Search in ARCHIVES

October 2013

My personal thoughts on…The Father

When I think of God the Father my mind goes very quickly to images of ‘light’. Righteousness untainted by self-justification: absolute holiness so different from my own attempts to be different. Justice without sentimentality: love uncompromised by self-interest: goodness beyond my conception of integrity, kindness and benevolence. He is the brightest of white light without even a shimmer. His thoughts are higher than mine to such a degree that only when He condescends to me do I understand anything of His nature. God the Father is absolute, unfathomable, mysterious, magnificent and glorious.  It is hard to describe my thoughts of Him because words seem as motes of dust trapped in His luminescence. He is indescribably… God.


Truth is The Word – Restoring a Lost Focus has recently been revised and published in e-book format. Find out more from the author on Jesus, truth and biblical interpretation in this revised edition! 


My personal thoughts on…The Father Read More »

My personal thoughts on…The Holy Spirit

I know the theology concerning the Holy Spirit, but my appreciation is more at the level of feeling and impression than of logical definition. I find The Spirit influences me in gentle and usually very subtle ways. I have the sense of being corrected, guided, and comforted as a form of nurture rather than dominance.  Even in the moments when I experience the greatest degree of empowerment for ministry I am impacted by awe and wonder rather than ‘power’. It is as though The Holy Spirit has poured an inexpressibly precious liquid energy into my cupped hands which I want to handle with the greatest reverence as I give it to others without any slipping through my fingers. On the occasions when I succeed in pointing people to Jesus I have the impression that The Spirit is smiling benignly upon me. When I do wrong or act selfishly I sense the disappointed disapproval of one who loves me and expects the best from me. I really appreciate The Spirit’s involvement in my life and I am eternally grateful that The Holy Spirit breathed life into me both physically and spiritually.

Truth is The Word – Restoring a Lost Focus has recently been revised and published in e-book format. Find out more from the author on Jesus, truth and biblical interpretation in this revised edition! 


My personal thoughts on…The Holy Spirit Read More »

My personal thoughts on…the Bible

From the day I was born again of the Spirit of God I acquired a hunger for the written Word of God, the Bible. I still find it fascinating. I accept its divine inspiration and authority and rejoice in its trustworthiness. I appreciate its absolute honesty and I am constantly encouraged by how transparently it records human frailty. However, what fascinates me about the Bible is that, whilst being divinely inspired, it is also an obviously human production. God did not compel men to write exactly what he wanted penned. Rather, he allowed specially chosen people into a working partnership and together they produced the Holy Scriptures, to God’s specifications. The result is not a theological textbook, or a divine dictionary. It is not a mystical recipe book for proving all things, nor is it a user’s manual for living. Rather, it is paper-and-print forum for encountering God and discerning his purpose and plans. It reveals his character and nature and it also contains his values, principles and priorities. Most of all, the Bible reveals Jesus, the living Word of God.

Truth is The Word – Restoring a Lost Focus has recently been revised and published in e-book format. Find out more from the author on Jesus, truth and biblical interpretation in this revised edition! 


My personal thoughts on…the Bible Read More »

My personal thoughts on…the local church

I have been the pastor of a local church for twenty-seven years now and yet I am not its longest standing member. People have come and gone but many have remained for decades. We are an extended family but I am not the patriarch, for the Lord Jesus fulfils that role. I truly love this local church that Jesus has built around himself. Its highest good is my chief concern and in a very real sense its wellbeing is my wellbeing. Like all families it has some troublesome members and moments, but the difficult bits are far outweighed by the regular glimpses of glory. When we meet together we are noisily happy to be with each other, but when we worship as one the family becomes a temple and joy transforms into awe. I feel privileged to be a part of something so eternal and so precious to the Lord Jesus – he shed his blood so that churches like this could exist. I love the local church for it is the fullness of him who fills everything in every way – Jesus.

Truth is The Word – Restoring a Lost Focus has recently been revised and published in e-book format. Find out more from the author on Jesus, truth and biblical interpretation in this revised edition! 



My personal thoughts on…the local church Read More »

About Me

My name is Christopher Peppler and I was born in Cape Town, South Africa in 1947. While working in the financial sector I achieved a number of business qualifications from the Institute of Bankers, Damelin Management School, and The University of the Witwatersrand Business School. After over 20 years as a banker, I followed God’s calling and joined the ministry full time. After becoming a pastor of what is now a quite considerable church, I  earned an undergraduate theological qualification from the Baptist Theological College of Southern Africa and post-graduate degrees from two United States institutions. I was also awarded the Doctor of Theology in Systematic Theology from the University of Zululand in 2000.

Four years before that I established the South African Theological Seminary (SATS), which today is represented in over 70 countries and has more than 2 500 active students enrolled with it. I presently play an role supervising Masters and Doctoral students.

I am a passionate champion of the Christocentric or Christ-centred Principle, an approach to biblical interpretation and theological construction that emphasises the centrality of Jesus

I have been happily married to Patricia since the age of 20, have two children, Lance and Karen, a daughter-in-law Tracey, and granddaughters Jessica and Kirsten. I have now retired from both church and seminary leadership and devote my time to writing, discipling, and the classical guitar.

If you would like to read my testimony to Jesus then click HERE.