I’ve written recently of how Christian history is littered with stories of missionaries who have not treated their wives well — Carey, Zinzendorf, and Wesley to name a few. I know there are more positive stories out there, so I went looking and found Love Stories of Great Missionaires by […]
I’ve posted recently about the failings of Thomas Cranmer and Jonathan Edwards, asking why we’re reluctant to speak about their shortcomings. I wonder whether we’re scared that this might discredit their ministry. My (anecdotal) argument is motivated by great ‘heroes’ of the Bible who were pretty suspect themselves. Their fallenness […]
Yesterday, Ridley launched its Jonathan Edwards Center. It was a great evening, paying tribute to a man who is regarded as “one of the greatest minds in North American history, and has had an enduring legacy in theology, philosophy, politics and social engagement” to quote the founder of the center […]
The trellis and the vine: the ministry mind-set that changes everything Colin Marshall and Tony Payne (Matthias Media, 2009) This new Australian book picks up on some of the things I explored in Going Parachurch, distinguishing between the organic church and the institutional church. Our true focus must always be […]
From current day reforming groups (complete with a Facebook page!) to my former pastor who had his picture on his study door, Thomas Cranmer is a bit of a favourite with Anglicans. After all, he was the architect of the beloved Anglican prayer book and has been credited with the […]
One of the reasons we chose Ridley was its size – big enough to have a diverse student cohort and small enough to have access to the lecturers. Tonight we had dinner with one of our lecturers and his family. The kind of hospitality they showed us was very instructive […]
Christian ministers talk a lot about ‘pastoral ministry’ (running a local church) and often call it ‘the ministry’. This is the established ministry path in every denomination, and denominational trainers may even present it as definitive. However, as I explored last post, parachurch and mission do not require denominational endorsement. Still, […]
Meet Jesus at uni 