Author: faithrootsdw

Government, childcare, muddled values and faulty assumptions

The Government are concerned that shortages in the labour market risk harming economic growth. Of course, some might suggest that labour shortages have a bit of a relationship to recent changes to immigration policy post Brexit.[1] However, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt has come up with a different answer. As part of a… Continue reading Government, childcare, muddled values and faulty assumptions

Church workers and evenings

There are challenges about how we do ministry in a healthy way.  This means that there are aspects to church leadership both in a paid and in a voluntary capacity that are difficult, sometimes these are unavoidable and sometimes they are simply down to how we organise things. One frequent suggestion is that the pressure… Continue reading Church workers and evenings

The New Testament on Sex, marriage and intimacy

In recent weeks, I’ve been engaging with Josh Butler’s book “Beautiful Union” which seems to try and set out a kind of theology of sex.  I’ve argued that whilst Butler’s aims might be lofty and whilst some of the criticism of him may be unfair, that he ends up falling seriously short and in a… Continue reading The New Testament on Sex, marriage and intimacy

A model Psalm study

Read Psalm 1 through twice: – As wisdom literature  -like Proverbs – Structure and framing a. Within the whole book, Psalm 1 and Psalm 150 b. As part of a specific section Book 1: Psalms 1-41 Book 2: Psalms 42-72 Book 3: Psalms 73-89 Book 4: Psalms 90-106 Book 5: Psalms 107- 150. How do… Continue reading A model Psalm study

What the Old Testament teaches us about marriage, sex and relationships

This is part two, following on from my attempt to set out the framework of Biblical and Systematic Theology.  I said in that post, that to talk properly and pastorally about marriage, sex and relationships that we would need to dig into a little more detail.  So, here goes, an attempt at a summary of… Continue reading What the Old Testament teaches us about marriage, sex and relationships

Reading the Psalms: Digging into the detail

In my last article I talked about how we read the Psalms by reading them in context but just like with any other book of the Bible, we also have to step in to the detailed exegesis.  Here are some further hints to help us with our Psalm reading. First, if you want to read… Continue reading Reading the Psalms: Digging into the detail

Is Church planting the enemy of healthy church life and discipleship?

I saw this tweet the other day, it’s from Marcus Honeysett who heads up Living Leadership. As someone who is actively involved in encouraging church planting I thought it might be helpful to respond a little. First, it is important to recognise that it is possible for people and churches to become so focused on… Continue reading Is Church planting the enemy of healthy church life and discipleship?

1 Chronicles and the big picture background to the story

This week’s podcast Here are the notes: Introduction 1 Chronicles 1-9 covers the whole of world history and specifically the history of God’s people up until the end of King Saul’s life.  It does this by recording the family trees of key people with occasional, pithy commentary. It would be helpful as we reach the… Continue reading 1 Chronicles and the big picture background to the story

How might we talk about sex?  – A Biblical Theology of Marriage and Relationships

In recent posts, I talked about where evangelicals have gone wrong in attempting to talk about sex, particularly in attempts to create a theology of sex. My argument was that talking pastorally about sex and relationships requires a Biblical Theology not of sexual intercourse itself, anatomised from its proper context but of marriage.  In this… Continue reading How might we talk about sex?  – A Biblical Theology of Marriage and Relationships