word | spirit | world | church
Stretching Minds V We’ve been talking about how to stretch minds in this series of posts, and I’ve suggested fours approaches that aren’t about scheduling events. However we can schedule things that address whatever we think needs addressing. In this final post I’d like to suggest some events you could schedule. I imagine Pastors reading… Continue reading Teaching the Church
I recently read Ancient Wisdom for the Care of Souls. It’s a wonderful book and should be widely read by Pastors and Elders in all kinds of churches. The book is trying to plumb the wisdom of the Church Fathers for pastoral ministry, exploring what an elder in a church is and what they do… Continue reading A Theological Vision for Ministry
Stretching Minds IV If we want to stretch our minds, we need to hear the Bible. This is the form it was designed to be interacted with. There’s nothing wrong with reading—it’s very good—but it can be very solitary. It is good for us to read the Bible together and hear it together. Most evangelical… Continue reading Read the Bible, Together
Stretching Minds III If we want to see a renewal of our collective Christian mind to alleviate our discipleship crisis, we will have to think beyond Sundays. I’ve got a number of suggestions to make across this series, but this is a posture more than a specific idea: we need to go where our people… Continue reading Go where your people are
In my church world we can be a little allergic to writing things down. In my understanding this initially came from a reaction against a sort of formalism that was being clearly rejected. The necessity of relationship was emphasised instead. I think we’ve lost something that we should recover. There’s a trend, though not a… Continue reading Write Something Down
Stretching Minds II How can we disciple the minds of our churches? Consider everything a teaching opportunity. What are you already doing, how are you already communicating? Those things already teach people, so be deliberate about it. The most obvious example to me would be the ways that you communicate information. Perhaps you send a… Continue reading Teach Everywhere You Can
I’ve had the privilege of touring a few churches in my city in the last few weeks. A rare treat in its own way, to praise with different brothers and sisters and to see how other people do things. It’s completely unfair to judge any church from one Sunday, and I won’t say which churches… Continue reading Preach the Gospel
We’re at the confluence of a few different currents in our cultures that influence our preaching. We’re in a discipleship crisis, where many Christians don’t know the faith. The knowledge of Christianity in the wider world is diminishing, certainly younger people aren’t reacting against it they simply aren’t familiar with it. At the same time… Continue reading Preaching with Weight
In my church tradition—the conservative end of the British new church movement or ‘reformed charismatic’—it’s normal that we engage in what we call ‘contributory worship.’ Essentially this means that at the same point in our worship when we’re singing songs, members of the church will pray, read from the Bible, and use spiritual gifts. Lots… Continue reading On Microphones
I’ve come across some churches I know teaching something like this in relation to what we’ve all started calling ‘diversity.’ I think it’s nonsense. By ‘diversity’ we mean specifically racial diversity, which is one of those funny quirks of language which I think I’ve noticed stops people from seeing other kinds of diversity. Which, particularly… Continue reading “You can only be what you can see”
nuakh 