Don’t worry, I’m not about to get into a debate or discussion about the details of Prince Harry’s book. I’ve chosen not to buy or read the book. The little I’ve heard in press commentary has put me off. It doesn’t sound like something I’ll find helpful and I suspect that will be true for… Continue reading Spare
Tag: grace driven church
What’s worse: consumer Christianity or self-reliant Christianity?
A friend of mine asked this question recently. I think it’s a really good question to consider. He later gave a bit more of an explanation about what he meant by self-reliant Christianity. He was describing those who become so buy in church life and ministry that they forget our ongoing dependence on Christ’s grace… Continue reading What’s worse: consumer Christianity or self-reliant Christianity?
Revitalisation and the traumatised church
I’ve mentioned a few times now that sometimes a church acts and feels as though it has been through a form of corporate or collective trauma and is suffering corporate PTSD. There may have been a number of factors leading up to this including specific events within the life of the church such as the… Continue reading Revitalisation and the traumatised church
Keep a particular look out for narcissistic bullies
When thinking about dangerous leaders, the potential false shepherds and even wolves that might sneak in, being alert to the dangers of narcissism may be helpful. Narcissists are people with an unhealthy inward focus on themselves. They believe that the world should or does revolve around them, their needs and their priorities. These are the… Continue reading Keep a particular look out for narcissistic bullies
Planting Safer Churches
This may seem like an unusual title. On the one hand, we would hope that churches are safe, loving and accepting places. This is where the Gospel is preached and where people whose lives are being changed come. On the other hand, can we really expect church to be safe? Isn’t there something intensely dangerous… Continue reading Planting Safer Churches
What does your church value?
I’ve been writing a few articles on things like mission and vision statements. There is the risk that such things can feel corporate, slick and fluffy. However, if a mission statement is really simply “Matthew 28:19-20 with a date stamp and a postcode” then what we are doing is helping the church apply God’s word… Continue reading What does your church value?
Protecting leaders from exhaustion
I recently saw the question asked “what can churches and pastors do to protect against burnout?” As you know, I prefer not to use the term burnout as it is often used as a cover for all kinds of things including depression and anxiety. However, presuming that we are describing here mental and physical exhaustion… Continue reading Protecting leaders from exhaustion
Food from around the worldwide web (15-05-2022)
Occasionally I provide a round up of articles that others have been writing about. Here’s the latest. 3 reasons Christians slander one another -it’s something we know shouldn’t happen and yet seems to happen a lot. Why? Is this approach to complementarianism just dressed up egalitarianism – this is a slightly similar issue, not so… Continue reading Food from around the worldwide web (15-05-2022)
Healthy Biblical Counselling
In previous articles I’ve shared my concerns regarding some aspects of Biblical Counselling. Some approaches lead you towards what risks being harsh and legalistic counselling. This arises out of an assumption that we can resolve a problem by identifying and stopping the sin that caused it. This leads, in my opinion to a shallow engagement… Continue reading Healthy Biblical Counselling
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)
Faithroots 