Becoming a Barnabus
Well, this just nailed me. It could be describing me directly. I was duly convicted and am resolved to take Mike Leake’s advice.
The wedding, the sermon and the reaction
Everybody has been talking about the Royal Wedding, particularly that sermon. You can read my take on it here. You can also see Glen Scrivener’s critique of the critiques, and my critique of his critique of the critiques, here. David Robertson outlines some of the sad reaction he received following his assessment. It does seem a faultline is opening up in even ostensibly Evangelical circles.
What does it mean to be baptized in the Holy Spirit?
‘We often miss these great truths because we focus on the gift of tongues as it relates to the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. In reality however, Pentecost and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit are about the ushering in of a new creation, the expansion of a new temple, the giving of a new law, and the commissioning of new prophets.’ We’re looking at Acts 2 today, so this seemed timely.
The wretched art of loveless discernment
I appreciated this article which acknowledges the importance of discernment whilst making a plea for the right attitude. In the wake of the Royal Wedding and that sermon, this is helpful. ‘For some Christians, what begins with a healthy interest in discernment can end in an unhealthy addiction to gossip and debate. Many of them manifest a cruelty in how they go about condemning error. There’s an almost giddiness when they get to call someone “false teacher” and a haughty attitude of superiority. These things ought not be so.’
Let’s talk about money
Eddie Arthur and I appear to share a very similar ecclesiology and view of sending. Here, Eddie talks about financially supporting missionaries and the special responsibilities of the sending church. I’ve asked him for a follow up on the responsibilities of a receiving church such as there is one. He has promised to get back to me.
Problems v Projects
This was helpful advice from Chris Green. Projects have a habit of becoming hazy and expanding exponentially. Problems that we are seeking to solve tend to help us clarify the issue and build a sharp project to resolve it.
From the archive: Grace & Service
‘I have become increasingly convinced that our view of grace can impact in the most direct way on our service for the Lord. If you will forgive the crass terminology (I didn’t have anything better to hand), there is a low view of grace (or, cheap grace) and a high view of grace (costly grace). Please don’t confuse low and high, cheap and costly, as necessarily indicative of which view is “correct”. Both affirm something rightly and deny something wrongly.’