As mentioned in an earlier post Rob Bell's book is causing quite a stir. My Amazon order hasn't arrived yet and I will blog some thoughts when I've read the book (but not before). However, I note that some UK based comments are starting to emerge. This month's Christianity magazine has a brief book review... Continue Reading →
Fissiparousness alert: Rob Bell makes waves
Rob Bell’s latest book isn’t even published but is already making waves in the US. No doubt this is exactly what the publishers wanted when they wrote this blurb (source Amazon.com): Fans flock to his Facebook page, his NOOMA videos have been viewed by millions, and his Sunday sermons are attended by 10,000 parishioners—with a... Continue Reading →
Big Society
Interesting piece about Big Society here by Luke Bretherton (HT Andy) and the opportunity it presents for churches, which covers similar ground as a talk by Malcolm Duncan to BUGB Council earlier this week. As far as I’m concerned the jury is still out. In principle I like the idea of small government and communities being... Continue Reading →
Learning by preaching
Life continues to be busy with lots of things that it isn’t appropriate to blog about; not least the church’s search for an associate minister. But in the midst of the routine I’ve spotted something I’d not noticed before. Preaching thematically this term about putting God first, I thought it would be appropriate to start... Continue Reading →
Time to bin covenant?
In Baptist life in England there are a number of overused phrases (the Baptist family and deep listening are two that come to mind) whose benefit to corporate discussion is lost by repetition. I wonder if it is now time to add the word covenant. I’m not suggesting the word has no benefit, clearly covenant... Continue Reading →
Baptists doing theology – northern theological consultation
I attended an excellent theological reflection day on Tuesday. Organised by Northern Baptist Learning Community and others it was great to have an opportunity to listen and talk together, something that we need to encourage among ministers. For me the highlight was a paper delivered by Richard Kidd developing the theme ‘the silence of... Continue Reading →
Signpost or outpost
I’ve been pondering the balance between understanding the church as a signpost and the church as an outpost. Sparked by reviewing a book (Ingle-Gillis The Trinity and Ecumenical Church Thought) which drew contrast between understanding the church as the seat of Holy Spirit’s activity and the sign of his work as a visible place... Continue Reading →
The struggle for insight against the powers of twaddle
I regularly have conversations with folk who are keen to promote ideas connected to ‘spiritual warfare’. While I hope I am gracious I am also sceptical about much of what’s proposed. It’s not that I don’t accept there are things which can’t be fitted into tight doctrinal systems, nor that I deny God is at... Continue Reading →
What makes an evangelical?
It is a sign of desperation to blog about other people's blogs but this by Steve Holmes is worth it! I'm sure Steve's suggestion of a contoured approach to defining evangelicalism might helpfully re-frame the debate. I need some time (which I don't have this week) to think about:Despite Steve's approach isn't the nature of... 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 