The International Church, the Over-zealous, and the Unity of the Cross. They come from everywhere, bringing with them every variety of authentic Christian faith imaginable. From the exuberant to the solemn, from free-wheeling discipleship to the very prescriptive, our international churches embrace them all. Or do they? Earlier, in an MICN newsletter, I wrote some […]
With Four Leadership Priorities for Unity and Mission. Tribalism is a little too common across the evangelical church (and beyond) bringing particular challenges for leaders of International Churches and Fellowships (ICs). Many, both leaders and church members, have loyalties based on allegiance to particular positions on the issues of the day. We take sides, set […]
We are all time-travellers. But how to tell such a story? From birth to death, how do the multiple experiences of my life, or yours, fit together? Furthermore, we are all space-travellers though some travel far more than others. Space and time are realities in which all live everyday. “Global Nomads” is often the way […]
THINKING INTO JESUS’ WORLD This morning, three experiences have engaged my mind and stirred by heart and vision. The first two were articles that came my way via Facebook friends. They are insightful, provocative, disturbing, and hopeful while also being a bit of a challenge to read. Both articles engage with the convergence of ideas, […]
Once Upon a Time… The last verse of an old love song ponders the discontinuous nature of all human experience. “Once upon a time The world was sweeter than we knew Everything was ours How happy we were then But somehow once upon a time Never comes again” With nostalgia we look back to good […]
By Graham Chipps For me, when the word “hospitality” is used, my mind brings up images of warmth and acceptance-as-I-am, of warm fresh bread and relaxed conversation, and woven in between a sense of peacefulness. Hospitality generates a feeling of at-home-ness even when one is far from home. Here there can be found a generosity […]
By Graham Chipps We were sitting together around the table. Good coffee, of course. Old friends, good friends, telling the life-stories since last we’d been face-to-face. We were all pastors of international churches. All the stories were hard to tell. I was listening with ears very much attuned to loss. My mother had died a […]
Restoration in the Enduring Presence of Christ By Graham Chipps. It was hot. My grandson was around four at the time and keen to work with Grandpa; keen to help. For him, the nature of the work didn’t matter so much. This work was about relationship not productivity. But for Grandpa, there were things to […]
By Graham Chipps Porridge. “If you write like porridge you will think like it, and the other way around. And if you have to read porridge all the time you may well begin to speak it.” 1 Do you taste breakfast mush whenever you write? (with apologies to good porridge.) It is a common misunderstanding […]