An Edible History of Humanity

Earlier this week I listened to a discussion on the Today programme between Tom Standage, the business editor of The Economist, and Peter Kendall, president of the National Farmers' Union, discuss how the history of food has affected the history of man.

The discussion was stimulated by the recent publication of a new book, An Edible History of Humanity. It was fascinating to hear Standage's thesis that the switch to farming has done more to change the world than any other human activity, and may have been one of man's biggest mistakes. You can read a review from the Sunday Times.

Sowing, reaping, keeping

Laurence Singlehurst is Director of Cell UK and former Director of Youth With A Mission, England. Laurence visited Holy Trinity, Leicester last Sunday and preached on 1 John 2:12-17 in the morning and evening; you can listen to his morning and evening sermons online.

In 2006 IVP published Laurence's book Sowing, reaping, keeping: People sensitive evangelism. This book is a book to "help you tell others about Jesus". It takes principles from the parable of the sower and explores what it means to "sow the seed of faith, to reap the harvest when the seed of faith has taken root and to nurture the faith as it grows'.

By offering biblical and straightforward steps, the author provides a helpful framework on deepening encounters and relationships with people, and then guides us through ways in which we (as individuals, groups or churches) can go about each of these stages, seeking God's help at every turn.

Purpose Driven

I just finished reading The Purpose Driven Church. The Author, Rick Warren is pastor of the enormous Saddleback Church - you may have heard of him as author of the more famous Purpose Driven Life, which has been something of a movement in the States.

The claim is that the model presented in the Purpose Driven Church offers church leaders a "unique, biblically-based approach to help them establish, transform, or maintain a balanced, growing congregation." The approach centres around the core activities of worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry, and missions, and much of the book is geared towards communicating more effectively with those within and outside of the congregation, according to their level of commitment, to encourage growth. Although the language of the book tends towards management-speak at times, and is in some ways something of a church marketing manual, it is easy to read and thought-provoking. Don't let the size of the book put you off - it is large, but the font-size is also generous, so it's quicker to read than it appears!

Occasionally there are comments which perhaps would not apply outside the USA, but the model could be applied anywhere in the West, and probably beyond. It's also worth noting that as the model is largely a communication planning framework, courses such as Alpha fit well within it. Being involved in a church-plant, I found myself continually asking 'how do we put that into practice in our setting?' I particularly appreciated the chapter on music in church, which recognises how much the worship style drives who will attend a particular service, and advises how to work with that to the best effect.

I'd recommend Purpose Driven Church to anyone into strategic thinking and planning, church planting and growth (both in numbers and spiritually). Further Purpose Driven resources relating to the Church are also available at purposedriven.com