Author Archives: The Briefing

Starting a book club

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Throughout the suburbs of any Western city, on any given evening, you will find little groups gathered together in houses to chat, discuss and debate—about books. The civilized social phenomenon of the Book Club now appears to be a mainstay of our culture, and it’s a form that can be well used by Christians, whether the group be a group of Christians or simply a group of bibliophiles. Here are some tips on what goes into starting and being a part of a local book club. (more…)

When the biblical theology rubber hits the road

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If you could preach a series on any book in the Bible, which book would you choose?

I put this question to my class of 16 Kenyan pastors as part of a ‘get to know you’ exercise at the beginning of a two-week course in Nairobi last year. My guess is that if I asked the same question of a group of Australian preachers, the majority of us would answer with a book from the New Testament. Not that we don’t value the Old Testament or treat it as scripture, but for one reason or another, we are more comfortable preaching from the pages of the gospels or epistles. (more…)

Turning a Christian prayer into Muslim propaganda

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Eight years ago, on 23 January 1996, Pastor Joe Wright delivered a prayer to the Kansas House of Representatives in Topeka, USA. His prayer was remarkable for its courage and clarity in condemning many evils prevalent in American society and in Western societies generally.

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Learning not to trust

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There is a certain mystique about newspapers—the piles of identical bulletins stacked in the newsagent, the solemn blackness of the headlines, the ink on your fingers, the wrinkly familiarity of spreading it out in front of you on the table. I’m not sure how the combination works, but whatever the reason, I still find it hard not to believe what I read there. There is a gravitas, a kind of aura of trust, that seems to emanate from the pages. Surely if it’s there in black and white, then it must have happened like that?

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