Unrealistic expectations for council estate ministry

‘What’s the primary cause of distraction and discontentment for pastors and ministry teams serving on council estates? After reflecting on my time as a church planter and pastor on a council estate in Middlesbrough, and now that I am supporting other pastors in similar contexts via Medhurst Ministries, I think the answer to that question is unrealistic expectations. These expectations are often born out of a good place and are usually godly ideals or ambitions for the future. However, they are not benchmarks or necessary for successful gospel ministry.’

The Law and Louisiana Classrooms – The Ten Commandments Are For The Church Not The State

‘A couple of weeks ago the Republican Governor of Louisiana signed a new law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom. No doubt many evangelical Christians will welcome this, and secularists will see it as a violation of the separation of church and state and the prohibition of any kind of church establishment in the US Constitution. What is less clear is what evangelicals hope to achieve by displaying the Ten Commandments in this way. Undoubtedly, many regard them as a fundamental code for morality which ought to be observed by everyone, and as reflecting God’s moral law for society more widely.’ John Stevens explores this and reflects on how they ought to be applied.

Monk or missionary: these are the only options now

This one reflects on social media and suggests there are only two options open to us if we aren’t to lose our minds or our souls to social media. It may overstate things a bit, but I think the broad position it outlines has some credit.

Did Paul endorse slavery?

This one takes you through the data on what the Bible says about slavery and comes to a pretty resounding, ‘no’.

Shulamith Firestone was a prophet

I must admit, I had never heard of Shulamith Firestone. But this is an interesting take on a philosophical outlook that proved, at one and the same time, both to be right in much of what it predicted and yet wrong in what it ultimately taught.

Therapy and bug men

Counselling (or, therapy) is good. It is helpful. This one doesn’t argue otherwise. But it does argue against the tendency to totalise it as *the* solution to everything. But it goes beyond therapy to note a number of other areas some are tempted to totalise something in ways that are less than excellent.

From the archive: Five frustrating comments whenever we discuss problems of class

‘More often than not, any discussion about these statistics becomes less about the facts of the matter and always descends into frustrating discussions that stem from the insecurities of those who seem to take any mention of class as a personal affront. I don’t know whether it is borne out of a sense that any mention of the reality is taken as an implicit criticism of the specific person to whom you are talking (which it almost never is) or it is the manifestation of some sense of guilt that we are where we are and the unfortunate knee-jerk reaction to try and justify ourselves for it (even if it has nothing specifically to do with you). What I do know is that very few are prepared to look at the facts of the matter and simply acknowledge what is clearly the case without desperately defending the situation or denying it exists altogether. Here are some of the more frustrating comments I have heard on this…’