Author Archives: Tony Payne

About Tony Payne

Tony is the Publishing Director at Matthias Media; editor of The Briefing; author of Islam in our Backyard, Fatherhood and numerous other Matthias Media resources; husband to Ali; father of five teenagers; and an avid consumer of books and almost any televised sport.

What ministry is about

Pastoral Ministry, Sola Panel

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Over the past six months or so, I’ve been co-authoring a book about ministry with Colin Marshall. It’s been, by turns, exhilarating and infuriating, clarifying and frustrating. This is not, I should hasten to add, because Col is difficult to work with. He is in fact one of the wisest, kindest and most godly coots you could ever meet. But all big writing projects have their good days and bad days, and this one has had its share of both. Perhaps it’s because the book really goes to the heart of what Christian ministry is all about, what church life is about, and (for that matter) what Matthias Media is for and why we bother to do what we do. It’s a project that is close to the heart and close to the bone all at the same time.

The book is called The Trellis and the Vine: The ministry mind shift that changes everything, and it’s due to be published in a few months’ time. In the final chapter, we sum up the main argument of the book with ten propositions. By way of a taster, and to promote some discussion, I thought I’d run a slightly adapted version of these ten propositions up the flagpole and see what our SP readers make of them.

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The Briefing, to go

Resource Talk, Sola Panel

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Back in the mists of time, before mobile phones, before the internet, even before Michael Jackson’s Thriller, there were ‘The SOCM Papers’. (more…)

Stirring the affections

Thought, Sola Panel

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I concluded part 2 of this little series with a challenge:

What we need is a change in our affections. We need to change not what we feel nor even what we know but what we love.
The question is: How does one do that?

Our guide (in part 2 in particular) has been Jonathan Edwards and his classic Treatise Concerning Religious Affections. What does Edwards say about how to stimulate the affections?

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Why we don’t sing

Life, Sola Panel

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Sandy, I am delighted of course that you are with me on so many things. And I hope you will also be pleased to know that I am with you completely on the goodness and value of singing. (In fact, the only thing I wouldn’t be with you on is the need for that ‘but’ at the beginning of your second paragraph. But let’s not quibble.)

As for why we don’t sing more or better, and in particular why your men aren’t singing, I think the Bible also points us to the answer.

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The natural salesman

Everyday Ministry, Sola Panel

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There were only three of us in Bible study group the other morning, and the other two guys were both in sales—one in property and one in software. We were talking about how to encourage other people with the message of the Bible (whether Christian or non-Christian), about why we fail to do so, and so on.

I started to say that I sometimes find it difficult to talk easily about Christian things, especially with non-Christians, because I’m not a natural ‘salesman’ sort of personality—“Not like you two guys”. But one of my friends pulled me up short.

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Thinking about emotions (Part II)

Thought, Sola Panel

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Christians are arguing about emotions and passionate outpourings. Some exalt in these experiences, and see in them the revival of true and authentic Christianity; others decry the emotional hysteria of easily manipulated crowds, and assert that rational, mature Christianity needs to rise above such gross displays of experientialism.

Sound familiar? It is a (rough) description of the mid-18th-century American context for Jonathan Edwards’s classic work A Treatise on the Religious Affections.

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Wisdom for church planting

Pastoral Ministry, Sola Panel

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Paul, you beat me to the post! Yes, the Church Planting conference at Moore was excellent, and I enjoyed the Thursday as much as you did the Friday, and for all the same reasons. (Although, speaking editorially, if you ever again use the word ‘awesome’ in that fashion while writing on Matthias Media time, I may have to reconsider your contract.)

Three things occurred to me during the day.

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Sick of Bible study? Read on.

Resource Talk, Sola Panel

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Are you sick of reading the resource talk column each month?

I know I’m sick of writing it. Here we are again with another 800 upbeat, encouraging words on some aspect of Christian ministry and the resources we produce to support it. It’s tiresome to write and (I feel sure) a bit of a drag to read. (more…)

Face mask

Ministry in the year of swine flu

Up front, Sola Panel

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How would your congregation of 120 members continue to function—with no regular church gatherings of any kind, and no small home groups (except for groups the size of three)? (more…)

Thinking about emotions

Life, Sola Panel

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I’ve been thinking a lot about emotions recently. This, of course, may be precisely my problem. I shouldn’t be thinking about emotions; I should just be feeling them.

At least that’s what people tell me. Emotions, I am assured, are an important part of who we are as humans created by God, and so Christian faith should also be emotional in some way. It’s not enough just to think and to do; there’s something a bit wrong with us if we don’t also feel.

It’s hard to argue with this, and so I have begun to rummage around in my soul to see if I can rustle up some emotions. And you’ll be glad to know that I’ve managed to find some.

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So why do we gather?

Everyday Ministry, Sola Panel

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Following Gordon’s excellent little post on the place of confession in our gatherings, Michael Johnson asked an equally excellent question in the comments: “I realize it’s not directly related to this post’s topic, but might you briefly elaborate on how you would describe why you gather with God’s people on Sunday mornings (or whatever time you meet)?”

The only thing wrong with this question, Michael, is your opening disclaimer. It’s a very related question, so thanks for asking it!

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If I said I wasn’t a hypocrite, would you believe me?

Life, Sola Panel

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We were looking at Luke 6 in church the other day, and it got me thinking about hypocrites. More particularly, am I one?

The old gag suggests that I am: “The church is not full of hypocrites—there’s always room for one more!”

On this understanding, hypocrisy is an unavoidable description of the normal Christian life. We all say one thing, but do another. We preach against lying, and yet find ourselves telling porkies. We rail against greed and materialism, and then chat about it all the way home in our Audi A4.

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The tract is back

Resource Talk, Sola Panel

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Quick quiz: of all Matthias Media’s different resources—now more than 200 of them—which do you think is the all-time bestseller? Is it:

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An abominable word

Up front, Sola Panel

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When I hear the word ‘abomination’, a vivid image comes to mind. Perhaps it’s from a comedy sketch on TV. I see a man dressed in old-fashioned black clothes, with a black hat and, in reference to some aspect of modern culture (perhaps homosexuality), he declares in a slow, but passionate voice, “It is an abor-min-ay-shon”.
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