This is my third article responding to the accusation that complementarianism discriminates against single people. I want to look at how this works out in practice. I want to say at the start that this is not an attempt to claim that the churches I’ve been part of as a member or as a leader… Continue reading Complementarianism and Singleness – in practice
Category: Church life
Complying with COVID measures did not imply a lack of faith
One of the nastiest lies put about through the last year is that anyone who sought to comply with COVID-19 measures such as wearing face masks, social distancing and co-operating with restrictions on church gathering were somehow lacking in faith. If they had enough faith in Jesus, then they would not be worried about death… Continue reading Complying with COVID measures did not imply a lack of faith
After the pandemic -don’t forget about the body of Christ
We are enjoying our new church and particularly the prayer meetings and mid-week community groups. Often at these, one of the elders will pick up on a key thing from the Sunday sermon and encourage us to think about practical application before turning to prayer. The other Sunday, the speaker had talked about Christ returning… Continue reading After the pandemic -don’t forget about the body of Christ
After COVID – let’s not forget about evangelism
During COVID-19 lockdowns, churches were forced to make greater use of online provision. Most saw significant engagement with their output beyond their regular congregations. Of course, early figures may have eld to false optimism, once we had accounted for people clicking on and off links and other Christians “church surfing” the numbers weren’t as huge… Continue reading After COVID – let’s not forget about evangelism
Church Discipline and Church abuse
There’s been some recent discussion on social media about the use of church discipline and whether or not it can be harmful and lead to examples of abuse. The discussion was prompted by this article by Steve Kneale which was then shared by John Stevens – you can read the thread below John’s tweet to… Continue reading Church Discipline and Church abuse
How we respond to concerns about abusive and bullying culture matters for the culture
There have been a range of responses to the recent scandals and reviews concerning abuse in the church. On the one hand there are those who I think wish it would all just go away. We’ve identified a few rotten apples, they’ve been dealt with so let’s move on. There have been others however who… Continue reading How we respond to concerns about abusive and bullying culture matters for the culture
Why is Sheep Stealing such a bad thing?
Last Sunday, I wrote about the issue of sheep stealing by which I meant the attempt to poach/steal/attract people from another church to join yours. But why is this a problem? Surely we are part of the one family of God, surely as long as people are in the kingdom it doesn’t matter too much… Continue reading Why is Sheep Stealing such a bad thing?
Sheep stealing, transfer growth and the end of the pandemic
There are times when it becomes necessary to move from one church to another, this might be because a church has departed from what the Bible teaches on primary issues touching on the Gospel or because you have changed your own position on some thing important and central to the beliefs and practices of that… Continue reading Sheep stealing, transfer growth and the end of the pandemic
Paedo-baptism and covenant membership
The other day I highlighted three of the big arguments for paedo-baptism, here is the fourth. This has particularly become associated with the Federal Vision thinking of Douglas Wilson, Peter Leithart and James Jordan, however it is not exclusive to them, rather you find it present in a lot of contemporary paedo-baptist arguments and particularly… Continue reading Paedo-baptism and covenant membership
The problem with some of the big arguments for infant baptism
Over the years, I’ve consistently heard three main arguments for infant baptism. These are: That when preaching, the apostles announced that the promise was for “you and your children.” Therefore, Christians can confidently expect their children to be within the new covenant promise. That baptism is the New Covenant equivalent of circumcision, that circumcision was… Continue reading The problem with some of the big arguments for infant baptism
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