The punches pastors never see coming in pastoral ministry
Ministry is hard. We hear that often enough and I am sure most going into it know full well. But what we tend not to realise is exactly why it is hard. Many pastors and those in other ministry positions do not properly grasp where some of the worst hits will come from.
How do I not provoke my children?
Good word from John Piper this one.
Empires do what empires do
Eddie Arthur takes a look at some of the biblical material on empire and draws a comparison with something else we see today.
A reluctant culture warrior
My friend, Stephen Watkinson, offers some personal reflections on the culture wars that are increasingly crossing the Atlantic.
Confessing the Son’s impeccability
Following on from the comments I linked to last week, Guy Davies follows up on the issue of Christ’s impeccability with why it is important to go beyond saying merely that Jesus did not sin, but that he positively couldn’t.
5 myths about your personal identity
‘Most people today believe that there is only one place to look to find yourself, and that is inward. Personal identity is a do-it-yourself project. All forms of external authority are to be rejected, and everyone’s quest for self-expression should be celebrated. This strategy of identity formation, sometimes labeled expressive individualism, is the view that you are who you feel yourself to be on the inside and that acting in accordance with this identity constitutes living authentically. Despite some clear benefits, key aspects of expressive individualism are open to question.’
From the archive: The problem with pursuing relevance
‘It was one of those Christian buzzwords for a while. Every other church was lining up to label itself ‘relevant.’ The question I had whenever I saw that was usually, relevant to whom?’