The Church and the Virus
Rev'd Dr Edward Dowler offers an excellent theological reflection on the virus and how the Church has and should respond. The full video can be viewed here. In the preamble, he raises four important points: Is the response from Government proportionate?Are the measures - lockdowns, distancing, masks - really effective in the ways presented?Even if... Continue Reading →
Hello China – I’ve Noticed!
Hello China, and welcome to my humble blog! I'm afraid I've never visited your incredible country, but I do love your people, your food and much of your history. I'm only writing to say I've noticed that everyday for two months, "China" has visited my blog, and I am very grateful. I apologise I do... Continue Reading →
The Church is not a Passing Phenomena!
"The Church is an entity which has outlasted many states, nations and empires, and it will outlast those that exist today. The Church is nothing other than that movement launched into the public life of the world by its sovereign Lord to continue that which he came to do until it is finished in his... Continue Reading →
Banishing Amiable Religiosity
During his 1907 Lyman Beecher lectures on preaching at Yale University* (these lectures became his classic Positive Preaching and the Modern Mind), Forsyth shared the three ways in which he thought the Church suffers: i. from triviality. ii. from uncertainty. iii. from satisfaction (with itself, or more specifically, complacency). He later went on in that address... Continue Reading →
Saints and Fatheads: The Genius of the Church
In a fictional letter to a young Pastor, Ian Stackhouse (a non-fictional minister in Guildford, age unknown/irrelevant 😉 contributing to the Baptist Journal Ministry Today UK, February 2018 Edition, writes: "Dear Timothy, As always, I feel very honoured that you should write to me so candidly about the things you are dealing with, but I... Continue Reading →
This Beverage of Life
"The Church, though dispersed throughout the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples this faith: She believes in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth , and the sea , and all that are in them; and in one Christ, Jesus the... Continue Reading →
Realistic expectations of what the church is and will be
In a really well written article in Themelios by Uche Anizor that draws together various ecclesiological strands of Colin Gunton's thought from multiple sources, we see some really practical outworkings of what the church is and should be and will be in the light of a robust doctrine of the Trinity. Anizor writes, "Gunton’s relentless... Continue Reading →
The Church is a Mystery
Whilst I was digging around in some church history today, I came across this nugget of Eusebian observation: "As the third century drew to a close, the tensions within the church were becoming more explosive. Eusebius looking back on the situation as he had seen it as a young man could write, 'But when as... Continue Reading →
Baby Dedication
Our Father, We lift baby Faye to you now, In your presence and in the presence of your people. We pray your divine ‘Yes’ over this beloved child’s life. We pray for your purposes to be fulfilled in her life. We pray, in anticipation of her responding to your love in Jesus Christ. And... Continue Reading →
Gralefrit Theology 