Spiritual leadership - what does it look like?
In this evening's teaching I want to ask 'what does spiritual leadership look like?'
(These are my preaching notes from a talk at 'Mosaic', a service we do interactively around coffee tables. At several points the audience breaks to talk…
Courage in leadership
Our trouble is we see all the events of the Bible through the rear-view mirror of hindsight. We know the end of all the stories and the outcome of all the battles. That wasn't true for the people caught up in them at the time. Take Joshua for…
Optimism: the hidden jewel of leadership
I have just been watching a filmed interview with a missionary. The set-up was the classic in-situ shot with the missionary executive from the UK interviewing the missionary from the far east and as I watched it something began to bother…
Scripted praying
Do you ever find yourself rushing into God's presence with a whole collection of jumbled ideas? We do, in common with many other leaders. Of course there are times when we just want to say as little as a single word to God like 'help' or…
What's the gadget you're preaching from?
It's a question I've been asked dozens of times recently when I've been speaking at meetings or preaching in church. The gadget people are asking about is an Amazon Kindle which I now use as my preferred way of reading notes when I'm speaking.
It…
Introduction: the search for the real Jesus
Who is Jesus?
This is the fundamental question which all four of the gospels help us to answer. They each record his life, ministry, death and resurrection but John's gospel is very different from the other three. It has a more intimate feel…
the prologue: 1:1-18
The identity of the Word
John's opening paragraphs are both enigmatic and profound. At a first reading we might wonder about who 'the Word' is intended to be, but as each sentence unfolds his identity becomes clearer.
1 In the beginning was…
Jesus' public ministry commences 1:19-51
Two delegations inquire of John the Baptist
John's denial that he was the Messiah reveals more about the identity of Jesus as he is questioned by representatives of the Jewish hierarchy.19 Now this was John's testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem…
test post from my phone
I'm trying out writing a blog entry form Bombadil, my Android phone.
You might be interested to know that we name all our computers after characters from Lord of the Rings.