Author: faithrootsdw

No -small groups are not a replacement for the church but Sam Allberry’s reasoning is wrong

For some reason, this 2016 article from The Gospel Coaltion cropped up on my timeline recentlyam Allberry writes that small groups are not a direct replacement for the church.  I must admit that I’m a little confused about the target of his article. I’m not sure who is claiming that they are.  The result is… Continue reading No -small groups are not a replacement for the church but Sam Allberry’s reasoning is wrong

Where are the goals going to come from?

Bradford City’s season can be summed up in one name “Andy Cook.”  Over this season, he scored an impressive haul of 31 Goals, 28 in the league. This means he was scoring a goal every 121 minutes. His nearest rival, Sam Hoskins at Northampton Town was scoring every 163 minutes.  Cook was the stand out… Continue reading Where are the goals going to come from?

No AI won’t wipe out humanity -but that doesn’t mean there isn’t an ethical issue

The Daily Mail lead with a headline the other day that “AI could wipe out humanity” (cue far too many obvious jokes at the Mail’s expense).  It’s long been the stuff of Science Fiction.  Some of us grew up on films and stories about robots taking over the world.  Things that looked impossible only a… Continue reading No AI won’t wipe out humanity -but that doesn’t mean there isn’t an ethical issue

Do we need to break the Gospel down to make it clear?

Matt Smethurst writes on The Gospel Coalition site: “When it comes to the gospel, we don’t need to dress it up to make it cool. We need to break it down to make it clear.” https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/3-reasons-avoid-evangelism/ The context of the comment is in an article about why we can sometimes struggle with and seek to… Continue reading Do we need to break the Gospel down to make it clear?

When Sorrows like sea billows roll (book review)

There aren’t many certainties in life, in  fact it’s often said that the only three are birth, death and taxes.  The middle of these means that at some point we are going to experience bereavement.  What does it mean to grieve well?  How can our faith sustain us through difficult days and how can we… Continue reading When Sorrows like sea billows roll (book review)

Church planting or church migration?

In 2010, a number of churches and Christians agreed to partner together to see 20 new churches planted by 2020 in Birmingham and then after that, to seek another 30 planted by 2030 with the hope that if each of the 50 churches planted again within our lifetime, that would be about 100 new churches.… Continue reading Church planting or church migration?

New Testament Church Leadership?

Is there a specific approach and structure to church leadership that we find in the New Testament? Different movements at different times in history have attempted to recover New Testament practice. For example, the Brethren were convinced, that this meant removing a paid class of clergy and replacing them with plural oversight. They also believed… Continue reading New Testament Church Leadership?

The God who is near

I’ve just reviewed a book which is primarily testimony mixed in with pastoral advice about walking through difficult days (watch out later this week). What the book does well is it highlights God’s sovereignty. We can trust in the omnipotent, omniscient, God. I think different strands of Christianity help us get specific aspects of God… Continue reading The God who is near