A theology of mission 4 – Evangelism only?

We have been thinking about mission grounded in God’s own life.  God is the Sending God, His Sent Son and the Reconciling Spirit – this is not simply something He does but who He is.
So it is with the Church.  We have inherited our mission from the Sent One and we too find ourselves not simply [...]

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Evangelism

Saw this at Bobby’s blog.  Wow!

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Trinity Rant #843

Trinity is not a nuance.
When we unfold the trinitarian life of God in His gospel work, we’re not simply adding a level of detail to functionally unitarian ‘God’-speak.  Trinity is not just a nuancing of more basic truths.  To speak of trinity is to uncover a logic which alters the way we conceive of everything, from [...]

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A theology of mission 3

In the last post, we saw the deepest continuity between God’s mission and ours.
But now we must highlight the discontinuity.
Continuity and Discontinuity
Perhaps the Matthean Great Commission will show both the continuity and discontinuity points:
‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them [...]

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Piper or Darwin – Who is the more controversial target?

The figures don’t lie.  My post dissing Darwin has just received its 70th comment.  It has caused twice as much of a stir as my next most controversial post – Piper’s theology of glory.
Pause for thought?
 
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A theology of mission 2 – The Missio Dei

When Karl Barth addressed the Brandenburg Missionary Conference in 1932 he introduced a missiological perspective which has determined the shape of mission theology in every part of the Church. 
“Must not even the most faithful missionary, the most convinced friend of missions, have reason to reflect that the term missio was in the ancient Church [...]

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A theology of mission 1

This began life as an essay I wrote for post-ordination training.
Typically ‘mission’ is understood as an activity that the church undertakes.  On this understanding, the church, alongside its other duties, is also a sender and supporter of gospel workers. 

In this paradigm a church may seek to enlarge their “sending arrow” greatly.  They may tirelessly champion [...]

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Good advice for boasters

 
Are you a boaster? 
Bet I’m a bigger one…
See?
I’ve been thinking about the early chapters of 1 Corinthians recently.
Here’s some of the things they boasted in. 
Chapter 1:31 alludes to Jeremiah 9:23.  There the spotlight is on wisdom, strength and riches.  
This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong [...]

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Some initial thoughts on Comedy and Christianity

This began as a response to Codepoke.  These are just thoughts off the top of my head.  Love to hear the thoughts of others. 
Comedy does not necessarily equal ‘deride’ or ‘make light of’.  Often it does – and perhaps sitcoms and funniest home video shows could be brought in as evidence. 
But even if comedy was [...]

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Comedy and Christianity

You thought the Busey Builder was disturbing.  What about this?

I fear that anyone who comes expecting either Reverend Horse-Teeth or actual comedy will be sorely disappointed. 
Nonetheless, the date and the title is set.  It’s an evangelistic gig.  The big question is – what on earth should I say?
Help gratefully received.
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How to wait

The Christian is expectant.  We wait for Christ our Bridegroom.
But how do we wait?  Like this?

I recently read Sam Harris quoting this statistic: 44% of Americans believe Jesus will ‘certainly’ or ‘probably’ return in the next 50 years.  That’s not 44% of American Christians.  That’s 44% of Americans!
Now I think Jesus could return today.  But [...]

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How to win the world

It’s a story about high school football.  But really it’s about how to win the world.  Go and read now!
h/t Letters from Kamp Krusty
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Waiting

  
Ever noticed how much the theme of waiting comes up in the Scriptures?
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Two examples from the OT. 
People waiting for Jesus:
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In Genesis 49 we see the kings from Judah promised as throne-warmers for the Universal King (v10).  In the midst of Jacob’s many prophesies he says:
“For Your Yeshua I will wait O LORD.”  (Gen 49:18)
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Let’s leap over loads more [...]

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Most commented

At 41 69 comments and counting, the evolution of a creationist is now my most commented upon post.  I might have known. 
 
(Update: my points were reposted here and at last count it had 99 comments – though no-one seems to have interacted with my points!)
 
Anyway, here’s the top ten in terms of comments:
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First Place
(69 comments)
 
 The evolution [...]

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Busey Builder

It’s so wrong…

… and yet so right!
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From Something Awful via One Salient Oversight
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I love Dev Menon…

… and I don’t care who knows it.
Read here as he discusses baptism, Genesis and the cross.
By the way, did you know he has a PhD he’s getting a PhD in some science or other (viva pending).  Whatever the case, please address him as Dr Dev.  Or Menon PhD. 
Here he does scientia Christi.  Check out [...]

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The evolution of a creationist

In the beginning I believed in billions of years.
Then, about 8 years ago, a great friend engaged me in the most infuriating conversation of my life.  He actually asked me to articulate my position.  He wanted me to spell out how I thought Eden and Adam fitted into my evolution story.  How evolved was humanity when [...]

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Sensational

…Back from holiday
It seems it’s not just the Pope whose words are taken out of context and sensationalized (see here for instance). 
My wife wrote this for the Observer magazine published on Sunday.  It was about a horrible bus journey she once endured surrounded by three yobs.
Here’s what she actually wrote:
…As I tried to laugh off [...]

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I’m off to the country…

… to watch DVDs of course.
What else do you do on holiday?
I’ll try to work my way through the Mighty Boosh boxed set I received for Christmas.
In the meantime, enjoy this fine snippet:

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We all have our creation stories

Just watched this documentary on the Large Hadron Collider: “The Big Bang Machine.” (BBC4) presented by Brian Cox.
 
Here’s an extract from around 4:20 – 7:20.   
Physics is stuck and the only thing left to do is recreate the universe as it was a fraction of a second after the big bang.  That’s [...]

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Bible reading and meditation but no resolutions here

Some yearly reading plans from ESV.
So go to it.
Now there’s much to be said for just reading decent chunks of the word.  After all that’s how you get to really know an author – read lots.  But if you also want some pointers on biblical meditation here are some helpful tips.
from Justin Taylor
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And if you want [...]

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Total Sermon

They say the problem with young preachers is that they try to say everything.
I say that’s only a problem if they fail.  Dan Hames does say everything.  Brilliantly! 
Enjoy.
 
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This year

Alongside the usual rants about trinity, OT, Christ-centredness and preaching I’m planning on writing about:
Pastoral care (in particular mental illness)
Pornography
Apologetics
Islam
Marriage
Mission
What will you be blogging about in 2009?
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