Category: evangelism and mission

More on class and church

I had some interesting responses to my recent observations about class and the church.  These ranged from “Yes there is a working class but it’s a small minority in the wider society, so we cannot really suggest that the church is dominated by a minority culture.  The culture that dominates is the culture of wider… Continue reading More on class and church

Cold contact: Going door to door

Steve Kneale writes here about the pros and cons of door to door evangelism. He does so by helpfully comparing Christian outreach to the methods used by charity fund raisers.It’s worth noting that all he says about door knocking could be said about other forms of cold contact evangelism including street evangelism I should also… Continue reading Cold contact: Going door to door

Is it the working classes that we should be focusing on?

Steve Kneale has also written about the book on Class that I recently reviewed.  Steve deals more with the reaction. Why does the book seem to have received such a gushing response from some quarters but causes a negative reaction among working class Christians and those he refers to as “practitioners” who are engaged in… Continue reading Is it the working classes that we should be focusing on?

When people know nothing at all about Jesus

On a Friday afternoon, a group of us from our church get together at a local pub for one of our small groups.  The approach is “Ask anything?” Sometimes one of the group will raise a question that’s been bothering them but if not, the group leader will put forward a question to get us… Continue reading When people know nothing at all about Jesus

Can we appreciate Alpha?

Following Russell Brand’s baptism, there has been a lot of interest generated in the media about celebrities and evangelicalism including this rather sneering article in The Times.  John Stevens, National Director of the FIEC (Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches) shared the link on Facebook and commented to the effect that whilst there is a tendency… Continue reading Can we appreciate Alpha?

Tom Holland, Jordan Peterson and Gospel confidence

A couple of years ago, conservative evangelicals seemed to go crazy for two prominent secular authors/speakers operating at a popular level, Jordan Peterson and Tom Holland.  Peterson’s star seems to have waned somewhat but Tom Holland remains popular and has been invited onto podcasts and to speak at evangelistic events, usually with a format that… Continue reading Tom Holland, Jordan Peterson and Gospel confidence

The problem with that Titanic illustration

I want to pick up an illustration which I suspect most of us from conservative evangelical backgrounds have used at some point (or something similar). Andy Prime uses it in a sermon on the Gospel in a new book. He gets us to imagine the scene in the aftermath of the Titanic hitting the iceberg. … Continue reading The problem with that Titanic illustration

Heart languages

When we first started seeing South Americans coming along to our church, they expressed gratitude for the love and welcome we gave them.  They particularly appreciated that we were willing to go out of our way to provide translation but they admitted that they were struggling and needed something more. These hungry people were desperate… Continue reading Heart languages

Why I don’t think we should bring back the Gospel Service

Richard Baxter writes here in favour of bringing back Gospel Services.  Well actually, he doesn’t. He;s arguing for something else. I’ll come on to that a little later.  I thought though first of all, it might be helpful to give a bit of background to the concept of the Gospel service. Back in the 20th… Continue reading Why I don’t think we should bring back the Gospel Service