When people have come to join us at Bearwood from a more Roman Catholic or High Church background, there are often some tell-tale signs. One is the tendency to arrive as close to the start time as possible and leave quickly at the end avoiding much social interaction with others. So, when I first saw… Continue reading Church is about more than a quick in and out visit
Posts
Eternal Functional Subordination, The Will of God and The Creeds
In the last two articles on EFS, we picked up on what Jesus says in John 5 and Matthew 26. We saw, that on the face of it, The Son submits his will to The Father. Proponents of EFS argue that this is exactly what the Son is doing and that this must be an… Continue reading Eternal Functional Subordination, The Will of God and The Creeds
“Not my will but yours” – who is talking to who?
In Matthew 26, Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane after he has shared the last supper with the disciples. There in the garden he goes to pray on his own and says these famous words. “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”[1]… Continue reading “Not my will but yours” – who is talking to who?
The Son with amnesia?
In an earlier post, I talked about the challenges and the importance of talking about the Doctrine of God. I mentioned the controversy around the Doctrine of the Trinity and the Eternal Functional Subordination debate. Over the next few posts, I want to talk in a little more detail about this. My personal view is… Continue reading The Son with amnesia?
Lead us not into temptation
A lot of people struggle with this one and so have sought to amend it. Why on earth would God lead us into temptation? This implies doesn’t it that he might, but surely that would mean he was encouraging us into evil. Perhaps this is a strong way of emphasising the next part of the… Continue reading Lead us not into temptation
Conversations about God
There has been much debate about the Doctrine of God over the past few years. The technical end of the debate is about whether a particular historical approach known as Classical Theism is the benchmark of orthodoxy and whether certain theologians have strayed beyond that therefore making them heretics. There are two specific examples of… Continue reading Conversations about God
Forgive us our debts
When we get to this point in the Lord’s Prayer, we are reminded of two stories Jesus told. I have mentioned the first one a few times. It is the story of the unforgiving servant. The other one is about a young man, who demands his inheritance and heads off to a far country where… Continue reading Forgive us our debts
#ChurchToo – Pastoring the accused
What are our responsibilities towards someone who has been accused of abuse or bullying within the church? It is important to remember at this stage that being accused and being found guilty are not the same things. So, our first responsibility both to the accused and the accuser is to seek truth and justice. Secondly,… Continue reading #ChurchToo – Pastoring the accused
Give us this day our daily bread
The next part of the Lord’s prayer is a request that God will provide for us. It is a reminder that all good things come from God alone and that he is the one who provides for us and protects us. At a practical level, this is a prayer that God will oversee conditions around… Continue reading Give us this day our daily bread
How do we handle #ChurchToo allegations? Supporting the victim
It is perhaps helpful when thinking about how we would handle a complaint from an adult about abuse within the church to remember that we have some starting points. Much of what we should do is covered in the policies we tend to have for safeguarding children and vulnerable adults. I think the key things… Continue reading How do we handle #ChurchToo allegations? Supporting the victim
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