the red pill

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...

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...

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 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...

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...

Yesterday I was with 90 other people sharing together in a Café Church training day. It was a good time to meet some old friends, and to make a few new ones. The aim of the day was to equip and inspire churches to plant congregations into coffee shops in their localities. On the whole it was a good day. Juliet Kilpin led a session on connecting with the wider community, and with her blend of humour, passion and compassion challenged us about a number of things, including the way that churches have hindered, rather than helped, people make meaningful relationships outside the context of churchworld. Worrying stuff. I’ve written elsewhere about the need for church to be more experimental, and today sees some of that working out in Bromley. We switch (for the next 3 months at least) from having a pattern of two services (10.30 & 18.30) to having three (10.30, 16.45 & 19.00). The 16.45 “Sunday Break” will be a classic-style service, for those who appreciate a more traditional flavo...