Archives: tony-payne

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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The double cure

Thought, Sola Panel

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Grimmo’s post on changes to the words of Wesley’s famous hymn put me in mind of another equally significant change to an equally famous hymn.

In the first verse of ‘Rock of Ages’, we are used to singing:

Be of sin the double cure: cleanse me from its guilt and power.

But this is not what Augustus Toplady wrote.

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Gen Blank

Life, Sola Panel

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I’ve just wandered upstairs to my desk, leaving the teenagers in front of a new inter-generational quiz show that pits the Baby Boomers against Gen X and Gen Y. It seems like harmless enough fun. Hey look, 3D movies were big in the 50s! Roller blading was the 90s! Who can do the robot?

But the programme brought back to the surface a subversive thought that I’ve been harbouring for some time. Is it just me, or does anyone else out there suspect that the broad generalizations that are flung around about the supposed characteristics of Gen X and Gen Y are basically vacuous?

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An offensive God

Thought, Sola Panel

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Why does the second half of Isaiah 30 have to be so offensive? It starts with God marching out to war against Israel’s enemies, his face furious with anger, his sleeves rolled up for battle, his breath a stream of sulfurous fire. This is challenging enough in a primitive-wrathful-deity-of-the-Old-Testament kind of way. You’ve heard these objections. You might even have made them in your own heart.

But Isaiah then adds a detail that is even more objectionable.

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Ministry in the year of swine flu

Pastoral Ministry, Sola Panel

| | 12 comments

 

Try this mental experiment. Imagine that a swine flu pandemic swept through your part of the world, and that all public assemblies of more than three people were banned. And let’s say that, due to some catastrophic combination of local circumstances, this ban had to remain in place for 12 months.

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)?

If you were the pastor what would you do?

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No use crying

Up front, Sola Panel

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I have a reputation both at home and at work for being affable—imperturbable—phlegmatic, even. However, like most people of serene disposition, there are some events guaranteed to perturb my phlegm—three-putting from ten feet, for example, or spillages at the dinner table—particularly those involving milk. (more…)