Proclaimer Blog
Important announcement on EMA audio
We've decided that from now on ALL our online audio will be free. That means that the last few EMAs are all now available online for download at no cost. Spread the word!
- EMA 2012 Heart Matters here
- EMA 2011 Preaching that connects here
- EMA 2010 Not by might, nor by power
Enjoy!
The best way to enjoy the EMA is still in person of course! Booking is now open.
Proclaimer Blog
Marriage enrichment
A few people have emailed to ask what exactly we taught on our marriage course and how we ran it, so here's the low down. We took two Saturday mornings and ran from 10.00am-2.00pm. The actual teaching only ran from 10.00am to 12.30pm including a break for coffee. That's because we wanted to encourage couples to take a lunchtime together without their kids, with us providing central childcare. In the event, that didn't work out exactly as we expected, but it was the plan. Our overall aim was to be biblical first and foremost. There are other courses around which provide lots of practical wisdom, but we wanted to encourage couples to think about big issues from biblical principles, and also learn to work things out for themselves.
Mrs R and I ran it jointly. We've done similar days before but this was the first on home turf. I did the teaching (apart from one section where we split in two and she taught women, I taught the men). She tended to introduce application questions or video clips (we had Mr Bean and Fawlty Towers among other clips). We sat the couples in…well, couples and told them that they would only have to discuss with their partner. There was no group discussion or asking for answers. We think this is pretty important to make this kind of day hit the right note.
So, four sessions:
- purpose and role
- words and communication
- sex and intimacy
- rows and in-laws
All pretty self-explanatory. We spent longest on number one. All the way through we emphasised the importance of strong marriages not just for their own sake but for the sake of the church too. I commend the idea. Well worth doing in your own setting. And we had a nice invite which I've shown above and below:
Proclaimer Blog
Bible translation
We asked Doug Moo to say a little about Bible translation (and the updated NIV in particular) at our Autumn Ministers Conference. He made some helpful observations that are worth bearing in mind when it comes to translations – some of which are useful for preachers as well:
- it is important to read theology out of the text rather than the temptation to read it into the text
- all translations have to think about meaning – you can't simply translate words. A literal Bible is not, by definition, a more accurate Bible
- translation is important because translation is a form of communication; therefore you always have to be asking for whom you are translating (all preachers should be thinking this way)
- the general and steep decline in the ability to read and comprehend has huge implications for Christianity given that it is based on the interpretation of a book. Churches have not really begun to grapple with this sea-change
Doug's presentation is online for free here, Doug starts speaking just over half way through, you can scan through until Glynn's voice disappears and Doug's appears!
Proclaimer Blog
Autumn Joint Ministers audio
Sorry if you missed the Autumn Joint Ministers! I did too (a family illness) and I've enjoyed catching up. We think it's one of the best conferences we've put on for some years and it's worth downloading and catching up with all the audio – Doug Moo, Glynn Harrison and Vaughan Roberts were all excellent. The audio is all free and available for listening online or downloading here.
Proclaimer Blog
Sad day
This article below (from Today's Times) is sad, distressing, alarming (etc.) but not, to be honest, surprising. It makes the importance of the task that we do (and you do in your churches) – the task of proclaiming and handing on the "pattern of sound teaching" (2 Tim 1.13) absolutely critical. Increasingly, we are fighting against the prevailing world view but our fundamental position is not a particular one on sex or marriage or work or whatever, but a conviction that the Scriptures, rightly, faithfully and prayerfully interpreted, are the true word of the living God. If we are not training the next generation to carry on that mantle – indeed, if we are not training our current people to read the Scriptures that way, then we have already lost.
One of the country’s most influential senior evangelical Church leaders has come out in favour of homosexual relationships and gay marriage.The Rev Steve Chalke, a Baptist minister who has been a regular guest at Downing Street, has called on Christian Churches to “rethink” traditional attitudes to homosexuality. In an article in Christianity magazine, Mr Chalke, who a few weeks ago conducted his first gay blessing service in his church in Waterloo, says that the Bible paints a far more inclusive picture than many acknowledge. Mr Chalke, who has written a special liturgy for gay partnerships that he publishes on his Oasis charity website today along with a full evangelical exegesis of his pro-gay stance, says in the article that he felt “compelled” and “afraid” to write it. He writes: “Compelled because, in my understanding, the principles of justice, reconciliation and inclusion sit at the heart of Jesus’s message. Afraid because I recognise the Bible is understood by many to teach that the practice of homosexuality, in any circumstance, is a sin or ‘less than God’s best’.” He is a key member of the Evangelical Alliance umbrella group, which represents two million evangelical Christians in Britain, including thousands in the Church of England.
Proclaimer Blog
Marriage and covenant
Just off the back of delivering two Saturday morning seminars with Mrs R on marriage. I think this brief reflection on marriage from Piper, Carson and Keller is particularly helpful. I especially love Carson's story (AND the way he tells it!!). Share widely and use in your marriage prep.
Proclaimer Blog
Please pray
The ministry of the Proclamation Trust, of which this blog is a (very) small part is dependent on generous donors and the peculiar situation we find ourselves in with our building. Located, as many of you will know, in Central London, just south of London Bridge Station, Willcox House is named after a generous sponsor who, very early on, grasped the vision we had for equipping and encouraging Bible preachers and teachers. He left us the building as a generous legacy. And what a legacy it has been! It has six floors, we use three of them for dedicated office and teaching space. We are also able to host one or two others.
But we have three floors that we rent out and this rental income is an important part of our charitable income which we can then use to serve the church. For over 12 months now, we've had no tenants in two of our three rental floors. That means we're paying rates and expenses on empty floors and lacking the income they normally provide.
So, please, can we ask you to pray. We would love you to join us praying very specifically for suitable tenants for two floors of Willcox House.
Thank you.
Proclaimer Blog
Pastoral preaching
You don't have to be a pastor for very long to know that there are certain issues that arise time and time again. Pastoring into these situations is very difficult unless people have a fundamental understanding of the basic building blocks of the Christian faith. Preparing this week for a series of marriage seminars that Mrs R and I have been delivering has reminded me of this once again. These truths are so foundational that they arise time and time again in Scripture, but I'm convinced that a preacher who loves his people and is pastoral at heart will make the effort to connect the dots for people. And, I believe that means giving people first principles. For example,
- if we are to have healthy marriages we need people to have healthy ecclesiologies (Eph 5), some knowledge of what it means to be united with Christ (Eph 5 again) and a deep appreciation of the Trinity (1 Cor 11). Marriage prep built on the niceties of whether you have a joint back account is useless without these. These are truths that occur again and again in Scripture. Obviously. Perhaps we need to draw the lines more clearly?
- if people are to cope with crises they need to see how the sovereignty of God works itself out and be confident in it. You can't tell people about God's sovereignty for the first time as they are grieving the loss of a child or going through some other trauma.
In other words, our preaching needs to have an end in mind which is not just the proclamation of truth (though preaching is not less than this). It needs to be warmly and appropriately and faithfully applied to hearts and lives so that people are equipped to worship Christ with all of their lives. Preaching that does less than this hardly deserves the name.
Proclaimer Blog
John Dickson on women teaching
John Dickson (whose work on history and evangelism we very much like here) has written a booklet explaining his views on women and teaching. It's available here. It needs a carefully measured response and, thankfully, Lionel Windsor has provided one here. Worth a bit of your time because John's is not a crackpot feminist approach to Scripture but a more thoughtful one. It is worth engaging with.
H/T Rev'd Dr Professor Sir Lee Gatiss
Proclaimer Blog
Why the fault line isn’t sex
This article in last week's Independent is alarming if not surprising. I was pointed towards it by a friend who was similarly alarmed. It reflects a two pronged challenge to orthodoxy:
- the challenge to the moniker evangelical which we all know is understood more broadly in the world than it deserves to be. Clearly the breadth is growing.
- the challenge to biblical standards on sexuality. Again, no surprise. Those who have been watching the scene carefully will know that Tony Campolo, once doyen of evangelicals, is leading the charge.
As I say, alarming, but not surprising. The danger of course is that people think we conservatives have become a one issue party. Evangelicals are obsessed with sex. There's a danger that might become true. But of course, that is not the fault line. The fault line is the Bible, properly understood. It so happens that in the hedonistic world in which we live, this fault line is seen most obviously in the church's position on sexuality, but it could equally be seen in a number of different areas. Preachers need to work hard in their preaching to communicate this important truth – our fault lines are drawn for us because our primary fault line is Scripture itself.
There will always be a danger of being misheard on this. But if there must be an error, let it be with those who mishear rather than with those of us who speak.