Category Archives: Full-Text-Longing

Memo from the boss

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A Lead Balloon

MEMO: To all staff

FROM: The company directors

Our latest management research suggests that work isn’t everything. The best employee is a well-rounded employee, and so that you can become the best employee possible, we are taking positive steps to encourage you to balance out the different aspects of your life—your family life, leisure time, physical, cultural and spiritual well-being. Outlined below is a lifestyle programme which we feel will achieve the best results for you … and for us.

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Tests and trials for the rich

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As I preached through James recently, I became fascinated with trials and tests. It was not just a matter of idle exegetical curiosity, since by any measure the church I am part of belongs to the wealthiest class of the most materialistic civilisation on earth. We just expect to have whatever we want and I struggle with greed as much as anyone. I concluded that being rich is a trial as much as suffering hardship. This might be a hard thing for someone who is not rich to accept—how can the rich complain?! But this appears to be the teaching of God’s word here in the letter of James.

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Life from the other side: How the resurrection changed the world

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After precipitating a riot in Jerusalem, Paul was seized by the Romans (Acts 21:17-40). This launched him into a series of imprisonments and eventually a situation of house arrest in Rome itself (Acts 28). During a series of informal and formal trials, Paul had the opportunity to present his case and it became clear that, at least in Paul’s mind, he was on trial for the ‘resurrection of the dead’ (Acts 22:6; 24:14-21; 26:4-8).

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A Reply to Andrew Moody’s ‘Review’ of Jesus and the Father

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Andrew Moody’s review appeared in Briefing #341 (February 2007).

Dear Andrew,

In our numerous exchanges over many years on the eternal subordination of the Son and the permanent subordination of women we both have been always perfectly frank with one another. In this reply to your ‘review’ of my book, better entitled “a personal response,” I will again be forthright. What neither of us want is to produce a fog that results in no one being able to work out what they should believe on the most fundamental of all Christian doctrines, the doctrine of God and no one else being clear on what divides us. Please note the use of the word ‘fog’ because I think one of the great weaknesses in what you have written is that time and time again you deliberately or unintentionally because you don’t see the key issue, obfuscate the question in contention.

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Guidelines for giving

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As a result of Phil Colgan’s Couldn’t Help Noticing piece in Briefing #332 (May 2006) and Sandy Grant’s response in Briefing #334 (July 2006)—both of which have been reprinted below—we thought you might find it useful to compare and contrast the approach taken in the ‘guidelines for giving’ for both Phil and Sandy’s churches in order to think a bit more about the issue.

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Highway to heaven

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Originally published in Briefing #341 (February 2007) UK edition.

One church in south-west London has been running Highway—a program for adults with learning disabilities.

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