“Who is church for?” It is a question I have heard discussed and debated numerous times. I have myself. I have noticed that opposing answers are frequently affirmed without clarifying what the other answer is attempting to preserve.
Category Archive: Pastoral Passages
Christians have a distinctive view of the world and a particular, Christ-centered spirituality. It is in light of this that we would like to reconsider the appeal of euthanasia. We have identified five reasons – five fears – why people, Christians included, might wish for assisted dying, and shown how the hope we have in Christ confronts these fears. All of them are understandable, and forgivable, yet none of them are so dark that this hope cannot sustain his people through them.
When we vote in the October 17 New Zealand General election, we will also be asked to vote for or against the End of Life Choice Bill. Here are five reasons why New Zealanders should consider voting ‘No’.
||Short Article|| Compelling motivations exist for Christians not to promote conspiracy theories. Even the ones that they are certain are true.
Donald Trump’s photograph outside a forcefully-cleared church entrance while holding up a Bible has brought new shame on Christianity.
This Sunday will be the first time our church has gathered together since March 15. That’s eleven Sundays ago. The time has come when we may reopen the doors of our churches and sit again on each other’s couches, and return to face-to-face fellowship.
New Zealand appears to have dodged a bullet and gotten off lightly in this pandemic, yet many Christians are berating the government because we cannot gather as churches under Lockdown Level 2. But there is a high cost which I doubt we are counting.
The excellent book The Trellis and the Vine finishes on a note that is strikingly relevant for our present context.
||Short Article|| Live-streamed video conferencing is not too far from the ‘face to face’ of 2 John 12, but it cannot make up the full experience of gathered fellowship. The time will come when we may reopen the doors of our churches and sit again on each other’s couches.
Last weekend four of our young men were baptised at our church camp. What follows are the questions that were asked, with some comments the significance they carry.
Chris Northcott 