Remembering Karl Barth

Karl Barth died 41 years ago today.
Here are a few of my favourite quotes from him:
On his own theology:
My whole theology, you see, is fundamentally a theology for parsons. It grew out of my own situation when I had to teach and preach and counsel a little. (From a radio broadcast made shortly before [...]

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The mission of the church

Check out this definition of the church’s mission.
‘The Church’s commission, which is the foundation of its freedom, consists in this: in Christ’s stead, and so in the service of his own Word and work, to deliver to all people, through preaching and sacrament, the message of the free grace of God.’
That’s it.  That’s the mission [...]

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Good news for the poor

Social engagement or evangelism-only? 
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What is the mission of the church?
 
Here are three factors that unnecessarily polarize the debate:
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1) We think in terms of church programmes.  We frame the whole debate in terms of how many of our 15 scheduled hours of church-run activity must be devoted to helping the needy each week. 
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2) We look for justification [...]

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Changing world – changing ministry

A video briefly existed here charting an alarming rate of decline in birth rates in the west combined with incredible Muslim birth and immigration rates. 
Apparently the statistics are absolutely unreliable.  See here.  Thanks to Daniel Blanche for pointing this out.
Sorry to spread the error. 
Anyway – it’s still true to say that through immigration the unreached [...]

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Look at the fields – they are ripe for harvest

 
Gospel for Asia (UK site here) sends native missionaries into the Asian harvest field at a fraction of the cost of sending westerners.  100% of your money goes to the field.  You can sponsor a missionary for £20 a month.  Think about it.
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The context is key. The context is mission.

In preaching through 1 Corinthians recently I listened to a lot of sermons on chapters 9 and 10.   Two themes in particular were hammered home by preachers. 
In chapter 9 there’s the olympic training regimes (v24-27).  In chapter 10 there’s ‘glorifying God’ in all circumstances (v31).  But so often the context of these verses is ignored.
So [...]

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A theology of preaching – part 1

Go to theology network for my paper on preaching in full.  Here I’ll post it in chunks.  Be good to talk about it if you want to comment… 
Introduction
It is often said that the real issue in preaching is not ‘How to?’ but ‘How can?’  How can a preacher stand before a congregation and dare to [...]

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Reflecting the Lord’s glory

What’s this verse about?
And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory…  (2 Cor 3:18)
Is it about enjoying private devotional experiences with Jesus so that we become like Him?   That’s a popular interpretation.  And it’s half right.  But it’s really not the full story.
The [...]

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Ten thoughts on planning missions

 Like many churches across the country, we’re planning our involvement with the Passion for Life mission initiative taking place in Easter 2010.  Here are ten thoughts on these kinds of missions in no particular order.

‘A mission’ should be part of a church’s ongoing life of mission.  The one-off sports event with gospel talk at half [...]

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Al Jazeera on Iraqi converts

Thanksgiving and prayer called for.  Wise as snakes, innocent as doves.
H/T Paul Blackham
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A theology of mission 5 – some talks

We’ve been thinking about a theology of mission grounded in the doctrine of God.
Here are some relevant talks from me on the subject.:
Luke 14 - Mission the way Jesus did it
Mission in 1 Peter
1 Peter 2 – Doing mission together
Here is Paul Blackham on being salt and light
And here is hands down the best talk I’ve [...]

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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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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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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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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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Stronger

 Mark 5:1-20
Jesus is stronger than the storms (Mark 4:35-41).  He is stronger than death (Mark 5:21-43).  In Mark 5:1-20 He takes on an army of demons to prove Himself stronger than the Strong Man (Mark 3:27).
Read the sermon here
Listen here
 
Sermon in brief…
The Before and After shots of this demonized man would be something to behold!
Before: living among tombs, [...]

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Door to Door?

A friend of mine recently posed this statement for discussion
“Five sessions of 5 pairs spending two hours door-knocking is better spent having 5 pairs having neighbours round five times in a season” Discuss.
Some responses:

Good thought!  See especially here where Rory Shiner discusses Gospel intentionality as a good ‘third way’ between cold-contact and friendship evangelism.  He (like [...]

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What age are we in?

Are we in the Post-Christian age? 
Is this age characterized by total cultural memory-loss regarding our Christian heritage?  Is this the age in which people are so far back in their Christian understanding that the mission stategies of previous centuries are virtually useless? 
Are we in the Post-Modern age?
Is this age characterized by the total devaluation of [...]

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What is godliness?

From a sermon on Luke 14 I gave yesterday:
Godliness is radical other-centredness.  Christ-likeness is opening your life out in invitation to the world.

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The Priesthood of all believers and Trinity 2

In previous posts I have discussed the priesthood of all believers and how this doctrine interacts with the doctrine of the trinity.  In my last post on this I examined the connection from Trinity => church.  In this post we’ll go in the other direction: church => trinity (a much more perilous route!!).  My question is:
          Can ‘different [...]

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The Priesthood of all believers and Trinity 1

When discussing the priesthood of all believers I tried to highlight the corporate nature of our priestliness.  I only find my priestliness in union with Christ and in union with others.  Both are essential.
The priesthood of all believers is not a priestliness that is the private possession of each believer.  If we argue like this then the [...]

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I believed, therefore I spoke.

Our church is in a sermon series encouraging us to put mission at the heart of all we do and say.  It’s got me thinking about one of my favourite verses: ”I believed therefore I have spoken.” (2 Cor 4:13)  I’ve been trying to think, what do I need to believe in order to be the evangelist [...]

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Mission, evangelism and social action – part 5

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)
“May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have [...]

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Mission, evangelism and social action – part 4

A little detour on Barth…
Last century, Karl Barth was key in re-emphasizing mission as the outflow of the life of God.  At the Brandenburg Missionary Conference in 1932  he said:
“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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Mission, evangelism and social action – part 3

God is a Gospel-Alone God.  He is known only in the Gospel.  His very being is a Gospel Being.  There’s no use even conceiving of a God other than the Father revealed in the Son by the Spirit.  If you’re not convinced, read these posts which were digressions to bolster the point:
       The Trinitarian OT
       Oneness [...]

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Mission, evangelism and social action – part 2

I tried to argue in the last post that neither soteriology nor ecclesiology nor eschatology should define our priorities in mission.  Rather, it’s our doctrine of God that must be our first point of call.  It is the God whose being is in the Father’s sending (missio) of the Son who is the proper foundation [...]

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Mission, evangelism and social action – part 1

Here are some thoughts on the inter-relation of mission, evangelism and social action. I have written a longer essay on this on my website here.  Here are some abridged thoughts… In part one I will flag up the doctrine of God issues which ought to be the very foundation of our missiology.  But first, a word of [...]

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