There are some pastors who maintain the discipline of extensive wider theological study beyond preaching preparation on their own without any help, but there are few of them. Nor is it ideal to fly entirely solo, because it means missing out on external expertise and iron-sharpening-iron interaction. At the Pastors’ Academy we used to offer …
“Are you the finished product?” Surely no one reading this post will answer the question with a “Yes.” Most of us will answer with both a snort of laughter at the very thought and a shiver of shame as our conscience reminds us of how far we are from what Jesus was and what we …
In pastoral ministry the pulpit’s demand is perpetual and relentless. After all, it is preachers who pastor congregations effectively. The regular form in which biblical faith finds its expression in the church is the sermon, a message drawing out of a biblical text or passage whatever the Spirit of God has put into it for …
The question While we are all locked down in our homes, we should be longing to celebrate the Lord’s supper together as a church, but we should not do so. Why not? Quite simply, because it cannot be done. I have two possible forms of a locked down Lord’s supper in mind here. The first, …
Can We Celebrate the Lord’s Supper in Lockdown? No. Read More »
We should be alert to both the importance of fresh theological work and its danger. There is no doubt that new insights through history have taken the church into a deeper understanding of the Scriptures, often in the context of defending the truth against error. And yet much novelty has itself been error, and even …
How to Spot New Ideas in Theology—And Why it Matters Read More »
Reflecting on God’s providence, John Webster writes: ‘God’s governance secures the creature’s freedom. If this fails to commend itself, it is because it contravenes a destructive convention according to which true freedom is indeterminacy and absolute spontaneity or it is nothing at all. To say that is to deny creatureliness. Freedom is existence in accordance …