August Update - 2022

Welcome to my Romans 15:8 blog for August. There was no blog for July as I was on annual leave during the dates the blog is normally prepared and posted.

As I look back on the annual CMJ conference (July 8th-10th) there is much to be thankful for. It was great to see around 300 participants including well supported youth and children’s programs. Our keynote speaker at the conference Gavin Calver (CEO of The Evangelical Alliance) was very personable and relaxed and he spoke with passion and Biblical wisdom. The workshops/seminars covered a wide range of subjects, and each presenter did a great job.

The conference also provided a unique opportunity to meet a good range of CMJ staff and supporters. I appreciated several conversations with many Romans 15:8 members. I realize how busy timetables can be for Church leaders so you may be interested to know that bookings are now being taken for our 2023 conference - I hope to see many of you there during the weekend of 7th-9th July. The keynote speaker is Mark Greene. 

By time you read this blog I will be in Poland (Warsaw) sharing in the ‘Life from the Dead’ mission. This mission is a partnership between a range of mission agencies. I will give a report on this mission in my next blog, but please do pray for me and the wider mission activities which are taking place from 18th August to the 3rd of September. 

Teaching Reflection of the month

For this month’s reflection I direct you towards the forthcoming CMJ Bible week teaching event. This event is hosted by my colleague Jane Moxon and began as a useful resource during the Covid restrictions. Over the past months we have had a number of excellent teaching sessions which have provided a good opportunity to ‘dig deeper’ into key Biblical texts/themes. This online teaching will take place in the autumn (dates to be confirmed) and I will speak on 3 key passages from Luke’s Gospel: Luke 2:22-52, Luke 15, and Luke 24:13-35 (The Emmaus Road).

I encourage you to read these passages in the next few weeks and invite you to listen in to this series. The Luke 15 session is a development of my ‘7 in 7’ Series on the parables and the Luke 24 session draws in part upon an excellent forthcoming Olive Press Research Paper by Frank Booth.

Ministry News Update

This month I was partly on annual leave and in addition to this I have been mainly focused on preparing for the Poland mission, and the forthcoming teaching series (outlined above)

Book Review – Jesus King of the Jews? Messianic Judaism, Jewish Christians, and Theology Beyond Supersessionism. Edited by James Earle Patrick (Towards Jerusalem Council 2, 2021)

This relatively small booklet provides an immense range of Biblical insights from a well-informed team of theologians, Church leaders and missional practitioners linked closely with the movement Towards Jerusalem Council 2

This book explores the paradigm shift which is taking place in many areas of Jewish-Christian dialogue, and the implications for our Christology and Ecclesiology. Within all of this we are presented with the challenge to renew the way we act and speak about the Church and about Jewish identity, history, and faith. This challenge in part is what inspired me to pioneer the new CMJ liturgical project which aims to celebrate Jewish identity within the Church (copies of this liturgy and background notes are available via the CMJ UK website shop).

I hope you find much in this booklet to enrich your thinking. I found the introduction by James Patrick to be especially helpful in providing a useful overview of many key issues. Also, the final section by Ann Friemel which seeks to reposition ecclesiology in the reflections of Msgr Dr Peter Hocken is full of careful reflection and inspiring courage, which is typical of the teaching ministry of Peter Hocken. Sadly, Peter Hocken died in 2017, and we give thanks to the LORD for his life and pioneering ministry at the meeting points of the charismatic movement, ecumenism, and the re-emergence (and modern development) of the Messianic Jewish Movement.

Monthly Memory Verse

“Every valley shall be filled up and every mountain and hill brought low. The crooked shall be made straight and the rough ways made smooth, and all humanity shall see the salvation of God.”   (Luke 3:5-6) Messianic Jewish Family Bible- Tree of Life Version