Must-See Links
Kingdom Leadership
Kingdom Leadership Pt 1 The Way(opens in new tab) (The Predestined Way of Leading) Pt 2 On Being Examined (opens in new tab) (A Feature of Humility) Pt 3 Jesus Explanation(opens in new tab) (Leadership vs Authority) Pt 4 The Mistake of Ancient Israel(opens in new tab) (The Rejection of God as King) Pt…
Church Structure
Church Structure Blueprints of the Church(opens in new tab) (What Should it Look Like?) Rediscovering Deacons (Who are They?) Pastors Pt 1 (Checking Our Titles) Pastors Pt 2 (One Calling Three Facets) Pastors Pt 3 (The Weakness of Solo Leadership) Elders Pt 1 (Israel’s Example) Elders Pt 2 (Four Areas of Influence) Elders Pt 3…
Kingdom Life
Kingdom Life The Restoration Series Pt 1 Keeping the Wine Without Jumping Ship (Don’t Give Up) Pt 2 Melchizedeck & the Royal Priesthood (opens in new tab) (Know Your Calling) Pt 3 Reigning With Him(opens in new tab) (Overcoming Sin & Self) Pt 4 On Being Kings(opens in new tab) (Called to Reign) Pt 5…
Elders: Pt 3 – Responsibilities Intro
Paul says that we need to appoint elders for our churches to be ‘set in order’ (Titus 1:5). Do we have them and are they the right kind? Read more >>
Elders Pt 2 – Counselling a King
Elders must always be clear as to whom they are counselling and how they should be treated. Remember those often misquoted words, ‘Do not touch My anointed ones, and do My prophets no harm’ (Psa 105:14-15) were NOT spoken to the people of God regarding their leaders, but to Gentile kings, prophets, and leaders regarding His…
Elders: Pt 1 – Israel’s Example
‘Pastors’ are only mentioned once in the whole Bible but ‘elders’ are mentioned 197 times! Why don’t we consider what God wants us to know? Read more >>
Moses’ Messianic Signs
Moses’ Messianic Signs Moses was given three attesting or miraculous signs to convince the elders and the people of Israel (Ex 4:1-9, 30-31) that God had sent him and Aaron; the first and the third were repeated for Pharaoh (Ex 7:9-21). However, the first two with his staff and his hand were Messianic prophecies. While…
Palestinian Refugees
Palestinian Refugees Solving the Problem Anyone with a heart has to be sickened by news reports and videos of brutalised Palestinian civilians in Gaza today, abandoned by every nation to depend on the charity of United Nations’ relief funds1 with no end in sight. Their elected leaders of Hamas have led them into a war which…
Elders Pt 2 – Their Four Areas of Influence
Elders – Pt 2 Their Four Areas of Influence THEIR FOUR AREAS OF INFLUENCELet us now consider the four areas of influence of the New Testament elders in parallel with and illustrated by the Old Testament elders. The Old Testament elders functioned in: (i) Every assembly of dwellings, whether villages, towns or cities1 (ii) Every…
Elders Pt 3 – Responsibilities
Elders Part 3 Responsibilities THE REMAINING THREE AREAS OF INFLUENCE As seen already, besides counselling the king, elders have three other areas of influence which correspond to ancient Israel’s examples of every assembly of dwellings (whether villages, towns or cities), every tribe and region, and thirdly, the whole nation. The direct New Testament parallels for…
Pastors Pt 3 – The Weakness of Solo Leadership
Pastors: Pt 3 The Weakness of Solo Leadership In Parts 1 and 2, I have tried to show that the doctrine of pastor as one-man leadership has led many of us into unintended but fully foreseeable and avoidable consequences – God’s churches are not to be led by anyone acting alone and those who try…
Pastors Pt 2 – One Calling Three Facets
Pastors Pt 2 One Calling Three Facets ONE CALLING, THREE FACETS In Part 1, I showed how three Biblical terms, elder, overseer, and shepherd, are to emphasise three different facets of the one calling. This is because: (i) ‘Elder’ refers to the spiritual maturity of the man. The plain and usual meaning of the word…
Pastors: Pt 1 – Checking Our Titles
Pastors: Pt 1 Checking Our Titles In 2021, a Barna study revealed that ‘U.S. pastors are currently in crisis and at risk of burnout’ with 65% self-diagnosing as ‘unhealthy’ spiritually, physically, emotionally, vocationally, and/or financially, i.e. only a third feel ‘healthy’. 38% are thinking of leaving the ministry altogether but 46%, almost half, of those under…
Elders Pt 1 Israel’s Example
Elders Pt 1 Israel’s Example Coming now to examine the concept of ‘elders’, we are definitely not in the same position as we were in looking at ‘deacons‘ and ‘pastors‘. With those two there was such a dearth of obvious material to study (‘deacons’ are only mentioned 5 times and ‘pastors’ only once in the…
Top Trans Doctors Blow the Whistle on ‘Sloppy’ Care
Abigail Shrier (Oct 5, 2021) In exclusive interviews, two prominent providers sound off on puberty blockers, ‘affirmative’ care, the inhibition of sexual pleasure, and the suppression of dissent in their field. Dr. Marci Bowers performs gender reassignment surgery in Trinada’ss [Trinidad’s] Mount San Rafael Hospital. (Glenn Asakawa/The Denver Post via Getty Images) For nearly a…
Listening to Opponents
Listening to Opponents A number of my friends have asked me why I post the items I do on my Facebook page, from journalists such as Glenn Greenwald, Bari Weiss, Nellie Bowles, Matt Taibbi, Sara Carter, and Mollie Hemmingway, as well as psychologists Jonathan Haidt and Jordan Petersen, Muslim reformers Wafa Sultan and Ayaan Hirsi…
Waitangi: The Oral Covenant
Waitangi: The Oral Covenant Dr Alistair Reese (Pākehā) is a theologian and historian1 with a particular focus on social reconciliation, seeking to strengthen the relationship between Māori2 and Pākehā3 in Aotearoa4 New Zealand. We’ve added footnotes to Māori words and phrases for the benefit of anyone unfamiliar with them. Copyright:…
The Real Nakba
The Real Nakba Recently a friend sent me Russell Brand’s interview with Gabor Maté, a gracious and eloquent physician and Holocaust survivor. He speaks movingly and passionately about the Palestinians’ Nakba (“catastrophe” in Arabic) i.e. the expulsion of Arabs from the Mandate of Palestine during the rebirth of Israel in 1948. He’s understandably appalled at the conditions…
Gandhi’s Gigantic Blunder
Gandhi’s Gigantic Blunder “Gandhi’s gigantic blunder”? As we read or watch our daily news of peaceful protesters mingled with rioting looters in cities across the USA, shouldn’t we be learning from Mohandas Gandhi’s pioneering example? Absolutely, but he learned most from what he called his “Himalayan miscalculation” and so can you and I. I read…
How to Get eternal Life
How to Get Eternal Life On New Year’s Eve in 1999, the city of Sydney celebrated the start of the new millennium by emblazoning “Eternity” across their iconic Harbour Bridge. It was a tribute to Arthur Stace, a reformed alcoholic, who had written this single word in beautiful copper-plate on the pavements of the city…