In 2016, a photograph circulated on the internet of a group of young people in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. They were sitting in front of one of the museum’s most famous paintings, “The Night Watch” by Rembrandt. Yet not one of them was looking at the picture. Instead, they were all bent over, looking at […]
Can Evangelism be Redeemed? Read More »
The world divides into two categories: those who divide the world into two categories and those who don’t. I’m one of the first. So the people reading this divide into two broad groups: some are people who have decided that they want to be followers of Jesus, Christians; others are people who are not sure
Seven Reasons You Should Not Become A Christian (And One Reason You Should) Read More »
Leadership comes in many shapes and sizes—not just one. And different situations call for different styles of leadership. So what types of leader does the church need right now? Clichés become clichés for a reason—usually because they are true. So I am going to risk saying that because the church is in crisis, we need
The Four Kinds of Leader We Need Read More »
How an ancient liturgical custom prepares us for Christmas—and for evangelism. I was on sabbatical recently. Well, OK, not a real sabbatical. It was only four hours long. It was actually a “Brown Bag Sabbatical,” one of the innovative programs being offered by Wycliffe Serves!–the new department I direct at the college.[i] But that mini-sabbath
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel Read More »
How do you nurture your spiritual life moment by moment? A 16th century Roman Catholic has something surprising to offer to Christians of different traditions, even today Ignatius Loyola (1491—1556) is often seen as head of the Pope’s anti-Reformation shock troops in the 16th century. Like most one-line characterizations, however, that is a caricature. Certainly
Ignatius for Evangelicals? Read More »
You never how things are going to develop. A few years ago, Stephen Andrews, the Anglican Bishop of Algoma, asked me to speak to each of his four deaneries about mission. So, over the course over eight months or so, I visited Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, North Bay and Huntsville, and gave the same
Roots and Wings: The Evolution of a Conference Read More »
John Bowen’s book, Evangelism for ‘Normal’ People, was published in 2002. Since then it has sold 10,000 copies, and been used as a textbook in several seminaries. But 2002 is a long time ago. What does the author think now? It all began with an email. I had known Andy when he was a
Having Second Thoughts about Evangelism Read More »
We sometimes forget that the church exists from Monday to Saturday, and not only on Sunday. So why do we spend so much time thinking about our gathering on Sunday—and so little about being the church during the week? Have you heard the term “vacuum cleaner church”? Whether you’ve heard it or not, you’ve probably
Vacuum Cleaner Church Read More »
Some people just seem to be natural evangelists. They talk about faith freely and people respond with equal freedom. Some of them don’t know they’re evangelists, and would deny it vehemently. Personally, I try not to tell them. My philosophy is: just let them get on with it, and don’t mess with their heads. Worst
Can evangelism be taught? Read More »
The book called The Gospel of Luke was one of the earliest biographies of Jesus to be written, probably in the second half of the first century CE, while many of the eye-witnesses of the events it describes were still alive. The author, Luke, was a medical doctor (then as now one of the better
Four Discussions on the Life of Jesus —as told in the Gospel of Luke Read More »