Affinity have announced in a press release plans to set up a UK version of The Gospel Coalition. TGC describes itself as “ a fellowship of evangelical churches in the Reformed tradition deeply committed to renewing our faith in the gospel of Christ and to reforming our ministry practices to conform fully to the Scriptures. “… Continue reading Does the UK need The Gospel Coalition?
Tag: questions
On banning teaching children about religion until they are 18
You see all kinds of fascinating insights into society’s thinking on social media. Recently I saw a post on Threads (the Meta/Facebook alternative to Twitter) which argued that children should not be taught religion until they are 18. Specifically, they were observing that this is something China seeks to enforce and identifying it as a… Continue reading On banning teaching children about religion until they are 18
Should I take questions after preaching?
Someone raised the question the other day about what would happen if we opened up the floor to questions when we had finished preaching. Now, as it happens, I’ve been in a fair few preaching contexts where we’ve done that. Sometimes, I’ve intentionally opened up to Q&A, at other times, it’s been the decision of… Continue reading Should I take questions after preaching?
TV, culture and curiosity
I’m following up on the discussion around TV and pastoral visits from the other day with some further thoughts, less to try and reach a definitive answer on the original question and more to work through some things that started to come out of the discussion. One key thing that I think came out of… Continue reading TV, culture and curiosity
When Scripture asks the questions
Steve Kneale has written helpfully here about what to do when a Bible passage doesn’t seem to be answering your questions. As Steve observes, it can often be the case that the passage simply isn’t intended to answer the question that you and me are asking. Indeed, it may well also be the case that… Continue reading When Scripture asks the questions
Is it possible to know what happens after death?
Remember the social media thread I shared the other day about the supposed lack of curiosity from evangelicals and how we don’t have questions. Well, the follow on conversation was fascinating. As is often the case, people who insist that there is no place for certainty appear to become very certain about that. Take this… Continue reading Is it possible to know what happens after death?
Questioning curiosity
Here’s an interesting one. Jemar Tisby wrote: Now, perhaps ironically, that in itself raises a whole load of questions that his approving audience don’t seem to be asking. The first one is this.” How would people have reacted if we replaced the words ‘white’, ‘evangelical’ and questions’ in that sentence?” A second question would be,… Continue reading Questioning curiosity
Gospel touch points
What are the key things you would want to cover in a conversation about the Gospel with people in your local community? I would suggest that there are five things we would want to talk about in any given situation. Now, how we talk about them, and even the order in which we talk about… Continue reading Gospel touch points
Pastoral care – hearing and listening well
An important part of offering pastoral care is the need to listen and hear well. Here are a few further thoughts on this. Prepare well. Prior to meeting up make sure you are aware of what the context and purpose of your time together is. It is often helpful to have thought through some specific… Continue reading Pastoral care – hearing and listening well
Because I say so? -what should I do with my doubts?
In presuppositional apologetics[1] one of the key arguments deployed for why we can trust the Bible is the claims that Scripture makes about itself. The basis for this argument is tht at some point, we have to accept that there is a final authority, an ultimate arbiter on belief. The question is “who” or “hat… Continue reading Because I say so? -what should I do with my doubts?
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