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@faithroots74
Why the doctrine of justification is crucial
I’m not sure if you are meant or allowed to have a favourite doctrine but if we are, then mine would be the doctrine of justification by faith alone. I think that this doctrine is crucial to our understanding of how other doctrines work and also to practical Christian living. In terms of other doctrines, I remember Mike Ovey observing that as he’d engaged in the Penal Substitution debate it had…
How do leaders help the church family to work through differences?
Any church can expect to have people holding to a range of views in it. You might expect people from different theological backgrounds, there might also be specific disagreements on issues from when and who to baptise, what songs to sing accompanied by what instruments and then there may be a range of ethical and political issues that people differ on, from the pros and cons of Brexit to…
Holding tightly or holding lightly
Pick up something that is valuable to you. I worry that at this point many of you have reached for your mobile phone. Whatever it is, grip it tightly in your hand. What would happen if you were to hold onto it that tightly for a long time? Well, I expect two things would happen. The first is that after a while, it would begin to hurt. Secondly, at some point you are going to have to make…
Yet Christ -word order and finding our focus in Scripture
Word order in Greek and Hebrew matters. It tells you where the emphasis or focus is. What is the priority. So, here’s something fascinating. We are familiar with Romans 5:6 which says “For, while we were yet sinners, at just the right time, Christ died for us.” It’s a fantastic verse. However, get this. The Greek word order runs as follows. “For, yet Christ, while we were sinners, at…
Is pastoral counselling homework helping or hurting?
Casey McCall has picked up on and adapted the title of Stephen Corbett and Brian Fikkert’s book “When Helping Hurts” to talk about “When Helping hurts in pastoral counselling.” His main point is that pastoral counselling does more harm than good when those seeking it confuse it with therapy. To some extent I want to agree with that and to distinguish pastoral counselling from “therapy”…
What unites us?
It is rare to find a church that is completely homogenous in terms of beliefs and traditions. My own experience of leadership has been in churches where people have come from all kinds of backgrounds, reformed, Baptist, Brethren, Anglican, Pentecostal, charismatic, cessationist, young earth creationist, old earth/theistic evolution, egalitarian, complementarian etc. There’s a good chance that…
Romans 5:12-14
Another “how much more” is coming up. The intent is to point us to the uniqueness and greatness of Christ. The “therefore” here links us back to the point that our boast is solely in Christ alone. Jesus is set up as one, crucial man in comparison to the previous man, Adam. The point is going to be that if sin and death came through one man, Adam, so much more, life comes through one man,…
Is the King in residence?
It has been reported that not only will King Charles stay at Clarence House rather than moving fully into Buckingham Palace but also, the Prince of Wales intends to remain at Windsor even when he becomes king. Personally, I can’t help but wonder if this is a mistake. I’m sure that their PR advisors have found something appealing in the optics of kings favouring more homely options than the…
Questions for TGC-UK
My most recent article for Evangelicals Now asks the newly launched The Gospel Coalition-UK some questions. I write as a critical friend of The Gospel Coalition and of the individuals/groups involved in TGC-UK. You can read the EN version here and you will also see that Graham Nicholls has kindly provided a response. Reports suggest that plans for a TGC-UK are moving forward at pace. I’ve…
Just relax! The best answer to the question "what's my purpose?"
Have you noticed something. God makes the world, he evaluates it as good, he makes man and woman in his image and commissions them to work. Then he rests. Indeed, the sense when you look at the Law in Exodus 20 is that this isn’t just about God resting, it’s about hi instituting a Sabbath rest. Adam and Eve are made just in time to rest. We often talk about the importance of knowing your…
What has the Trinity got to do with public theology?
I was watching a YouTube interview recently where the interviewee, a theologian, argued that people aren’t really talking about The Trinity or other doctrines, especially outside of the Church. That’s why he and others are more focused on other cultural and political issues. However, I wonder if he is right? Surely a robust doctrine of the Trinity and a healthy Christology is crucial to our…
What are the issues facing pastors right now?
If we are going to apply Scripture well to our congregations, then as well as being able to read God’s word and interpret it well, we also need to be “reading the room.” We need to have a good understanding of what it is that our congregations are facing. We need to be exegeting them and their context. At one level, the issues people face are the same as what they have always faced. There are…
Don’t disappear in the summer
“Where did everyone go?” asked the new Christian. They had come along to the church earlier in the year, accepted Jesus as saviour and got involved in the life of the church. Then we came to the summer holidays. Quite a few of the younger families headed off on holiday. Youth clubs, ESOL classes and other ministries stopped. People wanted to take a break from life groups and leaders put…
Mums and dads in church ... The boundaries
I’ve frequently took to talking about the way that churches need “mums and dads”. I think this familial language moves us away from much of the power dynamic that afflicts the egalitarian- complementarian debate. I think that both egalitarians and comolementarians alike have missed something in their own way – the need for mums. So, complementarians risk assuming that we’ve assigned the elder…
Humbled?
So that is that, another England World Cup campaign falls just short. If you interested (and why should you be), I thought England went toe to toe and matched if not bettered an Argentinian team in the first half who showed much interest in gamesmanship and little in playing the game. England were at their best when they were pressing high up the pitch, Argentina came more into it whenever we…
The Good Samaritan and what Luke has to say about justification
There are two important clues to show us what the parable of the Good Samaritan is about. First, the parable is preceded by a question from one of the scribes: He asks Jesus what he can do to inherit eternal life and Jesus responds by discussing the commandments with him. The man rightly identifies whole hearted love for God and love for your neighbour as the greatest commandments. To have…
Getting personal: reflections on politics, belief and relationship in the light of Ann Widdicombe's murder