Some apostles?

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One of the big moves during my lifetime has been from a situation where it would be considered at best “fringe” to refer to some Christian leaders as apostles to it being fairly normalised.  This came up significantly in my deep dive into Bethel, Redding.   The New Apostolic Reformation has a particular view of apostles… Continue reading Some apostles?

Christ over multiculturalism and asylum

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“Christ over all” says that it “Is a fellowship of pastor-theologians dedicated to helping the church see Christ as  Lord and everything else under his feet.” Those are noble aims from a blog that says it comes from a “Reformed Baptist heritage”.  With that in mind, I was saddened to see them publish this article. … Continue reading Christ over multiculturalism and asylum

Henry Nowak, conspiracy theories and the church

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There is a saying that “A lie can be half way around the world whilst truth is still putting his shoes on.” I was reminded by that when reflecting on the political and social media reaction to the murder of Henry Nowak.  First, go back to the original incident.   There is an early example of… Continue reading Henry Nowak, conspiracy theories and the church

The grace of the Bible’s teaching on divorce

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Back when I was at a previous church, we met a particular pastoral situation when someone who had got divorced wanted to remarry.   Unsurprisingly, the leaders held to a variety of views because there are a diversity of views among Evangelicals more widely.  We didn’t want to just look at the individual case but rather… Continue reading The grace of the Bible’s teaching on divorce

The killing of friendship

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 This is a repost of a previous article from the old faithroots site. In his lament for Saul and Jonathan, David says of his friend: “How I weep for you, my brother Jonathan! Oh, how much I loved you!And your love for me was deep,deeper than the love of women!”[1] Some people have picked up on… Continue reading The killing of friendship

Signs and symbols of God’s presence

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It might be tempting for some to skip over the next 15 chapters of Exodus.  However, we should know better than to ignore a significant section of Scripture.  It looks like we merely have a list of instructions here, building instructions, interior design instructions, clothing instructions etc.  Yet, if we believe that all Scripture is… Continue reading Signs and symbols of God’s presence

Pastoring  a church through the question of men and women in leadership

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Perhaps one of the greatest challenges for local churches right now is navigating potential controversies around how to understand the role of men and women in the local church.   This reflects, a polarising between those holding to complementarian positions and those holding to egalitarian ones. How in practice can we address this in a way… Continue reading Pastoring  a church through the question of men and women in leadership

The true and better Sinai

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When the people of Israel were at Sinai, God told Moses to set boundaries around the mountain.  This was the place where God would meet the people, where they would hear him and receive his word.  Yet, for all but Moses,  it was to be at a distance. One day, people were bringing their kids… Continue reading The true and better Sinai

Are you washed in the blood?

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Imagine if you had been stood amongst the people as Moses spoke and then demonstrated the covenant by sprinkling or showering you with blood from the sacrifices.   We tend to be queasy about blood, ancient people were less so. The blood was significant and significant because it was not just something happening in the distance… Continue reading Are you washed in the blood?