Recently, we’ve been preaching on Guidance, and to reinforce the theme, I selected “Guide me, O my great Redeemer” as our hymn of the month. (more…)
Preaching Christ from the Old Testament
Pastoral Ministry
Preaching Christ from the Old Testament is hard. It’s hard because the Old Testament text itself can be hard to deal with—it’s long, complicated, and culturally distant. It’s hard because even when we get to grips with the text, it isn’t always easy to see how it relates to Jesus and/or how we can encourage people with the gospel, rather than simply making them feel guilty and weighed down with impossible requirements. (more…)
Don’t get fleeced by Gideon’s guidance!
Everyday Ministry, Sola Panel
A question about reading the Bible with kids – even the hard bits
There was an interesting comment on my post Reading the Bible with kids – even the hard bits.
A mum who’s thinking about how to read the Bible with her family said, “I’d love to see a follow up article about tackling the other types of difficult passages of the Bible – the particularly gory or sexual bits.”
Guide me, O Thou Great Redeemer
Everyday Ministry, Sola Panel
I’ve shared before the concept of “Hymn of the Month”
In November, given our sermon series on Guidance, it makes sense that I selected “Guide me, O Thou Great Redeemer” as Hymn of the Month. Here’s what I wrote about it in our weekly church newsletter… (more…)
What is the Mission of the Church?
Thought, Sola Panel
There have been many predictions about the next evangelical crisis. Perhaps correctly, many have predicted that it will again be on the nature and authority of the Bible. Is the telltale sign of this the fact that the post conservative post-modernists have tried to change the argument from being about the reliability/accuracy of the Bible to the interpretation of the Bible, all in the name of wanting to be an insider of this “evangelical” club? (more…)
Speech and salvation: a role for pastors?
Pastoral Ministry, Sola Panel
On my previous article about gospel speech, Craig made some comments and suggestions that I thought were so good they were worth a whole new post.
As a layman, what encourages me in evangelism, more than anything else, is hearing about other laymen doing it. For example, a while ago I heard a mate at church describe how he was planning to witness to the bloke in the next cubicle. That did more to encourage me than 10 sermons on evangelism would have done.
Colossians 3:1-4
Bible 101
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
In 2005, the city council of Rome banned round goldfish bowls on account of them being cruel to the goldfish inhabiting them.1 One report on the reasoning behind this decision was that the curved glass would surely give the fish a distorted view of reality, and may even lead to blindness. The councillor behind the law believes “the civilisation of a city can also be measured by this [kind of treatment of animals]”. (more…)
Genesis 3:1-6
Bible 101, Sola Panel
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
The thing about familiar stories is that you eventually stop reading them. You know them too well. And even when you do read them, you don’t really take the words in because you already know what they’re going to say. (more…)
In my weakness, your growth
Life, Sola Panel
None of us wants to be the cause of another person’s sanctification – at least, not unintentionally – and yet, so often, that is what we are.
Is this one of the reasons that God allows us to become weak, dependent and forgetful as we grow older? Is it so we can place a necessary burden on those who were once dependent on us: a burden of forbearance and loving care? (more…)
Speech and salvation 8: Learning how to talk
Everyday Ministry, Sola Panel
“I can’t do what they’re doing.”
Maybe you’re convinced that gospel-speech is at the very core of what it means to be a Christian. Maybe you’re convinced that the world needs to hear the gospel. But you look around, and you see real live gospel speakers. You watch them closely, and listen to the way they talk. Then you look at yourself, your own speaking abilities, your own background, your own life situation. And you realise, with a mixture of bewilderment, disappointment, and maybe even a twinge of jealousy, that you’re not like those gospel speakers. You don’t have their gift. How could you ever do evangelism like they do it? (more…)
The big read: Phil and Jackie
Everyday Ministry
Two people giving the Big Read a go share their thoughts. (more…)
The big read
Everyday Ministry
Pete Woodcock, a pastor in south-west London, talks about how he’s trying to excite his congregation with the Bible—and how he wonders whether we’re missing something in our churches. (more…)
Trellis & Vine Talk 4 – all about small groups
Audio
In this fourth episode of Trellis & Vine Talk, Tony and Col discuss the difficulty of summarising problems with small groups, the negative connotations of ‘community’, living the Christian life with other people, mission in a group setting, and the goals of a small group (MP3).
Editorial: The art of reading
Wednesday night is a highlight of my week.
Around about 7:30pm some 15-20 young adults descend on our place. (Actually, they’re all university students, so it’s usually a fair bit after the ‘official’ start time.) I fire up my coffee machine—I have an industrial-grade behemoth for just this reason—and we sit down together to share our lives around God’s word. (more…)