My most recent publications are:
- ‘The reimagining of theological time: Revelation’s use of the Old Testament’ in The Scriptures in the Book of Revelation and Apocalyptic Literature.
- ‘The genre of Revelation’ (including two new proposals!) in The Apocalypse of John amongst its Critics.
- The New Testament’s Vision of Mission Grove booklet, exploring key themes from the teaching and practice of Jesus.
- The Practice of Evangelical Spirituality Grove booklet, looking at the seven dimensions of biblical discipleship.
- Exploring the New Testament, Volume Two: Letters and Revelation third edition, fully updated, revised and expanded.
- Revelation: Faithfulness in Testing Times, a series of six studies for individuals or groups.
- Revelation, the Tyndale New Testament Commentary from IVP. (If you order from an online store, make sure you choose mine, not the previous edition by Leon Morris!)
My other recent publications include:
- How to Interpret the Bible: four essential questions (Grove, 2017)
- Being Messy, Being Church (Bible Reading Fellowship, 2017)
- Kingdom, Hope and the End of the World (Grove, 2016)
- The Book of Revelation: currents in British research (Mohr Siebeck, WUNT, 2015)
- Evangelical Leadership: Challenges and Opportunities (Grove, 2016)
Can safeguarding be integral to Christian mission?
Safeguarding in the church has become a high-profile and contentious issue. On the one hand, all agree that our churches must be experienced as safe places, and that the failures of the past must be addressed. On the other, the experience of many is that safeguarding administration has grown exponentially, and it is in danger of becoming a bureaucratic nightmare that does not deliver what is intended.
So can safeguarding actually been seen as something positive, an integral part to our mission? The latest Grove booklet in the Mission and Evangelism series, Safeguarding as Mission, addresses this head on, and is written by Justin Humphreys of Thirty-One Eight, a highly respected organisation in this area.
Justin begins by addressing the challenge head on:
Safeguarding has become a familiar term within most church-based settings in recent times. Its prominence (indeed existence) within the consciousness of churchgoers, workers and leaders alike may give rise to a range of re- sponses, not all of which will be positive. Safeguarding, for many, represents a government-led, bureaucratic, tick-box process that has little place in the church. For others, it represents a series of hurdles to effective ministry and mission. Yet, for others, safeguarding principles and practice are enablers and a good-sense guide for interacting with others.
It is this last perspective that this booklet seeks to address by encouraging the reader to explore the biblical imperative for creating and maintaining safer places and to reframe safeguarding as an integral element to our missional purpose as Christians. We will do this through exploring several encounters that different individuals had with Jesus throughout the New Testament and drawing learning points from how his posture, attitude and behaviour shaped those interactions and created safe environments throughout his mission. From these, we will draw conclusions regarding how this learning should help us to shape and potentially reframe our own thinking and practice.
It is important to make a clear distinction early in this booklet; it is proposed that a shift might be required that leads us towards considering safeguarding as something we are all called to as we seek to follow the example of Jesus. Therefore, this booklet is about safeguarding as mission rather than safeguarding in mission. That may be a paradigm shift for many…
The challenge may be to us all to begin thinking of this in a new or different way. Maybe the language of safeguarding is not always the most helpful or transferrable into our church contexts. Maybe the way it is some- times practised does not always achieve the positive ends it is intended to. Despite this, maybe some questions remain about why this is important. Do we practice safeguarding because the government or the law tells us we should? Do we undertake the relevant training because our local church leader tells us we cannot serve on team without it? Do we comply with the requests to have our criminal records checked for fear of upsetting our safeguarding lead? Or do we thoughtfully consider the way we create safer places for all because we truly believe, before all these other reasons, that we have a biblical mandate to do so?
How can we read the Book of Revelation well today?
Last week I visited Vintage City Church in Fort Collins, Colorado, to talk about the Book of Revelation over the weekend and preach in their Sunday services. Vintage City Church…
Jesus is the true vine in John 15
The Sunday lectionary reading for Easter 5 in Year B is Jesus’ teaching that he is the true vine in John 15.1–8. It is a striking and memorable image that…
Jesus is the true vine in John 15 video discussion
The Sunday lectionary reading for Easter 5 in Year B is Jesus’ teaching that he is the true vine in John 15.1–8. It is a striking and memorable image that…
What is the place of charismatic theology after Mike Pilavachi?
Christopher Landau writes: These are testing times for anyone even loosely connected with charismatic life within, or adjacent to, the Church of England. To discover that a figure whose ministry…
What is the connection between prayer and fasting?
I write a quarterly column for Preach magazine, in which I explore a significant word or phrase in the Bible, or a theme or section of Scripture, and the ideas…
Jesus as Good Shepherd leads his sheep in John 10
The lectionary gospel readers for the Fourth Sunday of Easter take the three parts of John 10 in turn; in Year A, we read the first ten verses, and now…
Jesus as Good Shepherd leads his sheep in John 10 video discussion
The gospel lectionary reading for Year B is the second part of John 10 (John 10.11-18) on the theme of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, following on from the first…
The Cass report, children, and the Church of England
Dr Hilary Cass has delivered her final report offering an independent review of gender identity services for children and young people. The report is online, and is long and complex…
Is God ‘willing to change his mind’ (Richard Hays) on sexual ethics?
Andrew Goddard writes: There has been much heat surrounding the announcement of a new book on sexuality by Richard Hays and Christopher Hays. What follows attempts to shed some light…
The risen Jesus meets the Eleven in Luke 24
The gospel lectionary reading for the Third Sunday of Easter in Year B is Luke 24.36b–48, the episode where Jesus meets the disciples after the encounter on the Emmaus Road…