mission

What is a Christian?

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I recently felt I should offer summary of what it is to be a Christian on the blog, in written and in video form. This is my first attempt at a script for this; observations and suggestions welcome in the comments.  In online debate, in media discussion and even in casual conversation, there is quite … Continue Reading

Did Jesus come to bring ‘good news’?

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I am teaching at New Wine this week, offering sessions each afternoon (from 2.30 to 3.30) in the ‘teaching/theology’ stream on the question of why Jesus came. The subject emerged from an article I wrote in December last year reflecting on the difference between two statements made by Christian leaders commenting on ‘why Jesus came’. … Continue Reading

What does it mean to be ‘in Christ’?

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The latest Grove Biblical booklet is a fascinating study by the well-known American scholar Michael Gorman on Participation: Paul’s Vision of Life in Christ. Within it, Michael offers 13 theses about Paul’s understanding of the goal of the Christian life, building in his previous ideas published in Cruciformity: Paul’s Narrative Spirituality of the Cross and Becoming the Gospel: … Continue Reading

What will revival look like?

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It is often thought that the decline in church attendance in the West is so precipitous, and the erosion of Christian values so rapid, that if the Christian church is to recover something very dramatic must happen. This can manifest itself in the quest for a ‘technique’ of leading church or of mission (often brought … Continue Reading

What does it take to reimagine Britain?

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Justin Welby had already left a significant legacy from the first half of his tenure as Archbishop of Canterbury. The swift resolution to the inherited crisis of finding a workable settlement in relation to women bishops; the instigation of the Renewal and Reform programme; reorienting the Church’s administration and finances towards mission; the re-estalishment of … Continue Reading

Are clergy becoming dull conformists?

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I have long been interested in the question of psychological profiling for two particular reasons. First, as a Personnel Manager working in a blue-chip manufacturing company, psychological profiling and psychometric testing were a stock in trade. In recruiting people for our National Office, I used a US-developed psychological profiling interview which looked for traits that … Continue Reading