Why we still need people for church plants in hard places

‘I really wish we could get to a point in the church in the UK where that very reality [the apparent undesirability of the town] made it desirable to come to live here to share the gospel. We believe that what Rochdale and places like it need more than anything is faithful churches to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. We are persuaded that there are nowhere near enough of those churches. The reality is that nicer places have far more churches on the whole and so that a key priority for Christians and the church in the UK is to invest not just prayer and money in hard places, but people.’

The soul-poison of the little word ‘should’

This one looks at the (potential) problem with our over-use of the word ‘should’.

The receding tides of New Atheism

‘Many people lost their religious faith while reading Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, and other bestselling “New Atheists” in the 2000s. Today over half the people in the UK—where Brierley lives and works—claim no religion. It’s similar in Australia—almost forty percent of people reported “no religion” in our last national census. Yet Brierley asserts that New Atheism is “a largely spent force, relegated to corners of the Internet … It has faded from public view as a serious cultural phenomenon”.’ This one takes a look at why and how that came to be.

Why did plural eldership decline in Baptist life?

This one looks at why – in some Baptist churches, particularly in America – the model of plural eldership fell by the wayside and was even opposed. It outlines five reasons that explain how this came about and then some short reflections on those particular issues.

Jesus inaugurates the New Covenant

John Stevens looks at the opening chapters of John’s gospel and points to how Jesus fulfils the Old Covenant and inaugurates the New.

Working together to reach forgotten places (video)

My friends, Graham & Dawn Thomson, speak with Adrian Reynolds about their ministry in Cleckheaton, the work of Medhurst Ministries and talk about the issues facing church in forgotten places. Worth a moment of your time.

From the archive: The real offence is grace

‘We are not offended by justice – when we’ve been wronged, that’s all we want! We are offended by grace. Whether the grace of a grieving brother holding out forgiveness to the murderer who killed his sibling or the grace of God in not wiping from the face of the earth people who have sought to destroy us. We are offended when we don’t get satisfaction. And, dare I say, there’s a bit of that in all of us. When it comes to our own sin, we want all the grace. When it comes to the sins of others – particularly those who have sinned against me and my people – we want justice. We so quickly forget God’s grace to us and quickly want retribution. And rarely is the glory of the Lord our goal, more just our own sense of satisfaction.’