The growth of the evangelical church has been ocean-wide, but often puddle-deep. Why so shallow?
Over the next 3 days, Iām going to suggest five reasons why those of us in evangelical churches often do a poor job of discipling one another. (For the biblical reasons we should be discipling, hereās a post from earlier today).
Firstly, our churches very often teach ācheapā grace.
Youāll remember Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor and theologian. He defined cheap grace like this:... continue reading
Six years ago, in Christianity Today magazine, John Stott was asked for his assessment of the growth of the evangelical church. This was his reply:
The answer is āgrowth without depth.ā None of us wants to dispute the extraordinary growth of the church. But it has been largely numerical and statistical growth. And there has not been sufficient growth in discipleship that is comparable to the growth in numbers.
Although our growth is wide, wide as the ocean, itās about as deep as a puddle. Why is that? What is going wrong? Over the next five weeks, Iām going to suggest five reasons we donāt disciple ā or at least disciple well.... continue reading
Every now and then I find myself needing to know what day it is.
I can generally cope with the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday thing. I mastered the days of the week - to a greater or lesser extent - some time ago. But I yearn to discover what animal, vegetable or other obscure aspect of life on earth is being celebrated somewhere in the world. And my search engine of choice rarely leaves me wanting!
My favourite days include: National Pig Day in March (to celebrate all things trottered); National Ice-Cream Day in July (make mine pistachio please), National Carrot Day (though sadly there seems to be some controversy over the exact timing of this exciting opportunity to focus on the fact that the average person consumes in the region of 10,866 carrots in their lifetime) and National Hug Day (which conveniently coincides with my birthday). You may like to know that tomorrow is Cherry Popsicle day. I hope you'll plan to celebrate in style!
But while there is some merit in setting aside a special day to focus with thankfulness on one aspect of God's world - and a certain amusement factor about openly rejoicing in the obscure and the mundane - it occurs to me there are some things for which one day of celebration is simply not enough:... continue reading
āI donāt know what to sayā¦ā came the plaintive text. A friend, who had known me for years, who loves me dearly and who genuinely wanted to help was stumped. In the face on my grief they found themselves strangely inert. Desperate to say the right thing. Terrified of saying something wrong. And they werenāt alone.
It can feel profoundly difficult to know what to say to someone who has lost a close family member or friend. Partly because there are no hard and fast rules about what will actually help. But saying something is important. And the reality is, what we say doesnāt need to profound, it just needs to be true and kind!
Iām no expert on grief, just someone whoās had quite a bit of practice at being bereaved this year, but here are 10 phrases that might well be of use if you find yourself struggling for words ā my suggestion would be to just pick a couple that you can say naturally and go for it:... continue reading
Tim Tebow isnāt much of a name this side of the Atlantic; but in the US, heās a star. Heās an American football quarterback. And heās a Christian.
And in a recent interview, he makes clear that the third of those descriptions of him is more important than the first two. But, he says, itās a āconstant battleā to keep his priorities straight.
Whatās interesting is that he has a Christian friend, what he calls a prayer partner, to help him to live for Christ first and foremost. And he outlines why he needs one and what one does.... continue reading
If youāre anything like me, you struggle with besetting sins. Those sins that rear their heads on an irritatingly regular basis and that you canāt seem to conquer no matter how hard you try.
They might be very obvious to those around you. They might be hidden away far from the sight of those you love. But theyāre there. Repeatedly reminding you, reminding me, that weāre rebels at heart.
The trouble with besetting sins is that they all too often encourage us to believe things that arenāt true. They encourage us to doubt our status as Godās precious children, doubt Godās grace and doubt the possibility of change. Something that brings Satan much pleasure ā something that can leave us inert and languishing in guilt. But Godās word tells a very different story. And as Christians we are called to focus on that truth today and everyday:... continue reading
I can still remember Elenās first Christmas, though I have to confess that this is mainly due to the fact that for the first time in my life I wasnāt the one getting all the flashy presents ā she was!! At the time she was just a dribbling 7month old who didnāt even know how to use all the super-cool stuff her doting relatives had lavished upon her. Myself on the other hand had to suck it up and get used to the idea that I had been relegated from the designer clothes and tech gadgets league to the box of chocolates and budget socks league!
Gutted!!
Truth is I wasnāt really that bothered at all. After all it was Elenās first Christmas and I wanted her to be blessed to the max. Plus I quite like budget socks!! She might not have remembered much of that Christmas, but her second one ā now that was a different matterā¦... continue reading
I wasnāt there for this particular episode, but Michelle insists it was one of the funniest moments from Elenās frequently hilarious toddler-hood. Hereās how it went down:
We had just moved to a new area and were still finding our feet, meeting new people etc. So you can imagine Michelleās joy when she was invited to join a bunch of young mums and their little-uns on their weekly pilgrimage to Wetherspoons (a chain of low-cost English pubs), for an early morning breakfast and a natter! Before long she was loving the warm friendship (and reasonably-priced toast) and the Wetherspoons jaunt soon became a regular fixture for the Hankey girls.... continue reading
One of the one of the best investments we ever made for Elen was a magnetic Etch-a-Sketch pad that we got from Tesco for Ā£2.99. It might not sound particularly impressive on the surface of it, but trust me the hours of pleasure she got from doodling and creating were worth so much more than Ā£2.99! In fairness to Elen she also loved to share her āsketchyā with her parents and would regularly let me have a go on it. The thing is she only ever wanted me to draw one thing ā a duck!... continue reading
I run a Sunday School for 3-7 year olds. A privilege and a joy in itself.
But it's occasionally made all the more glorious when a child misunderstands something in a revealing way.
Last Sunday, we were finishing a short series on the book of Jonah. An interesting exercise in itself, because most kids bibles miss the point. They do the running away, the storm and the boat, the fish, Jonah's prayer, the preaching to Nineveh and the repentance bit, but fail to do chapter 4 - which is really the whole punchline of the story.
But the moment came at the start when I was reviewing the story so far... "What was the name of the prophet?" I ask. Lots of hands shoot up. "Jonah!" comes the enthusiastic reply:
"Where did God tell him to go?" Silence. One hand raised tentatively... "Vinegar?"... continue reading
