the red pill

Every week I lead a class for small group of people who are recent followers of Jesus. We use some excellent material from All Nations college (SEAN Courses) that I highly recommend. The group meets at the home of an Iranian family, who are part of our church, and this week, instead of our usual study, we celebrated together the Iranian New Year ( Nowruz ). Part of this celebration is to look at the Haft Sin table, a place where seven items that begin with the letter S ( Sin in Farsi) and have symbolic meaning are placed. Here is their Haft Sin table: On this table you can see several items, each with a symbolic meaning. For the Christian couple these are used prayerfully at the start of the year to ask God's blessing in key areas. The traditional  Haft Sīn  items are: sabzeh  - wheat, barley or lentil sprouts growing in a dish - symbolizing rebirth samanu  - a sweet pudding made from wheat germ - symbolizing affluence senjed  - the dried fruit of the  oleaster  tree

The following article is reproduced with kind permission of David Kerrigan from his blog Thinking Mission . David is General Director of BMS World Mission, and I reproduce this as I consider it an excellent statement and reflection from a Baptist leader. the limits of dissent [A personal view - not an official account - of one aspect of Baptist Union Council this week.] I returned from BU Council on Wednesday, feeling that this had been three days well spent. Recent Councils have been excellent in grappling with substantial issues in ways that restore your confidence in the principle of the gathered community discerning the mind of Christ under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I commented on this in relation to last November’s Council here . These last three days have had a major focus on “Women in Leadership among the churches of the Baptist Union of Great Britain”. This wasn’t a debate about whether women can exercise ministerial leadership. That was established back in the 1

Following recent European election wins for the BNP, the mini-pogrom against Romanian immigrants in Northern Ireland last year, and concerns about immigration issues and the increased appearance of the BNP this comes as a timely read. This book is accessible and comprehensive. Beginning with a biblical reflection on diversity in the Church, Spencer argues a strongly biblical and missiological case in favour of multi-ethnic congregations. He then very helpfully goes on to give an analysis of the current situation, and the patterns of migration that have led to where we are now. Something very valuable in dealing with and defining both a distinctively Christian, and positively truthful response to many of the claims and lies made around this subject. This is also a very practical book, with a section on terminology that will be helpful to many, and with chapters offering valuable advice on developing diverse memberships, and planning mission in multi-ethnic contexts. From here in

John Drane (over on 2churchmice's blog ) has linked to this excellent online resource . It's called "Awaken the Spirit" and is being released over a period of time. It's a great way of exploring and entering into the scriptures, and well worth a look.