Why I’m grateful for the Australians

These are not words you expect from a Brit especially as we are about to resume our traditional sporting rivalry (think rugby league, rugby union and cricket) tussling to come out on top in the Commonwealth Games.  However, I wanted to say something here about what I’m thankful for about Australian Evangelicalism, specifically Sydney Anglicanism.… Continue reading Why I’m grateful for the Australians

All Scripture?

Back in the recent little debate about inerrancy, one suggestion was that Evangelical reliance on 2 Timothy 3:16 doesn’t provide enough support for their argument that Scripture is without error because it is inspired by the God who is without error.  Here I want to respond to some of the arguments here God breathed into… Continue reading All Scripture?

Champagne Legalism

This week, Dominic Raab stood in for Boris Johnson at Prime Ministers’ Questions whilst the PM was at the NATO summit. Given Raab’s reputation for putting his foot in his mouth, I assume his main job was to demonstrate exactly why Boris is still Prime Minister.  He didn’t disappoint. Convention meant that if the PM… Continue reading Champagne Legalism

Do the Psalms and Prophets disagree with God?

One thing you’ve probably heard me say frequently is that we need to let God’s Word disagree with us.  In a recent discussion I explained that this is one of the key reasons why I hold to Biblical inerrancy.[1] The comeback to this was that I was imposing an authoritarian understanding of Scripture that neglected… Continue reading Do the Psalms and Prophets disagree with God?

If I stopped being a complementarian, what would I lose?

A friend asked this searching question the other day – not specifically of me. Rather, they asked men who hold to complementarianism what they would lose if they walked away from that position. It’s an interesting one. In a sense, there might be something to lose.  You see, for some pastors/leaders, it would involve losing… Continue reading If I stopped being a complementarian, what would I lose?

A genuine grace saturated culture? Don’t lose the challenge

This is kind of a postscript or P.S following my two articles on Evangelical futures.  There’s a further PPS to come in a few days where I want to talk about the positive aspects of Australian/Sydney Anglican influence on UK Evangelicalism. In this article I want to talk about two linked things that primarily are… Continue reading A genuine grace saturated culture? Don’t lose the challenge

Killing Scripture?

Evangelical Christians believe that God’s Word is infallible and inerrant. These two closely related words are intended to convey an important point, that in Scripture God speaks truthfully -all that Scripture says is truthful concerning the things it speaks about and that it is without contradiction and error.  When Evangelicals say this, they are speaking… Continue reading Killing Scripture?

There’s more to reformed evangelicalism than this

Yesterday I shared some reflections in response to an article in Evangelicals Now by Glen Scrivener. There’s much I agreed with in his article, much that resonated. However, one thing I’m not so comfortable with is that in many respects, his description was only of a small part of Evangelicalism.  Indeed, I think that the… Continue reading There’s more to reformed evangelicalism than this

Multiplying and planting – how do you decide what to do?

One question that comes up when thinking about planting is whether or not we should have a particular model/approach in mind. What will a new plant look like? This includes questions about the style and  structure of a plant but also the exact nature of the beast. Is it actually a new church you are… Continue reading Multiplying and planting – how do you decide what to do?

Evangelical Futures – Evangelicals Now (reflections in response to Glen Scrivener)

Evangelicals Now have been running a series of articles from various prominent evangelicals entitled “Evangelical Futures.”  In the most recent article Glen Scrivener shares some of his experience of the conservative Evangelical scene. In the article, Glen reminds us of the book “The Trellis and the Vine” by Payne and Marshall. He suggests that there… Continue reading Evangelical Futures – Evangelicals Now (reflections in response to Glen Scrivener)