ChurchNext: Chris Yaw Interviews N.T. Wright on Balancing Study and Prayer
Inspiring people about the wonders of the Bible has been Bishop NT 'Tom' Wright's sustaining passion - which he believes is at the heart of congregational health and vitality.
The former bishop, New Testament Scholar, and author (the new one is How God Became King) says Christian leadership has always been about the same four things: Prayer/Scripture/Sacrament/Service.
In this interview hear how this seasoned saint balances his own life of prayer and study - as well as his tips on preaching and observations of Christianity's current joys and challenges.
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Synopsis
A renewed hunger to go deeper into the Scripture is what NT Wright sees as a hopeful sign in North America. In this interview we hear sage words of encouragement from an inspiring and faithful church leader. Here are my notes from the interview:
Oscillate
It's that back and forth between the prayer desk and the study desk that Tom credits for the Spirit's work through his writing - sometimes spending more time at one desk than the other. How deeply do we incorporate listening to God in our work?
The Big Read
Why not have the whole church read the whole Bible together? This project, called The Big Read, furthered the Lenten discipline of Bible reading in Tom's previous diocese of Durham. What are ways we can encourage more Bible reading?
Savor the Journey
Tom says Paul wrote the Book of Romans in preparation for his trip to Spain. Whether or not Paul ever got there, we don't know, but the book he left along the way endures. In what ways are we too focused on the goal and not the steps we're taking to get there?
About NT Wright
N. T. Wright is the former Bishop of Durham in the Church of England and one of the world's leading Bible scholars. He serves as the chair of New Testament and Early Christianity at the School of Divinity at the University of St. Andrews. For twenty years, Wright taught New Testament studies at Cambridge, McGill, and Oxford Universities, and he has been featured on ABC News, Dateline, The Colbert Report, and Fresh Air. Wright is the award-winning author of After You Believe, Surprised by Hope, Simply Christian, The Challenge of Jesus, and The Meaning of Jesus (coauthored with Marcus Borg), as well as the much-heralded series Christian Origins and the Question of God.
Books Bishop Wright Recommends
Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul - Richard Hays
Exclusion and Embrace - Miroslav Volf
Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church- Cross and Livingstone
Taken with permission fromChurchNext.tv