The Gospel on the back of a postcard

Craig Blomberg has a helpful post in which he makes a fairly tight argument for the resurrection being reported within a year of it happening. He cites what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15 as evidence that the events surrounding the death and resurrection had been formalised into a creed by the time of Paul's conversion. He maintains that, therefore, they had been in circulation less formally before Paul's conversion which probably occurred about two years after the ascension of Christ to heaven.

What struck me about Blomberg's post was that the gospel had been condensed into the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. This happened according to the scriptures (Old Testament scriptures) and His resurrection was confirmed by the twelve and then by five hundred witnesses.

Everything else flows out of these events. Perhaps one of the factors in the rapid spread of the gospel, amongst others, was that it was quickly and formally summarised and therefore could be passed on easily without losing anything important.

You can read Blomberg's post here

Leadership Resources

Some leadership resources from the business world.

John P. Kotter is best known for his books and as a professor at Harvard Business School. He has made some of his ideas available online. Some useful stuff on change. Click here and then click the green bottle!

Jim Collins of From Good to Great fame has also made a lot of resources available online. Worth a look.

And Patrick Dixon has so made so many resources available I doubt anyone would ever get through them all!

Monday Fun

This came from my Kiwi brother-in-law, Rob.

What's out there

Just a few things that recently caught my eye.

The headline in Friday's Guardian 2025: The End of U.S. Dominance was certainly eye-catching. The article covered a paper published in the U.S. by the National Intelligence Council which paints a picture of an increasingly fragmented world in which the U.S. doesn't retain the ability it has had for the last seventy or so years to influence the shape and direction of international affairs. You can read the full report here

Discovered The Spectator online. Took a look at Melanie Phillips' blog where I found an article entitled The Barbarism of Ideologues. It is the kind of hard-hitting stuff you would expect from Melanie Phillips, but I think her analysis of how our society has developed (declined?) is compelling and not a million miles from the truth.

On the ecclesiastical front J. Lee Grady has a sobering article about Charismatic Meltdown. This is must reading. We simply must realise how badly things can go wrong when we compromise on our fundamental beliefs. And in the same vein, take a look at Adrian Warnock's posts on the atonement - he's at the top of my blog list.

Catching Up

I did promise I'd keep you up to speed with some of the things that are going down in Glassworld.

Keeping very busy at present - probably too busy.

We had the first session of Street Pastors -Roles & Responsibility training last night. Les Isaac did the presentation. Very good indeed. If you hear this man you will want to be a Street Pastor. Very inspiring.

On the subject of inspiring people, I met up with Wynne Lewis last week. Wynne is one of the heroes of Elim. He's probably best known for his leadership of Kensington Temple.

Wynne's supposed to be retired, but "retired" is not an epithet we will ever be able to attach to Wynne. It was pretty special to have breakfast with him and discuss issues of leadership and church growth.

Today it was regional breakfast, cooked by myself and Kevin. Tonight, it's Street Pastors again. It's a great life!

You can find out more about Street Pastors on their website and find out what the BBC says here and here. The Telegraph also did a write up on the initiative last June.

KT's website will help you find out more about this great London church.

David Icke and the End Times

Channel 4's catch up service - the C4 equivalent of the Beeb's iPlayer - looks like a useful tool for those who want to have a bit more control over their viewing. I watched snatches of Who Really Runs The World. It was all about conspiracy theories and those who promote them.

David Icke, not surprisingly was much in evidence. He really does believe that 9/11 was an "inside job". He reckons a mysterious group known as The Illuminati carried it out. I had a look at his website. Amongst his other theories you can find this notion that a secretive group of powerful politicians and wealthy families are trying to take over the world. They want to establish a one world government and have total control over our lives.

Trouble is, this is a bit like some stuff you read in Christian circles about the end times! Perhaps what Icke and the end times teachers have in common is that both parties have observed certain trends in the world and, rightly or wrongly, come to similar conclusions about what is going on. The main difference is that Icke probably thinks Christians are part of the conspiracy and Christians might think Icke and his ideas are all of a piece with the rise of antichrist!

On a more serious note, it does indicate that there are many people out there who distrust the establishment and are looking for some sort of explanation as to what's going on and where it's all going. Which is why in our evangelism we should keep the big picture of God's cosmic purposes in Christ in view.

You can watch the whole programme here .

Monday Fun

Not often you see David Dimbleby cornered by an interviewee

The Vampire Convert

Mark Lawson's Front Row programme on Radio 4 is sometimes worth listening to. I picked up a few minutes of his interview with American writer Anne Rice. Rice is best known for her vampire novels (haven't read any of them) but some years ago converted to Christianity (actually, she's Catholic - I'll leave you to figure out the theology). It was good to hear someone articulate her Christian faith on BBC radio and to hear an interviewer take her seriously. You can still listen to the programme here. The interview begins after about fourteen minutes of the programme.

You can find out more about Anne Rice here . She also has a YouTube channel .

Looking for Heroes

I didn't manage to watch much of the BBC documentaries connected with armistice and remembrance. It did strike me, however, that the air time given to the subject was much greater than before; I can't remember much more than the Festival of Remembrance and perhaps one or two documentaries in years gone by making it onto the screen.

It makes me wonder if we as a society or generation feel bereft of heroes and have gone looking for them in our history. Perhaps we are bored by celebrities and the culture we have helped them spawn. Perhaps we have at last realised how shallow contemporary culture really is.

Whatever our thoughts about war, there is no doubt that many men - often young men - and their families suffered a great deal. And we have been the benficiaries.

It might well be that in our hearts we really do value sacrifice more than indulgence.

You might still be able to view some of the productions at BBC iPlayer

Pentecostal Power

Testimonies like this do your heart good. I loved this testimony of baptism in the Holy Spirit from Ern Baxter. Baxter was a prominent leader in the renewal movement, especially in the 70's and 80's.

Catching up

I thought it would be good to continue with a weekly catch up. Making the blog a bit more personal and all of that.

The readers of the blog who are part of Elim Crawley will also know that I am a governor at a local primary school. It was quite a steep learning curve to begin with and I'm still not sure I have mastered all the nuances of education policy as it relates to schools and their governors.

I do find it fascinating, however to be part of a world that is very different to church. Being interviewed as part of a recent Ofsted inspection was certainly a new exprience! Left me wondering if we should have the equivalent in church -Ofstich.

You do get opportunities that wouldn't otherwise come your way. Last week I did a funeral that was drectly related to my governor role.

On the church front, it has been exciting to see God at work in our finances and the highlight of our weekend was a visit from Ian McCormack a.k.a. the Jellyfish Man. If you type his name into the YouTube search engine you will get loads of stuff related to him.

Ian's a great guy, approachable and very dynamic. We had a fantastic evening with him with both salvations and healings. That's really what it's all about. Find out more about Ian's ministry here

Monday Fun

I'm afraid we're back to Japan today. What puzzles me is not so much how people think of these pranks but why they think of them!

Derek Prince on leadership

Many of the books written on leadership today are on the whole a collection of sound business principles and practices. In fact much of what is written is what might be called creative common sense. I don't say that to detract from the value of such publications or advice. Much of it is needed in church life as well as in the corporate world.

However, it can be easy to forget the essentially spiritual foundation on which Christian leadership should be based. We are called to be preachers, teachers and healers, not just strategists and planners.

I recently read a collection of articles by the late Derek Prince on leadership. It really is thought provoking to hear what he has to say. Even the titles of his talks take you in a very different direction to what most would offer today as a series of talks on leadership.

You can read or listen to him here

NOOMA online

Rob Bell's NOOMA series is well known to many. What you might not know is that you can now watch it online free. Click here to take you to this resource.

What's out there

I heard Clive James' spot on Radio 4 as I was shifting equipment from our church building to the school where we meet on Sunday morning. He is so cloever, funny and perceptive. You can read it read it here . And you will find a link to an audio if you prefer or listen to that distinctive dry-but-sincere Aussie voice.

I found the story of Michael Newitt in the Times Online fascinating - and sad. He successfully pretended to be an MI5 agent for 2 years!

David Cooke's blog is one I have found very informative and he points you in the direction of lots of good resources.

This post from the reliable J. Lee Grady really should be read by those who think Obama is going to be the saviour of the free world.

Four Characteristics of Scripture: (1) Authority

Back to blogging through Grudem!

Below are the headings and arguments for the authority of scripture from chapter four of Grudem's systematic theology.

"All the words in scripture are God's words in such a way that to disbelieve or disobey any word of scripture is to disbelieve or disobey God"


1. All the words in scripture are God's words

(1) This is what the Bible claims for itself

• "Thus says the Lord" - found throughout the Old Testament


• The Old Testament is thought of as God'swords in the New Testament (See 2 Timothy 3.16)


• New Testament writings thought of as God's words (2 Peter 3.16;1 Timothy 5.18)

(2) When we read the scriptures the Holy Spirit convinces us that it is God's word (John 10.27; 1 Corinthians 2.14)

(3)Other evidence is useful but not finally convincing, e.g. evidence of fulfilled prophecies, historical accuracy etc.

(4) The words of scripture are self-attesting

We cannot appeal to a higher authority to prove scripture is the word of God. That would indicate that scripture is not the highest authority.

(5) The objection that this is a circular argument

"...all argumens for an absolute authority must ultimately appeal to that auhtority for proof otherwise the authority would not be an absolute or highest authority"

(6) Dictation is not the sole means by which God communicated His revelation (e.g. Luke 1.1-3)

2. To disbelieve or disobey any word of scripture is to disbelieve or disobey God

3. Scripture is entirely truthful

That video

Driscoll at his controversial best. The video was supposedly dropped at a church planting conference because it was considered too controversial.

Catching Up

I've noticed that I tend not to blog much about what I'm up to or have been up to. So here's a bit of recent catch up.

Spent most of last week with family and my wife's parents in Southport. The North West does get cold!

Returned on Thursday evening and Friday was back to work. Fortunately, I had arranged for David Eaton to preach on Sunday - and he didn't disappoint with an excellent sermon on encouragement.

Friday night 10.30 until 5.00 a.m. Saturday was our night of prayer followed by an excellent breakfast provided by our own St. Teresa. We aim to hold a night of prayer once a quarter. They're not for everyone, but we usually start off with up to thirty people and have about ten or twelve who stay until 5 a.m..

Saturday afternoon I went to the official opening of the new Elim Church building in Wimbledon. Marcus Bennett has done a fantastic job up there. Well done Marcus! John Glass, our GS, gave the address and illustrated the gospel in terms of the credit crunch. It was so well done and just right for the cast of dignitaries assembled.

And then another great Sunday. There - you're up to speed now.

Monday Fun

Life in Japan isn't all hard work and being serious...