In an article identifying “eight essential qualities of pastors who love their jobs”, Sam Rainer identifies the second one as “They don’t take criticism personally”. On one level, I agree with this if by it, he means that you need to hear all the critiques without taking it too much to heart. There can be… Continue reading Criticism can be personal
Posts
The Gospel in Ephesians
At the heart of all of Paul’s letters is the Gospel. It was clearly his belief that a restating of how and why we are saved is what we need if we are to live godly lives. This is true in Ephesians as well. Whilst some of his themes, most notably justification are not mentioned… Continue reading The Gospel in Ephesians
The leadership course
A few years back, I put together a short course to help people considering involvement in church/Christian leadership. I’ve shared it on our resources pages and it is available for free if you would like to make use of it in your church.
Tim Keller’s legacy
We are coming up to the first anniversary of Tim Keller’s death and so this is perhaps a good opportunity to reflect on his life and contribution to the work of the Gospel. Keller planted a thriving church in New York before going on to develop a wider international speaking and writing ministry. I’m sure… Continue reading Tim Keller’s legacy
Training Elders
Tim Suffield writes here on the importance of training elders. I don’t really have much to add to what he has to say. I agree with him that we should train and equip all elders at a church, whether they are on staff or not. I agree with him that this is not first and… Continue reading Training Elders
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
May 11th
If you have any connection with Bradford, then you will get the significance of today. 39 years ago today 56 football fans, 54 Bantams supporters and 2 from Lincoln didn’t make it home from watching a football game. Within a few minutes, a horrendous fire took hold of the main stand. Those who did escape… Continue reading May 11th
Is marriage the State’s business?
My friend Steve Kneale has written here about marriage arguing that churches should not be conducting marriage ceremonies, but if they do, they should only do so for church members. Well, personally I sit loosely on whether or not you should have a church wedding and whether or not churches should perform them. I don’t… Continue reading Is marriage the State’s business?
Arrivals
On the Faithroots Podcast we are continuing our journey through Luke’s Gospel
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?
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