Malcolm Cox

“The LORD’S word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him.” 

(PSALM 18:30)

I have just returned from my most recent personal spiritual retreat. In this week’s podcast I share some thoughts about the benefits of solo retreats.

I also reflect on a phrase from Psalm 18. God is our perfect shield. In this time of COVID-19 and the fact that many people are either shielding or being shielded, it’s an encouragement to reflect upon the fact, while human shielding is limited in its effectiveness, God’s shielding will never let us down.

I read two books while I was away including, “The relentless elimination of hurry” by John Comer. I thoroughly recommend this book as a modern take on ancient spiritual devotional practices.

Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community.

Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: [email protected].

If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://www.malcolmcox.org.

Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review.

“Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” (Psalms 100:2 NIV11)

God bless, Malcolm

PS: You might also be interested in my book: “An elephant’s swimming pool”, a devotional look at the Gospel of John

mccx, Malcolm Cox, Watford, Croxley Green, teaching, preaching, spiritual disciplines, public speaking, corporate worship, Sunday Sample, Corporate Worship Matters, Tuesday Teaching Tips, Quiet Time Coaching, coaching, coaching near me, coach, online coaching, savior, quiet time, devotion, God, Jesus, Pray, prayer, malcolm’s, cox, 

Basic preaching and teaching course for men and women

In this course we will cover some of the basics of the preparation and presentation of biblical lessons.

The aim is to provide helpful examples and teaching for both the older and younger Christian.

Extra class: An introduction to the privilege of speaking God’s word

Extra class: A summary of the course and suggestions for ongoing learning.

1. The importance of one point

2. The point for this lesson

3. Three perspectives

4. Pictures

5. Persuasive or Practical?

Conclusion 

Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community. 

Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: [email protected].

If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://www.malcolmcox.org.

Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review.

“Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” (Psalms 100:2 NIV11)

God bless, Malcolm

PS: You might also be interested in my book: "An elephant's swimming pool", a devotional look at the Gospel of John

mccx, Malcolm Cox, Watford, Croxley Green, teaching, preaching, spiritual disciplines, public speaking, corporate worship, Sunday Sample, Corporate Worship Matters, Tuesday Teaching Tips, Quiet Time Coaching, coaching, coaching near me, coach, online coaching, savior, quiet time, devotion, God, Jesus, Pray, prayer, malcolm’s, cox, 

Last weekend some of the lockdown restrictions were relaxed. It meant that I could go and visit my parents for the first time since March. It was a wonderful time although  tinged with awkwardness. It was delightful to see them, but painful not to be able to hug them. At least my father I could shake hands - swiftly followed by a good hand washing! I will confess that I did give my mother a kiss by accident. I did it before I realised what I was doing. Then she told me off!

The picture at the top of this newsletter is one I took on this visit. It tells a story of renewal. When we moved into the family home 45 years ago the Oak tree depicted was not much larger than you see in the picture. It grew rapidly to become an enormous beautiful copper-coloured oak. When the sun rose it shimmered with colours gold and orange. In a storm last year a huge branch came crashing down into the orchard. The council determined that the rest of the tree was unstable. Workmen came to take it down to a stump. Only a few months later you can see the renewal. The way God has made the world in which we live includes, always, the potential for refreshment, renewal and growth.

I'm bearing this in mind as I go away for a personal spiritual retreat. The retreat runs from Sunday after church to Tuesday evening.  now and again over the years I have gone away for an overnight retreat. The first time I did this was 2003. The church was in crisis and, frankly, so was I. the three days I spent in Wales and the surrounding areas were the perfect preparation for the years that followed. Without that time with God, focused and prayer-soaked I doubt I could have made it through the tough times that came.

A mix of circumstances including COVID-19 have persuaded me that now is the right time to go away with God. Please pray for me that I come back with a more powerful sense of God's love and presence, and, if it's his will, greater clarity about how I am to be, and what we are to do as a church post-COVID.

As mentioned last week, I had the privilege of speaking on Acts 11.19-26 to the East region of the London International Church of Christ, the Thames Valley churches of Christ and the congregation in Uppsala, Sweden. I will bring the same message to the Watford church this weekend. It struck a nerve in all three places last Sunday. I haven't had a reaction to a sermon like that for a long time. 

I don't know exactly what it was, but clearly the Spirit helped me to tap into the zeitgeist. If you get a chance to listen to it, I'd be grateful if you could help me to understand what it is that connected. 

Until the next time, I hope and pray that you would be refreshed and renewed and find that God's word hits your nerve where it is needed!

God bless, Malcolm

My morning devotional reading from, "The virgin eye" by Robin Daniels, included this prayer by St Ignatius. I have updated the language:

"Fill me, I ask you, with your light and life that I may shine for your wondrous glory. Grant that your love may so fill my life that I may count nothing too small to do for you, and nothing too big to bear." Page 336I spent a good proportion of my prayer times this week praying through that last phrase - that I would consider nothing too small to do for God, and nothing too big to bear.

Small faith matters to him: 

““If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.” (Luke 17:6 NIV11)We have the strength to bear with anything: 

“No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13 NRSV)Nothing too small to do this week meant, for me, fixing some flickering lights in the lounge of my parents' home and a lampshade in one of the bedrooms. Small, inconsequential in many ways, but not too small as a way to show my love to my mother and father.

Nothing too big to bear this week has meant, for me, listening to friends pour out their heart to me about very difficult experiences that caused tears to come into my eyes. It has also meant not reacting with inappropriate and hasty anger to situations that needed more prayer.

Question for the week: “Which Scriptures help you to act on the small things, and which Scriptures help you to trust God for the strength for the things that feel too big to bear?"

Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community.

Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: [email protected].

If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://www.malcolmcox.org.

Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review.

“Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” (Psalms 100:2 NIV11)

God bless, Malcolm

PS: You might also be interested in my book: "An elephant's swimming pool", a devotional look at the Gospel of John

mccx, Malcolm Cox, Watford, Croxley Green, teaching, preaching, spiritual disciplines, public speaking, corporate worship, Sunday Sample, Corporate Worship Matters, Tuesday Teaching Tips, Quiet Time Coaching, coaching, coaching near me, coach, online coaching, savior, quiet time, devotion, God, Jesus, Pray, prayer, malcolm’s, cox,

Books etc. 

https://www.bestcommentaries.com/ 

Friends 

Internet 

1. Be discerning

Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community. 

Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: [email protected].

If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://www.malcolmcox.org.

Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review.

“Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” (Psalms 100:2 NIV11)

God bless, Malcolm

PS: You might also be interested in my book: "An elephant's swimming pool", a devotional look at the Gospel of John

mccx, Malcolm Cox, Watford, Croxley Green, teaching, preaching, spiritual disciplines, public speaking, corporate worship, Sunday Sample, Corporate Worship Matters, Tuesday Teaching Tips, Quiet Time Coaching, coaching, coaching near me, coach, online coaching, savior, quiet time, devotion, God, Jesus, Pray, prayer, malcolm’s, cox, 

As most of you will know a group of us planned a spiritual retreat in March. COVID-19 put an end to all that! I am hoping to reorganise a similar event in the future. However, in a dream last night (no, I'm not joking I really did dream this), it came to me that we could do something online. Not a full-blown weekend retreat, but an experimental one-off spiritual devotional event. 

So I'm testing the waters by asking if you would be interested in joining me for a one hour spiritual devotional on a Saturday morning. I don't have a format nailed down. I'm open to suggestions, but I would imagine it would be something like this: 

If you would be at interested in attending, please let me know what would make it meaningful for you. In other words - imagine the end of the hour. You know in your spirit that this was helpful to you spiritually. What have you experienced, what has happened, how do you feel, and what helped you?

Depending on the responses I received, I will make a plan for an event later in July or early August.

I have the unusual privilege of preaching three times on Sunday (tomorrow). Mind you, one of those is pre-recorded. I shall be speaking for the East region of the London International Church of Christ in the morning via recording. Simultaneously, I shall be speaking live for the Thames Valley churches of Christ, and then in the afternoon speaking for the Uppsala group in Sweden.  

All three sermons are centred on the same topic and text - Acts 11:19-26. We will be as discussing how the Spirit moves the church into uncomfortable, unexpected and unprecedented experiences. We shall be celebrating the initiative of those unnamed men from Cyprus and Cyrene who spoke to the Greeks in Antioch. We will be considering the impact on not just Antioch, but the whole of Asia Minor and Europe. Finally, we shall be looking at Barnabas as a model of how to approach potentially controversial initiatives. His example will inspire many of us, I believe, to become a Barnabas or seek one out to help us accomplish what the Spirit has given us to do. Tune in on Sunday, to one of those services, or catch up with it online later if you prefer. I have to tell you that I'm as excited about this topic and this text as any I have spoken on for a long time. Please pray for me to teach and preach well to the glory of God and the edification of the church.

I had a thoroughly inspiring meeting this morning with the people who helped put on the "Message in the mayhem" series. We spent a good amount of time talking over the feedback we received. We're going away to pray more and think about what we might put on in the future. Without any doubt there is a tremendous hunger for similar events.  

Please pray for us that by the end of this coming week we will have a clear idea about what to do next. We'll be communicating some of our thoughts through various channels and on various platforms. Your feedback would be greatly appreciated. At the moment, our thinking is coalescing around the idea of how to think Biblically and Christianly about cultural issues that God brings to our attention.

God bless, Malcolm

"Psalms of Ascent Series", Quiet Time Coaching: Episode 232, Psalms of Ascent overview 

You have found a daily podcast based on the Psalms of Ascent (Psalms 120-134). 

They are designed to help our hearts and minds being a healthy place while the Covid 19 virus does its worst. 

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” (Colossians 3:1–4 NIV11) 

Each day we will meditate on a verse or two from these wonderful Psalms as we make our pilgrimage from confusion to hope, pain to peace, anxiety to joy. 

From Kedar to the Temple we have been on a life-changing pilgrimage. What has God shown you? How has he changed you? What can you celebrate today?

Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community. 

Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: [email protected].

If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://www.malcolmcox.org.

Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review.

“Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” (Psalms 100:2 NIV11)

God bless, Malcolm

PS: You might also be interested in my book: "An elephant's swimming pool", a devotional look at the Gospel of John

mccx, Malcolm Cox, Watford, Croxley Green, teaching, preaching, spiritual disciplines, public speaking, corporate worship, Sunday Sample, Corporate Worship Matters, Tuesday Teaching Tips, Quiet Time Coaching, coaching, coaching near me, coach, online coaching, savior, quiet time, devotion, God, Jesus, Pray, prayer, malcolm’s, cox, 

Question: What tools do you have to help you explore the passage?

“One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts.” (Psalm 145:4 NIV11)

Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community. 

Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: [email protected]. 

If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://www.malcolmcox.org.

Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review.

“Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” (Psalms 100:2 NIV11)

God bless, Malcolm

PS: You might also be interested in my book: "An elephant's swimming pool", a devotional look at the Gospel of John

mccx, Malcolm Cox, Watford, Croxley Green, teaching, preaching, spiritual disciplines, public speaking, corporate worship, Sunday Sample, Corporate Worship Matters, Tuesday Teaching Tips, Quiet Time Coaching, coaching, coaching near me, coach, online coaching, savior, quiet time, devotion, God, Jesus, Pray, prayer, malcolm’s, cox, 

"Psalms of Ascent Series", Quiet Time Coaching: Episode 231, Psalm 134 v3

You have found a daily podcast based on the Psalms of Ascent (Psalms 120-134). 

They are designed to help our hearts and minds being a healthy place while the Covid 19 virus does its worst. 

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” (Colossians 3:1–4 NIV11) 

Each day we will meditate on a verse or two from these wonderful Psalms as we make our pilgrimage from confusion to hope, pain to peace, anxiety to joy. 

‘bless’ appears in every verse of the Psalm - it is the key word. Earlier in the Psalm it is man blessing God, not the roles are reversed. The difference is that man can only give God what he already has, while God’s blessing gives man what he does not have, and makes him what he is not.  

"When he ‘blesses’ us he reviews our needs and meets them; when we bless him we review his excellencies and worship him." New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition. Edited by Carson, D. A, R. T France, J. A. Motyer, and Gordon J. Wenham. Accordance electronic edition, version 1.1. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1994.

Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community. 

Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: [email protected].

If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://www.malcolmcox.org.

Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review.

“Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” (Psalms 100:2 NIV11)

God bless, Malcolm

PS: You might also be interested in my book: "An elephant's swimming pool", a devotional look at the Gospel of John

mccx, Malcolm Cox, Watford, Croxley Green, teaching, preaching, spiritual disciplines, public speaking, corporate worship, Sunday Sample, Corporate Worship Matters, Tuesday Teaching Tips, Quiet Time Coaching, coaching, coaching near me, coach, online coaching, savior, quiet time, devotion, God, Jesus, Pray, prayer, malcolm’s, cox, 

"Psalms of Ascent Series", Quiet Time Coaching: Episode 230, Psalm 134v2 

You have found a daily podcast based on the Psalms of Ascent (Psalms 120-134). 

They are designed to help our hearts and minds being a healthy place while the Covid 19 virus does its worst. 

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” (Colossians 3:1–4 NIV11) 

Each day we will meditate on a verse or two from these wonderful Psalms as we make our pilgrimage from confusion to hope, pain to peace, anxiety to joy. 

“Lift up your hands in the sanctuary

and praise the LORD.” (Psalm 134:2)

Praise is the goal of the trip, not the arrival, or the distraction of being a ‘tourist’ in Jerusalem.  Now you are here, bless God.  Our praise is not dependant on our feelings.  Praise helps us get our feeling back in the right place - our servants, not our masters, subjugated to God like all things we own.  See Peterson, Obed, p195. “..your feelings might be flat, but you can control your muscles: lift up your hands.”  Peterson, Obed, 195.

Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community. 

Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: [email protected].

If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://www.malcolmcox.org.

Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review.

“Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” (Psalms 100:2 NIV11)

God bless, Malcolm

PS: You might also be interested in my book: "An elephant's swimming pool", a devotional look at the Gospel of John

mccx, Malcolm Cox, Watford, Croxley Green, teaching, preaching, spiritual disciplines, public speaking, corporate worship, Sunday Sample, Corporate Worship Matters, Tuesday Teaching Tips, Quiet Time Coaching, coaching, coaching near me, coach, online coaching, savior, quiet time, devotion, God, Jesus, Pray, prayer, malcolm’s, cox,