Weddings and Sunsets

Only one wedding and one sunset.  However they were both fantastic.  I really enjoyed the wedding and am really glad that Garry and Catherine wanted me to be involved in their day.  Unfortunately I didn’t take a camera so have no photos to show.  You’ll just have to make do with the sunset instead (more).

Graham starts to cry…

Every time I fill up with petrol my mind wonders and I remember …

• When petrol was only pennies per litre.
• When I could drive from Taunton to Leicester for a tenner.
• When we didn’t think about how our actions affected the environment.
• When I rode Alison’s pink Barbie moped and didn’t care what people thought of me.

Yes, those were the days.  As I wait for the tank to fill up and I glace at the cost of the fuel I have put in the tank and I see the counter passing £40 with no sign of stopping and my mind starts to race:

• I need to convert my car to gas.
• I need to get rid of my car, I mean what do I need it for?
• It’s the governments fault, there’s far too much tax on petrol.
• I don’t want to get rid of my car, how will I get around?
• Perhaps I should get rid of Louise’s car instead…. no…. that’s not such a good idea.
• I don’t want to change the way I live, I mean why should I.
• Perhaps I should just face up to the fact that the world has moved on and I need to change and adapt to survive.

And then it dawns on me: Haven’t I had this conversation somewhere else!

Belated reflections on the Baptist Assembly.

Most years I go to the Baptist Assembly. It’s where Baptists from all over the country get together and be Baptist. This year it was in Blackpool and very close to this ship!  I first went in the year 2000 and eight years on it has changed significantly.

Highlights for me were:

• Bumping into lots of people I know (including Chris who I only see once a year).
• Having Louise visit for a day (she came with me in 2000 and vowed never to go back.  On the stength of this years visit is thinking of coming next year).
• Taking Isaac with me for the first time.
• Prism (the alternative meeting, only this year it was a little more mainstream than alternative).
• Hanging around in “After Hours” talking with people.
• Seeing “Riverdance” Close up.

April’s Books

In my quest to read every book about church planting before September, here are the ones I have managed to look at last month. I have included my brief summary of the book and my notes I made while reading. Next months target is 18 different books which should bring me fairly close to my target.

A Vision of the Possible: Pioneer Church Planting in Teams
Sinclair, 2005
My summary: Daniel is trying to provide a manual for the pioneer church planter introducing the gospel to an unreached people group, particularly where there might be resistance to the gospel. This book is a useful resume from someone who appears to be an experienced team leader. The experience of the author provides the authority for the principles presented. He helpfully draws on resources he has found useful but does not critically engage with them.
Bibliographic data, my notes.

The Bible and Mission: Christian Witness in a Postmodern World
Bauckham, 2003
My summary: Richard Bauckham sets the scene for the Missional response to the post-modern worldview. Offering a critique of the Loytardian resistance to Meta-narratives he proposes that the biblical narrative is suited to engagement with both the meta-narrative of globalisation and the cultural diversity of the emerging postmodern generation.
Bibliographic data, my notes.

Evangelism – Which Way Now?: An Evaluation of Alpha, Emmaus, Cell Church and Other Contemporary Strategies for Evangelism
Booker and Ireland, 2003
My summary:Mike and Mark review a wide range of approaches to evangelism. Each chapter contains careful analysis and suggests resources for pursuing the topic further.
Bibliographic data, my notes.

Changing Mission
Murray, 2006
My summary: Stuart Murray surveys the the perspectives and emphases of the churches that are emerging in the changing culture of the west. It is an ideal introduction to the emerging churches and presents questions for both those within the inherited and emerging perspective alike.
Bibliographic data, my notes.

Changing World, Changing Church
Moynagh, 2001
My summary: Michael Moynagh surveys the developments in consumer attitudes and approaches. He tells stories about the way in which churches are responding to those changes. Setting it all into the context of church decline he sets out a vision for the future of mission in the post denominational church of 2020.
Bibliographic data, my notes.

Church Without Walls: A Global Examination of Cell Church
Green, 2002
My summary:This book tries to pull together that way Cell Church has been used in an Anglican Context across the globe. It is anecdotal in style and appears to be designed to be an easy read.
Bibliographic data, my notes.

Emerging Evangelism
Finney, 2004
My summary:John Finney reviews the approaches to Evangelism that have been prevalent in the United Kindom. He charts the significant shifts since the Billy Graham Crusades of the 1980′s and proposes some helpful approaches for the future.
Bibliographic data, my notes.

Evangelism That Really Works
Clarke, 1995
My summary:John uses the results of a two year research project to identify helpful approaches to building a strategy for evangelism within an established church. This book has a grating style and the analysis of the statistics are poor. It does contain stories of evangelism in churches and suggestions of approaches that might help a church develop an evangelistic strategy.
Bibliographic data, my notes.

Who’d Plant a Church?: Human Face of Church Planting
Archer, 1998
My summary:Diana anecdotally sketches the highs and lows of starting a church from scratch as the wife of a Minister. Stories of people coming to faith are interwoven between the personal account. It becomes clear that a building a church building is central to this account.
Bibliographic data, my notes.