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Evangelical identity is often thought to be best defined by the four aspects defined by David Bebbington in his Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s (London: Unwin Hyman, 1989; London: Routledge, 2003): There are four qualities that have been the special marks of Evangelical religion: conversionism, the belief that lives … Continue Reading
At the beginning of Lent, it is traditional to consider taking up a spiritual discipline for the season—or perhaps giving something up. I have just read a number of posts telling me of friends who are giving up on social media until Easter! In the past, a key discipline has been that of fasting, but … Continue Reading
As we being the season of Lent, traditionally a period of discipline and denial, the subject of fasting naturally comes up. But before we think about fasting for ourselves, we need to ask: How often did Jesus and the first generation of his followers fast? Was it an occasional thing, focused on specific events or … Continue Reading
One of the constant temptations of evangelicalism is to decide that we have all the answers and so do not need to listen very carefully to what others say. A parallel temptation is to have the same attitude to God. He has revealed himself in Scripture and has made his will evident—so surely we just … Continue Reading
How often did Jesus and the first generation of his followers fast? Was it an occasional thing, focused on specific events or causes? Or was it something more habitual and regular, an integral part of their devotional life? As most studies of the subject point out, fasting in the Old Testament was associated either with … Continue Reading
One of the constant temptations of evangelicalism is to decide that we have all the answers and so do not need to listen very carefully to what others say. A parallel temptation is to have the same attitude to God. He has revealed himself in Scripture and has made his will evident—so surely we just … Continue Reading
Today’s is a guest post from Beth Rowland, a student at the University of Nottingham who attends St Nic’s. The concept of Live Below the Line, spending just one pound a day on food, was something I’d heard of before May 2015, but not something I had ever considered doing myself. The idea terrified me – … Continue Reading
Since we are now in Lent, it might be a good time to review the spiritual habit of fasting. Jesus clearly expected his followers to fast after he had gone, so it is odd that this is not a widespread habit amongst all Christians. To answer this, we need to ask some background questions. How often … Continue Reading
The Daniel Plan is the latest best-selling 40-day plan from the spiritual guru and one-man publishing phenomenon that is Rick Warren. Naturally, it comes with a book, a journal and of course a website. Without getting too cynical about the juggernaut of the US Christian publishing industry, I have to say that there are some … Continue Reading
I recently posted some notes on the passage in Luke 18 to help those of you preaching on this passage. It so happens I’ve had to write a sermon on it myself now! So here is my script (written using the dictation process built into the Mac operating system). A few things to note: 1. … Continue Reading
The parable of the Pharisee and the Tax-collector (Luke 18.8–14) is the gospel reading in the Revised Common Lectionary in the C of E for this Sunday, and a number of people have asked me questions about it. Here are some observations, still some way short of a coherent narrative. First thing to note is that … Continue Reading