Thunderallens are go!

Well, we certainly hope to be, and this update shows that our rocketfuel levels are getting us closer to blast-off.

Dressed for Grace?

At my church we have Metallica t-shirts through to moleskin trousers, Boden to Joe Bloggs. I'm a big believer that the Gospel must change how we think about our appearance. We must dress so as not to give offence or distraction to others. Hot summer sun certainly doesn't mean that 'flesh is best' when it comes to female dress code. Nor should metal-heads force their anguished t-shirt art-work on ladies of a more nervous disposition.

That said, we all have tastes and preferences, and we are all learners, struggling to work out how we can point each other to Christ in how we behave when we're together as church. Dress with loving consideration for others, and be humble-minded towards others with what they come wearing. I am neither built up by hot ties or hot pants, but don't lose sleep if people come with either. Just as long as our hearts are serious about seeking God's grace in Christ.

Respect to Eddie for another gem.

What's happening about Hudd?

Here's an update.

ps thanks, Lowry - the place has changed a little, though!

For Those about to Rock

A very interesting article about the Rock Star Pastor phenomenon.

I know a Rock Star Pastor or two. In the pulpit they're big and bold, away from it they're lonely and restless. I need to pray for them, and to pray against the dangerous desire to be one.

Have you enjoyed your itty-bitty Bible this morning?

Eddie strikes again.

The Good Confession of the Trinity

'Three divine Persons constitute the Godhead – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. They are one in substance, in power and in eternity. Each is fully God, and yet the Godhead is one and indivisible.... The Trinity is the essential basis of all our fellowship with God, and of the comfort we derive from our dependence upon Him.’ 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith

As we were thinking on Sunday morning together at Gunnersbury, the Trinity is our Good News. We are saved by the Three Persons of the Trinity. Our salvation was willed, achieved and brought into our lives by the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We are saved to know the Trinity, experiencing and delighting in the grace, the love and the fellowship of the Godhead. We are called in the Gospel to bring the message of the Trinity to the world. To a world starved of relationships and hungry for belonging and peace we hold out the Good News of a God who offers Himself to a humanity lost in sin. And in a church where love can grow cold - to God and among members - we continually come back to the reality of God: a God who is not some impersonal energy, but a God who involves Himself intimately in the lives of His people, and who gives us the model for honouring, serving relationships.

What a refreshing message we have as remember the Triune God of the Bible. God rules! God saves! God serves us! And this God calls us to rejoice in His love, and to share it with those around us. Remember this and it's a key to life, and to healthy relationships. Forget it, and we - and our church - are in trouble. The novelist Mark Twain said of one of his characters that he was 'a solemn, unsmiling, sanctimonious old iceberg who looked like he was waiting for a vacancy in the Trinity.' Forget the Trinity and we run the same danger, we will be as cold as ice, and as proud and unyielding as an iceberg in the face of the needs of others. Remember the Trinity, and we will look at all as more than deserving of our love, and we will find then strength to love them, as an offering of worship to our great God. May His grace, love and fellowship remain with us, for evermore.