The answer to this question is subjective, although it ought to be objective. The difficulty in making it objective is that everyone has a different idea of 'good'. The preacher will have a different assessment from his hearers, and the hearers will differ according to their readiness to receive instruction from the preacher. Even Jesus …
Category: Church reform
Pastors and teachers
Scripture makes a difference between pastors and teachers. "He gave ... apostles ... prophets ... evangelists ... pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints."Eph 4:11 The apostle Paul distinguishes pastors and teachers. Pastors are shepherds and preachers are teachers. Some preachers call themselves pastor, such as Pastor Jack Glass, but a preacher teaches …
Why we need Christian voices in public life
A Christian voice is a Christian articulating a Christian perspective on issues. It is not enough to have a Christian perspective, but one needs to articulate it. The Scottish National Party measures everything in terms of Scotland, the feminists in terms of gender, the homosexuals in terms of sexuality, the Greens in terms of the …
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Misreading public confession
The predictable media storm has erupted around the notable example of public confession by Liam Neeson that he once felt that he wanted to kill a black man and that he harboured the intent for about a week almost 40 years ago. The reaction on social and main stream media is predictable. The public opening …
View from the Pew
In the 1980s I edited View from Farr and in the 1990s Auldcastle View. The past two decades have given me another perspective and so I am beginning a new series in my blog called View from the Pew. It is specifically aimed at preachers, preaching and congregations. The reason for this is that whereas …
Reunions and Partings
The One Show on BBC 1 tonight draws attention to reunions and partings. I was watching this programme because the results of the BBC programme 20th-century Icons are announced on it. The finalists were clarified in tonight's programme and I have updated my blogpost. However, the same show had a marvellous story about the reunion …
Christianity and secularism
Christianity is an optimistic worldview that faces the reality of human wickedness by addressing individual responsibility and accountability to God through Jesus Christ. Secularism is a worldview that denies the existence of God and acts as if mankind has enough collective goodness and goodwill to lift each other up and improve the lives of most …
An Introduction to Zugology
Zugology is the theology of balanced Christianity. It is a new branch of theology that overarches all current branches of theology, being the summation of them all. Systematic theology, biblical theology, historical theology, experimental theology, comparative theology, etc. The list goes on. Zugology is that branch of theology which requires the balancing and integrating of …
The biblical view about denominations
"I am the Vine. You are the branches," said the Lord Jesus Christ. John 15:5.So why are people trying to join different branches of Christ's church into one branch? Whoever thought that a vine or a tree should have only one branch? Yet this has been the unwieldy vision of the ecumenical movement, which floundered …
What should we expect from preachers?
Most people watch television, so public speakers including preachers should thereby learn some presentational skills. This being so, preachers who cannot read the Scripture clearly and intelligibly are without excuse. It is sometimes evident from the wrong emphasis they use in their reading of Scripture that they do not understand what they are reading. What …
