Book Reviews

Should Christians think?

by

I am continuing to read through Thom Shultz’ book Why Nobody Want to go to Church anymore, in which he identifies four key objections to church and proposes four responses, what he calls the Four Acts of Love. Having explored Radical Hospitality, the next chapter explores Fearless Conversation. Interestingly, Shultz addresses this in two quite distinct … Continue Reading

Putting relationships first

by

As a Christian leader, there are three things I would want to nurture in my fellow believers as they go about their occupations (whether paid or unpaid). The first is confidence to share their faith in appropriate and winsome ways. The second is to think through how the good news of what God has done … Continue Reading

My top ten books on theology and ministry (1)

by

To launch what might be a new mini-series on the blog, my good friend James Blandford-Baker offers his top ten books on theology and ministry that shaped his own thinking and practice. James is Vicar of St Andrew’s, Histon, and Priest-in-Charge of St Andrew’s, Impington, as well as being Rural Dean of North Stowe in Ely Diocese. This … Continue Reading

Is Tom Wright’s ‘Paul’ convincing?

by

Tom Wright, former Bishop of Durham and Professor at St Andrew’s, is often described as a ‘leading New Testament scholar’ in the world today. There is no doubt that he has significantly shifted the debates about Paul and his interpretation, and alongside that has (almost uniquely) popularised his views on Paul and the rest of … Continue Reading

Expressing God’s welcome

by

Thom Shultz has explored the reasons why people both leave and stay away from the church in the West, and proposes Four Acts of Love that could make the church ‘irresistible.’ With a bit of cultural translation, I think he is on to something important. The first Act of Love is called ‘Radical Hospitality.’ Shultz … Continue Reading

Ken Bailey on The Good Shepherd

by

The Good Shepherd: A thousand-year journey from Psalm 23 to the New Testament (A guest review by Richard Briggs) Ken Bailey worked for many years in the Middle East, taught the Bible there, and sat with and spoke with those whose ways of life reflected in some measure the perspectives and assumptions of biblical times. … Continue Reading

Can the ‘traditional’ view of sexuality ever be plausible?

by

I’m often intrigued by those who argue that the church’s stance on sexuality—which usually means the church’s traditional opposition to seeing same-sex sexual unions as equivalent to male-female marriage—as an obstacle to mission. They are quite right that most people beyond the church look at this aspect of its teaching with more or less blank … Continue Reading

Can churches become irresistible?

by

I recently came across a web article on the ‘done with church’ generation. When I saw the title, I rolled my eyes a little, expecting it to be yet another whingeing session dressed up as a mission strategy—but when I read it, I was pleasantly surprised. It offered the start of a genuine exploration of why committed Christians, who have been heavily involved in their local congregation, might simply give up on the church as an organisation.