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Stephen Jackson on The Sola Panel is dead; long live the Sola Panel!
Sam Freney on The Sola Panel is dead; long live the Sola Panel!
Marty Foord on The Sola Panel is dead; long live the Sola Panel!
Dianne Howard on The Sola Panel is dead; long live the Sola Panel!
Mike Bull on Daniel 2-7, Harry Potter and Narnia
Current discussions
Recent posts
The Sola Panel is dead; long live the Sola Panel! by Tony Payne (4 comments). Regular Sola Panel readers will no doubt have detected a little slowness and quietness over the past six weeks or so. … more
Kids’ culture watch spot: Facing fear by Gordon Cheng (3 comments). By popular demand (two people asked), here is my next script for a culture watch spot I did with the kids … more
Daniel 2-7, Harry Potter and Narnia by Gordon Cheng (1 comment). It's a Sunday as I write this, and I'm speaking on Daniel 2 and 7 later this morning at a friend's … more
A constituent on same-sex marriage by Sandy Grant (34 comments). Last year, the Australian Parliament agreed that its Members of Parliament (MPs) should seek the … more
A tribute to John Stott by Sandy Grant (2 comments). Friends, I'm not ashamed to say I shed a tear when I opened up my computer on Thursday morning to read … more
Talkin’ ’bout my generation (part 3): On giants’ shoulders by Scott Newling (26 comments). This is the third post in this series; you can read part one, and more
Bible reading with kids by Sandy Grant (0 comments). I was asked for recommendations for resources that would encourage parents to read the Bible with their kids, especially … more
Talkin’ ’bout my generation (part 2): Stepping aside (not out) so others can step up (not in) by Scott Newling (3 comments). This is the second post in this series; you can read the first post, Unassuming … more
One more sip of the coffee by Tony Payne (8 comments). Sandy Grant is a man of integrity. Back in the early days of Sola Panel, I wrote a post … more
Talkin’ ’bout my generation (part 1): Unassuming generations by Scott Newling (30 comments). There is a model of ‘intergenerational theological decline’ that has been doing the rounds of late, and perhaps you … more
Tony Payne
Paul is one of the Staff Editors at Matthias Media. He is married to Cathy and has three fantastic kids. He loves student ministry, reading, writing music and playing the saxophone, and is looking forward to meeting Jesus face to face.
Sola Panellists
- Tony Payne (convenor)
- Jennie Baddeley
- Mark Baddeley
- Andrew Barry
- Peter Bolt
- Gordon Cheng
- a local church and a certain Christian publishing house. (Sometimes the latter vocations can happen without the first.) Many people call him a nerd, which he prefers to geek. He\'s keen on biblical studies, languages, great technology, science fiction, coffee, photography, frisbee, family, jazz, and hats. You could call his tastes eclectic. ");'>Sam Freney
- Sandy Grant
- Scott Newling
- Gavin Perkins
- Ben Pfahlert
- Peter Sholl
- Claire Smith
- Nicole Starling
- Jean Williams
- Lionel Windsor
Some other sites
we like (Why these?)
- Matthias Media
- The Briefing
- 9Marks
- Albert Mohler
- Anglican Church League
- challies
- David Ould
- ENTRUST
- EQUIP book club
- Girl Talk
- Gordon Cheng's Blog
- The Gospel Coalition
- Jean Williams's blog
- Justin Taylor
- Lionel Windsor
- Monergism
- Moore College
- MTS
- Nicole Starling's blog
- Phillip Jensen
- Pyromaniacs
- The Proclamation Trust
- Reformers' Bookshop
- The Simeon Trust
- The Ugley Vicar
Thank you so much, Peter - what a helpful post for all of us, missionaries, staffworkers (my husband is in uni ministry!) and anyone else who writes regular letters to supporters. Thanks so much for reminding us of the way and the reasons that Paul speaks about his difficulties in ministry: not to moan, but to encourage and to ask for prayer. I’ll be bookmarking this one!
Seconded: this too was a great letter home!
Agree with everything in the first comment. My prayers would be more focussed on the realities then as well as praying generally for family, language acquisition etc! God bless you all. You are prayed for every Tuesday morning!
Thanks Peter. This was a helpful reflection from the Scriptures on writing to supporters.
I’ve been having to wrestle with some of these things too as I’ve been writing supporter’s letter this year.
Another thing that I’ve had to wrestle with is pride. It can be tempting to include just positive uplifting stories rather than the struggles in life and ministry (so that people think well of me). Recognising this, I’ve sought to reflect more of the reality, which includes both ups and downs. This takes humility, but I think it is helpful to give my supporters specific things to pray for, as well as a more accurate view of the nature of ministry life.
May God be glorified through us in all things as we depend upon and serve Him.
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