I went to a seminar this week led by James Emery White, Senior Pastor of Mecklenburg Community Church, Charlotte, North Carolina (here); put on by the Willow Creek Association in the UK. I’ve not been to any of the Willow Creek seminars before but it was a worthwhile day and touched on many of the... Continue Reading →
Caravan to Mablethorpe
Last week we spent part of half term in the caravan at Mablethorpe.The Camping and Caravan Club site is just to the south west of the town. A pleasant site, with fields on three sides it has a nice relaxed feel. Like many C&CC club sites the wash facilities are ok when the weather is... Continue Reading →
Worship gatherings – questions, questions, questions
Having a few days break this week (so no blogging) but the question of worship gatherings has been in my mind recently. As a church we have been looking at the future of our services as some grow in numbers and some decline. Among the questions are:1. Content: to what extent should we aim to... Continue Reading →
Obama’s speech at Notre Dame
Another interesting piece from Associated Baptist Press in the US. This time looking at aspects of Obama's speech (Here)If you missed the news reports here is the BBC's (Here)
Good preaching: Mapping reality
While preparing a sermon it struck me that preaching is like map reading. Sometimes people read the Bible as if it is a road map, a series of lines which connect up to take us in a particular direction; our job is to get on the motorways and stay there till we reach our... Continue Reading →
Bible reading quiz
I came across this quiz designed to show that people don't read the Bible as literally as they sometimes think they do. Though the fact that Associated Baptist Press felt they needed to put a disclaimer at the end is a bit worrying.Click link for Quiz
Baptist Assembly – impact
I'm not sure if this is indulgence on my part but one final blog about the Baptist Assembly; largely because I spent some of yesterday pondering what impact Assembly might have on local church life here. I've not worked this through but here are some starter thoughts:Mission: BMS drew attention to the drop off in... Continue Reading →
Baptist Assembly – review
Back home from the Assembly so time to write a few comments on the weekend (which will be of little interest if you weren't there). Overall I think it went well. For me the personal highlight was Steve Holmes lecture on the Sunday afternoon. The childrens programme was also much better this year.But what about... Continue Reading →
Baptist Assembly
The Baptist bandwagon moves off this weekend for its annual trip to the seaside; this year it is in Bournemouth and the weather looks as if it will be dry if not warm. No doubt there will be comments on blogs after the event which say how good, bad or indifferent people found it, including... Continue Reading →
Homosexuality and church
This week I had the pleasure in taking part in a Mainstream Theology day looking at the issue of human sexuality. (The Baptist Mainstream group not the Anglican one).Attached is the paper I produced as an introduction for the day. It is based on notes that I've used on a number of occasions to talk... Continue Reading →
Distinct Reflections 