Articles, thoughts, essays, and content from Brian as well as students – our budding theologians.
Managing Monday with John Wesley (take 3)
Here are a final batch of John Wesley (1703-1791) insights – well, final for a while. Wesley was an Anglican minister who founded the Methodist church. His theology has a particular focus on holiness, though as you will see from the quotes, the scope of his interest was wide. When you do what you can, you do enough – John Wesley Earn all you can. Save all you can. Give all you can – John Wesley Once in seven years I burn all my sermons; for it is a shame, if I cannot write better sermons now that I did seven year ago –...
read moreWhen “darkness is my closest friend”: Reflections on Psalm 88
I was in a meeting a while back where a man said that he and his family had been living in Psalm 88 for a fair while – especially in v18b. Naturally I had to look it up. The tone of his comment had alerted me to expect something that fell a long way short of cheerful, and my instinct was right. The psalm is hauntingly sad. While it starts hopefully (“you are the God who saves me” – v1), it finishes in a very different place, speaking about abandonment, rejection and suffering, before finishing with the sobering...
read moreManaging Monday with John Wesley (take 2)
Here are a second batch of Wesley insights. It was always only a matter of time until I included some John Wesley (1703-1791) quotes on Managing Monday. Wesley was an Anglican minister who founded the Methodist church. His theology has a particular focus on holiness, though as you will see from the quotes, the scope of his interest was wide. We should be rigorous in judging ourselves and gracious in judging others – John Wesley Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. To all...
read moreManaging Monday with John Wesley
It was always only a matter of time until I included some John Wesley (1703-1791) quotes. Wesley was an Anglican minister who founded the Methodist church. His theology has a particular focus on holiness, though as you will see from the quotes, the scope of his interest was wide. What one generation tolerates, the next will embrace – John Wesley Unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils. But if God be for you who can be against you? – John Wesley, in his last letter...
read moreManaging Monday with Charles Spurgeon: Take three
This week we conclude our short series of Spurgeon quotes. Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892) was known as the “Prince of Preachers, and it’s not hard to understand why when you read through his penetrating sermons. He pastored London’s Metropolitan Tabernacle (formerly the New Park Street Chapel) for 38 years, a megachurch of the time, and indeed, during Spurgeon’s time, the largest congregation in the world. Ponder these Spurgeon insights… I have learned to kiss the wave that slams me into the rock of ages...
read moreEvery Brilliant Thing… Reflections on a movie
On a recent flight back to Perth, I watched a HBO documentary, “Every Brilliant Thing”. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the brief blurb about it said “Adapted from the hit Broadway-show, and balancing sobering loss with cathartic laughter, this deeply poignant film recounts a life lived in the shadow of suicide.” I guess it’s a comment on the other options that I decided to watch, but it turned out to be one of those rare instances where low expectations had to be dramatically recalibrated and I sat...
read moreManaging Monday with Charles Spurgeon: Take two
Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892) was known as the “Prince of Preachers, and it’s not hard to understand why when you read through his penetrating sermons. He pastored London’s Metropolitan Tabernacle (formerly the New Park Street Chapel) for 38 years, a megachurch of the time, and indeed, during Spurgeon’s time, the largest congregation in the world. This week we continue to reflect on some of his memorable insights… The Gospel is like a caged lion. It does not need to be defended. It simply needs to be let...
read moreManaging Monday with Charles Spurgeon
Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892) was known as the “Prince of Preachers, and it’s not hard to understand why when you read through his penetrating sermons. He pastored London’s Metropolitan Tabernacle (formerly the New Park Street Chapel) for 38 years, a megachurch of the time, and indeed, during Spurgeon’s time, the largest congregation in the world. Here are some memorable Spurgeon quotes… There is nothing in the law of God that will rob you of happiness: it only denies you that which would cost you sorrow...
read moreWhy Grenz matters…
You may or may not know (and may or may not care) that I did my PhD on the theological method of Stanley J Grenz. “Why?” I hear you ask. Without trying to reproduce my PhD (which can be downloaded for free from the University of Auckland’s research site), let me give you a simple explanation for why I think Grenz is an important theologian, and my reasons for arguing that his work continues to be relevant and worthy of study. A committed evangelical, American born but Canadian based Grenz (1950-2005), sensed that the...
read moreManaging Monday with Viktor E. Frankl – take 3
Today we finish our exploration of some insights from Austrian Holocaust survivor and psychiatrist Viktor E. Frankl (1905-1997), who is probably best know for his book Man’s Search for Meaning. He was also the founder of logotherapy – a form of existential analysis that suggests that the greatest existential stress is meaninglessness. Frankl’s own conclusion from the extreme suffering in the concentration camps was that even in the most dehumanizing situations life continues to have potential meaning – and that...
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