Leadership: Casting the Right Vision

In some Christian circles at the moment there is quite a deal of talk about leadership and vision. It is the language of international politics with aspiring Prime Ministers and Presidents seeking to position themselves as genuine leaders with expansive (and yet still economically responsible) vision. As so often happens, churches then echo the concerns and the rhetoric of the community at large.   Read more

Gifted Individualism is not Leadership — Church Record editorial

Editorial from the June 2010 Australian Church Record –

One of the great privileges of being part of the Lord’s people is rubbing shoulders with so many gifted people. Paul’s image of ‘the body’ (1 Corinthians 12) displays such a beautiful picture of the organic unity that exists amongst God’s people. Here we find the Spirit of God has baptised all of us into the body-life of the congregation, and God has richly gifted his people. This is so that the body-life can function well, with security and stability, thus promoting the movement towards ‘growing up into the head (Christ)’, our ultimate maturity (Ephesians 4).

At least two factors in the last half-century have placed ‘giftedness’ firmly on the agenda, especially when it comes to discussions of ‘leadership’. The first is within ‘Christian culture’, namely, the influence of neo-pentecostalism. This has made it almost axiomatic for Christians to wonder about the gifts the Spirit may have distributed to them. The second (and related) factor comes from general culture, namely, the so-called ‘sixties revolution’, a phenomenon which simmered across the decade, came to a head in 1968, and then continued to bring massive cultural transformation across the seventies and beyond.   Read more

Resources from the PCQ

The Presbyterian Church of Queensland has a useful collection of resources – both audio and PDF files.

Among them is a challenging talk by Dr. Bruce Winter on ‘Paul’s Worldview expressed to the Corinthians’. (Part 1 – part 2 not online.)

Worth checking out.

Disorganised Doubt

Charles Raven:

“It seemed to me that pretty much all that needed to be said about Rowan Williams’  Pentecost letter ‘Renewal in the Spirit’  had been said, with general agreement that his rebuke of the American Episcopal Church for proceeding with the consecration of Mary Glasspool was little more than a token gesture. Although his admission that the Communion has not ‘found a way of shaping our consciences and convictions as a worldwide body’ was surprisingly frank, he had nothing new to offer for the future beyond a plea for diversity and ‘mutual exploration’ within the framework of the now widely discredited Covenant process.

Yet when I heard the first of this years’ BBC Radio 4 Reith lectures by the eminent cosmologist and astrophysicist Professor Martin Rees, his description of the scientific enterprise as ‘organised doubt’ set in motion a train of thought which led me to think that the term ‘disorganised doubt’ could shed some light on why Dr Williams and the other ‘instruments of unity’ are incapable of restoring coherence to an increasingly disordered Communion…”

– read it all at SPREAD.

John Woodhouse on 1 Samuel at Christ the Center

Recently Moore College Principal John Woodhouse was interviewed on 1 Samuel for the Christ the Center programme.

It’s at 21MB download – see the small [»] play and [?] download links at the top of this page. Variable audio quality, but well worth hearing.

“Any faithful exposition of God’s word will proclaim Chrust.”

(h/t Faith by hearing.)

Girls Gone Wise: reviewed

“I read a lot of books targeted for Christian women. Many, if not most of them, will include a token mention of the gospel: a page and a half (if that) ABC explanation followed by “Pray this short prayer and you’re in the family of God.” Blech!

I counted two separate times in which Kassian explains the gospel, not as “by the way, here’s what Jesus did for you,” but within the context of the chapter. She begins with the holiness of God and ends with repentance and faith. Yes, she actually describes repentance. She even differentiates justification and sanctification. Folks, I just don’t see much of that in books written by women for women, and I appreciate it when I do.”

– Leslie Wiggins reviews Mary Kassian’s Girls Gone Wise in a World Gone Wild – at Discerning Reader.

Some thoughts for Trinity Sunday

“In the Church of England’s calendar, today is Trinity Sunday, but time was when the Church of England seemed to become a bit embarrassed about this.

Indeed the calendar was re-written so that Sundays after Trinity, which run from now until the run-up to Christmas became Sundays after Pentecost. Pentecost seemed much more in keeping with the new mood of the Church. Pentecost was about experience — present experience of the Spirit in the life of the Church and the believer. Trinity seemed to be about an obscure doctrine rooted in the Church’s past…”

– John Richardson writes.

Christ Centred Communion – further thoughts (part V)

“…in all future Passover meal celebrations, the disciples could do nothing other than see in such meals remembrance events that focussed on the death of Jesus rather than on the Exodus event.”
– Barry Newman recaps on his earlier posts on Christ Centred Communion.

Barry’s blog is very helpful in encouraging readers to think about the meaning of Scripture.

New resources at BeThinking.org

The UCCF’s BeThinking apologetics website has some new resources. Worth having a look.

Bryan Chapell on Young, Restless, & Reformed

Bryan Chapell, from Covenant Theological Seminary, was interviewed by Ligon Duncan on the phenomenon of the new Reformed movement, and the Acts29 church planting network. Helpful background on what’s happening in the US.

It’s a 64MB mp3 file. (h/t Justin Taylor.)

Why we still need Confession of Sin

It’s become trendy for churches to drop a corporate confession of sin. Kevin DeYoung writes:

“If your church does not regularly confess sin and receive God’s assurance of pardon you are missing an essential element of corporate worship. It’s in the weekly prayer of confession that we experience the gospel. It’s here that we find punk kids and Ph.D.’s humbled together, admitting the same human nature. It’s here we, like Pilgrim, can unload our burden at the foot of the cross.”

– read his full article here. Want some help? One place to start is Better Gatherings.

Expecting what God promises

Richard Baxter:

“What keeps us under trouble is either we do not expect what God has promised [suffering], or we expect what he did not promise [an easy life]. We are grieved at crosses, losses, wrongs of our enemies, unkind dealings of our friends, sickness, or for contempt and scorn in the world. But who encouraged you to expect any better?” (Voices From the Past, 138)

– quoted by Stephen Altrogge at The Blazing Center.

The Good News We Almost Forgot

“The Good News We Almost Forgot is Kevin DeYoung’s attempt to introduce the Heidelberg Catechism to a new generation. And it seems that at a time when so many people are describing themselves as “Reformed” it is worthwhile looking to the historic roots of the Reformed tradition. Though the catechism was published almost 450 years ago, it remains relevant. The gospel it professed at the time of the Reformation is the very gospel we treasure today.”

– Tim Challies reviews the book. Get it from Reformers Bookshop or Moore Books.

Related: More Catechesis, Please.

Time to end the Nanny Church?

“In our area… we have been told to come up with a deanery mission strategy. But we cannot control our budget and we cannot control our staff — the ‘quota’ we pay to diocesan central funds is set by the diocesan centre, and is increasingly beyond the reach of dwindling congregations of elderly people. But we are rated as a ‘rich’ area, so the level is set accordingly.

At the same time, however, the number of clergy we are allowed to deploy is restricted to what we are allowed by the bishops, so we cannot increase the workforce who might increase the membership…”

– John Richardson also wonders about the future of the Church of England.

The next big question

“Taking stock after the American Episcopal Church has consecrated its second bishop  in a same sex relationship, and doubtless not the last, certain things seem to be clear; the North American revisionists are striking out regardless of the rest of the Communion, the Anglican Covenant has been effectively abandoned by the Global South as a means of restoring order and the Archbishop of Canterbury is an increasingly peripheral figure, as underlined by his silence on the Glasspool consecration this past weekend and his inaction beforehand.

But these clarifications bring to the foreground a question which many have so far been reluctant to face. According to Archbishop Peter Jensen, reflecting on last month’s Fourth Global South to South Encounter in Singapore, the Communion is now in a ‘post crisis phase’, but where does that leave the Church of England, the mother church of the Communion?…”

– Charles Raven wonders about the future of the Church of England.

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