In 1994, Mark Knoll wrote “The scandal of the Evangelical Mind” in which he protested at what he perceived as a lack of willingness to think deeply and carefully among evangelicals. He identified an anti-intellectualism within our movement. Rachel Held Evans became a notable doubter/sceptic of evangelical faith and in 2013, she wrote: The questions… Continue reading The Scandal of the Evangelical Heart
Posts
The one mark of a healthy church
How do you know if your church is healthy? How do you make a decision about whether or not to join a church? If you are considering a possible calling to pastor a church, what is the first and most important thing you should be checking up on? A few years back now, Mark Dever… Continue reading The one mark of a healthy church
Do we have grace?
I first heard of Vernon Higham when Wesley Aiken, pastor at Rochester Baptist Church came back from a holiday. Higham had been the visiting speaker at the church where Wesley’s family went on their holidays. Wesley described this frail elderly man taking to the pulpit and preaching a gospel sermon about the grace of God… Continue reading Do we have grace?
Covenant Renewal Order of Service
(Pastor) O Lord, open thou our lips.(Answer). And our mouth shall shew forth thy praise. (Pastor). O God, make speed to save us.(Answer) O Lord, make haste to help us. (Pastor) Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;(Answer). As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever… Continue reading Covenant Renewal Order of Service
Food from around the web
My friend from Oak Hill days, Stephen Watkinson has resurrected his blog “Northern Souls”. Here he writes on the importance of “hammering home” application if we want to make sure that churches get the challenging things that God has to say to us. Facing the Day: This is a guest post by Rachel Lane on… Continue reading Food from around the web
Does the Bible talk about money more than it talks about love, heaven and hell?
The short answer is “No.” If it did, then you would notice it as a recurring theme when you are part of a church where expository preaching is practiced. You would either notice that the preacher kept, accurately and transparently showing how the text applied to your wallet, or you would wonder why the preacher… Continue reading Does the Bible talk about money more than it talks about love, heaven and hell?
Beginning (Matthew 1:1-7)
This is the first in our new series of sermons on Matthew’s Gospel. Here we start to see how Jesus is the promise of the ages who brings a new Genesis, a new beginning. Catch up with a look back at the live stream video here
Awkward – the unsayable?
A baby boy is born, rejoice, a symbol of hope in troubled times. That was the general mood of many public statements yesterday. Carrie Symonds, the prime-minister’s fiancé had given birth. This was the Archbishop of Canterbury’s reaction. There is a lot to be thankful for. A few weeks back, we were praying for Boris… Continue reading Awkward – the unsayable?
False teachers, abusers and cults (2 Peter 2:10-16)
I’ve spent some time on Faithroots talking about the problem of abuse and bullying in the Church. This has been in response to some very public scandals in the last year or two relating to high profile church leaders and organisations. It also relates to things I have observed more widely in church culture. High… Continue reading False teachers, abusers and cults (2 Peter 2:10-16)
The Prosperity Problem
We know there’s something bad out there called “The Prosperity Gospel.” We know it’s bad because most preachers and pastors will quickly tell us that it’s wrong and that they don’t teach it. However, I’m not sure that we quite grasp exactly what the problem is. The risk then is that we can end up… Continue reading The Prosperity Problem
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