Discipleship – Page 14

Come with me – simple discipleship

I have often been struck by John’s description of the first disciples being called. I would sum up his description of discipleship being that it is people following Jesus to be in his presence and inviting others to come with them and follow Jesus. That’s discipleship in a nutshell. I was reminded of this again… Continue reading Come with me – simple discipleship

Fearless

I was in a prayer meeting the other day where we were encouraged that Christ is the one who is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine. The leader asked us what we were able to imagine for the future, for the children in the church, for the work of the… Continue reading Fearless

We need to talk about death

I’ve lost four friends during the past year. As it happens only 1 of those deaths was recorded as COVID related. However, the presence of the pandemic has made us more alert to death. There is something grim about the arrangements of funerals with the restrictions on who can attend and the required social distancing… Continue reading We need to talk about death

Strength made perfect in weakness

In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul talks about an incredible vision he has had (although he talks in the third person, it is generally agreed that he is referring to himself), where he is caught up into heaven. However, alongside the vision he is given a crippling “thorn in his side.” Just as people have speculated… Continue reading Strength made perfect in weakness

It’s not always persecution

“The washing machine has broken down again, the car needs some expensive repairs, and to cap it all off I’ve injured a limb. This is very clearly a demonic attack because of what I’m doing for the Lord. “ You have no doubt met the type of person who immediately links any misfortune with spiritual… Continue reading It’s not always persecution

Gospel Maths (2) Barriers to multiplication

In the last post, I talked about why I think we should be concerned about multiplication and shared a little of what we’ve seen over the past decade. Here I would like to highlight some of the barriers and obstacles we can face towards multiplication. 90% of the battle when dealing with an obstacle is… Continue reading Gospel Maths (2) Barriers to multiplication

Can we make it more Biblical?

I remember a few years back that we had issues with a particularly disruptive church member. They liked to see themselves as the guardian of orthodoxy and so they would regularly find ways to protest and object. They would also write to us to tell us how we were somehow in league with some person… Continue reading Can we make it more Biblical?

Is there such a thing as Biblical Manhood?

Quite a few years back now, the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood was set up by the likes of John Piper and Wayne Grudem. The primary purpose of CBMW was to advocate for complementarianism – the belief that men and women are made equal but different so that husbands are to exercise headship in… Continue reading Is there such a thing as Biblical Manhood?

I could be in Boris Johnson or Keir’s shoes right now – I’m glad I’m not!

It’s 1995 and I’m in a room with half a dozen other people. We all have one thing in common. One day we would like to be Prime Minister and with the arrogance of youth we each believer that we uniquely have the ability to make that dream come true. Move forward to 2021 and… Continue reading I could be in Boris Johnson or Keir’s shoes right now – I’m glad I’m not!

Zoom communion revisited

Back when we first went into lockdown, our church decided to use zoom and Facebook to enable us to continue gathering. We recognised that these means were not perfect but we felt that the Scriptural injunction to gather was so important that we should try by every means possible to do so. As a church… Continue reading Zoom communion revisited