There’s been some recent discussion on social media about the use of church discipline and whether or not it can be harmful and lead to examples of abuse. The discussion was prompted by this article by Steve Kneale which was then shared by John Stevens – you can read the thread below John’s tweet to… Continue reading Church Discipline and Church abuse
Tag: church discipline
Finding the right hill to die on in practical pastoral leadership
I’ve been enjoying reading Gavin Ortlund’s “Finding the right hill to die on” about theological triage. The concept of Theological Triage was coined by Al Mohler to describe how Christians go about distinguishing first, second and third order issues. In other words, there are theological issues that are central to the Gospel itself, it is… Continue reading Finding the right hill to die on in practical pastoral leadership
I’ve got a theory
On faithroots Live this week, I was looking at the Theory of Evolution. Now, I’m a Young Earth Creationist which means I fundamentally disagree with Evolutionary Theory, however, I think that it is vital we evaluate the strongest form of an opposing argument. So, one thing that I took time to do was to respond… Continue reading I’ve got a theory
A year in lockdown – was it worth it?
What were you doing this time last year? I was running a temperature and fighting a dry cough. That’s right I’d gone down with COVID-19. The result was that I was going to stay at home. I’d hoped initially that it was just a cold but through the day, it became clearer that it wasn’t.… Continue reading A year in lockdown – was it worth it?
How can you help a wounded Christian?
Last week, I wrote two articles about wounded Christians. The first was a book review. The second engaged with the possibility that wounds might not heal, not immediately and perhaps not at all in this life. I wanted to follow this up with an article suggesting things you can do to help another Christian who… Continue reading How can you help a wounded Christian?
Why commitment to a local church matters
In conversation with one of the people who has decided to open up his church during lockdown, he was quick to talk about the positives because he was seeing growth during the past few weeks following the decision. I asked him whether this growth was from hungry unbelievers desperate to find Gospel food, from discontent… Continue reading Why commitment to a local church matters
The Curse
Covenant History blessed in God’s presence, cursed by exile from it To understand the Covenant ceremony, we need to go back to Genesis 1-3. God creates a good world and also plants a beautiful and secure garden for the first humans, Adam and Eve, to live in. Adam is commissioned to tend to the garden… Continue reading The Curse
Learning to See – That important detail
On a couple of occasions, I’ve been asked for informal advice about a legal matter. Sometimes it has been to do with employment law, once or twice about family law and often to do with immigration and asylum. Often people start with a lengthy story of every single possible grievance or defence that might have… Continue reading Learning to See – That important detail
Does forgiveness remove the need for church discipline?
In my ten years at Bearwood Chapel, we’ve only felt the need to pursue full church discipline in line with 1 Corinthians 5 on one occasion. However the need to remove membership due to persistent, unrepentant and serious sin will sadly arise from time to time in church life. We’ve been talking about the importance… Continue reading Does forgiveness remove the need for church discipline?
Seeing clearly and reporting accurately (my responsibility in a dispute part 2)
On our After Eight slot for Bearwood Chapel we were talking about the bit where Jesus says to take out the log in your own eye before attempting to remove your brother’s speck the other day. I asked Sarah, in the context of this, what she thought was our primary responsibility in a dispute. She… Continue reading Seeing clearly and reporting accurately (my responsibility in a dispute part 2)
