Where are people converted?

I appreciated this one from Paul Levy (I also want to co-sign his final two paragraphs in particular. NB: not the snippet I have given you here): ‘In Acts, predominantly the people who were converted are away from their homes. The outsiders come to faith in Jesus when away from their familiar environment. I think we see this pattern continuing today. In part, this occurs because when people are away from their cultural roots, they are often open to considering alternative worldviews and different answers to the big questions in life. It helps us to understand why conversions are happening in the UK amongst different groups of people.’

Why preaching requires a human touch

‘AI can give you a manuscript, but it can’t give you a message that has first transformed your own heart. AI can give you some punchy illustrations, but not what the people in your congregation need to hear from a pastor who knows and loves them. AI might even be able to make you seem like a good preacher, but it can’t make you fulfil the qualifications for ministry set out in the New Testament. Here are some of the reasons that I think AI will have a negative impact on those who use it for their sermons.’

Reflections on leaving the church of England – 5 years on

‘I was baptised and confirmed in the Church of England because my family were committed evangelical Christians and went to a good evangelical Church of England church when I was growing up. Although I was involved in churches from different denominations as a teenager and student (Nazarene and Baptist Union), I never really shifted much from my evangelical Anglican roots, eventually training at Oak Hill for ministry and then being ordained and ministering in the Church of England for a decade. In that context, I suppose it’s not surprising that five years still doesn’t feel that long, even though the upheaval of leaving was huge and the challenge of church planting since has often been overwhelming. However, this anniversary in particular has had me reflecting on leaving – perhaps 5 years in enough to begin to get some perspective! So I thought I’d share a few thoughts.’

How far would you go?

I’m assuming Rich delivered this as an evangelistic talk this year. But (whether you celebrated Burns Night or not), I think it is both a helpful outline for a talk that could be repurposed in other settings and – more than that – lands on some top truths.

Is Jesus our example?

As you might imagine, the answer is both yes and no.

Dawkins Gender Dilemma

‘[Richard] Dawkins has admirably stated elsewhere, sex is biological. I am myself grateful for his clarity and courage on this point. It does not matter how sincerely someone believes that he is a woman trapped in the wrong body—every cell of that body indicates the opposite. One need not be a theist of any variety to understand and acknowledge that. And yet, there is an issue here.’ Carl Trueman goes on to explain the dilemma Dawkins finds himself in.

From the archive: Connecting theological college to ordinary people

‘If we are training academics for the academy, then it makes perfect sense to offer academic training. If we are seeking to train pastors and church leaders for vocational office, that model seems faulty. People laugh when you point out that Jesus and his Apostles would not be qualified to make it onto the average academic course offered by most Bible colleges and seminaries. It is equally sad that many churches have bought into the view that unless you hold an academic qualification from one such college, you are not fit to lead their church (which really would put paid to Jesus or his Apostles ever leading in your church!) The problem is, because we have wedded ourselves to this academic model, we can’t see beyond it. We happily lock out Jesus and the Apostles on the grounds that we want well-trained theologians and cannot see any means to achieve that other than arts-based academic approach that we have effectively inherited from secular universities. If I, with my History & Politics degree, can waltz onto a theology master’s degree (which I did) and simply change over the books whilst carrying on exactly as before with zero change in approach, it seems we have muddled up exactly whom we are training for what.’