“Poverty is not simply a lack of income, or other material attributes such as housing, food, access to fresh water or consumer goods. Such needs are, of course, fundamental symptoms of what it is like to be poor, but poverty has far wider dimensions; poverty is a lack of opportunity, a lack of power over […]
As we read through the biblical material concerning his earthly life and ministry, we find that Jesus sent his disciples out as missionaries on at least two occasions (Matthew 10:1-42; Luke 10:1-20. Their task both times was to preach the good news of the Kingdom, and demonstrate its reality by performing the miracles Jesus himself had carried out.
“Come ye out from among them and be ye separate.” 2 Cor 6:17
I first encountered the ‘doctrine’ of separation, or non-fellowship as it is also known, during my early attempts to join a local church. Such was its hold in one I attended that the church leaders there not only refused to socialise with their non-Christian colleagues outside of work, they would also not even eat with them whilst in work…
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 […]
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 […]
“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 […]