Category Archives: Church

The Bible and women’s ministry

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The thoughts that follow are based on an address given by J.I. Packer in 1988.  It is remarkable how rapidly thought and practice in the Christian church have moved on since then (Packer was focussing on women as presbyters; now the urgent discussions are about women as bishops).  But that might make his discussion more, rather than less, relevant.

It is often assumed that the Bible is hostile to women.  Arriving at a correct view of the biblical view of the role of women is complicated for both secular and churchly reasons.…

English Country Parsons

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Bill Bryson lives in an old rectory near Wymondham, just a few miles from my own home in Norwich.

He uses his present home as the starting-point for his fascinating study of domestic life, At Home.

There are, consequently, some interesting observations on English clergy in the period leading up to and around the time the rectory was built, in 1851.

In 1851 there were 17,621 Anglican clergy.  Going into the church was one of the two default occupations for the younger sons of the well-to-do (a military career being the other). …

Rob Bell and Brian Maclaren – Unbelievable?

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I’ve been listening to a pair of recent episodes of Premier Christian Radio’s Unbelievable show.

The first was a discussion between Rob Bell and Adrian Warnock.  Rob Bell was being quizzed about his recent book Love Wins, which, rather notoriously, appears to entertain a doctrine of universalism.  Unusually for a presenter who is usually very even-handed Justin Brierley, seemed rather keen to side with Adrian Warnock against Rob Bell.  And both of them seemed rather too keen on trying to work out whether Rob Bell is ‘in’ or ‘out’, ‘one of us’ or ‘one of them’, an ‘evangelical’ or a ‘liberal’. …

‘The First-Born Seraph’

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Charles Wesley’s famous hymn ‘And can it be?‘ is still sung from time to time today, even though many of the other hymns that were still popular when I was a Methodist teenager have fallen into neglect.  It is a shame, although I think that the vigorous tune Sagina prompts us to sing it more lustily than the awe-struck words suggest.  At any rate, we would reflect the words better if we didn’t crank the volume up until we reached the bit about ‘my chains fell off’.…

To whom are our hymns addressed?

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It’s interesting to note the different persons who are addressed in the various hymns that we sing.  For example:-

1. To oneself: ‘Be still, my soul’; ‘Praise, my soul, the King of heaven’; ‘Tell out, my soul’, the greatness of the Lord’;

2. To others (3rd person plural): ‘Stand up and bless the Lord’; ‘O praise ye the Lord’;

3.  To ourselves (2nd person plural): ‘Come, let us join our cheerful songs’; ‘Let us with a gladsome mind’;

4.…

Why they left the Episcopal Church

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When The Rev John Yates and Os Guinness (well-known Christian apologist and cultural commentator) decided back in 2007 that the time had finally come for them to sever ties with the Episcopal Church, they explained their reasons for doing so in an article in the The Washington Post.Their article provides a brief, but exceptionally clear, analysis of issues as they see them.  It might provide help to others who are trying to articulate their concerns and who are attempting to discern how much longer they can remain associated with their existing denominations.…

That’s not what I call preaching 1

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Solomon’s Porch, Minneapolis, is a well-known ’emergent’ church, and Tony Jones one of the best-known leaders of the emergent movement/conversation.

So, we might assume that a recent sermon by Jones at Solomon’s Porch might provide a fair sample of how emergent people set about ‘improving’ the evangelical preaching they so despise.

The example in question is on John 4, a passage which features the account of Jesus’ interaction with the woman at the well.  You can read Jones’ own comments on this experience here.…

Christ-Centred Worship

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Bryan Chapell, whose book Christ-Centred Preaching: Redeeming the Expository Sermon has proven helpful to many, spoke a while ago to Christianity Today about his more recent book, Christ-Centred Worship: Letting the Gospel Shape Our Practice.

What is Christ-Centred Worship?

Christ-centered worship is not just talking or singing about Jesus a lot. Christ-centered worship reflects the contours of the gospel…Opening moments offer recognition of the greatness and goodness of God that naturally folds into confession, assurance of pardon, thanksgiving, instruction, and a charge to serve God in response to his grace in Christ.

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Eph 4:1-6 – Christian unity: God’s part and ours – sermon notes

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We have reached the half-way stage in our exploration of this letter of Paul to the Ephesians. And as we pass from the first into the second half of this great epistle, we immediately notice a change of scenery.  There is a shift from

  • Principles to practice
  • Belief to behaviour
  • Doctrine to duty
  • Exposition to exhortation
  • Credenda to agenda
  • Indicative to imperative
  • What God has done to what we must do

And yet the two halves of this letter are inseparably connected.…

Some Roman Catholic proof texts

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A recent edition of Premier Christian Radio’s ‘Unbelievable’ show featured a lively discussion between William Johnstone, a spokesperson for ‘Catholic Voices’ and Duncan Boyd, of the Protestant Truth Society.

The topic for debate was, ‘Is the Papacy Biblical?’ – very topical, in view of the fact that the Pope was in the UK on an official state visit at the time.

In the event, the debate ranged more broadly than the question of the papacy. It was, I suppose, helpful that each protagonist was both clear and convinced about his own position.…