NT Wright NT Wright is probably the leading New Testament scholar of our generation. He's certainly the most prolific. After examining the Ressurection of Jesus here's what he concludes is central to the church's mission: Thus the church that takes sacred space seriously not as a retreat from the world but as a bridgehead into it will go straight from worshipping in the sanctuary to debating in the council chamber— discussing matters of town planning, of harmonizing and humanizing beauty in architecture, in green spaces, in road traffic schemes, and (not least in the rural areas, which are ev ..read more

I stumbled on a blog post recently that compared the cool rebel Jesus with the faithful Bible-believers who handed him over to be crucified. Here's how the writer described Jesus' opponents, They aggressively studied apologetics so they could argue publicly to prove him wrong. They were sticking to the Bible. They were faithful believers who knew the Bible. They understood the Bible. They understood the character of God. They were the only group of people on Earth who had the holy scriptures and writings that documented the promises and the law of the one true living God. They were the believ ..read more

Katharine Jefferts Schori Why do progressive/liberal/mainline churches decline? For years academics and church officials have denied that decline has anything to do with beliefs. Decline resulted from external factors, not internal factors. Former Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal church, Katharine Jefferts Schori, claimed that since Episcopalians were better-educated and cared for the earth, they had lower birth rates than other Christians. Recently a Canadian study has concluded that theology does matter. The authors of Theology Matters: Comparing the Traits of Growing and Declining Ma ..read more

In some bibles the actual words of Jesus are printed in red. Red Letter Christians regard Jesus’ actual words in the Gospels as more authoritative than the rest of Scripture. They want to take Jesus’ words seriously and live them out, especially the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount. I can understand why someone might be drawn to Red Letter Christianity. I also think they might have an agenda. Apparently Red Letter Jesus is a warrior for LGBT rights, he’s for action on climate change, he leans left politically and he doesn’t believe in hell. Unfortunately the real Jesus said ..read more

Ian Paul over at Psephizo has done a great job of dismantling the progressive attacks on Biblical teaching about sex and marriage. He makes two important points. First, according to the vast majority of scholars, the biblical witness is clear. Where the Bible mentions homosexual behavior at all, it clearly condemns it. Renowned scholars Walter Brueggemann, Timothy Luke Johnson and Walter Wink support same-sex marriage but agree the Bible condemns homosexual activity. These three at least have the intellectual honesty to accurately interpret Scripture rather than twist Scripture to bolster the ..read more

image I don’t need to tell you that there is a massive shift taking place in the western world regarding human identity, sexual morality and marriage. That shift is sending shock waves through western Christianity. Bishops in England are lining up to embrace same-sex marriage and gender ideology. They sense they may be winning a battle that has raged for decades. Meanwhile, the archbishop is silent and refuses to discipline those who reject the church’s teaching. In Australia, the Baptists of NSW decided to disaffiliate churches and pastors that embrace same-sex marriage. The head of Baptist ..read more

JT Timblin and Ben Long talk about developing shepherds/elders/overseers in a movement of disciples and churches. If you would like to get in touch with JT and Ben you can email them ..read more

In Wright On Mission I wrote about the emerging consensus on the nature of the church’s mission in the world. That consensus has been building for over a century and it’s wrong. Like a plastic pot plant, it won’t grow and it won’t multiply. We’ve seen it all before. The nineteenth century gave birth to a student missionary movement on both sides of the Atlantic that resulted in thousands taking the gospel to the ends of the earth. Their motto was, “The evangelisation of the world in this generation.” These pioneers paved the way for Christianity to become a truly world faith in the twentieth ..read more

image Last month bishops of the Church of England affirmed what Jesus taught, and what the whole of Scripture affirms about sex and marriage. This month the Guardian reports: The archbishops of Canterbury and York have apologised over a statement issued by Church of England bishops last week which declared that only married heterosexuals should have sex. Justin Welby and John Sentamu said they took responsibility for releasing the statement which “jeopardised trust”. They added: “We are very sorry and recognise the division and hurt this has caused.” What a mess. I wrote this in The Ri ..read more

source And the Church must be forever building, and always decaying, and always being restored. —T. S. Eliot The Anglican Church of Canada is an example of a church in Decay. It’s a sad reality that churches, ministries, mission agencies can drift from and ultimately repudiate their Identity in Christ then go on living off the assets of past generations. The Scriptures repeatedly warn God’s people to return to their first love expressed in obedience to God’s living Word, dependence on the Holy Spirit and faithfulness to the Mission God has given them. There are dire consequences for driftin ..read more