A fresh look at the back-story of Christmas – good for Carol services: Click on the link Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus
Author: Chris Green
So you wrap all the presents, put then in the car and head off for Christmas with the relatives – but on the journey the labels fall off. Ever tried to play ‘Guess the Gift’ as you try to put the right label back? Like me, you’ve probably put the wrong one back on. Which
The Behaviour carriage must always follow Believing – if it comes first, we’ve made a train wreck of the gospel. But where does Belonging fit in the sequence?
Common sense says I’ve got some work to do. Twice now I have met in a debate with the same Muslim speaker, and handled questions from a curious, polite, mostly Muslim audience. And on each occasion I have heard an intake of breath as if I have said something that has possibly stepped over the
A new S curve doesn’t cause failure. But it seems to. Think through the initial phases of a new curve as we’ve seen them: the hidden hard yards, and then the resultant growth. Those hidden hard yards take time, and money, and prayer, and committed people away from the original curve. And for quite some
Obviously, sometimes it’s necessary to bust through the internal shape of an S curve and defy its inherent decline. We need to do something new – start a new service or ministry, or even add someone to the staff. The question is, when is the right time? Can you do it too early? Of course.
Reposted. Russell Powell writes at SydneyAnglicans.net – Beloved Australian evangelist John Chapman has fallen asleep in Christ at the age of 82. And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their
Very rarely does a church grow larger than 150 (plus or minus). Very many are smaller, and a handful are larger – they tend to be the ones we have heard about, so if we are not careful we assume they are the norm. But they are not. The pattern seems to be that a
The ‘S’ curve. So many things seem to follow this shape that it’s easy to think it’s entirely and irresistibly natural. Mathematicians call it a Sigmoid curve – a horizontal line lifts up, and then gently falls. In the next few blog posts I want to think about some aspects of it for gospel ministry, so
Just read proofs for ‘Encountering God Together’ by David Peterson – new book from IVP due out in Jan/Feb. It’s very, very good – so save up those Christmas tokens!
The world is just waking up to Christmas and grumbling about receiving the first card, but you’ve been living it for months. When did you start focussing on it? June, probably, before the schools broke up and you could get the muso’s together. Planning well ahead is one of the secrets to feeling that you’re
Today’s news is that the Charity Commissioners are considering abolishing the right of churches and other Christian groups to claim charitable status. Charities act in the public good, but churches benefit themselves, not others, it is argued, and so they cannot claim to be properly charities. QED. Let’s forget for a moment the hundreds
Woody Allen’s movie, Sleeper, has his character transported to the future, and explaining the present world to bewildered researchers. He’s given a series of photos to explain, and of one he says, “This is Billy Graham. Very big in the religion business. You know, he knew god. Personally.” Do you? How do you know you
Thanks to the fabulous Phil Duce at IVP, my BST on the church is the right length, and they want my book on Application too. DoublePlusGood. From today, the offer of the free copy of The point of the Sword has gone, and I’ll replace it with another goody.
This morning’s topic of conversation in the barber’s is whether the universe is expanding or contracting. Seriously. I’m out my depth, so is the barber, but it’s clear that the likes of Brian Cox have put the stars on the agenda. Being out of my depth means there’s lots of places we can’t go. I
Os Guinness told a tale of an earnest young apologist trying to convince a sceptic that Jesus rose from the dead. After hours of argument about bodies and empty tombs, the sceptic caved in. “OK, you’ve persuaded me,” he said. “Jesus rose from the dead. So what?” Apologetics is about much more than arguments over
I have a theory about why most sermons have three points. No, it’s not that two’s not enough and four’s too many. and it’s not to do with Obama’s ‘Rule of Three.’ It’s to do with the way we preachers work. You spend hours in a week staring at the Bible passage you’re preaching on,
Jim Collins was on top form at the Global Leadership Summit this summer. He summarised his new book, ‘Great by Choice’, which I strongly recommend. But at one point he did something disturbing for a Brit – he attacked one of our national icons. Robert Falcon Scott is one of our heroes. Undeniably brave, and
I’m writing this eating my breakfast on the train. Which means a cup of rather weak black coffee, and a carton of microwaved stodge. Which brings me to preaching. Because I reckon we’re serving up a lot of microwaved stodge from our pulpits, and letting ourselves off the hook by quoting a bible verse or
So, you preached your heart out last Sunday, and you’re revving your engine for the next one. Prayer and the Ministry of the Word are setting your agenda, and your next sermon is an essential part of equipping the saints for their work of service. The Greek New Testament is sitting there waiting to be
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