I’m returning to the themes coming out of The Gospel Coalition’s controversial article “Sex is not your saviour but it points to the one who is” which provided an excerpt from Josh Butler’s forthcoming book, Beautiful Unnion. As promised, I want to deal here with some of the challenges and pitfalls around talking theologically and… Continue reading Can we talk about sex and relationships? The pastoral challenges and pitfalls
Tag: pastoral theology
Why getting our theology around sex and marriage is important but difficult
A few weeks back, controversy erupted around The Gospel Coalition publishing an extract from Josh Butler’s up and coming book, Beautiful Union. Recently, Preston Sprinkle hosted Josh along with Sandy Richter, an OT scholar and Brenna Blain, an advocate for abuse victims on his podcast to discuss the book and the controversy. You can watch… Continue reading Why getting our theology around sex and marriage is important but difficult
Theology and the church
The other day I saw this twitter comment about the place, or more accurately, absence of theology in the local church. There was also this additional commentary from Marcus Honeysett. I believe that the local church is the context where theology should primarily happen. There are a few reasons for this but it boils down… Continue reading Theology and the church
Pastoral Theology
Another resource I’ve been developing on Faithroots is a “pastor’s theology”. The aim is to provide a Systematic Theology that is practically applied to help us think about how what we believe affects how we live. I am currently working on part 4 about Being Human and bits of that are appearing on the blog… Continue reading Pastoral Theology
Hostile to God
Our story of humanity so far has been about rebellion and rescue. We’ve seen Adam and Eve sin and face both judgement and grace, we’ve observed this pattern repeated through Cain and Abel. We’ve then watched as evil has filled the earth leading to judgement through cataclysm. There was salvation in the midst of The… Continue reading Hostile to God
Can we talk about ugliness?
John Piper hosts a podcast called “Ask Pastor John”. Recently he was asked: ““Pastor John, why did God make some people ugly and unattractive? How can I accept the fact that God, though capable of making me beautiful or at least average looking, chose to create me in an unattractive manner?” Now I guess, Piper… Continue reading Can we talk about ugliness?
How can we help?
The conversation you rather wouldn’t be having “I just don’t think we can go on. We’ve tried everything. It’s time to go our separate ways.” With those words, you are asked to give your blessing to divorce. Or, you’re sat talking with a young member. They’ve recently started dating someone who is not a Christian. … Continue reading How can we help?
The Faithroots Series
I originally started Faithroots in order to provide online teaching and training. I had two concerns. The first was to provide content that we couldn’t cover in half hour on a Sunday morning for those at our church who wanted to take things further. The second was that I’ve a particular concern for those who… Continue reading The Faithroots Series
What is happening with COVID hospital admissions?
As you know, I’ve been sharing a few articles about the COVID situation. to help us with our thinking about church life at this phase in the pandemic. Whilst pastors and leaders cannot become experts in epidemiology and whilst our primary focus is to keep people focused on Christ, it is helpful for us to… Continue reading What is happening with COVID hospital admissions?
Sexual ethics and consent
I was struck by a helpful comment made by the preacher at church recently. Their text was 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 with the focus on verse 3 which says “3 God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin.” The helpful comment they made was that Christians who care about sexual… Continue reading Sexual ethics and consent
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