‘If the church were Christian’ – 2

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Philip Gulley puts it like this:- If the church were more Christian, ‘affirming our potential would be more important than condemning our brokenness.’  (If the Church Were Christian. HarperOne)

The church’s teaching about the sinfulness of human nature, it appears, has done great harm.  It has brought the church into disrepute, and caused individuals to feel damaged and guilt-ridden.  Gulley supports this with anecdotes of horror stories from which every reasonable person would recoil with horror.…

‘If the church were Christian’ – 1

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In his 2010 book, If the Church Were Christian: Rediscovering the Values of Jesus, Quaker pastor Philip Gulley offers a recipe for, well, making the Church Christian.  Richard Rohr thinks that the recipe is ‘superb’.  (Actually, if these two men are on the same page about what a desirable form of Christianity would look like, then I prefer Gulley’s more straightforward approach.  Rohr’s slipperiness is reflected in this wording…

‘Jesus is a model for living more than an object of worship’ (my emphasis)

…whereas Gulley says that if the church were ‘more Christian’:-

‘Jesus would be a model for living rather than an object of worship’ (my emphasis).…

‘A better story’ – 6

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Activist groups (such as Stonewall) have been key to the success of the sexual revolution.  We need to pay attention to the ideas promoted and the techniques used.

First, they have been adept at maintaining the convictions of their own members.  They accumulate material at both an academic and popular level that explains their cause.  They build the confidence of their members through support groups.  They present attractive models of courage and persistence.  They showcase the pride they feel in their cause through festivals and celebrations:-

The flagrant sexual exhibitionism and provocative gesturing that marked (and still marks) some Gay Pride events leads many Christians to miss the point.…

In praise of Powerpoint, v2

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Almost exactly six years ago, I wrote a post discussing the use of presentation software (especially Microsoft Powerpoint) as a preaching tool.

Although I’m satisfied with what I wrote back in 2012, I would like to present now a slightly edited and somewhat expanded version of that post.  The truth is that I’ve used PowerPoint quite regularly in my preaching in recent years, and I would like to reflect on my experience and that of my hearers (as judged by their occasional comments to me).…

The cross is our theology

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“The criterion of what is Christian and what is not is the cross of Jesus Christ, the crucial enigma which distinguishes the peculiarly Christian way of looking at human existence and experience from all other viewpoints” (p. 18).

For the Christian, “the cross alone is our theology.”—Luther (p. 26)

“The Christian tradition, following in the paths indicated by Paul, has identified the cross, interpreted in the light of the resurrection, as the final, decisive and normative locus of the revelation of God” (p.…

Meditating on Christ’s sufferings

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Given the reticence and reserve with which the NT dwells on the physical aspects of Christ’s sufferings, it is certainly possible for Christians themselves to dwell too much on them.

F.F. Bruce comments on this subject in his fascinating book, Answers To Questions (p249f).

He contrasts this, by Charles Wesley…

1. O Love divine, what has thou done!
The immortal God hath died for me!
The Father’s coeternal Son
bore all my sins upon the tree.…

Laughter: the best change agent?

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Much has been written about the power of story, of narrative, to change attitudes and behaviours.

But I would like to put it to you, ladies and gentlemen, that humour can be just as powerful an agent for change.  This is so with regard to topical satirical shows such as Have I Got News For You (BBC).  And it is doubly so, of course, when humour is employed at part of (maybe the main part) of story-telling.…

‘A better story’ – 5

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The narrative of the sexual revolution, writes Glyn Harrison, goes something like this:-

For centuries, traditional morality had us – all of us – in its suffocating grip. Year after year the same old rules, chained to the past, heaped shame on ordinary men and women (and boys and girls) whose only crime was being different. Enemies of the human spirit, these bankrupt ideologies befriended bigots and encouraged the spiteful. They nurtured a seedbed of hypocrisy and offered safe havens to perpetrators of abuse.…

Occupations in heaven

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Some notes based on (and quoting from) a sermon by Glenn Pease:-

There once was a woman who always was tired
She lived in a house where no help was hired.
On her death bed she said, dear friends I am goin
Where washing aint done nor cookin nor sewin,
And everything there will be just to my wishes,
For where they don’t eat there’s no washin of dishes.
Don’t mourn for me now, don’t mourn for me ever,
For I’m goin to do nothin, forever and ever.…

‘A better story’ – 4

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Everyone loves a good story.  Not surprising, then, that storytelling has been at the heart of the sexual revolution.  Storytelling seems to fit the shape of the human mind, and to reach places that other forms of communication cannot reach.

The entertainment industry understands this, and has exercised its talents in taking complicated ideas and melding them into powerful, attention-grabbing, and persuasive narratives:-

‘And so with riveting narratives about hypocritical politicians and fossilized bishops, pitted against outsiders and the oppressed, brave men and women finding the courage to be ‘who they really are’, they appealed to the moral instincts of ordinary, decent people.’…