Have Tongues Ceased? A Reformed Answer for Christians Leaving the Charismatic Movement

This one lays out the case for why many Reformed people believe tongues have ceased. I think it lays out a compelling case against “tongues-as-revelation”, and goes a considerable way to addressing the Pentecostal form of tongue-speaking. I’m not convinced it makes quite as compelling a case on the question of whether tongues continue in any form, though it makes some salutary points that bear consideration.

Thinking Christianly about Complex Topics

I really appreciated this one. Seeking a Christian perspective on any given topic is necessary for every faithful believer. Far too many of us speak as though our position is the definitive and only legitimate Christian one. 

Why We Need to Interpret the Bible (And Why It’s Worth the Effort)

This one speaks about the importance and necessity to interpret scripture and not merely to read it.

Why We Don’t Trust Pastors 

I have no stats on this, but my gut feeling is this would probably be even worse in the UK because we are much more secularised and the church has not been held in high regard for some time here. ‘Americans have spoken. We don’t trust pastors. A recent Gallup survey found that only 27% of Americans ranked pastors as “high” or “very high” regarding their honesty and ethical standards. We are outpaced by accountants, bankers, and mechanics with those in the military or medical professions more than doubling our score.’

A Foolish and False Leadership Cliché 

I have heard this cliché more times than I care to remember. I wrote a while ago that I did not think it was credible (see here). This one takes a look at some specific biblical examples that undercut this cliché.

The Most Neglected Element of Worship

I think this one is about right. I am grateful that my own church generally has four separate readings of scripture each Sunday (albeit one is a short benediction at the very end of the service). I suspect we could learn from the tips on reading well here though.

From the archive: A radical solution to the greatest inequality

‘As far as I can tell, most evangelical church planting in the UK is at least partially funded by a fairly small number of either national or regional church networks, some wealthier churches and the associated funds/trusts that they can access. I reckon that there are sufficiently few of these organisations that (post COVID!) you could get senior representatives from all of them together in one room.  My suggestion is that this is done and that they agree together that for the next ten years all the new church plants that they help to finance in the UK will be in the more deprived communities (either urban or rural) that we have previously neglected, and that they will no longer help fund further new church plants in predominately middle class or newly gentrified areas.’