Humilitas: John Dickson - some helpful quotes

Humility is the noble choice to forgo your status, deploy your resources or use your influence for the good of others before yourself. More simply, you could say the humble person is marked by a willingness to hold power in service of others...humility is about redirecting of your powers, whether physical, intellectual, financial or structural, for the sake of others.

(Not to be confused with modesty)  humility is more about how I treat others than how I think about myself.

Heavy reliance on authority is often the result of laziness, since enforcing is much easier than energizing and creating momentum.

Character or example is central to leadership. Unless a leader is trusted by the team, she will not get the best out of them. 

Since life is fundamentally about relationships, the relational virtues such as humility, compassion, trustworthiness and so on are keys to virtually all spheres of life.

All of us tend to believe the views of people we already trust...Aristotle rightly observes that even a brilliantly argued case from someone we dislike or whose motives we think dubious will fail to carry the same force as the case put forward by someone we regard as transparently good and trustworthy.

Expertise could legitimately be described as uncovering the depths of my ignorance. It is a principle that leaders should ponder regularly.

Humility involves both a sense of finitude and a sense of inherent dignity.

Humility is not an ornament to be worn; it is an ideal that will transform.

Humility generates learning and growth.

Humility not only signals security; it probably fosters it too.

creative animation; great song

predicting outstanding achievement

Modesty probably prevents you from listing 'outstanding achievement' as an ambition but this article by Jocelyn Glei has some helpful insights into the kind of character traits and approaches to life and work that seem to make a real difference. Chief among those she lists:

1. The tendency not to abandon tasks from mere changeability. Not seeking something because of novelty. Not "looking for a change."

2. The tendency not to abandon tasks in the face of obstacles. Perseverance, tenacity, doggedness.

In a follow-up article she adds a third trait: a formidable capacity for self-analysis..."we need to be able to step outside of ourselves, observe how we are operating, reflect on what could be better, theorize how we could change it, and then test out a solution. The problem is: This is very, very hard for most people."


Putting it all together, she concludes that "This ability to tolerate, and even embrace, uncomfortableness may well be the "X factor" that underpins outstanding achievement. Self-control, grit, self-analysis... these are not comfortable qualities."

I think we could helpfully apply this to ministry.

tips for decision-making

From an interesting article over at the 99%, here are the 5 takeaways:

1. Satisficers or maximisers? Gathering additional information always comes at a cost. We’re better off setting our criteria for making a decision in advance (as in, “I’ll make the call once I know X, Y, and Z”). Once you have that information, make the choice and move on.

2. Less can be more. We are designed to process information so quickly that "rapid cognition" – decisions that spring from hard thinking based on sound experience – can feel more instinctive than scientific. Trust your gut.

3. Different intuitions. We should trust our expert intuition (based on experience) when making choices about familiar problems. But when we need a break-through solution, we shouldn’t be too quick to jump to conclusions.

4. Trust experience. If you’re wrestling with a difficult decision, consult a friend or colleague who’s been in your situation before. Their insight will likely be significantly more valuable than almost any research.

5. Choose your battles. Ask yourself if this decision is really that meaningful. If it’s not, stop obsessing over it, and just make a call!

making your preaching worth the cost

Actually, the title of the article is Making your presentations worth the cost but it has a lot of helpful advice for preachers - none of it ground-breaking but worth reminding oneself of.

Simon Raybould makes the point that, in its simplicity, "All a presenter has to do in a presentation is think of two things: What do I need to tell my audience? and How do I need to tell them it?"

He goes on to underline the importance of filtering your material (on the basis that 'less is more') and then checking your assumptions, on the basis that you, the presenter, are likely to know more about your subject than those listening - so make sure you take nothing for granted and open-up your jargon, workings and assumptions.

the doctrine of creation and the state of the economy

Another article in today's Guardian ruminates on Why Britain Should Think About Doing Things The German Way, highlighting the decline in the UK of manufacturing. It struck me that the points it made chime nicely with a robust doctrine of creation. Here is its concluding paragraph:

At its best, the making of things is an all-absorbing activity. It seems odd to have so many people in Britain making things purely as a hobby, when we might be earning our living making high-quality modern products every bit as desirable in their own way as bright new BMWs. The truth is, a consumer or service economy will never make us happy. It is time to curb the shopping, and the environmental destruction this involves, and to rescue ourselves economically, and in terms of wellbeing, through more of us making intelligent, useful and profitable things contentedly and well. (Jonathan Glancey)

hardwired to read books

Over at The Guardian, Gail Rebuck has written about humans being hardwired to read books. She makes the point that technology has shown that "reading a book leaves us with new neural pathways" and, thus, "our brains are physically changed by the experience of reading". Why is this significant: Rebuck answers,

This is significant because recent scientific research has also found a dramatic fall in empathy among teenagers in advanced western cultures. We can’t yet be sure why this is happening, but the best hypothesis is that it is the result of their immersion in the internet and the quickfire virtual world it offers. So technology reveals that our brains are being changed by technology, and then offers a potential solution – the book.

Rationally, we know that reading is the foundation stone of all education, and therefore an essential underpinning of the knowledge economy. So reading is – or should be – an aspect of public policy. But perhaps even more significant is its emotional role as the starting point for individual voyages of personal development and pleasure. Books can open up emotional, imaginative and historical landscapes that equal and extend the corridors of the web. They can help create and reinforce our sense of self.

ending the year at zero

One of my aims for today is to make sure that:

- my inbox is empty (it usually ends most days that way, so not such a big one)

- my google reader starred items are emptied (either deleted or sent to instapaper or evernote, talking of which....)

- my instapaper/instafetch is empty of articles waiting to be read

- notes tagged 'ReadItLater' in evernote have been read and either saved or deleted.

ok, let's go to it........

Kindle books at 99p (or thereabouts)

Here's some of the 99p bargains I picked-up this week (the sale is ongoing as we speak):

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Armitage)

One Day In September (Reeve)

For Whom The Bell Tolls (Martin Bell) Poems by the journalist

God Is Not Great (Hitchens)

True History of the Kelly Gang (Carey)

A Long Long Way (Barry)

Dead Line (Rimington)

For just a little more than 99p:

Community: The Structure of Belonging (Block)

And going free:

The Queen's Christmas Speeches 1952-2010

The Queen's Christmas Speech 2011

The Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival

My brother Robert lives there.....

Harbin Ice & Snow Festival

good design in the christian life

"Good design accelerates the adoption of new ideas" says Yves Behar in this interesting video over at the 99%. Seems to be essentially the same point made by the Apostle Paul when he urges Titus to teach a lifestyle that "make(s) the teaching about God our Saviour attractive" (Titus 2:10).

Behar goes on to say that "If you want to prove that an idea has merit, don't write a book about it - go out and test it." Writing about or preaching the truth has to be in concert with living the truth or it will lack any real power. A sobering thought for all pastors.

An inside job....

He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.


Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.


The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.


(John 1:10-14)

over the rhine: days like this

the word became flesh

Peter Leithart is always a stimulating writer and his latest offering, Word Made Martyr, is no less so. In addition to a cleverly instructive use of grammatical imagery to speak of Jesus' enfleshing ( "The incarnation is the human declension of the divine Word: By assuming flesh, the Word enters into a “genitive” relation with the human condition.") he also makes the following observations that evoke worshipping gratitude:

The Word becomes flesh to transform it from within, to transfigure flesh through the cross and resurrection. In death, the Word is sown in weakness, perishability, mortality, shame, but in his death to flesh God begins to work reconciliation. He is raised with power, with immortality and imperishability, with eternal glory undiminished and undiminishable, no longer flesh but wholly infused with the Spirit.

Union With Christ (Billings)

This looks like a great book - and not too long at 180 pages (a not insubstantial point). Here's the author, J. Todd Billings, talking about it a little (there's another couple of YouTube videos to check out, plus this much longer lecture).

ministering to the depressed

the meaning of marriage

Tim Keller's talk at Google:

when men counsel women: she's your sister

This is a really helpful discussion:

gentle, biblical pastoring

Mark Roberts has been writing a series on pastoring. In his latest piece, he concludes a discussion of how Paul and his companions pastored the Thessalonian Christians with these 3 observations:

First, like Paul and his colleagues, we need to interact critically and carefully with our cultural models of "ministry." We need to determine how we are to be like other models and how we are to be unlike these models. For example, we are like psychologists in that we listen carefully to people in order to help them grow from brokenness to wholeness. Yet we are unlike psychologists in that we share our lives with our flock, rather than maintaining the professional distance required of psychotherapists. We are also unlike secular therapists in that we do not require payment for services rendered.

Second, like Paul and his colleagues, we need to wrestle with the implications of the gospel for our pastoral work. I'm not thinking here of the crucial issue of the words we use to communicate the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ. Rather, I'm suggesting that the gospel determines, not just the content, but also the forms of pastoral work. Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy broke with their secular counterparts by sharing their souls with the Thessalonians because this kind of vulnerability and intimacy was required by the gospel.

Third, we who pastor need to imitate Paul and his colleagues by choosing to be gentle with those we serve, like a nursing mother. Moreover, we should choose to share with them, not only the gospel, but also our own lives. Gospel-shaped ministry is not just preaching and teaching and leading and praying from a safe distance. It's opening our lives and our hearts to people. It's choosing to embody the good news of a God who saved us, not by sending a message, but by becoming a human messenger. It's deciding to imitate the Son of Man, who came, not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for others.

six years

Six years ago today
the man without side
died;
the man of ease and play
slipped away;
the man of unknown space
and story untold,
left his mark and
place.


(for Dad)

oh yeah, by the way

solo downtime

Scientists in the Journal of Research in Personality stated that just five minutes of quiet solitude is all it takes to reset the body’s stress-regulating sympathetic nervous system. In fact, when study volunteers took a solo timeout, their heart rates dropped and blood pressure stabilized. Plus, they subconsciously drew deeper breaths. This triple effect left them feeling focused, rejuvenated and 58 percent more energized.

From here.

the myth of monotasking

There is a fascinating podcast over at HBR with Cathy Davidson on how we handle multiple inputs etc. A couple of takeaways for me:

i. the value of disruption - causing us to see things we didn't know were there & couldn't see in our attempt at a singular focus

ii. we all see selectively but we don't all selectively see the same things - thus, the value of collaboration and the need for humility (no-one - not even you - sees everything)

critiquing pietism

In a series of posts earlier this year (part 1; part 2; part 3), Kevin deYoung reflected on pietism and confessionalism and what each can learn from the other. Among his critiques of pietism were that it:

• emphasises dramatic conversions
• tends toward individualism
• pushes for unity based on shared experience
• pays little attention to careful doctrinal formulation
• has tried too hard to be relevant
• has largely ignored organic church growth by catechesis
• has too often elevated experience at the expense of doctrine
• has worn out a good number of Christians by assuming that every churchgoer is an activist and crusader more than a pilgrim

Whether the categories of pietism and confessionalism are familiar to you or not, perhaps some of those critiques ring a few bells?

taking a long view

Every now and then, we in the church need to step back and take a long view. God’s kingdom is beyond our efforts, even our vision. In a lifetime, we participate in only a fraction of God’s work. While we cannot do everything, we can do something. Incomplete as it may be, it is a step along the way, a beginning, and something for God to bless. God’s grace does the rest. End results? We may never see them but only hold them trusting in God’s future promises. We are servants, not saviors. We are ministers, not messianic figures. We are prophets of a future not of our own making but for which we hope and for which we make a defense in our life. We believe God will create a new heart in us and a new world out of the old.

Peter Steinke, A Door Set Open

speaking the language of Jesus' heart

Commenting on Paul's words in Romans 8:14-16, Mark McIntosh says,

Paul is saying that what the Spirit does in us is to draw us into a relationship, a loving relationship into which we are adopted as children of God. This relationship is the relationship between Jesus and his Abba or Father. As the Spirit brings Christ's life to birth in our life, we find ourselves sharing with Christ in the most central and characteristic aspect of his life - namely the relationship that defines him and marks him as God's beloved child, his relationship with God as the loving source of his whole life. And more wonderfully yet, we find that we do not remain mute observers of this relationship but that the Spirit actually teaches us the very language of Jesus' conversation with the Father. The Spirit puts Jesus' words of loving adoration and trust in our own hearts and makes it possible for us to speak them ourselves.

(Mysteries of Faith, p.15)

learning from philip gould

A number of things struck me from Alistair Campbell's reflections on the death of his friend and Labour colleague, Philip Gould - for example, that focus groups were more about making sure lower/middle class views were not overlooked (and, so, were an expression of justice, not pragmatism). But it was this paragraph that most caught my eye, partly because it reflects some of the strengths that pastors need to display:

Like most meaningful activities, campaigns are team games. Philip was the ultimate team player and team builder; keeping spirits up; staying calm when others were falling out or falling apart; never losing sight of the big goals. Perhaps alone of the key New Labour figures, he made few, if any, enemies. He was a healer. Even in these past few weeks, he has been trying to heal some of the rifts and scars of the New Labour years.

your number's up

Apparently (althought I harbour some doubt as to accuracy) I am the 3,214,534,297th person to have been born into the world.

You can find out your own number here.

how to disarm jeremy paxman

This is a great example of clear, gracious, winsome speech.

HT: David Murray

the affections of unbelief

Nick Nowalk has a great piece over at The Harvard Icthus entitled The Christian Epistemology of Narnia. Apart from a long and judicious quotation from The Magician's Nephew, Nick offers his own thoughts on unbelief, including this:

it cannot be the case that people fail to believe in Jesus because they are not intelligent enough or incapable of evaluating the evidence coherently.  While sin smears the ways we choose to perceive the world, it is ultimately our affections that are the problem, not our brute capacity for seeing what is there.  Human beings would not have had higher IQ’s if they had not become sinners.  They would simply be more open to the truth in love instead of suppressing it in unrighteousness.  For Christians, the primary epistemological problem is humanity’s hardness of heart toward spiritual beauty.  We simply like the fantasy worlds of our own construction (where we are at the center) better than the real world where there is an awesome Lord who stands over against us in judgment and grace, calling us to account and beckoning us to align our perception of reality around Him.  

downtime & sacred space

Scott Belsky makes some fine points in this article about the need for downtime and sacred space.

It doesn't take much imagination to see his points are all grounded in a biblical understanding of life in God's image, even where unacknowledged.

the transfer of emotion

In the course of an article on Really Bad Powerpoint, Seth Godin makes these remarks:

Communication is about getting others to adopt your point of view, to help them understand why you’re excited (or sad, or optimistic or whatever else you are.)  If all you want to do is create a file of facts and figures, then cancel the meeting and send in a report.

May be some stuff in there for preachers to mull over. In a phrase, his point is that "Communication is the transfer of emotion", not just information.

being a disciple

Watching this conversation with Matt Chandler made me realise, again, that all Christians - no matter what their service - are first and foremost disciples of Jesus.

What would it take for you to believe in God?

Philip Pullman was recently interviewed (for the 5-minute interview slot) by Matthew Stadlen. Asled if he was an agnostic or an atheist, he said that, strictly speaking, he was an agnostic since he could not know for sure, but on a small scale (having seen no evidence to convince him) he was atheist. Stadlen then asked what it would take for him to believe in God - his reply was:

A direct experience of some sort, I imagine. I don't think rational argument would ever do it.

Mull that one over.

a competent minister

Maybe your ambition is to be described in somewhat more glowing terms than 'a competent minister'. But that's Paul's claim for himself and his companions (2 Cor. 3:4-6). I wonder what comes to mind when you think of that phrase: someone who can preach an ok sermon, has a good bedside manner for hospital visiting and feels at ease with young people? A competent minister.

I think Paul might be claiming something different and something more. He speaks about them being made competent (notice the source of the competency) "as ministers of a new covenant - not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."

There is a real need for those who handle God's Word to know how to handle the transition from old to new covenant and what that means for those called to live as followers of Jesus. It isn't a sermonising skill - far from it; it is broader and deeper. It's being able to navigate waters of interpretation and application that honour Christ and the Spirit, that breathes life and vitality and newness, that addresses life in the Spirit in the here and now. That doesn't mean it's about how you handle the charismatic issue (that would be a shallow conclusion), but how we promote and cultivate and teach a life that is built on the reality that "Christ is the end of the law" (Rom. 10:4) and that radiates the glory of the new covenant (2 Cor. 312ff).

Perhaps your prayer - like mine - is to be made competent, knowing how demanding the task is and not claiming anything special for ourselves.

China: more at church than in the whole of Europe

See this article from the BBC.

You can listen to the radio show here.

Paul Helm on Christian Hedonism

In concert with reflections on religious affections, Paul Helm has also written a couple of pieces on the topic of 'Christian Hedonism'. I think he makes some very helpful and, although his interest in not aimed at this, some pastorally-necessary observations.

Part 1 - Baring Our Souls

Part 2 - Further Thoughts

Middle-aged & gloomy?

Then you might want to have a read of this...

a Christological defeat

Christianity Today has published the reflections of several prominent church leaders to the events of 9/11 and the decade that has followed. Here are the thoughts of Will Willimon, presiding bishop of the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church. (HT: Scot McKnight - with apologies for replicating his post)

On 9/11 I thought, For the most powerful, militarized nation in the world also to think of itself as an innocent victim is deadly. It was a rare prophetic moment for me, considering Presidents Bush and Obama have spent billions asking the military to rectify the crime of a small band of lawless individuals, destroying a couple of nations who had little to do with it, in the costliest, longest series of wars in the history of the United States.

The silence of most Christians and the giddy enthusiasm of a few, as well as the ubiquity of flags and patriotic extravaganzas in allegedly evangelical churches, says to me that American Christians may look back upon our response to 9/11 as our greatest Christological defeat. It was shattering to admit that we had lost the theological means to distinguish between the United States and the kingdom of God. The criminals who perpetrated 9/11 and the flag-waving boosters of our almost exclusively martial response were of one mind: that the nonviolent way of Jesus is stupid. All of us preachers share the shame; when our people felt very vulnerable, they reached for the flag, not the Cross.

September 11 has changed me. I'm going to preach as never before about Christ crucified as the answer to the question of what's wrong with the world. I have also resolved to relentlessly reiterate from the pulpit that the worst day in history was not a Tuesday in New York, but a Friday in Jerusalem when a consortium of clergy and politicians colluded to run the world on our own terms by crucifying God's own Son.

in my seat

Events do not shape leaders; decisions do

A very interesting article over at HBR about a leader's role in a crisis. Worth pondering for anyone involved in serving the church, not only in times of crisis but more generally.

the ambiguity of all language

Over at Koinonia, Bill Mounce asks the question, Who reigns in the millenial kingdom? Maybe not the kind of question you worry about too much, but his point is more about language and translation and interpretation. His concluding paragraph makes salutary points:

I am coming to believe that language is the stringing of one ambiguity after another. Having served on two translation teams has only strengthened this conviction; what one person hears is not always what the other person hears. An important point for all preachers to ponder. For the exegete, we must see that language is not always precise, and so our exegesis must see the range of meaning for a word or grammatical construction, and then as always make a decision in light of the context.

metaphors for ministry

Over the summer holiday, I read John Stott's fine book The Preacher's Portrait. These were addresses given in 1961 at Fuller Theological Seminary in which he considered 5 metaphors used in the New Testament for the work of ministry: Steward, Herald, Witness, Father and Servant.


A similar track is taken by Derek Tidball in his helpful work Builders & Fools: Leadership the Bible Way. He also explores ministry metaphors, choosing to focus on Ambassador, Athlete, Builder, Fool, Parent, Pilot, Scum and Shepherd (he kindly arranged them in alphabetical order, for the obsessives amongst us....).


Both books I've found really helpful, in all sorts of ways, but I want to ask some questions and to invite you to help me think some issues through (there is some overlap in how I've framed them):


i. To what extent are the metaphors used in the New Testament tied to their cultural situation or would you see them as trans-cultural?


ii. How transferable are they? How ought we to appropriate them? How would you, for example, apply the metaphor of 'herald' today? How do we delineate the notions behind the metaphors?


iii. Ought we to also seek to employ metaphors for ministry from today's world? If so, what might they be? Do they need to be modern equivalents of the biblical ones or can we expand the list - that is, are the Bible's metaphors descriptive or prescriptive?

overwhelmed with stuff to do?

Need to make your to-do list actually doable? Maybe the good folks at Lifehacker can help you.

Character or gifts?

It's clearly a case of both/and but where should the emphasis lie/ Here's an interesting post by David Murray, himself a college dude, on the need for seminaries (& churches) to focus on character, rather than gifts. He notes that the focus ought to be on what a Pastor is to be and not what he's to do.

The Collects of Thomas Cranmer

As I recall, I first read about this little book via Tim Keller, somewhere, somehow. All I can say is, 'Cor, thanks Tim!'

It's a real gem. You get the collects themselves, a brief history and then a meditation upon the collect - wonderfully stimulating, properly deep and engaging.

What is ministry about?

Here's a list of Paul's words to Timothy about his ministry - seems like a good place to start.


1 Timothy
command certain people not to teach false doctrines etc (1:3)
fight the battle well (1:18)
hold onto faith and a good conscience (1:19)
point-out wrong teaching (4:6)
avoid old wives tales and godless myths (4:7)
train yourself to be godly (4:7)
set an example in speech, conduct, love, faith, purity (4:12)
the public reading of scripture (4:13)
not neglecting his gift (of teaching?) (4:14)
be diligent & give yourself to these things, so your progress is visible (4:15)
watch your life and doctrine closely & persevere in them (4:16)
don't rebuke an older man but exhort as though your father (5:1)
treat younger men as brothers (5:1)
treat older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, with purity (5:2)
proper recognition to widows who are really in need (5:3)
no partiality or favouritism (5:22)
not hasty in laying on of hands (5:23)
look after yourself physically (drink a little wine) (5:23)
flee greed and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance & gentleness (6:11)
fight the good fight of faith (6:12)
take hold of eternal life (6:12)
command the rich to put their trust in God (6:17)
guard what is entrusted to your care (6:20)
turn from godless chatter (6:20)


2 Timothy
fan into flame the gift of God (1:6)
don't be ashamed but join in suffering for Christ (1:8)
keep the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love (1:13)
guard the good deposit entrusted to you (1:14)
be strong in grace (2:1)
entrust teaching to those who can train others too (2:2)
suffer like a good soldier of Christ Jesus (2:3)
reflect on what Paul is saying re. focussing on pleasing God (2:7)
remember Jesus Christ (2:8)
remind God's people of 'these things' (2:14)
warn them not to quarrel (2:14)
present yourself to God as one who handles the word of truth correctly (2:15)
avoid godless chatter; it leads to ungodliness (2:16)
flee the evil desires of youth (2:22)
pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace (2:22)
have nothing to do with stupid arguments (2:23)
don't quarrel or be resentful but be kind to all (2:24)
gently instruct opponents (2:25)
have nothing to do with professing Christians who live ungodly lives (3:5)
continue in what you've learned & become convinced of - don't fall away (3:14)
preach the word, in season and out (4:2)
correct, rebuke, encourage - with great patience and care (4:2)
keep your head in all situations (4:5)
endure hardship (4:5)
do the work of an evangelist (4:5)
discharge all the duties of your ministry (4:5)
be supportive of others (4:9)
be on your guard against those who harm the gospel (4:15)

The Reason For God (interview)

HT: Justin Taylor

a different kind of low & high church

These words by Steven Covey (HT: Matt Perman) are very challenging when applied to church culture:

A low-trust culture is filled with bureaucracy, excessive rules and regulations, restrictive, closed systems. In the fear of some “loose cannon,” people set up procedures that everyone has to accommodate.

The level of initiative is low — basically “do what you’re told.” Structures are pyramidal, hierarchical. Information systems are short-term. The quarterly bottom line tends to drive the mentality in the culture.

In a high-trust culture, structures and systems are aligned to create empowerment, to liberate people’s energy and creativity toward agreed-upon purposes within the guidelines of shared values. There’s less bureaucracy, fewer rules and regulations, more involvement.

Are you fostering a low-trust environment or a high-trust one?

Are people flourishing, truly?

asking questions

It's a skill, and a deeply necessary one at that, in both pastoral and evangelistic ministry. Ron Ashkenas writes with business and management in view but his points are transferable and worth pondering.

Hubris in the church

This is a very perceptive piece by Thom S. Rainer.

For example:

Hubris often manifests itself in the idolatry of ministries, programs, or preferred styles of worship. Those ministries that were once a means to the end of glorifying God become ends in themselves. Inevitably the church will experience conflict when any leader attempts to change or discard those ministries, programs, or worship styles. They have been become idols. They represent in the minds of some the accomplishments of the church rather than just an instrument to glorify God.

overcoming procrastination

Take Breaks After Starting the Next Part of a Task, Rather Than In Between

When you take a break, don’t take your break at a natural stopping point. Instead, get to a natural stopping point, and then start into the next segment of the task. This gets you into it a bit and gets your wheels turning. Then take your break. While you are on your break, your mind will be inclined to get going again, since you’ve already started in to it. So it will be easier to come back from the break and avoid letting the break turn into an extended period of procrastination.

Matt Perman

How do you get to hear about books?

I guess for most ministers, books are constant companions. But how do you get to know about them? How do you discover what's out there, let alone what's worth reading?

Years back, I'd hear about books in magazines. I'd browse a bookshop and, later, the college library. Maybe someone would mention something they'd been reading. Just occasionally I might get hold of a catalogue or two. And that was about it.

Now things are so very different. I still see book reviews in the occasional magazine but they're not often new to me or they tend to be a little too obscure. Bookshop scours are far rarer, certainly Christian bookshops. Ditto for theological libraries. Far and away the most extensive exposure to books is online.

But that needs to be broken down further. Blogs are a large source of information of what's new and what's helpful. And when a book is mentioned, it's only a few clicks to check it out on Amazon, read some reviews and add it to the wish list.

And then there's Amazon itself and Kindle - looking at what other customers have bought; clicking on an author's name and instantly seeing what else by them is available. Sometiems it's by personal recommendation but far and away it's the personal trawl and discovery.

late in the afternoon (tracey thorn)

love this song and it's great to see it performed live (at home)

how late in the day is it with you and yours?

Baptism and Fulness

(the best books - no.10)

Subtitled 'The work of the Holy Spirit today', I first read this little book by John Stott in about 1986/87 when there was a lot of debate about charismatic issues. It's great strength is that it is down-to-earth exposition of biblical material - you'd probably call it 'sane' and it is, but it's more: it's real; it's properly deep without being dense or inaccessible. Just a great book to recommend to anyone working through the issues.

"the overwhelming emphasis of the New Testament letters is not to urge upon Christian readers some entirely new and distinct blessing, but to remind us of what by grace we are, to recall us to it, and to urge us to live by it." (p.44)

believing and doing: how do they stack up?

There's been some ongoing discussion all over the place about statements of truth and commands to obey in scripture (indicatives and imperatives).

I found Kevin deYoung's latest piece a helpful response, especially his answer to the question, "Should Christians be exhorted to obey the imperatives or does sanctification so invariably flow from justification that the way to get obedience is always and only to bring people back to the gospel?"

(Clue: the answer is 'yes, they should' because 'no, it doesn't and it isn't')

Do you defend the status quo?

Here's a great piece by Seth Godin, asking all the right questions to help you know the answer.

Ghost on the canvas

Ya gotta give the new Glen Campbell album a listen.

sustaining a discouraged pastor

If you're finding the going tough, this piece might offer some encouragement.

(nb: the Isaiah quote mentioned is incorrect; it ought to read 49:4, not 6:9)

HT: Scot McKnight

wanna preach without notes?

then this might help you

HT: David Murray

one last love song

The Guardian has a fascinating interview with Glen Campbell, on the eve of the release of his final album and having been diagnosed with alzheimer's disease.

Far Away Trains Passing By

Ulrich Schnauss - what an album!

wished-for

Just added this book to my Amazon wish list. Here's the blurb...

Art is often viewed as being inherently spiritual. But what does it mean to describe an experience of art or beauty as spiritual? Is there a relationship between the spiritual experience a person has in the presence of a work of art and the Holy Spirit of Christian faith? Theologian, musician, and educator Steven Guthrie examines particular areas of overlap between spirituality, human creativity, and the arts with the goal of sharpening and refining how we speak and think about the Holy Spirit. Through his exploration of the many different connections between art and spirituality, Guthrie uses the arts as a creative lens for exploring the Holy Spirit and offers a unique introduction to pneumatology. He also introduces an important idea from the early church that is now unfamiliar to many Christians: the Holy Spirit is the humanizing Spirit, whose work is to remake our humanity after the image of the perfect humanity of Jesus Christ. This clear, engaging theology of the arts will be of interest to professors and students in theology and the arts, pneumatology, and systematic theology courses as well as thoughtful lay readers, Christian artists, worship leaders, and pastors.

preaching and authority

Here, then, is the preacher's authority. It depends on the closeness of his adherence to the text he is handling, that is, on the accuracy with which he has understood it and on the forcefulness with which it has spoken to his own soul...What really feeds the household is the food which the householder supplies, not the steward who dispenses it.



John Stott, The Preacher's Portrait, p.26 (my emphasis)

Caught, not taught

Christianity is "a contagion which spreads by contact with a shining example; it is not just learned from a textbook. God's most powerful visual aid in the education of mankind is a consistent Christian."

John Stott, The Preacher's Portrait, p.87 (my emphasis)

Call no-one 'Father'

I suggest that what Jesus is saying is that we are never to adopt towards a fellow-man in the Church the attitude of dependence which a child has towards his father, nor are we to require others to be or become spiritually dependent upon us...Spiritual dependence is due to God our heavenly Father. He is our Creator, both physically and spiritually, and as creatures we utterly depend upon His grace. But we do not and must not depend on our fellow-creatures. Our desire, as preachers, is (like Paul) to 'present every man mature in Christ'. We long to see the members of our congregation grow up into independent, adult, spiritual maturity in Christ, looking to Him for the supply of all their needs, since it is 'in Christ' that God 'has blessed us...with every spiritual blessing'. We have no desire to keep our church members tied to our own apron strings and running round us like children round their mother. There are in every church some weak and feeble souls who love to fuss round the minister and are constantly seeking interviews with him to consult him about their spiritual problems. This should be resisted, and that strenuously. Gently, but firmly we should make it clear that God's purpose is that His children should look to him as their Father and not to men.

John Stott, The Preacher's Portrait, p.73f

The Complexities of Forgiveness

Cate Macdonald has written two very thoughtful articles on forgiveness and its complexities. Someone you know may be very helped by reading them.

Part 1

Part 2

Preacher/Pastor

The preacher needs to be pastor, that he may preach to real men. The pastor must be preacher, that he may keep the dignity of his work alive. The preacher, who is not a pastor, grows remote. The pastor, who is not a preacher, grows petty.

Phillips Brooks, quoted in Stott't |The Preacher's Portrait, p.77

the brain and creativity

You might want to check this out.

an increase of humility and collaboration

This article by Alan Jacobs makes the observation that many scholars are badly-placed to pick-up on biblical allusions in non-biblical texts (the case in point being Oscar Wilde's Portait of Dorian Gray). It's worth a read and so, too, are the comments, in which one reader advocates "increased humility and collaboration" which seems a fine thing to me.

Beautiful photos of Llyn

Check out this collection by Martin Turtle.

And if you're ever in Abersoch, the gallery is well worth a visit.

For some strange reason

my family say this ad reminds them of me.......

On Mynydd Mawr

Pwllheli: The marina beach, towards Abererch sands

Pwllheli: from Gimlet Rock towards West End

Atop Gimlet Rock (2)

Atop Gimlet Rock

Towards Morfa Bychan

Between Carreg Y Defaid and Pwllheli

can you be so certain?

Tony Schwarz writes of Ten Principles to Live by in Fiercely Complex Times. They all bear considering but I liked the first in particular:

Always challenge certainty, especially your own.When you think you're undeniably right, ask yourself "What might I be missing here?" If we could truly figure it all out, what else would there be left to do?

the arctic light

The Arctic Light from TSO Photography on Vimeo.

Do you want to work in an office?

Here's some interesting thoughts on the topic.

Me? I'd love to, but keep the home-based study, too, for when I want space and silence.

If you're a boring preacher....

why not share these rules with your congregation?

aurora borealis

The Aurora from TSO Photography on Vimeo.

Do you read journals?

The case is made here for pastors doing so (and not just journals, I guess).

Is mission your idol?

While a vision for serving God is needed, and the desperate condition of our world cannot be ignored, there is a higher calling that is going unanswered in many Christian communities. As shepherds of God’s people, we must not allow our fears of insignificance to drive us into an unrelenting pursuit of church growth, cultural impact, or missional activism. Instead, we must model for our people a first-class commitment to a first-class purpose—living in perpetual communion with God himself. As we embrace the call to live with God, only then will we be capable of illuminating such a life for our people.

Skye Jethani, Has Mission Become Our Idol?

so, so cool

The Mountain from TSO Photography on Vimeo.

Using Desire Properly

Sometimes you'll listen to communicators who are really effective because they're great at playing on longings and producing emotional responses in people. And that can make a talk really successful, and it can make a communicator really popular. But it can actually damage the spiritual formation because people become dependent on a story or a lofty experience during a sermon to have deep emotions about God. And then when they're removed from that setting, they find themselves not feeling much about God. And part of what spiritual formation involves is the reformation of my desire so that I am freed from desires that lead me away from God, and I am increasingly motivated by desires that lead me toward God and the life God wants me to live.

John Ortberg, Redeeming Authority

how should evangelicals handle the debate over the new perspective?

Tim Gombis has some fruitful thoughts on the subject over here.

Modelling the message

At the end of an article that reflects on David Fitch's proposals for overhauling church planting, Jason Hood reminds us of the important example of the Apostle Paul. Whilst the whole article is worth reading, these words in themselves are solid food for thought:

Paul's own method for ministry was a message: his gospel (1 Cor. 15:1–4; Rom. 1:1–4) and his gospel-shaped way of life (1 Cor. 4:8–17).This message impacted Paul's method of ministry. He did not choose a tent-making approach to ministry for pragmatic or financial reasons, but for pastoral reasons. He used his lifestyle to model the sacrifice and service required of every Christian (Acts 20:33–35; 1 Thess. 2:9–12, compared with 1 Thess. 4:9–11; 2 Thess. 3:6–12; and a point also made in the middle of 1 Cor. 8:1–11:1).

Do you fear living an insignificant life?

Then you might like to read this piece by Skye Jethani.

Here's a taster:

When we come believe that our faith is primarily about what we can do forGod in the world, it is like throwing gasoline on our fear of insignificance. The resulting fire may be presented to others as a godly ambition, a holy desire to see God’s mission advance--the kind of drive evident in the Apostle Paul’s life. But when these flames are fueled by fear they reveal none of the peace, joy, or love displayed by Paul and rooted in the Spirit. Instead the relentless drive to prove our

worth can quickly become destructive.

The 33

one year on.

So, Think Paul You Know, You Do?

Might want to have a looksie at this piece by Tim Gombis then.

Speaking With Authority

As a preacher who is fully human, and clearly not divine, I can't speak as Jesus did. But I do seek to speak truth that carries weight and authority. All of us who preach the gospel aspire to speak under the authority of Jesus.

There's an unmistakable connection between the author and authority. Part of what it means to be made in the image of God is that just as God is able to speak and his words carry weight, so our words can also carry weight.

God speaks, and it is so. Every word that comes from heaven does not come in vain. It comes with purpose. In our own little way, even though as humans our words are distorted by sin, we still have the capacity to think and to speak and to have it be so. When our words shape and interpret reality, that's because we were made to carry authority.

John Ortberg, Redeeming Authority