The news from the Big Church Festival is devastating. On Friday afternoon a large sign collapsed possibly due to strong winds. The festival was paused as news emerged of at least six injuries. Then later in the evening police sadly confirmed that a 41 year old man had been killed. The story was reported on… Continue reading When tragedy hits
Category: pastoral-care
Wedding anniversary reflections
Today is our wedding anniversary. So, I wanted to start my post by saying a couple of thank yous. First to my wife, Sarah, it’s a joy to be your husband and I am grateful not just for the 19 years of married life but for the 22 years it has been a privilege to… Continue reading Wedding anniversary reflections
Is pastoral counselling homework helping or hurting?
Casey McCall has picked up on and adapted the title of Stephen Corbett and Brian Fikkert’s book “When Helping Hurts” to talk about “When Helping hurts in pastoral counselling.” His main point is that pastoral counselling does more harm than good when those seeking it confuse it with therapy. To some extent I want to… Continue reading Is pastoral counselling homework helping or hurting?
What are the issues facing pastors right now?
If we are going to apply Scripture well to our congregations, then as well as being able to read God’s word and interpret it well, we also need to be “reading the room.” We need to have a good understanding of what it is that our congregations are facing. We need to be exegeting them… Continue reading What are the issues facing pastors right now?
Marriage for Christ
Here’s a talk from a little while back on Ephesians 5:21-33 and marriage. There are two parts. At the start I run through a brief exposition of the passage and then Sarah and I have a discussion on the practical application.
Is Doug Wilson right to say that women who refuse to marry, bear children and carry out domestic chores are turning after Satan?
The short and simply answer to what might be considered a silly question is “No.” But obviously for us to end up with such a silly question, Doug Wilson has been saying something silly. It’s worth having a look at what he has been saying as it gives us an insight into the kind of… Continue reading Is Doug Wilson right to say that women who refuse to marry, bear children and carry out domestic chores are turning after Satan?
The crucial gift of curiosity
One of the striking things about the controversy concerning Peter Mandehslon is the seeming lack of curiosity at senior government level. Keir Starmer had indicated that he wanted Mandelson as the US Ambassador. A vetting process had been put in place. However, it remained the case that Mandelson was his personal, political appointment. Furthermore, Starmer… Continue reading The crucial gift of curiosity
Calling out the gold
One of the themes in Bethel’s approach to pastoral care is that you don’t so much respond to someone’s sin because that doesn’t truly reflect their identity. Instead you should seek to honour and name correctly who they are now, their new identity. This is sometimes referred to as “calling out the gold”. This very… Continue reading Calling out the gold
Shawn Bolz and the elephant in the room
I’ve mentioned in one previous article the issues around Shawn Bolz and specifically false claims of prophecy when it comes to words of knowledge that were apparently based upon social media data mining. Now, as it happens, I think that there is a potentially charitable view of how someone could get into such a situation. … Continue reading Shawn Bolz and the elephant in the room
The confidentiality questions we forget to ask
I often point out that confidentiality isn’t about secrecy, it is about maintaining a confidence and that means asking: However, I would suggest that there are two further questions we need to ask. 3. Why do they need to know? This will help us think about the communication and it is helpful to have clarity… Continue reading The confidentiality questions we forget to ask
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