In May 2011 a number of us involved in the Dublin Willow Creek Leadership Conference were invited to travel with Compassion International to see some of their work in Peru. It was a great experience and this is the little promo video they made whilst we were there. You can check out Compassion here.
When we set off to fulfil the task God has given us in mission, the obvious first step to begin with is to turn to the scriptures and to see what Jesus and the early church did as they responded to this same calling. In doing so our hope is inevitably to find a simple, […]
The teaching of the Greek Philosopher Plato has been, and remains, the most dominant and influential philosophy in western history. Even though few of us spend much time pondering his work; even though many of us might struggle to know the difference between him and the former ninth planet in our universe, every one of […]
Unlike some of the other ‘isms’ we are discussing in this little series of blogs, ‘individualism’ is such an accepted and fully integrated element in our modern Irish culture that it is often difficult to even notice its presence any more never mind appreciate its influence. The joy-robbing severity of legalism and jarring anger of […]
It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view. The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision. We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work. Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the kingdom […]
“Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers [meeting] together, each one looking away […]
“Discipleship means adherence to Christ.. An abstract Christology, a doctrinal system, a general religious knowledge on the subject of grace or on the forgiveness of sins, render discipleship superfluous, and in fact they positively exclude any idea of discipleship whatever, and are essentially inimical to the whole conception of following Christ. With an abstract idea it […]
Without question, there are many significant challenges involved in the planting of new churches. Yet, over these first years of MCC’s history, I have also discovered that engaging in mission in a completely new context, where nothing can be assumed and where people are rightly sceptical about many of your intentions, is also a place […]
“Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees.” Matt 16:6 Having explained why I believe we need to revisit what the Gospel is, let me jump right in and state that I think the first and most important yeast we need to free ourselves from is that of […]
‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.’ When I was young, I was always enthralled by Lewis Carroll’s wonderful imagination and the amazing twists and turns it allowed him to build into every page of his writing. Like […]