Somehow the personal tragedy Rick and Kay Warren face, compounded with the atrocity committed in Boston has brought into renewed focus for me how broken our world is. A viral illness has silenced me for a day or two but I am back now with a vengeance! Truth be told there is a great need for us to consider headlong how we can tackle brokeness of all forms as churches. Today, there is something that I want to say before I get back into my series on Mental Health which so far has included my most … [Read more...]
What are mental illnesses and disorders? What effects do they have?
April 8, 2013 By 12 Comments
In light of the terrible tragedy of the suicide of Matthew Warren, I am writing about a series of questions many Christian families and groups of friends will be discussing. The first post asked "Can a Christian get depression?" Today I ask two related questions, "What are mental illnesses and disorders?" and "What effects do they have?" Mental illnesses and disorders are incredibly common. If your church is not grappling with the issues mental illnesses and disorders raise, it means either … [Read more...]
How carefully do you look? Can you beat the radiologists?
February 21, 2013 By 1 Comment
OK, I want you to imagine for a moment that you are a top radiologist, examining CT-scans for minute traces of possible cancer. Get yourself into that mindset, then examine this scan: So, what did you notice? Did you fixate on a couple of white dots and try to decide if they were cancer or not? Or, did you see the gorilla in the top right hand corner? If you missed the gorilla, you are actually in good company. 83% of all highly skilled, highly trained, highly focussed radiologists … [Read more...]
Video Interview with Al Mohler
December 11, 2012 By 35 Comments
This is a video interview I recorded with Dr Albert Mohler about his new book and his views on leadership. We spoke a bit about the ideas I wrote about in a post on of "influencers" and those with "authority" as there is perhaps some overlap with his concept of "Believers" and "Leaders". It was a fun interview, and I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I did recording it! … [Read more...]
Two types of leadership
December 7, 2012 By 10 Comments
Many people say that leadership is simply a case of having followers. But it seems to me that there are definitely two types of follower, and hence two types of leader. I am talking about Christian circles here, but I think that a similar point could be made in the wider world too. The first kind of follower is one who simply reads, listens to, or watches another, and is affected by them. Sometimes the changes produced will be profound and deep, even life-changing, other times the effects … [Read more...]
The Conviction to Lead by Al Mohler
November 15, 2012 By 4 Comments
Are you a reluctant leader? Or do you lack convictions, yet pursue leadership anyway? Al Mohler will help you become one of the rounded leaders the church so desperately needs. The Conviction to Lead is now available to purchase. This book grabbed my attention early on with its bold claim, "Let me warn you right up front--my goal is to change the way you think about leadership. I do not aim merely to add one more voice to the conversation; I want to fundamentally change the way leadership is … [Read more...]
Complementarian and Egalitarian Bible verses
September 25, 2012 By 2 Comments
I'm not planning today to go through the arguments for and against egalitarianism or complementarianism. I thought instead that as a follow up to my "spectrum" post I would share some of the key Scripture passages that people on both sides of this debate believe are important in our understanding of this debate. If you can think of any other crucial passages I have left out, do let me know in the comments section below, via Twitter, or email. As I mentioned yesterday, I will discussing this … [Read more...]
John Piper on self promotion vs being influential for Jesus
September 8, 2011 By 1 Comment
In keeping with my theme this week of self-examination, I thought I would highlight two things I found on Justin Taylor's blog. The first was a post on self-promotion by Dane Ortlund. This really hits the mark and is a great provocation to us. Like many such pithy thoughts it is of course, however, one sided. There is nothing wrong with that as sometimes we do well to allow a truth, in this case "do not promote yourself" to hit us full in the face without nuancing it in that moment. If in … [Read more...]
Popular posts: PJ Smyth on suffering, sickness and healing
August 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment
During Adrian's month away from the blog, he has hand-picked a selection of the most popular posts of the year so far to re-run. Today we feature, "PJ Smyth on suffering, sickness and healing." PJ Smyth's practical theology of healing and suffering came out of his personal experience of cancer. This was not just another TOAM talk. Picked up within minutes of posting by Matt Chandler, who has had his own battle with brain cancer, this post is very helpful and has been read by many poeple. … [Read more...]
Guest Post: A pioneering woman, pt 1
August 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment
A pioneering woman, pt 1 By Claire Musters Wendy Virgo has always had a pioneering spirit. She married Terry in 1968 and they moved to a small town on the south coast called Seaford. At that stage, they had no idea that eventually the work that began there would spread to hundreds of churches in 60 nations around the world. I had the privilege of interviewing Wendy Virgo in the run up to the last Newfrontiers International Brighton Leaders’ Conference. I asked her about various different … [Read more...]
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