difficult subject

Further Reading

We’ve listed some views below for you to read and ponder…

Can a Christian Blaspheme the Holy Spirit? - DesiringGod.org

What is Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit? - GotQuestions.org

What is Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit? - Tenth.org

What we’re reading?

Horatius Bonar ― The Sin unto Death and the Sin against the Holy Spirit

This little booklet is currently available on Amazon, Kindle Edition for 77p (link here)

Send your questions or thoughts to: theologyforthecurious@gmail.com

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What was God’s intention in Genesis 2:3 when He instituted the Sabbath and ‘sanctified it’ and ‘set it apart’? In our present culture sabbath has been understood as addressing the work/life balance. The need to rediscover a restful rhythm to life. Certainly the rate of work is addressed in the sabbath, but does it simply stop there? Is the sabbath day a sacred 24 hours or could any day be taken as one’s sabbath?

Martin Luther referred to the seventh day as a ‘gift from God Himself’. Respected American historian Phillip Schaff, defined the sabbath as a “previous gift of grace, a privilege, a holy rest”; and John Newton remarked, “how dull the Sabbath day without the Sabbath Lord”!

In this sixth episode of our series ‘Take Another Look’, Pete and the Curious team take a deeper look into our understanding of the sabbath. When we are told that God specifically ‘blessed’ the sabbath day, how does that help us to define or re-define the day differently to any other? Abraham Heschel insisted that the Sabbath “is a day for the sake of life”, adding; “the Sabbath is not for the sake of the weekdays; the weekdays are for the sake of Sabbath. It is not an interlude but the climax of living”. Tune in this week as the team will discuss how the sabbath might be better understood as the ‘climax for living’.

Further Reading

We’ve listed some views below for you to read and ponder…

What is the Sabbath in the Bible and Should Christians Observe it? - BibleProject.com

Should Christians Keep the Sabbath? - DesiringGod.org

What we’re reading?

Abraham Heschel ― The Sabbath

Iain H. Murray — Rest in God

Terry L. Johnson ― The Christian Sabbath

Send your questions or thoughts to: theologyforthecurious@gmail.com

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