“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 […]
“Overcome evil with good.” Rom 12:21 I watched Crimson Tide (1995) the other night which is set amidst the escalating turmoil of what seems to be the beginning of World War III. The movie explores the tense dynamics aboard a US nuclear submarine whose commanding officers are caught up in the conflict but whose lines of communication with […]
All our yearning, our stretching out, our hope, our thirst for God – this is something He has created in us so that He might fill and satisfy us. It is not our wanting that sets us on this journey, but His. Our desire He has created within us so we might know His desire […]
Why is it that the number of those involved in local churches in Ireland today is reducing so quickly? For over a decade now, I have read articles and books on this subject and there seems to be widespread agreement around a twofold answer to the question. More times than not, the demise of the […]
(Please note that RTG part 1, the introduction to this series can be found here.) During my student days, I had the great privilege of spending almost a year in the wonderful but troubled island of Jamaica. It is a place of almost indescribable natural beauty in which the extremes of poverty and wealth sadly […]
I’ve been a follower of Jesus for some twenty-nine years now and for most of that time I’ve been struggling with a form of cognitive dissonance. The condition arises when what one believes to be true and what one knows to be true are not in alignment. My particular dissonance arises from two undeniable realities […]