Building work: Applying the post exile books  to us today

I believe that a crucial principle when applying God’s word to our lives today is that wherever we are in the Bible, we make the application in and through Christ.  The temptation, especially with Old Testament literature is to take what happens with God’s people, what God says to them and what they do and… Continue reading Building work: Applying the post exile books  to us today

Brephos and The Keswick Convention postscript: truth, moral certainty and listening

Back in August, I responded to a little spat that developed between the Keswick Convention and CBR-UK’s church focused project Brephos.  To all intents and purpose, it should perhaps have been a minor deal.  Brephos may feel hard done by that Keswick don’t have space for them in their exhibition but that’s the Convention’s right. … Continue reading Brephos and The Keswick Convention postscript: truth, moral certainty and listening

Revitalisation revisited

One of the driving points in the recent correspondence to Evangelicals Now was that we needed pastors willing to go into small churches and commit to preaching twice on a Sunday and once midweek. The suggestion was that there was a reluctance on the part of younger  potential pastors and that this was primarily because… Continue reading Revitalisation revisited

The challenge of trying to get into others’ heads

If you’d clicked on the Evangelical’s Now website the other day then you will have been greeted with the headline “Bible believing evangelicals will vote for Trump.”  It was the most prominent article on the page. E-N did offer the disclaimer at the end of the article that the newspaper does not endorse specific candidates.… Continue reading The challenge of trying to get into others’ heads

There’s more than one way to plant a church

If you are committed to seeing your church plant new churches but are not sure how you will ever reach that point when you can/will plant, then it’s helpful to know that there is more than one way to church plant. The conventional approach requires a sending/mother church to commission a substantial proportion of its… Continue reading There’s more than one way to plant a church

Resources on urban mission/ class and evangelical church

When reviewing Kirsten Birkett’s book “Class and the Evangelical Church”  I noted that she acknowledges that there is already a wealth of work that has been done on the subject.  I also expressed disappointment that she doesn’t really engage with that great wealth of work and limits herself primarily to two book with a couple… Continue reading Resources on urban mission/ class and evangelical church

Fragments and distortion

Original Revelation is the theory that humanity started with a clear revelation of God and truth. Sin means that this became increasingly fragmented and disrupted.  It’s central to the form of apologetics I’m most aligned to, presuppositional apologetics and the thinking of my favourite missiologist, JH Bavinck.  You’ll also find it showing up in the… Continue reading Fragments and distortion

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?

Shaken

How can we find the boldness to persevere, especially when we face disappointments?  This is an important question when there is a temptation to look back nostalgically as believers to  supposed golden eras or glory days from the past whether that’s a period of revival and renewal or specific preachers, pastors or events. Read Haggai… Continue reading Shaken