the red pill

Here's a message that was shared recently in many Baptist Churches in the UK. I pray it will be a helpful blessing to you too. We are in strange times! There is no going back to how life was before, and we are not yet in what some people are calling "the new normal". This in between time needs new understanding, from timeless wisdom.

Last autumn I started broadcasting on Periscope a couple of time a week, with the title "Ask the Pastor". They were quite popular broadcasts with people from all over the world tuning in sharing greetings, prayer requests and posing a wide range of questions from matters of faith through politics, sports and general information about living in the UK. A period of illness at the end of the year meant I stopped broadcasting and kinda got out of the habit. I'm happy to say, in response to several requests, the broadcasts are back. I'm aiming to broadcast weekly, and in the first instance it's most likely to be on Fridays at around 4pm UK time, that's 10am CST in the USA. If you aren't able to join me live, then please feel free to leave questions in the comments here then watch the broadcasts later on this link to my periscope profile. Or alternatively you can tweet questions to me on twitter where I am @baptistjon  and I'll include them in ...

Today Great Britain has embarked on an uncertain journey, following the referendum on whether we should remain a part of the European Union. Months of sharply divisive campaigning has revealed itself in a result that is far from resounding with 52% voting to leave, and 48% to remain. There are people in our neighbourhoods and churches who are struggling to make sense of the enormity of the decision, and as I write this our Prime Minister has just resigned, the Governor of the Bank of England has issued an emergency statement and our finance markets are in turmoil. How should those of us who follow Jesus respond to these events? Is there anything for us to do other than pull up our drawbridges and try and ride out the coming storms? Whether we voted to remain or leave, is there some shared action or attitude that will help in this time of questioning and uncertainty? I want to offer a few thoughts as someone who is first of all a pastor. My concern is to help church members ...

A New Creation This is Pentecost. God effects a new creation. The old is gone; the new has come. Through a massive invasion of grace, a valley of dry bones gets a new lease of life. A dispersed and confused people find a new togetherness and speak a new language. People drenched with fear and savaged by disappointment now experience the miracle of renewal. The dead are raised to life again. Order replaces chaos; new community displaces wayward individualism. They thought the day of their liberation had come, but it turned into a nightmare. Then, at Easter, it became clear that they had survived the night of gloom and had arrived at a new dawn with joy. Now, with the Son ascended, what were they to expect? They waited in Jerusalem. Passover was to be followed by Pentecost. Easter joy was to be consolidated into a lifelong blessing as, through divine empowerment, God opened up for everyone the path to new life. The signs of the new creation are clear. The mighty wind...

Leaders of two of Britain’s major Churches say that the UK Government must not give into the rhetoric that Islamic State can simply be bombed out of existence. In a statement released today, leaders of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and the Methodist Church in Britain say that the case for military intervention can only be supported as one part of a broader political and economic strategy to tackle the ideology of IS. The Churches have issued  a briefing on the issues  and are  urging their members to pray  and to write to their MPs asking the Government to offer greater support to refugees from Syria and Iraq as part of such a strategy. The full statement follows: The UK Government must treat with caution suggestions that Islamic State could be defeated primarily through military action. An ideology – even one as dangerous and perverse as that of IS – cannot be defeated by the use of weapons. Military action could help to protect persecuted minorities a...

A few people have heard some things have been happening at Tabernacle Baptist Church Wolverhampton, and wanted to hear more. So I have written a brief summary of the exciting things that are happening. Over recent years the church has been in a season of growth. This has meant we’ve needed to rethink the way we do some of our leadership, decision making and structuring life together so that we can still be making sure people receive our well-known warm welcome and hospitality, and also find a way into the life of the church in such a way that they are enabled to grow as disciples of Jesus. A number of years ago we began supporting a local evangelical church that had been struggling, and in 2012 we merged the two churches into one church that meets in two locations. This year, God has been generous to us, and through a significant gift we have been enabled to make some serious headway on mission, vision, and strategy. When the leadership team went away on retreat, we fe...

A number of people have asked to have a copy of the words we used for the Communion service on Sunday afternoon. The team that write and design these sessions draw on a variety of influences, but this year our own Craig Gardiner wrote most of the significant portions. I include here the text of the Gathering Prayer, the prayer following In Memoriam, the words used to welcome all to the table, and then the invitation to come. A Gathering prayer Gather us in, Lord, the lost and the lonely, the broken and breaking, the tired and the aching who long for the nourishment found at your feast. All: Gather us in, the done and the doubting, the wishing and wondering, the puzzled and pondering who long for the company found at your feast. All: Gather us in, the proud and pretentious, the sure and superior, the never inferior, who long for the levelling found at your feast. All : Gather us in, the bright and the bustling, the stirrers, the shakers, ...

We're looking for a special individual, couple or team to come and work with us in seeing this wonderful city impacted by the kingdom of God. If what follows appeals to you, then feel free to get in touch for a more full profile, and ways of finding out more. An Opportunity in Wolverhampton Tabernacle Baptist Church is a thriving, ethnically diverse, welcoming church in Wolverhampton. For the last two years we have been supporting, and then merging into our structures, a church in the city centre called the Church at Broad Street. The Church at Broad Street had once been a thriving evangelical church, but has, over many years, dwindled and struggled. The purpose of the recent merger is to release new ways of mission and ministry into that part of the city. The location is a tough one. The neighbours are fast-food restaurants, sex shops, a homeless hostel, a nightclub and a rock venue. Close by is the University, with a guesstimated 5,000 students living in halls ...

There are some exciting posts being advertised at the moment, so I share them here to inform you, but also to ask you to pray with Baptists in Britain as many of our structures and those leading them go through a season of great change. The new General Secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Britain, Revd. Lynn Green, will be inducted into the post at a service at Sutton Coldfield Baptist Church on the afternoon of Sunday 22 September, marking the most visible shift in our leadership. Alongside this, several of our regional associations are currently advertising, or have recently been searching for new Regional Ministers. Yorkshire Baptist Association and Eastern Baptist Association have recently closed applications. Northern Baptist Association are looking for a new Regional Minister with a special responsibility for enabling mission in that area. More details here North West Baptist Association are looking for a Regional Minister to help guide them through the next three year...

This last weekend saw approx 1300 baptists joining together in a very sunny Blackpool for the annual Baptist Assembly; a time for us to gather in prayer, celebration and reflection about the life of our Baptist Union of Great Britain , and the work of BMS World Mission. For the last few years I've had the privilege of being one of those who gets to shape some of the larger sessions, we have the somewhat utilitarian title of "session Design Group". It has been a thrilling experience seeing words we've crafted and laboured over be used in ways that have brought joy, peace, hope, laughter, as well as creating space for people to encounter God or access his word afresh. This year I had the task of shaping a communion service that would be intergenerational, that is to say would speak in some way to people of every age. For various reasons there were some constraints (getting more than a thousand people moving around in a fairly full space can be tough, and we needed t...

This article it repeated here with kind permission from The Baptist Times Lynn Green elected new General Secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Britain Saturday, 04 May 2013 16:18 The Revd Lynn Green has been unanimously elected as the next general secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Britain. There were no votes against and only a handful of abstentions when Assembly delegates appointed Lynn to the role during a packed Baptist Union AGM on Saturday morning. She will take up the post in September 2013 and will become the first female general secretary of our Union. After receiving a standing ovation she said how 'incredibly humbled and honoured' she felt, and how through the whole process 'we have all been seeking God together.' She paid tribute to her husband Stuart and all those who had supported her ministry, adding, 'This is not about me. It's about all of us. We are the Union.' She was the unanimous choice of the General Secretary Nomi...

I'm so grateful to Maggi Dawn for flagging up the growing number of churches offering Blue Christmas events. Wolverhampton's third Blue Christmas will happen at on December 18th at 7.30pm

And a few other Baptist tweeters, including more from Scottish Baptists Assembly Richard Littledale (Teddington BC, Middlesex) @richardlittleda Martyn Link (Central BC, Dundee) @martynlink Llanishen Baptist Church @LlanishenBC Ashley Lovett (Socketts Heath BC, Grays, Essex) @AshleyJLovett Michael Shaw (Devenport Community BC, Plymouth) @mikepcshaw Joel Schofield (Purley BC, Surrey) @SchofieldJoel Yvonne Faddes (Leslie BC, Fife) @vonnythemainman James Faddes (Leslie BC, Fife) @JamesFaddes John Burnsy (Scottish Baptist College grad, now?) @ScruffyBaptist Ruth McCaig (Cornton BC, Stirling) @RuthBoA Tom Vernon (LarkhallBC) @tvmovietom James Tait (Shetland) @bigtonview Kenny Roy (Central - formerly Morningside - BC, Edinburgh) @KAROY Smoffi O'Leary (Tabernacle BC Wolverhampton) @_Smoffi_ Mike O'Leary (Tabernacle BC Wolverhampton) @SheepOfJesus Jon Bruton (Tabernacle BC Wolverhampton) @jonbru Jon Bishop (Croxley Green BC, Watford) @therevbishop

Thanks to those who've been adding their details either in the comments here or on twitter using #BaptistTweeters Here's the next batch, with tweeting from the Scottish Baptist Assembly helping the search very much: Rachel J Lewis (Amphill BC, Bedfordshire) @Rachel_J_Lewis Barbara Carpenter (Stoke St Gregory BC, Taunton) @MrsCorny Ami Martin (Green Lane BC, Walsall) @am1mart1n Mark Thomas (Prison Chaplain, South Wales) @ReverendMark Paul Lavender (Mount Pleasant BC, Northampton) @paul_the_organ Shine Like Stars (Children's ministry, Stockport) @shinelikestars1 Chris Priddy (Youth Specialist, Swindon YFC) @chrispriddy Geoff Cook (Faversham BC) @revgeoffcook Judy White (Mission Development Co-ordinator, BUS) @wayfarersinc Martin J Clarke (Hillview Community Church, Aberdeen) @martinjclarke Steve Holmes (Lecturer, St Mary's College, St Andrew's) @SteveRHolmes DanielSturgeon (Ayr BC) @prophetmargins David Fraser (Alva BC) @RevRunD Jon Magee (Lochgelly B...

Here's the first instalment of the list of Baptist Tweeters. We're starting with the UK, which should take some time, then we'll add some international Baptist tweeters too. If you're in the UK, and a Baptist Tweeter, please comment on this to add your name and twitter handle. It's be helpful to know where you're from too. My hope is that folks will use these lists to connect more with fellow Baptists, to hear together and from each other what's happening across the union and the nation. Here's the first 50, the links have all been tested, more to come soon! Keith Osmund-Smith (Madely BC, Telford)  @TelfordChaplain Ali Boulton (Whichelstowe, Swindon)  @RevAliBoulton Marcus Scotney (Dumfries BC) @marcusscotney David Kerrigan (BMS World Mission) @DavidKerrigan3 Neil Roberts (Chelmsley Wood BC, Birmingham) @CeolmundW Juliet Kilpin (Urban Expression) @JulietKilpin Keith Tarring (Camrose BC, Edgeware) @KeithTarring Steve Chalke (Oasis/Fait...

In ten days time the Baptist Union of Great Britain and BMS World Mission host the annual Baptist Assembly.  This year it’s in London, and we’ll be marking the 400 th anniversary of Baptist Churches in the UK. You can read the details of the assembly here at  the Baptist Assembly website This will take place against a backdrop of an ongoing conversation and decision-making process about the future shape of the Baptist Union. If you’ve yet to catch up with what’s been happening then take a look at the Baptist Futures Group page and read the articles there (it's not terribly well laid out so you'll need to poke around a bit..). As part of this conversation a group of friends began an online discussion called Beyond 400 , where 40 people would write a short article and offer it for discussion. It’s been a place of rich creativity and conversation. As well as the 40 voices who’ve been asked to contribute there is a space for others to “fly a kite”  and offer t...