Thursday, July 7, 2016

Baptist Ecclesiology: On the Way and in the Fray

If you are interested in such things don't miss Drs John Tucker and Andrew Picard's article.
When we gather together, Christ is present in our midst and we can expect to hear his voice in the gathered community by the Spirit. Secondly, the promised presence of the Lord Jesus in the gathered community sets the church free from all other lords or rulers. Final authority over a congregation rests not with a pope or creed (or senior pastor,
or elders or national gathering resolutions). Final authority rests with the risen Christ who is present as Lord in the midst of a congregation. These twin emphases form something of the Baptist dynamic, a Baptist way of being.

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Diagnosing the Demonic

Do we really believe in the demonic anymore? Or can everything be treated with the right pills? What do we do with the fact that in Mark's gospel Jesus is a full blown exorcist but by John's gospel he seems to little interest in it? Was there more demonic activity in Jesus' time as a reaction to him? Is demon possession just what the ancients used to call mental illness? None of these questions are answered by this fascinating article, but read it anyway. Alternatively some of those questions are broached by an extraordinary panel of N.T. Wright, Richard Beck, Greg Boyd, Tony Jones and Tripp Fuller on this podcast (if you've got time to kill).

Let me know what you think :-)

Monday, July 4, 2016

Dark Satanic Book Mills



Well, of all the ways in which we dehumanise our fellow humans and alienate each other form the rewards of our labour can there be a more insidious and reprehensible form than the academic book mill? My mind had not conceived of such depravity till today.

Jesus treats the Syrophoenecian Woman as a Disciple

[This is an extract from my essay "Breaking Bread: The Power of Hospitality in the Gospel of Mark" which you can read in full and ...