I've been thinking about waiting. The waiting you do when your hopes and dreams have been deferred—again. The waiting you do when you're offered the opportunity you longed for but have to turn it down—again. The waiting you do when the future is uncertain and your plans can only be tentative and provisional—again.
How would you assess the maturity of your church? If you were designing a maturity survey for your members, what questions would you ask?
It’s a word that drives just about any pastor to despair (although not necessarily because he sees it in his own heart and life). The word? Consumerism.
Sandy Grant's links on mental health, sacrifice, comfort/suffering, Proverbs 22:6, and religious radicalisation.
When a single idea has dominated a person’s life for nearly thirty years, it doesn’t mean it is necessarily a good or worthy idea. But it probably does mean the person can show you things about that idea that have never even occurred to you.
I’m sure you’ve been told before that, as a Christian, you are to ‘be salt and light’ to the world. Because you’re aware of Jesus’ sermon given on the mount, you understand that this means to love your neighbour, forgive your brother from your heart, avoid sin, and love God.
Tony Payne's introduction to what the Vine Journal is all about.
You’ve reached the end of a fantastic study. The group has been engaged, asking good questions; you feel like you’re seeing a group of people keen to apply the word of God to their lives. You reach the application questions. And nothing. No one comes up with anything.
“So... how did you find the passage? Any initial thoughts?” An eerie silence follows, accompanied by the awkward shifting of people in their chairs, as it becomes apparent that no-one has prepared. It will be a dry old night of trying to wring out some answers from people whose sudden pangs of guilt have distracted them from the possibility of thinking up a response by reading the passage right now.
This week Sandy Grant shares good reads on religious freedom in Australia, why God is not a narcissist, the New Perspective, James, and his favourite recent GoThereFor articles.