On not being weirder than you have to be

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

One of the perennial discussions amongst Christians is around weirdness.  Christians are seen as weird.  We don’t fit in with the culture around us.  We are often mocked for our peculiarities.  Is there anything we can do about that? I would suggest that there are basically three camps in responding,  Weird it out This approach… Continue reading On not being weirder than you have to be

The advanced training every pastor needs

Photo by u795d u9e64u69d0 on Pexels.com

I’ve just been on a training course for three days up in Manchester. It’s quite a bit of a sacrifice for a proud Yorkshireman to be that side of the Pennines but also to be spending time away from home. The course was to do with providing coaching for church planters. So, on the one… Continue reading The advanced training every pastor needs

Recovering our first love

Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

I’ve been writing over the past week or two about how we encourage reform that affects church culture so that what we believe about grace affects how we live.  We’ve seen that central to that is seeing the importance of love as central to the mission of the church. Today, I want to talk a… Continue reading Recovering our first love

Belching (Proverbs 15)

Photo by Rajesh TP on Pexels.com

Better out than in!  The famous response to a good long and loud burp. Of course burps and other wind related emissions tend to be signs of a badly troubled digestive system!  So I think we can easily get the point when the NLT colourfully renders Proverbs 15:2 as The tongue of the wise makes… Continue reading Belching (Proverbs 15)

How do we allow others to help us remove our logs and specks?

Photo by wendel moretti on Pexels.com

In a previous post I began to build on Steve Kneale’s post on the challenges of “logs and specks” in the eye of the church.  Steve said that the challenge is that we often cannot see our own logs to remove them. Here are some further thoughts. First of all, whilst I may not be… Continue reading How do we allow others to help us remove our logs and specks?

Being Salty – Taste and See

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?”[1] “Taste and see that the Lord is good;”[2] Salt has a number of qualities, with regards to food, it acts as a preservative, but it also acts to enhance flavour.  I think it is helpful to think of… Continue reading Being Salty – Taste and See