In the light of the Ravi Zacharias scandal, the debate has continued about what should happen to the vast empire of trusts and organisations that took his name. The options so far have been: Disband all of the trusts quickly and completely Dissociate individual national trusts from the US one which is seen as theContinue reading “Apologetics in its place and the need for Gospel reform of our culture”
Tag Archives: Culture
Confronting abuse in the church – reforming towards a culture of grace
I’ve written from time to time about the issues of bullying and abuse within the church. That is because recent serious scandals relating to high profile leaders that include sexual, emotional and physical abuse, and sadly the accompanying failure of the church to deal with such issues over many years raise challenges about church culture. Continue reading “Confronting abuse in the church – reforming towards a culture of grace”
More on logs and specks: What is the heartbeat of our church?
The other day, I began exploring the question about applying Jesus’ teaching on logs and specks corporately to churches and communities. Steve Kneale has helpfully developed the conversation here. At this stage I am struck by two very helpful things Steve asks us to think about. The first one is that only true heart changeContinue reading “More on logs and specks: What is the heartbeat of our church?”
Biblical Manhood and Womanhood – Hierarchialism and Complementarianism are simply not the same
I am a complementarian in terms of my views of men and women and their roles in church and home. This means that I believe men and women are not interchangeable. This has two specific (and only two) applications. It means that Ephesians 5 talks about husbands sacrificially loving their wives, wives submitting to theirContinue reading “Biblical Manhood and Womanhood – Hierarchialism and Complementarianism are simply not the same”
Suppression
A significant conversation at the start of the coronavirus was about the distinction between seeking to manage the virus and seeking to suppress the virus. Along with most other governments, the UK took the suppression route because of the expected higher death tolls from management only,] It is therefore important to think carefully about whatContinue reading “Suppression”
Compliance
What would you rather have? The choice is between 100% of people being 95% compliant or 80% of people being 100% compliant? It looks like one of those trick questions doesn’t it? I’m meant to go for the better numbers 100% and 95% but it doesn’t take me long to realise that it is betterContinue reading “Compliance”
If it feels like excommunication, you are probably doing it wrong
At the start of the Coronavirus lockdown when we began discussing what we should do as churches, one of the main areas of debate was about whether or not we could and should still share the Lord’s Supper (communion). All sorts of reasons were given on both sides of the debate. As you know, IContinue reading “If it feels like excommunication, you are probably doing it wrong”
Abuse and The Church: Changing the Culture
Always Reforming I’ve shared a few articles recently reflecting on the less pleasant side of church life. It should sadden us that the church (locally, nationally and internationally) often seems to fall short of what it should be as a haven of hope and safety. However, at the same time it should not surprise us. Continue reading “Abuse and The Church: Changing the Culture”
Plugged In
If you go back 100 years to the early 20th Century, the question of how you engaged with the culture had a simple answer “you don’t.” Christians were expected to separate out from the world and so worldly things like cinemas and dance halls were out of bounds. We have come a long way sinceContinue reading “Plugged In”
