Fanning into Flame the Gift God has Given You
I serve as principal at Vose Seminary, and our new academic year got underway this week. With a record enrolment of students, things are looking really positive, and you could sense the energy and optimism in the room at our opening chapel service. I spoke at it, looking at 2 Timothy 1:6-7 where Paul instructs Timothy to fan into flame the gift within him. I explored what this might mean for our students as they begin their journey with us, and after speaking it struck me that what I said would be relevant for the majority of those who read this blog… so here it is. It is always...
Read MoreWhen singleness is a gift…
With Valentine’s day falling on a Sunday this year, many churches will use it as an opportunity to celebrate love, marriage and relationships. And fair enough. But in this post I would like to be a little counter intuitive and invite us to think about the singles in our midst. For some, Valentines day can feel like anything but a celebration. Not that we should fall into the trap of thinking that every single person would prefer to be in a relationship. Many are happily and intentionally single – and really wouldn’t want it any other way. For others, it is the way things...
Read MoreMessy church, messy mission…
You might know that in addition to my role as principal of Vose Seminary, I serve as the pastor at large and chair of the board at Carey – a school and church planting movement which by providing excellent community services wins the right to speak into the lives of thousands of people who would otherwise have no church contact. Sunday was our annual commissioning service – a wonderfully celebratory event, especially as the staff from our newly opened Forrestdale School were present, as were many of the staff from our fairly recently opened Timber Café (the rest were busy working...
Read MoreOn being the body of Christ – all 2.2 billion of us…
Don’t know if you are into Dr Seuss, but if so you might remember the poem, My Many Coloured Days Some days are yellow. Some are blue. On different days I’m different too… On Bright Red Days how good it feels To be a horse and kick my heels!… On Purple Days I’m sad. I groan. I drag my tail. I walk alone… Then comes a Mixed-Up Day. And WHAM! I don’t know who or what I am! But it all turns out all right, you see. And I go back to being… me. – Dr Seuss, My Many Coloured Days (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1966) Catharine Thompson suggests that if we replace the end line ‘I go...
Read MoreI’m part of a church because…
We started this short series on the church by looking at the growing phenomena of churchless faith, where people who still hold to the Christian faith choose to continue in the faith whilst not being actively involved in any Christian church. In spite of the growth of churchless faith, overall church attendances are not faring too badly. The haemorrhaging of church membership in the so called Western world appears to have past the peak it reached in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, and while still worrying, might be levelling. So let’s balance the post on churchless faith by...
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