The other day, I wrote about whether or not churches should expect to grow and if so whether pastors and elders are responsible for that growth. My view is that, Biblically we expect God’s kingdom to grow. That’s not the same as saying that every individual church will be growing all the time but it… Continue reading Ministry nuts and bolts: Space to Grow?
Tag: Culture
Do we need to control immigration to protect our culture?
I promised the other day, that I would deal with one specific argument for why we need to tightly control immigration. It is stated here: The argument is that mass immigration will distort and destroy our culture. We therefore need to restrict immigration at a level which enables newcomers to assimilate into the host culture. … Continue reading Do we need to control immigration to protect our culture?
Which came first – Scripture or culture?
Yesterday I wrote about God, gender, pronouns and the church. Now, the classic response of liberal theology is to argue that the language we use about God and the church with Christ as groom and church as bride is somewhat arbitrary so that we could reverse it. Then, it is further suggested that the reason… Continue reading Which came first – Scripture or culture?
Grace (Ephesians 2:1-10)
Here’s the outline notes of a sermon I preached yesterday. Introduction As a church we want to be a grace filled community – a radical alternative to the world and culture around us. This means that every aspect of what we do and how we live is saturated in this thing called grace. We need… Continue reading Grace (Ephesians 2:1-10)
A breakthrough attack on abortion ethics will come at some point
The biggest concern in public health at the moment is that an escape mutation of the COVID-19 virus will emerge. This variant will have the ability to break through the current immunity defences of vaccines and natural immunity leading to a new wave of serious illness, hospitalisation and sadly deaths. The hope is that vaccine… Continue reading A breakthrough attack on abortion ethics will come at some point
That Hideous Strength (book review)
No, not the third in the CS Lewis Sci-Fi Trilogy, although the title is drawn from that book. This is Melvin Tinker’s analysis of the cultural dangers that the church and indeed Western society more broadly are facing today. Unsurprisingly, the primary cultural dangers identified by Tinker are the post-modern approach to tolerance that blurs… Continue reading That Hideous Strength (book review)
Line of Duty – knowing how to finish a story
Spoiler alerts Shortly before the final episode of the current series of Line of Duty, I shared my predictions. I suggested that, the ending would Prove a bit of a tear jerker Be ambiguous enough to leave open the possibility of a seventh series. Leave viewers frustrated and annoyed. Well, two out of three isn’t… Continue reading Line of Duty – knowing how to finish a story
In defence of complementarianism
One of the things I’ve seen coming up again and again is the suggestion that part of the problem with conservative evangelical culture that needs to change is complementarianism. Indeed, you will notice that the push is to argue that complementarianism is not only a risk factor for creating abusive cultures but furthermore is, in… Continue reading In defence of complementarianism
Changing our culture – the relationship between church leaders and church members
In my previous post, I talked about how to reform church culture towards a grace culture by focusing on our relationship towards one another as characterised by humility. Today, I want to talk about how leaders and congregations should relate to each other. Here are two important scriptures on the subject. First of all, we… Continue reading Changing our culture – the relationship between church leaders and church members
Calling men: – how will we respond to the Sarah Everard case?
This week we’ve been shocked by the horrific murder of Sarah Everard. In the same way that the killing of George Floyd provoked a public conversation as well as outpouring of emotion and demonstrations on the streets to say that #BlackLivesMatter so too we are seeing a similar response here as women talk openly about… Continue reading Calling men: – how will we respond to the Sarah Everard case?
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