Whilst blogging at an event can be a dangerous thing two things have struck me during the first day.The first comes from an interesting conversation in the bar about weakness. Jesus incarnation, ministry and death are an embodiment of weakness "he did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing,... Continue Reading →
Good worship songs 2
There seem to be a lot of bloggers commenting on the paucity of good worship songs at present; consider John Stackhouse's harsh comments about Chris Tomlin, Ben Myerson hymn writers and Steve Holmesirenic tour of some lowlights from previous generations. I’m sure that there are positive contributions to be made to the debate but in the... Continue Reading →
Governance, management and church
Various changes in the church here and the need for charity registration raise the question of what is the distinction between governance and management, and how should that be understood in a local baptist church. [At its simplest governance focuses on doing the right things and management focuses on doing things right.] Some will... Continue Reading →
What is preaching?
I guess I typically preach about forty sermons a year and sermon preparation is part of my weekly routine. However, occasionally a passage comes along which brings home some of the key questions that preachers face but often remain in the background. This week, I’m preaching on Luke 17:20-37, as part of our sermon series in... Continue Reading →
What do church leaders do in their spare time?
Clearly at least one former Deacon in a US baptist church is not the model of Christian virtue that the congregation anticipated having been charged with kidnapping and attempted robbery.See here for the details.
Darwin and the deity
I recognise that the last desperate strategy of the uninspired blogger is to post links to other blogs but this one is worth a read by anyone interested in the debate about Darwin. Here
Baptist Vision 1
The papers for the March Baptist Union Council have arrived turning my thoughts again to Union affairs and, in particular, what a vision for the Baptist Union might look like. Assuming that such a thing is both possible and desirable perhaps the place to start is to ask what any attempt needs to grapple with; I think... Continue Reading →
Back to work
After a short break it is back to the regular routine. We spent most of last week near Chester, staying at the Chester Oaks Caravan site. For those interested in camping it is a great site, open all year, close to a number of pubs serving food. Park and Ride into Chester is a couple of... Continue Reading →
Electronic amnesia
I didn’t realise how reliant I am on modern technology until my office computer stopped working last week. It’s not that anything important has been lost because it automatically backs up the files but it meant that for several days I’ve been without my email history. No email history means that I don’t remember... Continue Reading →
A positive vision?
Following some of my earlier comments I’ve been having some more thoughts about vision, partly prompted by a book Lyle Schaller. The premise is that most ministers spend the majority of time focused on front line tasks. Preparing sermons, pastoral care and the basic organisation / administration required to keep the church going. Some... Continue Reading →
Distinct Reflections 