H/T to the Baptist Times for pointing me in the direction of this blog. When missions become toxic As someone who has the priviledge of being involved with supporting churches and mission work in Peru I think it poses questions we need to grapple with. I hope the things I am involved with are not... Continue Reading →
Wanted: men in church
Two things have me thinking about the place of men in church. The first is a visit from Carl Beech of CVM who led an awayday for the church here on Saturday. The second was an article by Steve Legg in Engage, the BMS:worldmission magazine lamenting the lack of men in the UK church; an... Continue Reading →
Preparing for autumn – Onward
Before I went away I prepared this brief video to give a flavour of our autumn preaching series. Onward the introduction from neil brighton on Vimeo. PS there are a number of copyright issues in producing this so please let me know if you want to reproduce it.
Summer musings – what makes church a sucess?
I’ve pondered various elements of church life over the last couple of weeks, one question is how far one should go to build a ‘larger’ church. First, what I do if numerical growth was the key issue? I would focus on:1. Sunday morning experience: - Preaching to encourage people, helping make connections between the Bible,... Continue Reading →
Women in Church: John Piper
John Piper is a preacher with a world renown preaching ministry so what he has to say about women in the life of the church is influential. I disagree with him. But more than this, I am saddened by the stance he takes. I do not concur with the view that when the Holy... Continue Reading →
Summer musings – charismatic+
As I’ve looked back at the last term in church and started to plan for the autumn I’ve been pondering the question, “what makes a good charismatic church?” Accepting that some will think it an oxymoron let me suggest 5 characteristics. 1. Teaching and preaching that aims to communicate a vision for the kingdom of... Continue Reading →
#stillacharismaticatheart
Recent blogging has been focused on Baptist Futures but church life this term has been notable for a significant increase in spiritual phenomena. As I reflect on spiritual gifts in church life it seems there are 6 things worth remembering. 1. Manifestations of Spirit come through people: Attempting to separate out Spirit activity and human... Continue Reading →
Discipleship 4: Ministers help or hindrance?
If discipleship is so important how does this impact ministers and how might it affect how we exercise ministry? How can we ensure we develop disciple making communities?1. Live out your values. If whole life discipleship is important it should permeate your ministry. First, because all of us are disciples and ministers need to live... Continue Reading →
Discipleship 2: How the church can help
In recent years LICC, Willow Creek and others have done some helpful work on growing whole-life disciples. But as I’ve talked with people about how the church can help, the following have been mentioned.- Creating a culture of honest experimentation; allowing people to be ‘not sure’ as well as encouraging people to ‘give it a... Continue Reading →
Discipleship 3: Real life issues
As I’ve been thinking and talking with others about discipleship a number of subjects have come up as topics churches need to address. In fact I’ve started to create a list for a possible series of sermons. Which includes:Money and DebtMarriage and marriage breakdownSex:- Single people, including younger people and older people- Gay people- Sexualisation... Continue Reading →
Distinct Reflections 