Evangelical Futures: BWWs – the ‘Blokes Worth Watching’ conveyor belt...
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Glen Scrivener
In their 2009 book, The Trellis and the Vine, Colin Marshall and Tony Payne gave us the evocative image of supporting structures (the trellis) surrounding the organic growth of God’s people (the vine).
Their argument was: both are needed. Here my brief is to write about evangelical churches in Britain. And as I consider this movement of churches that I love, I can’t help thinking we have a wonderful vine and, at points, a wonky trellis. That trellis – our systems and the assumptions behind them – needs urgent scrutiny.
everyday evangelism
Stories to win the world
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Glen Scrivener
Long before Nathan, the prophet, told his story (2 Sam. 12), David was living in an alternative story, a delusion actually.
In David’s fantasy, he, the hero, was able to lust, steal, kill and cover it all up (2 Sam. 11). Presumably he thought he could do this because he was the king. The trouble is, all of us are like David. We lust and take and kill too (Matt. 5:2 1-30; James 4:1-2), and we’ve all followed that pattern since the garden (Gen. 3:6).
everyday evangelism
Capturing imaginations
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Glen Scrivener
When it comes to communicating Christian truth, illustrations are often considered to be decorative. They are added extras, definitely not essential. Stories can be dismissed as a poor substitute for hard logic.
Perhaps they’re considered a concentration break, or an added dash of emotion to spice up your gospel presentation. Mostly, stories and illustrations are thought of as a sideshow while the real business is to state truths as plainly as possible. This, of course, is not the way people tick, nor the way the Scriptures present truth.