Category Archives: Church

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.…

Introverts in the Church

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This book, by Adam McHugh, has recently been reviewed by Michael Pahl.  According to Michael, the book gives voice to thoughts and feelings that many of us have had throughout our lives (for up to 50% of the population would come out as ‘INTs’ on the Myers-Briggs personality assessment).

‘Introversion’ is not a name for a syndrome, a set of preferences, or a character defect.  It is, rather, a name for a tendency of personality.  It is not about not wanting relationships, or being interested in people, or about not being able to speak up in public (many gifted teachers and public speakers are introverts).…

Luke 22:7-20 – The Last Supper – sermon notes

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I wonder how many meals you have eaten in your life? Assuming a rate of 3 meals a day, then by the age of 16 you will already have eaten over 17,000 meals, and by the age of 60 over 65,000.

I wonder how many of these meals you can remember? Some are more memorable than others – a wedding reception, a birthday party, a family picnic, your first communion.

We come this morning to the last in a short series from Luke’s Gospel exploring notable meals that Jesus attended.…